by Mary Burton
‘I’m her mother. Margaret Barrington.’ She said the name as if it should mean something. It didn’t.
‘She’s in the back on a long distance call.’
‘We’ll wait.’
‘I can have her contact you.’
At that moment, a woman pushed through the curtains separating the back of the store from the front.
The woman damn near took his breath away. She was tall, lean, and dressed in designer jeans, a silk blouse, and high-heeled black boots. A gold link-chain belt encircled her narrow waist. Stylish blond hair framed an oval face and accentuated violet eyes.
She was stunning.
And she could have been Kendall Shaw’s twin.
Jacob shook off his surprise and exchanged glances with Zack to make certain he wasn’t imagining the connection. Zack looked as shocked as Jacob felt.
‘Adrianna Barrington?’ Jacob asked.
Adrianna’s smile was cautious. After her attack today she was smart to worry. ‘What can I do for you gentlemen?’
‘They came about that attempted mugging earlier today. They’re detectives with the Henrico County Police,’ Margaret interjected.
Adrianna studied their badges. ‘I’m impressed. I didn’t think an attempted mugging warranted so much attention.’
Jacob tucked his badge in his back pocket, as did Zack. ‘We think your attack may be linked to three murder cases.’
Her expression darkened. ‘I’m not sure how I can help.’
Zack shoved his hands into his pockets. ‘Anyone ever tell you that you look like Kendall Shaw?’
Adrianna didn’t appear flattered. ‘Sure. Everyone has their double.’
‘Gentlemen, is there a point to this?’ The annoyed question came from Margaret.
‘Is there a place where we can sit and talk?’ Jacob asked.
‘I don’t see what there is to talk about,’ Margaret said.
Adrianna studied Jacob for a beat. He got the sense that her patience was wearing thin. She was rushed, busy, and didn’t want to deal with any more unexpected turns in her day. ‘Sure. Have a seat at the conference table.’
The four sat around the glass tabletop. The chairs were too fancy for Jacob but he was surprised to discover they were very comfortable.
He laid his file on the table and opened it. He pulled out DMV pictures of the victims. ‘Do you know any of these women?’ He named each as he touched her picture.
Sighing, she leaned forward and studied the images. ‘No. I’ve never seen any of these women. What’s this about?’
‘These women were murdered. Have you heard about the case? It’s been covered in the media.’
She frowned. ‘No. I’ve been out of the country. I’ve been in France on a buying trip. I returned only this morning.’
‘We believe these three women were sisters – that each was adopted by a different family. And we also believe the killer might have known this.’ He was fishing here but wanted to gauge her reaction.
Adrianna didn’t hide her impatience now. ‘What are you getting at? And how does this have anything to do with me?’
Margaret started to drum her fingers on the table.
Zack leaned forward. ‘Were you adopted, Ms Barrington?’
Amusement brightened Adrianna’s eyes. ‘No.’
Jacob studied Margaret trying to find similarities between her and Adrianna. They both dressed well and they carried themselves like queens. But that was all surface. He was more interested in bone structure and body types – the kind of traits created by genetics. Both women were tall but they didn’t share any other similarities. Margaret’s face was round, Adrianna’s long and all angles. Margaret’s hands were short, while her daughter’s were long and slim.
‘Ms Barrington, do you have any brothers or sisters?’
‘She’s an only child,’ Margaret supplied.
‘Was your father married before?’ Zack asked.
‘No.’
Jacob looked at the older woman. ‘Could he have fathered any other children?’
‘No. I am certain of that.’ Margaret hesitated. ‘And I can assure you that I have had no other children and that I gave birth to Adrianna. I have countless pictures to prove it.’
Margaret Barrington was lying. Jacob knew it.
‘It’s important that you be honest with us,’ he said quietly. ‘We believe the killer knows his victims are sisters and that’s why he’s killing them.’ Again, he was fishing but he needed to dig as deep as he could to find the connection. ‘We think he may have attempted to take Ms Barrington today.’
The older woman paled. ‘Why would I lie? I have nothing to hide.’
