Hidden Charm

by Jill Sanders

  “Thank you, it was so nice to meet you, too. You’ve raised wonderful kids.” Her eyes moved to JT who was hugging Kayla. Cora was tucked away in what used to be JT’s office on the edge of the island. They’d talked about it before his mother had arrived and everyone agreed that it was better for Mary if she didn’t find out about the girl just yet.

  She waved her good hand as the boat disappeared with the guests. JT wrapped his arm around her. She’d gotten use to the weight of the cast on her left wrist, but the incessant itching underneath still bothered her.

  “Want me to cut it off?” JT said, watching her struggle to scratch her wrist.

  “Could you?” she asked. She wanted to beat the thing on the stone wall behind them.

  He sighed and nodded. “But I won’t. You have a few more weeks, according to Rowan.”

  “Can I come out now?” Cora said from behind a bush.

  “Yes.” JT sighed. “Sorry, I just think—”

  “I understand.” Cora sat on the brick wall. “So…” The girl dipped her head and looked down at her hands. “I just got a call…”

  “From?” JT asked after a moment of silence.

  “Broadway Art Center,” she answered. The girl was wearing a large pair of JT’s sweats that hung on her tiny waist. Emma knew that the girl’s legs were long and skinny, packed with a dancer’s muscles. The girl’s long red hair was currently freed and blowing freely in the night air.

  The silence was deafening.

  “And?” JT finally asked.

  “I got in!” The girl jumped off the wall and right into her brother’s arms. She kept repeating, “I got in,” over and over.

  “This calls for a celebration,” JT said once Cora’s feet were back on the ground. “How about we break open that carton of ice cream I’ve been saving.”

  Just then, JT’s phone rang and he frowned down at the screen.

  “Why don’t you two head up. I’ll be there in a minute.” He nodded towards the brightly lit house as he answered the phone and walked towards the water’s edge.

  Cora took Emma’s good hand and started walking up the lit pathway. She chatted about her future and the possibilities at the dance center.

  Emma asked questions about what kind of roles she was hoping to get and where she was thinking of staying, all of which, Cora answered cheerfully.

  Apparently, the center helped pair up students and find them places to stay. She wasn’t sure how she was going to front the cost of rent or her classes yet, but had several ideas about taking odd jobs on the side.

  “It’s something I’ve always wanted.” Cora sighed. “New York.”

  Emma thought back to her two recent trips to the city. The first one made her cringe, while the other was only enjoyable because JT had been there.

  “I’m sure you’re going to make it big.” Cora had shown her several videos of her dancing. Most of them were audition videos for studios. Some were actual performances. “You’re an amazing dancer,” she said truthfully. “Raw talent like that gets noticed quickly.”

  “I hope you’re right.” She sighed and opened the back door. Bo rushed into the house before them.

  “What about him?” Emma asked. “The dog has clung to you from the moment you set foot on the island.”

  Cora frowned down at Bo. “I… he’s better off here.” She turned and picked up one of the smallest kittens from the porch. “But I bet I can sneak Mist here in my backpack.”

  Emma smiled, and they both turned as JT came around the corner. The look on his face told them both that something was wrong.

  “What is it?” Cora asked, setting the kitten back down.

  “Inside.” He motioned them towards the door. Once he had shut the door behind him, he closed his eyes and leaned against the door. “I… put out feelers for your mother’s whereabouts the week you arrived.”

  The room was silent as Cora walked over and sat down hard on a kitchen chair. “And?” she asked when she was sitting.

  “Nothing had come up, until now.” He sat beside his sister. “It appears that the day she went missing, her bank account was emptied.”

  “Yes,” Cora agreed. She closed her eyes. “Dad told me that Mom must have taken it all, but somehow he had enough money to pay rent the following week. When I asked, he told me you gave it to him.”

  “I never gave him any money,” JT said.

  “Then, where did he get it?” Emma broke in.

  JT glanced over at her. “That’s not important now. What is, is that your mother’s credit card was used recently.”

