“And when Doc Webster came up the mountain to check Corrine and the baby, I was the baby he saw, the baby he examined,” Jazzy said. “That’s how I have a birth certificate proving Corrine Talbot was my mother.”
“Do you hate me, gal? I swear I thought I was doing the right thing for you and for Corrine.” Sally looked pleadingly at Jazzy. “I ain’t never loved nothing or nobody as much as I love you.” Tears glistened in Sally’s bright blue eyes.
Jazzy released Reve’s hand, stood and walked over to the sofa. She knelt in front of Sally, reached out and hugged her aunt. “I love you, you crazy old woman, you.” She lifted her head and the two women gazed at each other through teary eyes. “You could have told me years ago and I would have understood.”
Reve turned to Griffin Powell and asked, “Will this information help you at all in the investigation?”
He nodded. “Yes, it’ll help. You two do realize that the person who separated the two infants did it for a specific reason. He—or she—not only wanted both babies to die, but he wanted to make sure that if both bodies were ever found, no one would figure out that the two abandoned infants were connected in any way. Twins could be more easily traced back to the birth mother.”
“We were dumped and left for dead in two different counties,” Reve said. “Jazzy in a tree stump in the woods up in the mountains here in Cherokee County and me in a Dumpster in Sevierville.”
Jazzy rose to her feet and went to Reve. “That report Mr. Powell gave us says that an eyewitness claims he saw a man toss something into the Dumpster that might have been a baby. Do you think that man might have been our father?”
“Our father?” Reve had never considered that possibility. “I suppose it could have been. I’ve assumed it was my mother who threw me away, but it could just as easily have been my father—our father.”
“I suggest that we don’t jump to any conclusions,” Griffin Powell said. “That eyewitness is no longer living. And even if he was, he couldn’t ID the man. He said so at the time. Medium height, build, clothing. He never got a look at the guy’s face. Besides, that guy might not have been the one who threw you in the Dumpster.”
“So we have nothing to go on, no real evidence of any kind,” Jazzy said.
“Once we have a list of all the twins born in northeast Tennessee around the time you two were born, we’ll be able to start narrowing down the info,” Griffin explained. “Until then, keep one thing in mind—whoever wanted you two dead thirty years ago might still want you dead. If he ever finds out you’re both alive now and looking for answers about your past, he could try to kill both of you.”
“Holy shit! That thought never crossed my mind.” Jazzy snorted. “There’s some nut out there somewhere killing redheaded whores, and I’m probably at the top of his list. And now I find out that there’s another person out there who, if he finds out he didn’t kill Reve and me when we were babies, might try to do the job right this time.”
“Why would anybody want to kill two innocent little babies?” Sally asked. “What sort of monster would harm a baby?”
“Someone with something to lose if he—or she—allowed the babies to live,” Caleb said.
“Exactly.” Griffin Powell stood and walked over to Reve. “Ms. Sorrell, if you decide that you want to pursue this investigation any further, I’ll need your permission to use any and all medical information about you, including the DNA test results.”
“Yes, of course. Whatever you need, I’ll see to it that you get it.” She glanced at Jazzy. “My sister and I definitely want to continue this investigation, don’t we?”
“Damn right about that. We want to know who tried to kill us and why.”
“Even if it turns out to be either your mother or your father? Or possibly both of them?” Griffin asked.
“Yes,” Reve and Jazzy replied simultaneously.
“Very well. I’ll head back to Knoxville and we’ll proceed with the investigation.”
Reve walked him to the door. They shook hands.
“I’ll be in touch again as soon as I have any information,” he told her.
When Reve turned around, she saw Caleb and Sally and Ludie hovering over Jazzy, each taking a turn hugging her and reassuring her. Suddenly Reve felt unwanted and unneeded. Jazzy had people who loved her, people who would die to protect her. And who did Reve have? Nobody. Not one single solitary soul. She had never felt so totally alone in her life.
