Strand of Deception

by Robin Caroll

  “You should remember this because it’s taught in Sunday school: free will. Yes, God is all-powerful and could do whatever He wanted, but He gave each one of us free will. The choice to follow Him and have eternal life is our choice. He loves us and wants us all to share eternal life with Him, but the choice is always ours.”

  “So the evil we face in our jobs—”

  “Is because some people choose to move out of God’s will for their lives and what we have to clean up are the consequences of their bad decisions.”

  “That doesn’t seem right. To the victims, I mean.”

  “Okay, let me put it this way. Parents tell their kids not to drink and drive all the time. We have laws against it. But say a kid defies his parents and the law. He goes to a party and drinks. It was his choice to drink, not his parents’. He has a girlfriend who is at the party. She’s not drinking as much, but when it’s time to go home, she gets in the car with him. It’s her choice to get in the car, not her boyfriend’s, not her parents’. On the way home, they get in an accident and both are killed. Everyone calls it a great tragedy, which it is, but it’s also the consequences of bad choices. The consequence of sin is death.”

  “But Roger didn’t choose to get shot defending his country.”

  “No, and sometimes consequences are ripples you can’t see. And sometimes my bad choices cause effects to other people. For instance, if I choose to go out and rob a bank, then I might get caught. If I do, I go to jail. Savannah would suffer because I made a bad choice. But God can use that to teach her about consequences that might stop her from making a really bad choice that could cause her harm. We just never know. Not this side of paradise anyway.”

  Nick pulled the car into the parking lot of the FBI. He killed the engine but didn’t get out. His mind was tripping over what Timmons had said.

  “Being a Christian doesn’t always mean doing the right thing. But it does mean we’re forgiven. We get that second chance.”

  “That part I got. We see some bad characters. If they apologize, then their slate is wiped clean too. That’s a hard one for me.”

  Timmons chuckled. “Well, it’s not just an apology. There’s a process. Recognizing what you did is wrong. Admitting it. Then taking it to God and confessing you did it. Then you turn away from it, making a conscious effort not to repeat it. Then there’s God’s forgiveness, but you have to accept it too. And that means not carrying it around with you all the time. It means letting God heal your heart and move on.”

  Even more to think about. “Thanks, Darren.”

  “No problem.”

  Nick followed Timmons into the office, but his mind was heavy. What bad choices had he made that had caused innocent people to be hurt? What were the consequences of the sins he’d committed? Was he ready to truly go through the stages of forgiveness?

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  “I hope I didn’t bore you too much with my life story.”

  Elvis Presley

  “Maddie. You aren’t going to believe this.” Ivan ran into the lab, his hair sticking up even more than usual.

  “Whoa, where’s the fire?” She looked up from her inventory sheet.

  “The print we got from Memphis PD crime scene unit from the Hailey Carter crime scene?”

  “Yeah. You helped save it.”

  “Right. I cleaned it and brought it here to run through AFIS. I got a hit. A perfect match.” Ivan’s eyes were wide with excitement.

  “That’s awesome, Ivan. Have you called the investigator working the case?”

  “I did, but I wanted to tell you too.”

  She smiled, as did Eva. “Knew if anyone could do it, it’d be you.”

  “Maddie, the print matched to Mark Hubble.”

  It was like the lab had gotten caught in a vacuum. All the air sucked out of space. Maddie had to remind her lungs to push the air in and out. “Are you telling me there’s forensic evidence that links Mark Hubble to Hailey Carter?”

  “That’s exactly what I’m telling you. I’m going to meet the detectives.” Ivan rushed out of the lab as quickly as he’d rushed in.

  She was going to be sick.

  “Maddie . . . Maddie, it’s okay.” Eva rushed from her desk and grabbed her. Shook her a little.

  “It’s my fault. It’s my fault he got out. My fault he was put out on the streets to kill that poor, young girl.” The room seemed dimmer. Darker.

