“Mrs. Avery, I hope you don’t mind my staying here. I don’t want to be an inconvenience.”
“Nonsense. You’re welcome.”
“Am I? Even after what I did?”
“I was under the impression you didn’t remember anything.”
“No, I don’t remember. Lawson told me. I can’t offer you an explanation, but—”
Diane reached out to her. “It’s water under the bridge, Ashlee.”
Angry raised voices floated up from the den to belie her assurance. Ashlee heard her name mentioned more than once and knew Lawson’s brothers were not as willing to be as welcoming as his mother.
Diane closed the bedroom door. “Never mind that. All my boys can be hotheaded, but any one of them would have done the same thing in bringing you here, given the situation. For right now, let’s focus on you getting your memory back and keeping you safe.” She opened the closet and took out a thick blanket for the bed. “This is my daughter’s bedroom when she’s home. I sent you several things she had here, but there might be a few more pairs of jeans and some shirts and boots in the closet. Help yourself to whatever you can find.”
She left Ashlee alone and when the door closed Ashlee fell onto the bed and sighed. Was this the right thing to do? To be in this house knowing how she’d hurt Lawson? Part of her felt that she should leave. But on the other hand, she didn’t have a lot of choices.
Ugh! If only she could remember!
She pressed her hands against her forehead and tried to push past the mental block in her mind, but nothing would come. She didn’t recall being shot at or why she’d come back to this town. She didn’t remember anything about her past. Her mother? Her father? The only family that seemed familiar was her sister, and that was just because she shared the same face. Who else in her life was she close to?
Ashlee glanced at her finger and saw no wedding ring. She wasn’t married. No, she wouldn’t be, not if she was dating Jake Stephens.
But someone was out there looking for her, looking to kill her.
A chill ran up her spine and she picked up the blanket and wrapped it around her shoulders.
Was the doctor right? Had something so terrible happened to her that she’d blocked it from her memory? What could that have been?
And did she really want to recall it?
* * *
“I can’t believe you brought her back here,” Colby said. His tone was angry and bitter, and although Lawson knew the fury was on his behalf, he didn’t care for it.
“She’s in trouble. She needs help.”
“But it doesn’t have to be from you,” Paul stated.
“I know, but I should help her. I can’t let our past dictate how I treat her. She’s in a vulnerable state.”
“So true,” his mother said, descending the stairs and joining the conversation. “Hate doesn’t solve anything.”
“We’re not talking about hate, Mom,” Miles said. “We’re talking about boundaries. Little brother here doesn’t seem to have them.”
“I loved her once. I just don’t want to see anything bad happen to her. That’s all.”
Some days he was glad to have his brothers home on leave from their duties. Today was not one of those days. While he was glad to have plenty of trained, capable protectors at hand, if he could have brought Ashlee home without their audience, he would have preferred it.
“I have some work to do in the barn,” Paul said, grabbing his hat and gloves and limping out. He’d suffered both physical and emotional injuries during his last mission with the Navy SEALs and the physical work of the ranch helped to soothe his frayed nerves.
Colby and Miles each grabbed their hats and followed Paul through the door.
“Thanks for understanding, Mom,” Lawson said as his brothers went off on their own ways.
She glanced around the empty room. “Where is your father? He was here when I went upstairs.”
“He said he was feeling tired and needed a nap. Actually, I think he was just trying to stay out of the lecture he knew my brothers were going to give me.”
“I’ll check on him in a minute. First, I want to fix Ashlee something to eat. It’s several hours until supper and she might need something to tide her over.” She hurried into the kitchen and busied herself preparing a sandwich. “You did the right thing,” she said when he entered the kitchen. “With her family gone from here, she has no one left to look out for her. Bringing her to Silver Star was the right decision.”
“I’m glad at least one person doesn’t think I’ve lost my mind.”
She stopped and looked up at him, worry creasing her face. “I said it was the right decision. I didn’t say it was a good one. When I think of what that girl put you through...” She shook her head, then sighed and turned back to her task of sandwich making. “I’ve prayed for that girl again and again. I just never thought God would see fit to bring her back to Silver Star.”
He understood her concern. Losing Ashlee six years ago had sent him to a dark place. It made sense that his mother—along with the rest of his family—was worried he might go there again. He worried about that, too, but he was determined to help her without involving his heart. “I never thought He would, either, but I can’t just abandon her, can I?”
“No, you can’t. None of us can. I just worry what she’s gotten herself into.”
“Me, too. All that money, the bullet holes, amnesia. The doctor said she must have witnessed something traumatic to trigger the memory loss. I can believe it.”
He’d seen terrible things in his time as a deputy and the stories his brothers told often shocked and horrified him. He hated to think about all the terrible things that could have happened to Ashlee. He didn’t want to know the truth, but they would both have to face it to figure out what kind of danger she’d gotten herself into.
* * *
The family was courteous and polite, but Ashlee felt the underlying tension as she sat at the large family table for supper. All the brothers were present, including Josh, who’d arrived at the house sometime while she was still upstairs. The table was filled with dishes of roast beef, potatoes, green beans and rolls, and everything smelled wonderful.