“I forgot something I need to tell Mr. Powell,” Reve lied. “If I go now, I can probably catch up with him.” She grabbed her coat and purse, then opened the door.
“Do you want me to go with you?” Jazzy called to her.
“No. I’ll—I’ll phone you later.”
Reve just barely made it outside, onto the open stairway, before tears welled up in her eyes. Damn it, don’t do this to yourself. What good will it do to cry? You’re Reve Sorrell. You’re rich and powerful and people envy you. What the hell do you have to cry about anyway?
Clutching the handrail, Reve made her way down the stairs. She hung her shoulder bag around her neck as she struggled to put on her coat. Out of nowhere a big hand reached out to help her into her coat. She yelped in fright and jumped away from the man standing beside her. After blinking several times, her vision cleared just enough for her to see who he was. Damn, she should have known. At a moment like this when the last thing she needed was somebody to kick her while she was down, who else would cross her path?
“Sheriff Butler.” She sucked back her tears.
“Are you all right?” he asked and sounded sincere.
“I’m fine, thank you. And how are you?”
He reached out and lifted the purse straps from around her neck, then handed her the leather bag. “You’ve been crying.”
“How astute of you.”
“Usually when a person cries, there’s a reason.”
“Don’t you have anything better to do than interrogate me? Don’t you have a murder to solve?” She hooked the straps of her leather bag over her shoulder.
He grabbed her arm. Her eyes widened in alarm. “My truck is parked across the street. Why don’t you ride over to the Burger Box with me and I’ll buy you a late lunch. Greasy burgers and fries. And a chocolate milkshake.”
“Are you trying to be nice to me?”
“Yeah, I guess I am.” He seemed as surprised at the thought as she was.
“Under normal circumstances, I wouldn’t accept your invitation, but…” But she was feeling lonely and vulnerable and was thankful for a few crumbs of kindness, even from Jacob Butler. Why him, dear God, why him? she asked and had the oddest sensation that Fate was laughing at her.
Reve glanced at Jacob’s hand securely surrounding her arm. His fingers were thick and long and dark, his hand large and slightly rough. “If you’ll make that a burger and onion rings, I’ll accept your invitation.”
“Onion rings, huh?” Jacob grinned.
The bottom dropped out of her stomach. Mercy, what a smile!
She nodded. “I love onion rings.”
“Onion rings it is.” He tugged on her arm. “Ordinarily my dates don’t eat onions of any kind since they’re looking forward to ending the date with a kiss, but since we won’t be doing any kissing, you can eat all the onion rings you want.”
Date? Kiss? Was he crazy? This wasn’t a date. This was lunch. Nothing more.
“You’re right,” she told him. “We certainly won’t be doing any kissing.”
CHAPTER 19
The Burger Box was a remnant from the fifties, with curb service and waitresses on roller skates. The menu listed a lineup of artery-clogging, deep-fried delights and the best shakes and banana splits on earth.
Jacob parked his truck in one of the designated slots, then rolled down his window and ordered via a voice box.
“A couple of double cheeseburgers, one order of fries, one order of onion rings, a cup of coffee—” He looked at Reve and asked, “Want a chocolate
shake?”
She shook her head. “I’ll take coffee, too.”
“Make that two coffees.”
Jacob rolled up the window and turned to Reve. For the life of him, he couldn’t figure out how he’d wound up in this situation. He’d been minding his own business, walking up Loden Street after dropping off some things at the cleaners. On his way back to his truck, he’d seen Ms. Sorrell scurrying downstairs from Jazzy’s apartment. He’d paused to watch her, wondering why she was in such a hurry. And then he’d seen her face—she was crying.
He’d reacted instinctively and gone over to her to help her on with her coat. That had been his first mistake. His second had been actually giving a damn. To say that he and Reve disliked each other was an understatement. What had he been thinking when he’d asked her to join him for a late lunch? That was just it. He hadn’t been thinking. He’d been feeling, and when a man let his feelings get in the way of common sense, it always meant trouble. He’d felt sorry for Reve. Had hated to see her hurting. Something inexplicable inside him jumped at the chance to be her white knight. And God knew, he was nobody’s knight in shining armor.