  “It’s just his print at the crime scene.”

  Maddie’s eyes burned. “Science doesn’t lie, Eva.”

  “And you’re working to find out who really attacked Nettie Sloan. You’re doing good work, Maddie.”

  “My testimony set him free. Because of me, Hailey Carter is dead.” The tears burned but she didn’t care.

  “No, because of Mark Hubble, Hailey Carter is dead.”

  Maddie shook her head, her stomach twisting and turning like worms in a can. “Don’t you see? If I wouldn’t have testified, he wouldn’t have been let out. If he wouldn’t have been let out, Hailey Carter would still be alive.”

  “Stop this. Snap out of it.” Eva flicked her forehead. “You did your job. Nobody made Hubble kill anybody, just like nobody made Rust or whoever assault Nettie.”

  “Everything is wrong, Eva. Why do I even bother?”

  “Because sometimes, we do it right. We were able to prove Adam wasn’t Gina’s killer. That’s something, right?”

  Maddie shrugged. It didn’t seem to matter. A young girl was dead because of her. Because of her.

  “We can, and will, find Gina Ford’s killer. We will help Nettie Sloan see justice served to whoever attacked her. This is our job. We don’t make anything happen . . . we simply interpret the science. That’s it. We’re spectators, not participants. You taught me that when I started here.”

  “Maybe I was wrong.”

  “No, you weren’t wrong. You were right. People can and do the unreasonable and the unthinkable. That has nothing to do with us.”

  The door to the lab swung open and Nick swaggered in.

  Maddie’s heart leapt.

  He took one look at her and rushed to her side. “What’s wrong?”

  “Oh, Nick.” And the tears fell.

  He held her tight. “Honey, what’s wrong?”

  Maddie couldn’t speak. The guilt formed more tears that spilled out. She could hear Eva’s voice, knew she was telling Nick what had happened, but Maddie couldn’t stop the tears. All that mattered at this moment was Nick was here. He was holding her. And she drew comfort from his strength.

  The lab door creaked open as Eva left.

  Finally, the well of tears dried up enough for her to untangle from his embrace. She looked at his shirt, now wet. “Sorry.”

  “Don’t you be sorry. I’ll never mind holding you when you need me.” He put his finger under her chin and raised her face so he could look her in the eye. “Are you okay?”

  “I set him free and he killed Hailey Carter. Because of me, she’s dead.”

  “That’s not true.”

  “It is.”

  “No, it’s not. If you hadn’t testified, some other forensic scientist would have. Either way, Hubble would’ve gotten out because he shouldn’t have been in there in the first place. And who knows, it’s possible he would have never escalated to murder from his other charges had he not had to serve six years in prison for a crime he didn’t commit.”

  Well, that sounded logical. She sniffed. Her nose was probably red. She knew her eyes were. She must look a total mess.

  “You know, someone very wise told me today that sometimes innocent people get hurt by the consequences of someone else’s bad choice to move out of God’s plan for them.”

  She went still. Was Nick really talking to her about faith?
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br />   Lord, if he’s there, please, please, draw him closer to You. As close as You can.

  He kissed her forehead. “I wish I knew the right thing to say to you, but I don’t. All I can tell you is that you did nothing wrong, you’re a wonderful woman, and I’m crazy about you.”

  Nick pulled her into his arms and held her again. She sighed against him and whispered up prayers for the peace that only God could provide.

  “We’re missing something.” Nick stared at the case board.

  “I’m not seeing it.” Timmons stood back, staring at the board from different angles as if Gina’s killer hid in one of the corners of the dry-erase board.

  “Adam Alexander’s not the killer. DNA proved that, so we can mark him off.” Nick drew a line through Adam’s name with the black marker. Even though Nick really liked him for the crime. He had the strongest motive. And he was a louse.

  “Leo Ward’s alibi was verified, so we can X him out too.” Timmons drew a line through his name.