Lawson had shown her where to sit, then taken the chair beside her. She was glad he was nearby because she felt like she was navigating strange and hostile waters being in this house surrounded by his parents and his brothers.
Marshall Avery bowed his head and everyone else followed suit. Lawson reached for her hand and she gave it, joining hands with Diane on the other side. Marshall quickly spoke the blessing, then everyone dug in.
Ashlee filled her plate sparingly, but her appetite wasn’t what it should have been and she knew she couldn’t finish even what she’d taken.
Conversation at the table changed rapidly, ranging from Lawson’s description of a mare about to give birth to Colby readying to take on a new FBI assignment to Josh’s turning back to Ashlee’s case.
“Cecile and I were discussing going to Dallas to check out your apartment,” Josh said. “There might be a clue there.”
She nodded. “That sounds like a good idea.”
“We’ll go,” Lawson volunteered. “We can drive up tomorrow.”
Once that was settled, they moved on to another conversation about someone in town whose farm was at risk of foreclosure. They all lamented how commonplace such a thing was becoming.
“We’ve been blessed,” Marshall stated. “We’ve had some close calls, but God has always pulled us out of hot water.”
Lawson nodded. “I pray He always will.”
Supper ended and Ashlee offered to help with the dishes. She was quickly shooed away by Diane, who insisted the boys always cleaned up after a big meal.
She walked into the den and stared at the photos displayed on the wall. Miles in his official US Marshals’ photo
. Colby receiving his FBI credentials. Paul’s military picture was next to Kellyanne’s and Lawson’s graduation photos. They looked like a nice, caring family.
Ashlee spotted Lawson when he came out of the kitchen and pointed to the photos. “Your parents must be so proud of you all,” she commented.
“Yes, they are.”
She motioned toward the photo of a dark-haired girl. “Your sister is very pretty.”
“She’s tough, too. She had to be to grow up with five brothers.” When she’d finished examining the pictures, he walked her upstairs to her room and talked about going to her apartment the next day. “We should get an early start. It’s a three-hour drive from here.”
“I’ll be up,” she said, certain she wouldn’t be able to sleep. She was suddenly very anxious to see her place and hopefully get some answers.
She went to bed and tried to imagine her apartment, but even that wouldn’t come except for the images she’d briefly seen while checking out her social media pages.
It was unnerving and she was thankful when morning finally arrived and she and Lawson were on the road.
They rode in an easy silence, the music from the radio filling the cab of the truck for most of the ride. The hours flew by until he pulled into her apartment complex. She took out the key Cecile had given her from her purse. She wouldn’t have even known which apartment was hers except for the address listed on her license and vehicle registration. The apartment complex was small and all the units faced a courtyard. Apartment 6B was on the second floor, so they took the stairs. She sucked in a breath as she inserted the key into the lock. She glanced at Lawson who nodded, assuring her that he was ready for whatever awaited them. It suddenly occurred to her that she didn’t know if she had any form of security system and she wouldn’t know the pass code if she did. Oh well, they would deal with that if and when it came up.
She turned the key and pushed open the door. Inside, the living room had been ransacked. Lawson pulled his weapon, then pushed past her and took in the scene. He checked the bedrooms and bathroom and announced the apartment was clear of people.
She couldn’t get much of a sense of the décor amid all the mess and yet...nothing seemed familiar to her. Not the furniture or the appliances. She picked up a photograph of her and her sister, the same one she’d seen on social media. Even that was unfamiliar.
“Any idea what happened here?” Lawson asked.
She shook her head. “Not a clue.” Nothing was coming back to her. This might as well have been someone else’s wreck of an apartment.
Ashlee stepped into one of the bedrooms and noted it had also been trashed. “Why would someone do this?”
He shrugged. “If I had to guess, I’d say they were searching for the money.”
That made sense. Her apartment would have been the first place they would have looked. It hadn’t been here, of course, because she’d had it with her in the car.
“Hello?” The voice from the doorway was soft and questioning, and just a little brittle.
Lawson spun and raised his gun and Ashlee’s heart jumped at the noise. He quickly lowered his weapon when he spotted an elderly lady, holding a cat, standing in her doorway.
“Hello?” Ashlee responded.
The woman glanced around with concern at the mess. “What happened here?”
“We’re not sure,” Lawson stated.
She gave Ashlee a questioning look. “Bree?”
And suddenly her confusion made sense. She was just trying to figure out who she was talking to—if she was a neighbor, then she probably would have expected Ashlee to call her by name, or at least show some sign of recognition. “I’m Ashlee.”
Lawson holstered his gun as the woman entered.
“Have you seen anyone coming or going out of here?” Ashlee asked.
“No, I haven’t. Not since I saw you rush out two days ago. But I found Mel. He was wandering. He must have run out when you left.”
“Or when someone broke in and trashed the place,” Lawson suggested.