Adrianna tapped manicured fingers on the table. Her patience was dwindling. ‘I can appreciate you have a difficult job, Detectives. But we can’t help you. I’m not adopted. Daddy had no other children.’
‘You have facial features similar to those of two of the victims,’ Zack said. He wasn’t willing to give up just yet, either.
Adrianna rolled her eyes. ‘I’m not adopted, so it doesn’t matter who I look like.’
‘Okay. But understand that whoever is linked to this family is in mortal danger.’
Adrianna nodded. ‘Thank you, but we can’t help you. Now, if you’ll excuse us.’
Jacob’s gaze bore into Mrs Barrington. She swallowed but didn’t quite meet his gaze. Slowly he gathered up the pictures of the dead women. ‘When he takes his victims, he holds them for days before he strangles them.’
The older woman paled.
‘You’re upsetting my mother,’ Adrianna said.
The older woman swallowed. She knew something but wasn’t saying.
‘Drugs them. Their wrists and ankles are raw from struggling.’
Tears pooled in the old woman’s eyes.
‘Detective,’ Adrianna said as she rose from her chair. ‘Enough. Leave.’
At this point Jacob couldn’t force it.
He and Zack started for the door. He wasn’t going to let this go. He’d be back.
‘Wait,’ Mrs Barrington said as she got up and started toward them.
Adrianna stared at her mother.
Tears filled Margaret Barrington’s eyes as she turned to her daughter. ‘I planned never to tell you. Ever. Because it never mattered to me.’
‘Tell me what?’ Adrianna asked.
‘And then that letter came. Mentioned the name Sarah.’
Jacob held his breath.
Margaret Barrington started to weep. ‘Adrianna, you are adopted.’
Allen stood outside the design shop. He saw the cops inside. Rage roiled inside him. The cops were ruining everything. They were keeping his Sarah from him.
Time was running out. The Family had to be assembled soon.
As much as he wanted Sarah, as much as he hated leaving her behind, he realized he wanted Eve and the baby more.
The baby.
Just the thought made him smile. He had to collect Eve so they could await the birth of their baby. He got in his truck and drove across town.
Outside the temperatures had dropped and the wind had picked up. The air felt heavy with the promise of more snow.
Allen wound through evening traffic and soon parked in front of Eve’s house. His heart raced as he pulled out his phone and sent her a text message. Up until now he’d been in complete control. He didn’t like it when things weren’t right.
Loser. Stupid. Fool. The words played in his head, beating him down. He shoved out a breath. ‘No!’
His fists clenched, he reached into his glove box and pulled out another Taser. Soon he would get his plan back on track. He’d take Eve and the baby and then double back for Sarah.
Eve pulled up in front of her house and dashed up the front steps. She opened the door and shouted as she flipped on lights.
He shoved the Taser into his pocket and got out of the truck. He strode up to Eve’s front door.
He rang the bell. Impatience boiled. His need
for her overrode all sense of logic and fear.
He rang the front doorbell again.
This time he heard footsteps. He blew out the breath he was holding. ‘Keep it together.’
The door snapped open. Eve stood before him. She was as glorious as she always was. His perfect woman.
Recognition softened her eyes. ‘I can’t talk now. I’m in a bit of a crisis.’
‘I know.’
Confusion darkened her eyes. ‘You know?’
‘It’s going to be okay, Kendall.’ Smiling, he shoved the Taser into her belly. She convulsed and stared at him with frightened eyes before she collapsed into his arms. ‘We’re going to be a family.’
Chapter Twenty-Two
Tuesday, January 22, 3:00 P.M.
Adrianna’s laughter held no mirth. ‘This is some kind of sick joke, isn’t it? I’m not adopted.’
Tears filled her mother’s eyes as she stared at her. The immediate lack of denial from her mother scared Adrianna. Chest tightening, she stared at her mother’s face, now so tight with worry. This was insane.
‘Adrianna.’
‘Mom, what is this about? You need to say that I’m not adopted.’
Tears streamed down Margaret’s face, ruining the makeup that had taken a half hour to apply. ‘I want you to understand that I love you more than anything in the world.’
