“Because nothing makes sense. Too many balls in the air, and I’m getting dizzy trying to keep them there.”
“A circus analogy?”
“This whole thing is making me feel like a clown.”
He turned off the engine. “That’s a silly thing to say.”
“Is it?” I looked at him. “Did you know, all this time, that Ethan was still alive?”
“No, I didn’t know. Do you really think I’d keep that sort of information from you if I did know?”
“Wouldn’t be the first time you’ve kept secrets from me, would it?” I replied, getting out of the car.
T.J. caught up to me by my car. “I had my reasons for not telling you who I was, and you know that. I thought we put all this behind us.”
Sighing, I turned around and leaned against the car. “We have, and I’m sorry. I’m just…I don’t know.” I massaged my temples. “This whole thing is just more than I can take right now.”
T.J. pulled me into his arms, and I put my head on his chest. “I know it’s been a rough couple of months, but it will get better.”
“When?”
“I don’t know,” he admitted. “but you’ll know. Have you given any more thought about a support group?”
“Not really.”
“I really think you should. I’ve been to a couple of group sessions myself.”
I looked up at him. “Why?”
“Do you think it’s easy for me to sit back and watch you going through this? I don’t know how to help you, and that’s frustrating for me. So, I figured if I went to a support group, it would help me learn how.”
“Wow, I had no idea.”
“The victims aren’t the only ones who are hurt by their assaults. Family and friends are affected, too. They walk around on eggshells because saying the wrong thing can set their loved one off, and no one wants to do that. Sometimes, they blame themselves for not being there, for not being able to protect them…”
“But you were there for me, T.J.”
“Not before he hurt you, Lizzie, physically and emotionally.”
“It’s still not your fault.”
“And it’s not your fault, either.”
“Half of me knows that, and the other half keeps kicking myself for letting it happen.” I took a step back. “Could we talk about something else? This really isn’t a conversation I want to have in the middle of the street.”
“As long as you agree to talk about it later.”
“I’ll think about it.”
“Fair enough,” T.J. agreed. He pulled out his phone. “I’m going to call Hopkins and have him come over.”
“Why don’t you have him meet us at my house?” I suggested. “If we’re going to look at the flash drive, we should probably do it away from prying eyes. I know Ellen would just love the chance to get a look at whatever is on here for a story.”
“Good point.” He checked the time. “It’s almost two. Why don’t you go to the café, grab some food, and we’ll meet you at the house?”
“Should I get anything for Hopkins?”
“Nah, he probably ate. Just get him some pie or something. Cheeseburger and fries for me is fine.”
I gave him a kiss. “I’ll see you in a little while.” I started to walk over to the café.
“Oh, and Lizzie?”
“What?”
“Try not to spill anything on Gladys this time, huh?”
I stuck my tongue out at him. “Very funny.”
Thirty minutes later, I parked in my driveway, grabbed the food and got out. Somehow, I managed to turn off the alarm, unlock the door, and get inside without dropping anything.
“Good afternoon, Ms. Crenshaw.”
I screamed and dropped everything on the floor. Turning around, I saw Garth standing in the kitchen doorway. “What in the hell do you think you’re doing?”
“I was waiting on you to come home.”
“So you thought it would be a good idea to scare the bejeezus out of me, after everything I’ve been through in the last two months? You’re lucky I didn’t have a gun or some mace in my hand!”
“My sincerest apologies, Ms. Crenshaw. I wasn’t thinking,” he said, coming over to help me pick up my things and the food.
“What are you doing here, anyway? Is something wrong with Jake?” I asked him as I followed him into the kitchen.
“I’ve been in the area a couple of days, and no, there’s nothing wrong with Jake. Mrs. Mathias won’t be happy when she finds out I helped him leave the hospital, although all of the nurses are very relieved.”
“Why are you at my house, Garth? And how did you even know where I live? Wait,” I said, holding up my right hand, “don’t answer that.”
“Jake asked me to come here and keep an eye on things for him. He’s concerned that Edward might try to go after you again.”
“Not the first time I’ve had that thought.”
“Yes, well…I got a call from Micha a little while ago. Edward received a call from a very agitated male, who was complaining that two people had shown up at his crime scene and threw him out.”
“McConnell.”
“Is that his name?” I nodded. “Well, Edward told him to keep an eye on the two of you, and that he would take care of the rest.”
“Sounds ominous. But that doesn’t mean that Edward is coming here.”
“After he hung up with McConnell, he called the airport and told them to gas up the jet.”
“Ah.”
“I’ve called a couple of my people in off other assignments. They’ll be here tonight.”
There was a knock on the front door, and Garth immediately started to shove me to the floor. “Relax, it’s just T.J.”
“How do you know?”
“Because I’m expecting him, that’s why,” I said, walking to the door.
“Why don’t you have a peephole?”
“Because they don’t make doors with peepholes for short people, and it’s really awkward to have to drag a stool over just to look out.” I opened the door and let T.J. and Hopkins in. “Guess who was waiting for me inside my house when I got home?”
