Colleen Coble (31 page)

“I’ve known her a long time, more than a year.” Curtis barely held on to his temper.

Curtis’s father stood. “I think we’d do well to remember why we’re here.” His gravelly voice held an edge. “My granddaughter is out there somewhere, and she’s all that matters right now. Bickering about inconsequential things is stupid. Your granddaughter needs you to help find her.”

“
Your
granddaughter, Edward. Whether she’s ours or not
remains to be seen. There must have been some reason my son didn’t marry her.”

Amy leaped to her feet. “Dad, that’s enough! If you can’t be civil, you can go home. I thought you wanted to come here to help and be supportive. Your attitude is not helping.”

Confusion mingled with Oliver’s bullish expression. “Well, we don’t know yet. Not until the paternity test comes back.”

Mom pulled Amy back onto the sofa and patted her leg as she stared up at Oliver. “You think our daughter would actually lie about something like this?”

“Well . . .”

Mom held up her hand. “Your son claimed Raine as his daughter. Are you calling him a liar as well? I feel sorry for you, Mr. Lang. So little trust in your life.”

Oliver’s face reddened. “Mary, I think it’s time we left.” He didn’t wait for his wife but stomped toward the door.

Amy followed her mother. “I’ll run them home and then come back.”

Curtis went after her and stopped her at the door. “Don’t let them talk you out of coming back.”

“I wish they hadn’t even come,” she said, her voice choked. “Raine is all that matters, and they’re just making things worse. I’m sorry for the stress they’ve brought you and your parents.”

He put his hand on her arm. “It’s not your fault.”

She gave a slight smile and shook her head. “It’s days like this that I wish I were adopted.”

T
HIRTY
-T
HREE

C
urtis’s eyes burned from two nights of no sleep. He’d prayed, put up posters, done interviews with multiple news stations, and had made a nuisance of himself with his FBI contact. There was still no sign of his Raine. He found himself playing endless games of FreeCell on his computer.

Saturday morning he mowed the yard with his cell phone in his pocket, but it hadn’t rung. The scent of fresh-cut grass hung in the air as he put his mower away and headed for the house. Amy’s car pulled into the drive, and he changed course to meet her.

There was a plate of cookies in her hand when she got out of the car. “I know it’s silly, but I felt compelled to bake cookies this morning. I’ll eat every one if I leave them in the house, so I thought I’d share the pounds with you.” She looked him over. “You’ve lost weight.”

“I smell peanut butter.”

“Any real man loves peanut butter. These are healthy too with real butter and almond flour.”

He put his hand on her shoulder. “I appreciate the effort you’re making to cheer me up.”

“No word?”

He shook his head. “It’s killing me.” He selected a cookie, then
bit into it. The peanutty taste was good on his tongue, but his stomach still felt like lead.

“I can only imagine how you and Edith feel. I love Raine already but not like you two.”

The mailman’s arrival distracted his attention. The DNA test was only supposed to take a couple of days. Not that it mattered right now. Oliver’s custody case was a gnat compared to the overwhelming worry about Raine. He went to meet the mail carrier, who passed over a thick batch of envelopes. Nothing, nothing, then he paused. The official-looking envelope made his chest tighten.

He showed it to Amy. “The DNA test came back.”

“I thought so. You went a little pale.” She swallowed and stared at it. “I’m afraid of what my parents will do, Curtis. They may try to take control of the investigation into her disappearance away from you. Not having those results is the only thing that has kept them corralled. The private investigator they hired has been poking around, but I think he’s pretty useless. Maybe my father just had to do something. Maybe you shouldn’t read it. If they don’t know the truth, they won’t interfere.”

He offered her a tight smile. “I’m prepared for him to try to take charge. I won’t allow it. Raine is
mine
.” The flap resisted his finger, then he ripped it open and scanned the page.

Negative. Not a DNA match.

This couldn’t be right, and he read it again.
Negative
. He whistled through his teeth. “Holy cow.”