Adrianna swallowed, had the sense that the earth shifted under her feet. She was aware that the detectives were staring at them and absorbing every detail of the conversation. At this moment, she resented their presence. Whatever her mother had to say was private and between the two of them. ‘Can you gentlemen give us some privacy?’
They didn’t budge.
‘We can’t do that,’ Jacob said. ‘For your own safety we need to hear what your mother has to say.’
Dread hardened in Adrianna’s stomach. She could barely speak. ‘Please, just give us a minute.’
Margaret shook her head. ‘Let them stay. If what they say is true about these murders, I want them here. You might need them.’
Somewhere deep inside Adrianna the whispers of old doubts grew louder. She’d never felt like she fit in with her family. At family reunions, she was the fair-haired one, not dark, like her cousins. The one who loved art and hated math.
‘Why would I need police protection?’ Adrianna clung to logic even as she stared at the growing panic in her mother’s eyes. ‘I didn’t know these women. I have nothing in common with them.’
Margaret drew in a breath. ‘You might.’
Her mother had always had a flare for the dramatic. She could turn a hangnail into a major event. But the directness in her gaze set off alarm bells. ‘What do you mean? How am I connected to these murders?’ Adrianna could hear the slight hysteria in her voice. ‘I’m not adopted.’ The last statement came out of desperation. God, she needed her mother to say the words.
Margaret shook her head no. ‘You are adopted.’
This was like a bad dream. She fully expected to wake up any moment. Or better, a celebrity would burst into the room and announce she’d been punked. Neither happened. ‘But I’ve seen the pictures of when you were pregnant with me. You told me I was a long delivery.’
‘I wasn’t pregnant with you.’ She dragged in a shuddering sigh.
Adrianna’s head was spinning. ‘I don’t understand.’
‘I need to sit down,’ Margaret said.
Adrianna helped her mother to a chair and took the one across from her. The detectives still stared, still hovered. ‘Tell me.’
‘I love you.’
‘Tell me.’
Tears ran down her face as she started to recount the old nightmare. ‘A month before you were born, I gave birth to a little girl. She was so pretty and so perfect. She was everything to me. My sweet Adrianna.’
Adrianna stiffened. ‘I’m Adrianna.’
Margaret sighed. ‘That was her name too.’
Adrianna couldn’t speak. Her mother hadn’t given birth to her. She’d been given the name of a dead child? Her voice hardened with shock and anger. ‘Tell me.’
‘I came in to check on her one morning. She would have been just four weeks old. Normally, she woke early and was kicking and trying to roll over. Only that morning she was very still. I touched her and she was cold.’ She raised a shaking hand to her temple as if the recollection made her head hurt. ‘I remember screaming and calling your father. When he came in and saw our little girl that way, he called our family doctor. The doctor lived next door and came right over. He told us we’d lost our daughter to crib death.’
Adrianna’s heart beat faster and sweat beaded on her forehead. She thought she’d throw up.
‘I was so lost during those days. I wanted to die. Your father panicked. He was terrified I’d try to kill myself.’ Margaret smiled. ‘Your dad had all kinds of connections in the legal community. He heard about a baby who had just been seized from a bad home situation.’
‘Me?’
‘Yes. He pulled a lot of strings. Money changed hands, but he was careful that all the paperwork was above board. Within a day, he laid you in my arms. In that moment, I felt as if I’d been given my life back. I felt whole again. I never looked back.’
Adrianna’s face flushed. In one moment, the life she’d known had been changed forever. Everything she’d known as truth shattered.
Margaret laid her hand on Adrianna’s. ‘I love you.’
Adrianna pulled her hand away. ‘Do you?’ The primal urge to lash out was so strong. It wasn’t logical. And she didn’t care. ‘Or am I just a replacement?’
Jacbo cleared his throat. ‘Mrs Barrington, do you know anything about Adrianna’s birth family?’
Her shoulders had crumpled, but her gaze remained on Adrianna. ‘I never asked questions. But my husband kept records.’ She knitted her fingers together. ‘I have them at my house, locked in the safe.’