“Garth, good to see you,” T.J. said, going over and shaking hands with him. “Garth, this is FBI Special Agent Richard Hopkins.”
“Nice to meet you,” Hopkins said, shaking his hand.
“What brings you to Texas?”
“It seems McConnell called Edward and complained,” I said.
“So McConnell is in Edward’s pocket?” Hopkins said.
“Why am I not surprised?” T.J. replied.
“Do you think McConnell had something to do with Barbara’s disappearance?” I mused.
“It would explain why he was so mad about us asking him to leave,” T.J. replied.
“Do you still have those pictures?”
“I have them,” Hopkins said. “T.J. said you wanted me to run this through our facial recognition software.”
“Could I see them for a minute?”
“They’re in the car. I’ll be right back.”
While Hopkins went to the car, T.J. told Garth about our search of Barbara’s apartment and what we found. “Why didn’t you go over to Cynthia Davis’ apartment?” Garth asked.
“Hopkins said he sent two men over there yesterday. Unlike Barbara’s apartment, which had been partially ransacked, Cynthia’s apartment looked fine. The only things missing were her purse and keys.”
“How do they know for sure she’s missing?” Garth said.
“She hasn’t shown up for work the last two days,” T.J. replied, “and she didn’t call in sick, either. Her supervisor and co-workers said it’s not like her to miss two days in a row without calling in.”
Hopkins came back in and handed me the file. I laid them out, side by side, on the countertop. “Take a look at these pictures and tell me what you think,” I told them.
Garth and Hopkins took turns looking them over. “Do you have a magnifying glass?” Garth
asked me after a couple of minutes.
I went to my office, and brought one back. He spent several more minutes going over each picture, before handing the magnifier to Hopkins, who carefully went over them as well. I looked at T.J., who shrugged. “Well?”
Hopkins looked at Garth, who nodded. “T.J. told me that you thought all these women are actually the same woman, correct?”
“It was just a guess, really,” I admitted. “I’m not trained for this sort of thing. Call it woman’s intuition.”
“Well, we believe you’re right,” Garth said.
“What makes you think they’re the same woman, Lizzie?” Hopkins said.
“The dimples, for starters. Apple dumpling cheeks, and I’m sure you noticed, she tilts her head the same way in every picture. Now what are the odds that Ethan would date women that would have the exact same characteristics?”
“Men have been known to date a certain type,” T.J. pointed out.
“Yes, I’m well aware of that,” I replied.
“Relax,” Hopkins said, “we agree with you, remember?”
“We need to get a look at that flash drive.”
“What flash drive?” Garth said.
“We found it when we were at Barbara’s apartment,” T.J. said. “You should tell them where it was.”
“Tampon box,” I laughed as I went back to my office for my laptop.
“You’re kidding,” Garth said. “You actually searched through the tampon boxes?”
“I didn’t,” T.J. replied, “Lizzie did.”
“Ingeneous,” Hopkins laughed.
“Why don’t you guys come out here?” I said as I put the laptop on the coffee table. “And could someone grab the food and a Dr Pepper for me?”
“How come there isn’t enough for all of us?” Hopkins complained.
“Because you two weren’t invited. You’re party crashers.”
“And I know for a fact you’ve already eaten,” T.J. said. “Unless those pizza boxes arrived at the station empty.”
I turned on the laptop while the three of them continued to argue about food and plugged in the flash drive.
T.J. put a plate next to me. “Here you go. I managed to save your burger and fries, but I’m afraid your piece of pecan pie made the ultimate sacrifice.”
“Ah well. Maddie will make a whole pie for me if I ask her to.”
“I think she spoils you too much.”
“Who am I to complain?” I laughed.
“I need to get her to make me Dutch apple pie more,” T.J. said as I opened a file.
“Good luck with that. I think she’s still upset with you about the whole undercover/keeping me in the dark thing.” I stared at the screen for a minute. “There’s a file labeled ‘Ethan – London’. Good grief, what did she do, hire a private detective to follow him around?”
“From these notes,” T.J. replied, “it looks like she followed him around herself.”
I looked at the names on some of the other files. “Every city Ethan’s been to is listed here.”
“Sounds like she’s been planning something for quite a while,” Garth said. We looked up to see the two of them standing in front of us.
“Do you think someone found out what she’s been up to and decided to get even?” Hopkins asked.
“By someone, do you mean Edward Winthrop?” I said.
“Certainly the first person I thought of,” T.J. said.
I noticed another file that said “BC”, and clicked on it. When it opened, I gasped in surprise. “What’s the matter, Lizzie?” T.J. said.
“Look for yourself.”
T.J. quickly read the file. “Did you know about this?”
I shook my head. “She never said a word when we talk to her.”
“What’s up?” Hopkins asked, leaving over and trying to read the screen upside down.
“It’s a birth certificate,” I told them, “for a baby girl born thirteen years ago, to Kassandra Hollingsworth…and Ethan Winthrop.”