“What is it?” She took the letter he held out and read it. The color leached from her cheeks. “It can’t be!” Her eyes were stunned when she looked up at him. “Ben isn’t Raine’s father? Then who is?”

“He claimed to be her father.” Curtis took off his Harley do-rag and wiped his forehead, then adjusted it back in place. Anything to avoid facing the implications of this result. “They both lied. But why?”

“If we knew that, we might know why Raine was taken.” She bit her lip. “My parents won’t know how to behave about this news.”

“At least they’ll drop the custody battle.” He winced. “I’m sorry. This means she’s not your niece.”

Her eyes widened. “Not my niece.” Her voice trembled. “I—I have to admit this is a blow. I thought she was a small piece of Ben left in the world.”

He took her elbow and guided her to the house. “Edith isn’t going to believe this. I’m not sure I can.”

Edith opened the screen door for them. “I won’t believe what?” Her pallor had grown worse with every hour Raine was still missing.

“The DNA results show that Ben is not Raine’s dad.” He let the door shut behind them and headed to the kitchen to start coffee. The women followed him. “Yet Gina and Ben both claimed he was the father.”

Amy stepped past him and put coffee in the grinder. “Maybe Ben suspected he wasn’t the father and that’s why he didn’t give her any support.”

She needed a dose of reality about that brother of hers. “We can talk about it over coffee and cookies.”

Her chin was tipped up aggressively, and her green eyes sparked fire. “How could Gina lie about something like that? Did she not even know who the father was and picked Ben as a likely sucker? This is despicable!”

Curtis clamped his lips shut and put water in the coffeepot. She was judging Gina just like everyone else. Gina had changed. Why she’d lied was still in question, but he’d bet everything he owned that Gina knew exactly who Raine’s father was.

The gray deck looked new with a pergola overhead for shade. Baskets of geraniums hung from the beams. Birds chirped
overhead as Amy settled into a chair at the outdoor table. The beauty of the day did little to calm her agitation.

Raine wasn’t her niece.

The information kept slapping her in the face. Everything she thought she knew was suddenly in question. Even her decision to settle here. Being close to Raine had been part of the draw.

The thought of eating a cookie turned Amy’s stomach, but she set the plate of treats on the patio table. Curtis’s eyes seemed to look through her as he sat in a chair beside her and sipped his coffee. He hadn’t condemned his sister’s actions, but he should have. And if he thought what Gina had done was okay, then whatever relationship developing between the two of them wasn’t going anywhere. First drugs and now a blatant lie about her brother. Who was Gina really?

“You look shell-shocked.” Curtis set his cell phone on the table and glanced at his aunt. “You okay, Ede?”

Edith’s lips trembled. “I feel like I didn’t know Gina at all. Everything is such a jumble.”

How could he act so unaffected by this news? Amy stared at his tanned face under the Harley do-rag. “Don’t you feel the same? I’ve been told Raine is my niece, only to discover it was all a lie.” She blinked rapidly at the burn in her eyes. “I feel a sense of loss, okay? How would you feel if you found out she wasn’t related to you at all?”

He held her gaze. “I’d still love her.”

The rebuke in his words brought her up short. Did this change how she felt about the tiny girl? No, it didn’t. She’d already given her heart. Every moment that went by with her missing was agony. “And I do love her.” She exhaled and slumped in the chair. “But it’s still hard to swallow. This surely means something, but what?”

“I think it’s all connected to her kidnapping.”

“Why do you say that?”

He stared at the hummingbird feeder where two tiny birds
fluttered. “Intuition. Two deaths and now Raine gone. And we suddenly find out even Raine is not who we thought.”

Edith stirred cream into her coffee. “Have you heard from the FBI about their questioning of the senator?”

Curtis nodded and glanced at Amy. “I didn’t get a chance to tell you, but they called this morning. Senator Kendrick didn’t know anyone called Bossman, and he says he didn’t know Grant that well. I guess he was recommended by his campaign manager.”