The woman held out the cat and Ashlee reached to take it. The large tabby purred and rubbed against her and Ashlee found it comforting to have him in her arms, all the more so from the familiar feeling it gave her.
“Thank you for returning him, Mrs....?”
She glanced at Ashlee, confused. “McAlpin.”
“I’m sorry, Mrs. McAlpin. Everything is just a little bit confusing right now.”
“I hope your sister is okay.”
Ashlee glanced at Lawson, then back at the woman. “Do you have reason to think she wouldn’t be?” So far, Bree hadn’t reached out to her. She’d left her contact info at the hotel in the message she’d sent Bree, but when she’d moved to the ranch, she’d asked the hotel manager to alert her through the sheriff’s office if her sister phoned. So far, she’d heard nothing.
“I just haven’t seen either of you in several days.”
“So my sister was staying here with me?”
“Yes, she’s been staying here for several months now. Why are you asking all these questions?”
“I have to be honest, Mrs. McAlpin. I was in an accident and I’m having trouble remembering things.”
Mrs. McAlpin gasped and reached out a concerned hand to Ashlee. “Are you all right?”
“I’m fine except I haven’t been able to reach my sister and I’m worried about her.”
“I haven’t seen her, either, but I hope she’s all right. She’s been trying so hard to get her life together.”
“Has she?” Lawson asked. “In what way?”
“Well, I know Ashlee has been concerned about her for a long time now. She fell in with the wrong crowd and took up with a man who was into drugs. She finally came to her senses and decided she wanted something better for herself, so she left him and moved in here with Ashlee.” She glanced at Ashlee. “You were so excited when she did. You told me you felt like you’d finally gotten your sister back.”
She smiled, wishing she could recall that tender moment. Still, it was nice to hear.
Lawson took a business card from his pocket and handed it to the woman. “If you notice anyone return here, or spot anyone suspicious hanging around, call this number. We’d especially like to talk to Bree to let her know what’s happened to Ashlee, so please pass this number along to her if you see her.”
“You’re not staying?” she asked Ashlee.
“I don’t think it’s a good idea at the moment. It may not be safe for me to be back here for now.”
“Would you like me to keep Mel for you until you return?”
Ashlee hated the idea of leaving him behind, but it felt wrong to take him to someplace he wasn’t familiar with just to make herself feel better. Besides, she already felt like enough of an imposition. “Would you mind?”
“Certainly not. I’ve enjoyed having him around for the past few days.”
Ashlee handed the cat back to Mrs. McAlpin and said her goodbyes. She hoped she would hear from her soon with news that Bree had returned to the apartment. She turned and looked around at the mess of her ransacked home and a terrible thought hit her. “You don’t think Bree was here when whoever broke in did this, do you?”
He glanced around and even though she could see he wanted to reassure her, he couldn’t do it. Perhaps that was why her sister wasn’t responding to her messages. She shuddered at the thought—especially when a new realization struck her. If someone was trying to kill her, might they accidentally mistake her sister for her?
She crossed her arms and tried to rub away the unshakable dread that flowed through her that something terrible had happened to her sister and it was all because of her.
Lawson saw her fear and pulled her into a gentle embrace. “She might not have been here. There’s no blood on the floor and no obvious signs of a struggle. It looks to
me that whoever did this was looking for the money.”
She wiped away a single tear that slid down her cheek and prayed he was right. If anything happened to Bree because of her, she would never forgive herself.
“While I’m here, I may as well grab some of my clothes.” She walked into the bedroom and packed some things into a suitcase, taking the opportunity while he wasn’t hovering over her to pull herself together. She wouldn’t get through this, wouldn’t find her sister, by falling apart.
Lawson carried the case to the truck. As they pulled away from the parking lot, she stared at the apartment and wondered how long it would be before she could return to her normal life, or even what normal was to her.
“Tell me about my sister,” Ashlee asked after they’d been on the road for a while. She noticed him hesitate, but she was determined to know. “Please. You can’t imagine how awful it is not to know anything about your identical twin sister. What is she like?”
“I’m not sure what you mean.”
“Is she the type of person to disappear without answering my calls or messages? Mrs. McAlpin mentioned she was trying to get her life back together. Do you have any idea what that means?”
He grimaced, and her stomach sank. For him to be this reluctant...she could only assume that meant he didn’t think she’d like what he had to say. He obviously didn’t want to bad-mouth her sister, but she deserved to know the truth.
Finally, he spoke. “I haven’t seen or heard from her in years... But when we were in school, and even after, word got around that she’d started hanging around with the wrong type of people.”
“Type of people?”
“People who were into drinking, drugs, theft. I hope for your sake that what Mrs. McAlpin said is true and she is trying to make a better life for herself. She was always hanging around with the troublemakers and pulling you down with her. I remember a week before our wedding, you had to drive to Dallas to bail her out of jail. I begged you to let her sit there and face the consequences of her actions, but you refused. She called and you rushed to help her.”
Texas Twin Abduction Page 5