Chapter 36
The three of them were so focused on talking to each other, they didn’t notice me pick up my laptop and go to my office. Thanks to a new wireless printer, I was able to make a copy of everything on the flash drive. Digging around in the closet, I pulled out a corkboard and propped it against a wall. I separated out the papers, pinned them to the board, then sat down in my chair and studied them.
“What are you doing in here?” T.J. said from the doorway.
“You guys were giving me a headache.” I looked at the time. “It only took you thirty minutes to notice I wasn’t in the room.”
“Sorry.” He pointed at the corkboard. “What’s all this?”
“I printed everything out. Each pile is a different city and identity. This covers the last five to six years.”
“Persistent, isn’t she?”
“No kidding. I can’t help but wonder what’s happened to make her abandon all this.”
“Maybe it’s like you suggested earlier: Edward found out what she’s been up to, and arranged to have her kidnapped.”
“Then why trash the apartment?”
“Maybe they were looking for her copy of the birth certificate?”
“Assuming he knew about it in the first place.”
“True,” T.J. said. “You know, something about this is starting to bother me.”
“Get in line. This has been bothering me for a while.”
“I mean, the whole thing at the apartment today.”
“What about it?”
“It was too neat.”
“Too neat?” I said. “You’ve got to be kidding. “That living room looked like something from Longfellow’s The Wreck of the Hesperus.”
“Don’t throw your English degree at me. I mean that it was an organized mess.”
“This,” I said, pointing at my desk, “is an organized mess. What we saw this morning was chaos.”
T.J. shook his head. “I don’t think so. If you think about it, the mess was only located in the living room.”
“There certainly wasn’t much of a mess in the bedroom,” I replied. “Just a few things tossed around.”
He scratched his left jaw. “I don’t think this is what it appears to be.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, I think it was staged.”
“By who? Barbara?”
“It’s possible.”
“That’s crazy.”
He pointed at the corkboard. “Does this look like the work of a sane person?”
“More like a very calculated woman.” I rubbed my forehead. “We need to talk to Jake.”
“Well, I certainly didn’t expect that,” Jake said when I called him with the news. His voice sounded a little tinny because he was on speakerphone.
“I wonder if he knows,” I said.
“Knowing Kass, she not only told him, she made sure he paid child support. Wait…what do you mean ‘knows’?”
I glanced at T.J., who shrugged before nodding. “I…um…well, there’s something I need to tell you, and you aren’t going to believe me when I do.”
“You’re pregnant.”
“Oh, ha ha, very funny.”
“I thought it was. Who’s the father?”
“Keep it up, laughing boy, and I’m going to hang up without telling you anything else.”
“All right, all right, I’m sorry,” he snickered.
“Ethan’s alive.”
Jake stopped laughing. “Excuse me?”
“Ethan’s alive.”
“T.J., has she been drinking wine or something? Did you give her scotch?”
“She hasn’t had anything to drink, Jake,” T.J. told him.
“You’re serious? You aren’t making this up?”
“We saw him. Lizzie even punched him.”
“Holy crap,” Jake said. “Start at the beginning.” It took a few minutes for us to tell him what we knew. “I always had a sneaking suspicion about Edward, but I never i
magined anything on this scale.”
“I can’t believe Ethan has enough of a conscience to turn his father in,” I replied.
“Let’s stop for a minute,” Jake said. “Ethan rats his father out to the Feds, who decide to put him into protective custody. Barbara is after Ethan because she believes he killed her half-sister, Jessica. But it was Edward, not Ethan, who killed her, but Barbara doesn’t know that. So where does Kass figure into all this?”
“Maybe she and Barbara are in this together?” I suggested.
“That’s assuming they’ve been in contact,” T.J. said.
“Well, why don’t you use that shiny badge of yours and get the phone records?” Jake said.
“Because that takes a court order, and my shiny deputy sheriff’s badge isn’t going to get that.”
“No, but a federal badge would.”
“Hopkins already left,” T.J. said, “but I’ll give him a call, see what I can do.” He left the room.
“So, I understand they finally kicked you out of the hospital before the nurses went on strike.”
“I wasn’t that bad.”
“That’s not what Garth said.”
“Well, he lied. After watching what you went through with Ethan, I behaved myself like a perfect gentleman.”
“If we could change the subject from you to Barbara…”
“From my favorite subject to my least favorite.”
“What do you remember about Barbara from high school?”
“She thought Jessica hung the moon. Whenever she had some free time, Jessica spent as much time with her as she could.”
“And when Jessica died, what happened?”
“Total rebellion. In and out of trouble because of drugs and alcohol. We were all surprised she managed to graduate.”
“What about after graduation?”
“She disappeared. Nobody knows where she went.”
Sighing, I glanced at the corkboard again. “She’s managed to keep track of Ethan, wherever she’s been. We need to talk to your friend Kass.”
“Why don’t I give her a call, see if I can get her to come over? Then I’ll call you back, and we can double team her.”
“Can’t you talk to her by yourself?” I asked as T.J. came back in the office.
“Yes, I could,” he conceded, “but you have more information than I have, and I may not ask the right questions.”
Death Vetoes The Chairman (Lizzie Crenshaw Mysteries Book 7) Page 27