  “Cynthia Mantle. Her alibi hasn’t been confirmed and she lied to us, but I don’t think she’s the killer.”

  Timmons tilted his head. “So do we mark her off or not?”

  Nick really didn’t believe she killed her best friend, but if he was wrong . . . “Leave her there for now.” He pointed at the next name. “Senator Ford’s alibi has been verified, so mark him off.”

  Timmons did. “That leaves Gina’s boyfriend, David Tiddle.”

  “His alibi could fall through. Don’t know that a trip to Clarksville would be useful. Most cleaning crews don’t remember the trash left behind.”

  “Right. He’s probably clean, but his eyes are a little too close together for my taste.”

  Nick froze. “What did you say?”

  “I was talking about Tiddle. His eyes are too close together, in my opinion.”

  “Wait a minute.” Nick flipped through the folders and grabbed the photo of Tiddle and placed it beside the one of Adam Alexander. “Both of their eyes are too close together.”

  Timmons moved to stand beside Nick and stared at the pictures.

  Both Tiddle and Alexander had brown hair. Both had green eyes that were too close together. Both stood almost six feet tall. Both had high foreheads and widow’s peaks.

  “Tiddle’s thirty years old.”

  Timmons nodded. “Which would mean he was conceived before Brody Alexander married his wife.”

  Was it possible? Were they reaching for straws out of desperation?

  “I’ll pull a full background on Tiddle.”

  The dossier—he’d never given it back. “I have one from the senator.” Nick dug around in his desk drawer until he found it. “Here’s the background info we have: Parents died when he was ten. No other living relatives could be located, so he was put into care of the state. Bounced around foster homes, making appearances in juvie a handful of times, then dropped out of the system’s paperwork trail at sixteen. Tiddle didn’t show back up on the report until his late twenties. A couple of pleas for minors, but all probation or warnings. Nothing serious. Work record read sketchy, at best. Waiter. Maître d’ at several restaurants. Assistant to various professions. No stability. No permanency. Hit or miss.”

  “Parents died when he was ten?” Timmons asked.

  “Why don’t you start there? If he’s Brody Alexander’s son, either he’s adopted or his mother lied on the birth certificate.”

  “I’m on it.” Timmons rushed out.

  Nick held up Tiddle’s picture.

  Was he looking at Gina Ford’s killer?

  “You look beautiful.” Maddie stared at her soon-to-be sister-in-law in her wedding dress. “Simply stunning.”

  Remington smiled, her long, blond hair shining under the lights of the bridal shop. “Thank you.”

  “You will be a gorgeous bride. My brother’s a lucky man.” Tears filled her eyes. “Oh, look at me. I’m such a sap. I’m the one who always cries at weddings.”

  Remington stepped out of the dress and hugged her. “I’m so happy I’m going to be in your family.”

  “Me too.” Maddie dried her eyes. “And your best friend too.”

  “I can’t believe Hayden and Riley are getting married just a month after us. It’s crazy. Oh, do you remember Hayden’s sister?”

  “Emily?” The poor thing had been involved with one loser guy after another.

  “Yes. She got married about three months ago, and they just found out they’re expecting.”

  “I didn’t even know she got married.”

  “She did. A really nice guy from up north. Dylon. They’re so happy it’s wonderful. Hayden’s mom, Ardy, is so anxious to hold a grandbaby, I don’t know if she’ll make it until Emily gives birth.”

  Maddie smiled as Remington went to get dressed. Emily married and expecting. Rafe and Remington getting married. Riley and Hayden getting married a month later. It seemed as if everyone was moving forward into a new stage of life. They’d all reached for and got their happily-ever-afters. Would it ever come for Maddie?

  Remington stepped out of the dressing room. “Let’s go have a coffee before Rafe and I have to head back.”

  They headed down the street to the little coffee shop wedged between boutiques. After getting their lattes, they found a table.

  “Rafe’s worried about you.” Remington took a sip.

  “Why?”