“So.” Jacob looked directly at Reve.
“So,” she repeated.
“We’re going to have lunch together.”
“So we are.” Her lips curved into a closed-mouth smile. “Bet you’re trying to figure out how this happened, aren’t you?”
“Yeah, I am,” he admitted, then realized she was probably wondering the same thing. “You, too, huh?”
“I guess we were both just in the wrong place at the wrong time.”
“Want to tell me why you were crying?”
“Not really.”
“Everything okay between you and Jazzy?”
She eyed him quizzically, as if asking why he’d care.
“I ask because Jazzy’s an old friend,” he explained. “She’s had a pretty rough year, and I’d hate to see her get hurt again.” He sure didn’t want this woman thinking he gave a damn about her. Even if he did.
“Jazzy’s a very lucky lady to have so many people care about her. Caleb. Her Aunt Sally and Ludie. Genny and Dallas. And you.”
He heard the sadness in her voice and noted a hint of tears in her eyes. Hell, she was on the verge of crying again. That wasn’t what he’d been expecting. He’d thought that if anything, she’d rant and rave at him about how all the men in town were Jazzy’s “friends.”
So, what did he say to Reve now? His usual biting sarcasm wasn’t appropriate. Right at the moment, she wasn’t in top fighting form, and it was no fun to spar with an already wounded partner.
“Word’s all over town that the DNA test results prove Jazzy and you are sisters,” Jacob said. “You weren’t crying about that, were you?”
Suddenly laughing, she blinked several times and released a long, slow breath. “Believe it or not, no. Jazzy and I already felt certain we were sisters. The tests results simply confirmed it.”
“You might as well come clean about why you were crying. If you don’t, I’ll ask Jazzy and—”
“No, please, don’t do that. She doesn’t know…. Just don’t say anything to her, okay?”
Before he could respond, their waitress skated over to the truck, a bright red tray in her hand. When Jacob rolled down the window, she handed him a large paper sack, which he gave to Reve, and two Styrofoam cups with lids, which he placed in the truck’s cup holders. He removed his wallet from inside his suede jacket and paid the waitress, giving her a generous tip.
“Gee, thanks, Sheriff,” the girl said, then skated off.
When he turned to Reve, she offered him a handful of napkins. “She must have thought we’re very messy eaters.”
“Honey, wait until you bite into your cheeseburger. You’ll need plenty of napkins. These things are juicy and loaded with everything.”
When she held out his pack of fries and then his cheeseburger, she smiled warmly. Damn, he wished she wouldn’t do that. She looked a little too good to him when she smiled.
After she removed her burger and onion rings from the sack, she seemed to be at a loss as to what to do with them. She held the wrapped cheeseburger in one hand and the paper carton of rings in the other. He reached over and popped open the glove compartment creating a makeshift table for her, and his arm brushed her knees in the process. The minute he accidently touched her, she tensed, and he expected her to light into him. But instead, when he glanced at her, her smile was still in place and her cheeks were slightly flushed.
Well, I’ll be damned, he thought. She had reacted to him like a woman and not a stuck-up bitch. Don’t go there, Butler. Do not think of Reve Sorrell the way you think of other women. She’s off limits. She is persona non grata. Big time persona non grata.
“Thank you,” she said.
Her voice sounded different. All soft and feminine and sweet.
“Eat up,” was all he could think of to say.
She nodded, then unwrapped her burger and took a huge bite. He did the same, but couldn’t seem to take his eyes off her. She looked a hell of a lot like Jazzy up close, but she wore very little makeup and her eyes were dark brown. Despite their strong physical resemblance, he’d never mistake her for Jazzy. Not in a million years. And not because Jazzy was prettier. No, that wasn’t it. It was because of the way he reacted to Reve. He and Jazzy had been friends forever; they’d even tried dating. But there was zero physical chemistry between them. Unfortunately, the exact opposite was true of Reve and him. Every time he was around her, she evoked a strong reaction from him. Usually he wanted to wring her neck.