  “It was?” Cora sat up slightly.

  “Yes, she purchased some airline tickets.” He raised his hand, motioning for Emma to come over and sit next to him. When she sat down, he finished. “It appears someone flew from Columbus to Portland, Maine.”

  “Dad!” Cora jumped up. “He’s here?”

  “We don’t know that.” JT stood and held Cora by the shoulders. “That was Brock. He’s going to up the times they swing by here, starting tonight. He suggested you stay in the main house, until…”

  Just then, the lights flickered and went black. Cora let out a scream that caused Emma’s ears to ring.

  “Sorry,” she said once JT turned on his cell phone light.

  “It’s okay, it’s probably a fuse.” He gave Emma a look. “Stay put.”

  “You’re not going out there!” Cora demanded, looking between them. “Seriously! You write mystery and horror novels for a living and you’re thinking of going out there alone, in the dark, when the power’s just been cut?”

  JT chuckled. “I’m a realist. I know this island better than anyone. Besides, the power box is just five steps outside that door.” He nodded to the back door. “And I’ll have Bo to protect me.”

  “He’s a softy,” Emma added, crossing her good arm over her chest. “What about calling Brock and staying inside with the two very frightened women?”

  He sighed. “I’ll call Brock, then go outside and check the breaker box.” After trying his phone, he said, “Damn” under his breath. “It appears the power took out the repeater.”

  “The what?” Cora asked, her arms going around Emma’s waist.

  “The repeater… It boosts the cell phone signal so we get calls on the island. The nearest tower is miles away.” He shook his head. “It’s how we can use our cell phones out here, in the middle of nowhere.”

  “So, we can’t call for help?” Cora asked. Emma could hear the fear in the girl’s voice.

  “I have a landline.” He walked over and picked up the phone and frowned. “It’s dead, too.”

  “He’s come for me.” Tears streamed down Cora’s face. “I shouldn’t have left. He killed my mother and now he’s after me.”

  Chapter 26

  JT hated to admit it, but he was starting to get worried. Even though he tried to act cool, he knew that if it came down to it, they were vulnerable.

  “Head upstairs, lock yourselves in my bathroom. If things go bad, you can get out the window and go for help.” He nudged both of them to move.

  “Not without you,” Emma and Cora said at the same time.

  “I’ll get the gun. Don’t come out unless I tell you.” He rushed past them, then stopped. “Take Bo with you.”

  When he noticed neither of them had moved, he walked over and hugged the pair. “Go. I won’t be able to do anything unless I know you’re both safe.” He kissed Cora on the forehead, then gave Emma a kiss on the lips. “Go, protect her,” he whispered in Emma’s ear.

  Emma moved, half-dragging Cora up the stairs. Cora called for Bo, who rushed up the stairs after the pair.

  When he heard the bathroom door close, he walked to his gun safe, which was hidden behind some books. He opened it with the key code and pulled out his gun. After inserting a clip and making sure the safety was still on, he tucked it into his jacket pocket.

  Shutting the safe again, he hit the panic button on his new security system. He knew that the
separate landline for the system might have been cut as well, but he’d take that chance.

  He listened for a moment at the back door, his eyes scanning the dark. When he didn’t see any movement, he nudged the door open, making sure to flip the lock so it would self-lock once he shut it again.

  Sure enough, the main power had been turned off. His first inclination was to flip it back on, but then he decided to flip all the switches off except for a few choice ones before flipping the main switch back on. Now, his security cameras would catch everything and his cell service would be restored.

  He glanced around when he heard a slight noise. The cats were tucked in the small home he’d made with Cora’s help. Their eyes reflected his cell phone light.

  When the big one Cora had named George hissed at something behind him, he jerked around and caught the glimmer off the shovel just before it hit the side of his head.

  When he woke, he was in a dark room. It took a few minutes to figure out where he was. His old office. Cora’s dance room.

  The hardwood floor was cold under his face. He shifted and realized he was tied up. There was dirt and sticks in his hair, indicating he’d been dragged there. His clothes were all tugged to one side, like he’d been rolled into place.