Zack, silent until now, spoke up. ‘I know this is a tough time, but those papers could help us figure out who’s behind the killings. Perhaps even link back to an unsolved double homicide twenty-five years ago.’
Adrianna’s life was crumbling. She couldn’t think clearly.
Margaret lifted her chin. ‘I’ll contact you when my daughter is ready to speak to you. She has the right to see these papers before anyone else.’
The word daughter held an extra emphasis. And Adrianna found she resented it. ‘I’ll give you the papers as soon as I find them.’
Jacob nodded. ‘I’m going to order a patrolman watch over you, Ms Barrington. Right now I believe you’re not safe. I’d like for you to take a DNA test.’
She glanced up at him. ‘Why?’
‘If your DNA is a match to the murder victims, then you need to be very careful. You could be next on the killer’s list.’
The cold outside the shop was a welcome relief for Jacob. He had come on a hunch and unearthed a mess. He felt for Adrianna Barrington. She had just taken a right hook to the chin and had had her feet knocked out from under her.
He glanced at Zack. ‘That was something.’
Zack nodded. ‘Yeah.’
A marked patrol car pulled up in front of the design shop. Jacob nodded to the officer and held up his hand as a signal to wait. He flipped open his phone and called Vega. He requested a forensics tech to do a DNA swab on Adrianna. And soon as he called Kendall he was going to ask the same of her.
‘I’ve got news for you as well,’ Vega said. His voice sounded tense. ‘Dana Miller’s body was found near Carytown.’
Jacob hesitated. ‘Strangled?’
‘Neck broken.’
‘She doesn’t fit the profile of our last three victims.’
‘Her body was found in the trunk of Nicole Piper’s car. Nicole’s purse was also in the trunk.’
‘Kendall’s roommate.’
‘Yeah, I know. Ayden is on the warpath. Kendall called about an hour ago and reported her missing.’ Worry coated each word. ‘Nicol
e’s not answering her cell phone and now neither is Kendall.’
The muscles on the back of Jacob’s neck tensed. ‘Is Kendall at work?’
‘No. Supposedly, she ran home to check to see if Nicole had returned. No one has heard from her and she’s not answering her cell.’
‘Shit.’ He glanced back at the shop.
‘And remember that guy you asked Mundey to check out? The guy who lives behind Kendall? Cole Markham?’
‘Yeah.’
‘Mundey just called and said Markham’s story doesn’t check out. He doesn’t sell insurance. No one’s heard of him. And he’s not renting the place behind Kendall’s. He’s squatting.’
‘Get a warrant and meet us at the house.’
Allen lifted an unconscious Kendall from the cab of his truck and carried her toward the old home. In the setting sun’s soft glow, the house’s imperfections weren’t so visible. If he squinted, the house almost looked like it had twenty-five years ago, when it had been so full of life and laughter.
He’d hated the house then because it had been a stark reminder of what he didn’t have. Its lush gardens, flower boxes, and welcome mat seemed to taunt and remind him that he didn’t belong. In those days he’d felt so adrift. The outsider.
God, but he’d wanted to belong then and to feel like he was loved and wanted.
Only years later during his exile did he come to miss this place. Here he’d at least had a connection to the people who lived in this house. Here he’d at least had his sisters.
He’d tried to re-create that connection with other women so many times but each attempt had failed.
Allen glanced down at Kendall’s face. So beautiful. He leaned forward burying his face in her hair. It smelled soft with a touch of spice. God, but she was so perfect.
A gentle nudge to her cheek only coaxed a soft moan from her. ‘Honey, we’re home.’
She didn’t speak. Not that he expected her to. After he stunned her with the Taser, he’d injected her with a knockout drug. She’d sleep for another hour or two.
He carried her up the stairs and through the front door. Inside, the house’s warmth wrapped around him. Smiling, he climbed the stairs with Kendall, easily managing her weight. She’d gained a couple of pounds since last summer. Then, her features had been too sharp and angular. But the last year had mellowed her. He liked to think that God had been preparing her for his arrival.