But right now, that wasn’t what he wanted to do to her.
“Is something wrong?” she asked.
“Huh?”
“You aren’t eating.”
Answer her, you idiot. “I was just thinking about how much you and Jazzy look alike and yet how different you two are.”
Reve’s smile disappeared. She took another bite out of her cheeseburger, then reached for her coffee.
Now would be a good time to stop talking and eat, Jacob told himself. Finish lunch and then drive her to her cabin or to Jazzy’s apartment and say good-bye. You’re way out of your league with this one.
Now why would he think that? It wasn’t as if he was interested in dating Reve Sorrell. Hell, he didn’t even like her. But right this minute, he sure did want to kiss her.
They ate in relative silence, their occasional smacks and slurps highly exaggerated in the quiet truck cab. When they finished their meal, Jacob stuffed their garbage into the paper sack and dumped the sack into the garbage container he kept in his truck. When he turned to ask Reve if she was ready to head back across town, he noticed a dab of a mustard/ketchup mixture smeared on the side of her mouth. Without thinking, he reached over and wiped off the stain with the side of his thumb. Reve opened her mouth in a silent gasp. His hand lingered. She stared at him, her eyes wide and round.
He balled his hand into a clenched fist. “If you’re ready, we’d better go. I need to get back to the office.”
He started the motor and backed up without waiting for her reply. When they returned to the street and were heading across town, he spoke to her, but kept his gaze focused straight ahead.
“Do you want me to drop you at your cabin or back at Jazzy’s apartment?”
“If it won’t be too much trouble, drop me by my cabin.”
“Sure. No trouble at all.”
Neither of them said a word for the seven and a half minutes it took for him to drive her to her rental cabin. When he pulled up out front, he opened his door and jumped out without making a comment. The sooner he got rid of her, the better. For both of them. He had an uneasy feeling in the pit of his belly that whatever was going on with his libido was happening to hers, too.
He yanked open the passenger door and held out his hand to assist her. She put her hand in his. Heat spread through his fingers and quickly engulfed his entire body. He practically jerked her
out of the truck so that she stumbled when her feet hit the ground. She stood there, only a couple of inches separating their bodies, and looked up at him. She was a tall woman, taller than Jazzy, but still a good seven inches shorter than he was.
“Thanks for lunch,” she said. “I probably gained five pounds from the cheeseburger alone.”
He could think of a good way for her to work off the calories. Damn it, Butler, you’ve got to stop this. “I like to see a woman with a healthy appetite.”
She smiled again, and every instinct he had told him to run. Run like hell.
“I’ve got to go,” he said.
“Bye.” She didn’t move. Neither did he.
“Yeah, bye.” Get your ass in gear, Butler.
He backed away from her. Slowly. She stood and watched him get in his truck and close the door. When he drove away, he glanced in his rearview mirror. She was still standing there. She lifted her hand and waved. He gunned it and flew off down the street.
I can’t allow the truth to be revealed. We’ve kept this ugly little secret for thirty years, and I intend to take it to my grave. If anyone were ever to know what happened—what really happened—my life would be ruined, my legacy worthless. Everything that has ever meant anything to me would be lost. And all because of that woman! I hated her then and I hate her now. She was evil, and her corruption destroyed everything and everyone around her.
I didn’t want to get rid of those babies, but I had no choice. I couldn’t allow them to live. But instead of depending on Slim to get rid of them, I should have done it myself. He swore to me that they were dead, that there was no way either of them could survive.
But he’d been wrong!
All these years, I’d thought I was safe. I believed those twin girls were dead. And all the while they were alive, one of them growing up right here in Cherokee County.
But can you be certain that Jazzy Talbot and Reve Sorrell are her babies? Just because they’re beautiful, as she was beautiful, and just because they have her red hair, doesn’t mean she was their mother.
As Good As Dead (Griffin Powell Book 4) Page 22