  “You’re a lot heavier than you look,” a low voice said from somewhere in the dark.

  “Who are you?” he growled out, pushing himself up with his tied hands. They had used duct tape, something he could usually get out of easily, but they had wrapped several thick layers of it up and down his arms, reaching all the way from his wrists to his elbows. He could feel the tightness of tape on his legs as well.

  “You’re trying to take her, just like before. She’s mine, I won’t let you take my baby! Not again!”

  When the voice rose and he heard a slight click, JT went still.

  He knew two things: it wasn’t his father in the room with him, and whoever it was now had JT’s gun pointing directly at him.

  “I’m not trying to take anyone,” he said, calmly. At least, he hoped it came out calmly.

  “Liar!” the woman hissed. “He took my first baby, then, when I finally found him and her, he refused to give her back.”

  He sat there, in the dark, listening to the woman rant while he tried to work his hands and legs free. She didn’t seem to mind, since she continued to talk as he moved.

  “I came here, you know, all those years ago. The moment I saw her, I knew she was mine. That red hair.” The woman sighed. “Those eyes… she was mine. He’d taken her, then he had me locked up and divorced me. Well, I got him back.” He heard her move forward and stilled, his eyes scanning the darkness. “For a while, until he heard about you making it big. Then, that’s all he could talk about. His boy!” It came out as a hiss. “He filled Cora’s empty mind with you, bragging about you like you were the chosen son.”

  JT’s eyes strained to see as the woman walked further into the dim moonlight that flooded into the room from the wall of windows.

  His entire body stilled as he looked into eyes that matched Cora’s and Lori’s perfectly.

  “I’m going out there,” Cora said, rushing to the door.

  Emma stopped her by putting a hand over hers on the door handle. “We have to stay put,” she warned. “JT said—”

  “Ugh!” Cora jerked her hand away and walked over to the window to peer out. “Look!” She pointed and pushed her face against the glass. “The power’s back on…” She pulled out her cell phone.

  Emma rushed to the window and looked out, but didn’t see what Cora had. “How do you know?”

  “See!” She showed Emma her phone screen. “JT got the cameras back up.”

  Sure enough, Cora’s phone screen showed tiny images of places around the island.

  “Can you see him?” she asked, moving closer.

  “No.” Cora flipped through each camera. “Here! There’s movement at my place.” She showed Emma the screen, and sure enough, there was someone walking around in the dark room. “JT didn’t want to put infrared in there, since he thought it would be creepy, but…” She flipped her phone back around and then stared down at the screen. When Cora dropped the phone and ran to the door, Emma jumped. All she could do was watch Cora disappear out the door with Bo following.

  Picking up Cora’s phone, she looked down at the screen and felt the blood rush from her entire body.

  There, in the middle of the floor, sat JT, tied with what appeared to be duct tape, while a woman with fuzzy hair stood less than five feet away from him. The gun that she held was pointed directly at his chest.

  With shaky hands, she punched the phone screen and called 911 as she ran down the stairs after Cora.

  When she reached the bottom of the stairs, instead of heading out the back door, she stopped and punched in the code JT had shown her to open his gun safe. He’d taken one of the guns, but she pulled out her own smaller gun, which he’d bought her after she’d received the note on her pillow.

  She’d have to use her left hand, but being armed was better than having nothing. She tucked the cell phone in her back pocket and rushed as fast as she could. Her sore ankle had healed, but she couldn’t afford to go too fast. Especially in the dark. As she went, she tried to come up with a plan.

  Who was the woman? Was she a stalker? A crazed fan? Why had Cora acted so strangely?

  Suddenly, it hit her. Cora’s mother. Emma stopped running and gasped. Fumbling for the phone, she looked at the image again.

  She supposed the woman looked enough like Cora to be related. She couldn’t tell the color of the woman’s hair, but guessed that it was red, like Cora’s.