  “Because he knows you’re seeing Nick and he’s too pigheaded to ask you how that’s going.”

  Maddie smiled. “So he sent you to ask instead?”

  Remington grinned. “Something like that. He’s worried Nick will break your heart.”

  “Tell Rafe that Nick is wonderful, a perfect gentleman, and one of the kindest men I know. He won’t hurt me. And if my heart gets a few more cuts and scratches, well, that’s just part of living.”

  “Here. Here.” Remington tapped her coffee cup against Maddie’s.

  That was the truth. After seeing Adam and not feeling anything, Maddie realized she didn’t need to protect herself. Oh, she might get hurt, but it was part of the process.

  Like Eva said, if she wasn’t going to try, how would she ever have a chance at her happily-ever-after?

  Chapter Thirty

  “The Lord can give, and the Lord can take away. I might be herding sheep next year.”

  Elvis Presley

  “It took some creative investigative work, but here it is: the full history of David Tiddle.” Timmons entered the office wearing a smile.

  Nick leaned back in his chair. “Lay it on me. It’s Friday and I’m ready for the weekend. Would be really nice to have a good lead.”

  “Well, here you go. Finally got the name of his birth mother, Priscilla Jones. She literally sold him to Sherwin and Velma Tiddle. While extremely wealthy, the Tiddles had been turned down by every adoption agency due to their advanced age. Sherwin was sixty-four and Velma, sixty-two.” He set a picture of a young woman, smiling, on the desk. That smile looked very similar to David Tiddle’s. “This is Priscilla Jones. Her college photo.”

  “Pretty.” He nodded at the folder. “Wow, that is a little old to start with a newborn.”

  Timmons nodded. “According to everything I can find, the Tiddles had concentrated on their careers in their twenties and early thirties, then decided to start their family only to have problems. They spent their late thirties and early forties in fertility treatments to help Velma conceive.”

  Nick had heard of people so desperate for children, they’d try just about any route they could.

  Timmons continued. “They even went so far as to try in vitro fertilization. In her midforties, an emergency hysterectomy was needed. In her early fifties, they began to look into surrogates, but none were interested. They tried all t
he adoption routes, but by now they were in their midfifties, and state agencies weren’t interested. By their late fifties, they opted to go private adoption with less-than-standard options for which they paid handsomely, and they were given a baby boy they named David.”

  “It’s almost like black-market baby brokering.” Nick actually felt sorry for the Tiddles, except there were thousands of others who wanted children just as desperately but didn’t have the money to buy a baby.

  Timmons nodded. “They doted on their son and spoiled him rotten. When David was seven, Sherwin died from a sudden massive heart attack. It was the first time David realized his parents were much older than those of his classmates. Every time Velma came to a school function, everyone thought she was his grandmother, at least, that’s what his school records claim.”

  “I can understand that. Kids can and do just spout out the first thing that comes into their heads.” Nick was glad his parents had been, for all practical purposes, normal.

  “When David was ten, Velma had a stroke and had to be put in a facility for twenty-four-hour care. At this time, the state took custody of David and worked him into the foster-care system. Barely a year later, Velma died. The social worker informed David that there was no money left in the estate as it all went to Velma’s care.”

  “That’s harsh.”

  “Yep. David was moved from foster family to foster family. With each foster family who was mean to him or abused him, David grew a bit angrier . . . a bit meaner. At sixteen, he had enough and ran away to live on the streets. The system lost track of him from then on until he became an adult.”

  Nick shook his head. The things people did . . . “Whatever happened to Priscilla?”

  “She died of a drug overdose the year after she gave her baby up for adoption.”

  “So, the moral to this sad story is we go ask Brody Alexander if he remembers a Priscilla Jones. Why don’t you do that and I’ll go see if I can round up David. Maybe he’ll surprise me as well and offer up a DNA sample.”

  Timmons laughed. “Yeah, I don’t think you’re that lucky. I’ll call you if Brody remembers Priscilla.”