“Then we need to talk to the campaign manager.”

“They plan to. The boat hasn’t been found either, even though Heather told us the name and make.”

Amy watched one of the hummingbirds dive-bomb the other one, trying to drive it away from the feeder. Territorial behavior even in the bird kingdom. Did Raine’s kidnapping have something to do with her father’s rights? Could she be safe and sound with her real father—someone who didn’t want to admit he was related to her?

She pulled out her phone. “I’d like to talk to the senator myself. He might be a little more forthcoming with me.”

“You think he’d be honest on the phone?”

She shrugged. “Maybe you’re right. I think he’s doing a campaign drive in Kill Devil Hills tomorrow. I could show up and talk to him face-to-face.”

“Want me to take you?”

She hesitated, then nodded. “I’d appreciate the company.”

She studied his expression and the sadness in his eyes. What did he think about his sister now?

“What are you thinking?” he asked softly. “I see the judgment in your eyes. You blame Gina, don’t you?”

“Shouldn’t I? She lied to you, to Ben, to Edith, everyone.”

Curtis’s gray eyes flashed. “My sister cared about everyone. You can’t judge her based on this one incident.”

“You appear to be deliberately ignoring the evidence. I thought better of you than that. Look at what’s right in front of us, Curtis! The truth is here.”

“Truth—whose truth? And who are you to judge her?” he countered, his voice raised.

Her anger spiked at his dismissive tone. “She lied to my brother! I think that’s reason enough for me to question her virtue.”

His eyes flashed. “I’m not going to sit here and let you trash my sister, Amy.” He snatched his cell phone and coffee, then got up and went inside.

“Oh dear,” Edith said. “That was rather unpleasant. And you are making judgments, honey. Judgments that aren’t yours to make. None of us knows what is in another person’s heart or the circumstances that rose in a person’s life. I’m not saying what Gina did was right, but God is her judge, not you or me.” She took a sip of her coffee. “And what of your brother’s involvement? I don’t believe he was lily white in this situation.”

Amy bristled at Edith’s tone. “What do you mean? He was hoodwinked like everyone else.”

“Was he? I don’t think so. I suspect there is something much deeper going on than we know. And Ben didn’t have a stellar reputation either.”

Amy jumped to her feet. “I won’t listen to anyone talking bad about my brother. Not even you, Edith.”

She marched around the edge of the house to her car. Her pulse thumped against her temple. Neither Curtis nor Edith knew her brother all that well. Not like she did. But as she drove toward home, she wondered what reputation Edith was talking about. Ben had been well liked. At least she’d always thought so.

T
HIRTY
-F
OUR

H
is chest still burning from his argument with Amy, Curtis stood in Raine’s room. Two walls were pink and two were lavender. Her favorite three stuffed bears sat in the tan rocker in the corner. He stepped to her empty crib and picked up her blanket. If she’d had this, it might have been of some comfort to her. Holding it to his nose, he inhaled the aroma of baby lotion and little girl. Was she warm and fed? Crying for him and Edith?

His eyes stung, and tears choked his throat. How could he bear it if he never got her back? He stood and prayed for a long time by her crib, then wiped his eyes and closed the door behind him before stepping into Gina’s room.

Boxes littered the room, and everything in the dresser drawers hung out. The fuzzy pink rug had been kicked up to reveal the wood floors underneath. Edith knelt in the closet on her hands and knees. Her expression was almost wild when she looked back at him.

He hauled her to her feet when she held out her hand. “What are you doing?”

Her short hair stuck up on end. She wiped dust on her capris. “Looking for something, anything, that will put an end to this
nightmare.” Her face crumpled. “I want my Raine.” Tears rolled down her cheeks.

His own tears welling again, he pulled her against his chest. “We’ll find her, Ede, I swear we will.” They’d both been rocked to their cores.

“She’s never been away from us. I’m so afraid, Curtis.” Her words were muffled against his shirt. “I can’t stand this.”