  She flipped through the screens, looking for Cora. When she spotted the girl, she ran even faster.

  “Mom!” JT watched as Cora rushed into the room. “Stop!”

  JT braced, just in case the woman’s finger flinched. Instead, her arm wavered.

  “Cora?” She glanced between JT and Cora, then raised her arm again. “Has he hurt you?”

  “No, I came here to get his help in finding you,” Cora said, moving slowly between him and her mother.

  Pam, Cora’s mother, shook her head. “No, I came here, looking for you.”

  “I’m fine. Dad said you got out of the car and left us,” Cora added.

  Pam’s eyes narrowed. “I did.” She looked around. “I came…here.”

  “You came here?” Cora asked. “Why?”

  “To make him stop pestering us!” the older woman yelled. “You were losing focus. We’re a family finally and your father started filling your head with… him!”

  “I don’t understand.” Cora helped JT stand up, behind her back. He felt her hands fumble as she handed him something. The wooden handle was one he knew well. It was an old kitchen knife he’d used that evening to make dinner for his family. Cora shoved it in his hand, then stepped closer to her mother. She must have grabbed it before leaving the house. He wanted to grab her back towards him, but he noticed Pam drop her arms, so the gun was pointing at the ground.

  Cora stood between him and Pam, so he used the barrier and sawed at the duct tape as Cora covered for him.

  “Don’t you see, it’s just like before,” Pam added. “I wasn’t right, before. So, when I had the baby, they wouldn’t even let me hold her. Your father… disappeared on me. No one would believe me!” she screamed, then she smiled and her eyes turned soft. “My first little girl, she was so beautiful. Those red curls and blue eyes.” Her eyes focused. “Just like yours. But, when I did find her, she laughed at me and called me crazy.”

  “Who?” Cora asked. “Who are you talking about?”

  Pam’s eyes met Cora’s. “Your sister, Lori.”

  “Lori?” Cora glanced back at him, then turned back to Pam. “Lori was my half sister.”

  “No, she was mine!” Pam screamed and raised the gun slightly.

  “Easy,” JT said softly. “Tell us what happened to Lori.”

  Pam’s eyes moved to h
im, but since Cora was blocking the woman’s view, she didn’t notice that his hands were freed from the tape. He was wondering how he could start to work on his legs, when he caught a movement out of the corner of his eye.

  Emma stood in the doorway, pointing a gun at the woman. His heart stopped.

  He held up a hand for her to wait. She nodded, but kept the gun aimed.

  “It took me so many years to find out where he’d hidden her. After he locked me up, he took my baby. Then, one summer, he came back.” She sighed and the gun was once again pointed at the floor. “We had such a wonderful summer together. But, as before, he locked me up when he left, only this time, he left me with a gift.” Pam smiled at Cora. “You. He didn’t know about you until he came back again, almost five years later. Each time he came, he would have me admitted to Twin Valley. It wasn’t until shortly before your eight birthday that I tracked his other family down.” Pam’s voice turned, and he knew there wasn’t much time.

  “What happened to Lori?” Cora asked, taking a step closer.

  Pam’s eyes met her daughter’s. “She laughed at me and called me crazy.”

  “Mom?” Cora took another step closer. He extended his arms for her, but she’d moved out of his reach.

  “I didn’t mean to hit her that hard! She wouldn’t stop laughing at me! I… I didn’t stop until… My baby!” Tears slid down the woman’s face as she stared blankly across the room.

  His heart jerked in his chest.

  “You killed my sister?” he asked, gaining Pam’s attention again. Knowing their time was out, he moved. In one quick movement, he ripped the duct tape open on his legs with the knife and jerked Cora behind him.

  Pam’s arms rose again, but before the gun was pointed at his chest, a shot rang out.

  Chapter 27

  Emma held onto Cora as she cried. The lights had been turned back on and there were half a dozen people standing in JT’s kitchen, but Emma’s arms held tight.

  “I didn’t know,” Cora said softly.

  “No one did.” She ran her good hand down the girl’s red hair.