Finding Jessie: A Mystery Romance (27 page)

“If I have to testify or give a statement, will you help me to prepare? It’s really hard to talk about to you, let alone a courtroom of strangers. I don’t want to talk about the gory sex-crimes and the beatings, you know?”

“I can’t even imagine. It makes me crazy with rage at them.”

“Are you going to be charged for throwing the tire iron through Frank’s leg?”

“I’m not worried about that.”

“Well, wasn’t that a crime?”

“Let’s call it a gray area. And yes, you know I will be there for you in all. As long as I have breath, I am your knight in shining armor.”

“Yes, you are, Sam. You’re my hero.”

“And you are one tough cookie.”

“No, I’m not. I’m just a survivor.”

“Same thing,” he said.

They kissed carefully because she had gotten punched in the face.

“We need to get you some ice. Maybe take you to the ER for x-rays of your nose.”

“Yeah, it hurts. And I have blood all over my shirt.” She paused. “Also, thank you for reminding me to take home that thing in my purse before we came here.”

Sam rolled his eyes. “We’ll talk about
that
later.”

A detective came out of his office. “I’m Detective Bob Jacobs. You can both come in my office now.”

They followed him into a cluttered office and sat down in the two empty chairs. A woman with red hair sat in the third visitor’s chair.

“Jessie Conyers, I’d like you to meet Jessie Conyers Alden.”

“Oh!” Jessie exclaimed.

The women peered at each other. The older one smiled, but the smile did not quite reach her eyes. Jessie got a bit startled looking at her, so alike were they in appearance and mannerisms.

“We do look a lot alike,” she observed.

“Well, we’re redheads anyway,” came the noncommittal answer.

“You look like you could be my mom.”

“I’m not your mom, but I might be your aunt. If you’re my niece, you’re named after me.”

“This is great! I have a family!”

“We don’t know that yet,” said the detective, “but will the two of you be willing to give DNA samples that we can compare with the leg bone from one of the bodies that was found, the one with red hair?”

“I will,” Jessie said. “Right, Sam?”

“As your attorney, I say yes.”

She looked at Jessie Alden, who looked at Detective Jacobs. “I have to ask my lawyer, too.”

“Fine. Let me know within a few days, then?” Jacobs said.

“Of course.”

“I’ll do mine today,” Jessie said. She couldn’t wrap her head around her “aunt’s” seeming reluctance to give a DNA sample.

She addressed her question to Detective Jacobs. “Are we trying to establish a link between all three of us?”

“That’s right. We are going to do three different
DNA analyses. Between the two Jessies to determine if she is your aunt. Maternity DNA testing between the younger Jessie and the remains of the red-haired woman. And finally, the older Jessie and the remains of the red-haired woman to see if you two are siblings.
”

Jessie looked at the detective. “Wow. That’s a lot of testing. Do I have to pay for anything?”

“No, it’s part of a criminal case or cases. We take care of the costs.”

“What’s the big picture, Detective?” Jessie asked. “I was a baby when all this began.”

He fiddled with a pen, clicking it over and over. “Years ago, Jessie Alden here, who was then Jessie Conyers, reported that her older sister, Virginia, went missing just after giving birth to a baby girl. She was living at an unwed mothers’ home that is now a bed and breakfast inn.”

“So my mom…Virginia?…is probably dead?” Jessie asked, her voice hoarse with emotion.

“We think so.” He paused. “If that’s her. We don’t know yet. I’m so sorry for your loss and for what you’ve been through for decades.”

“I didn’t even know my last name until today.”

“Really?”

“Yes, really. When he recognized me today, Frank blurted out the name. I assume it’s really my real name, and not the four-letter word he called me for years.”

Jessie Alden flinched but offered no kind words.

“Can I ask a question?” Sam said to Jacobs.

“Certainly.”

“Even though there is no DNA evidence from her captivity, isn’t the fact that he called her by name something that can be entered into evidence of him knowing her?”

“That slip of the tongue of his is her word against his in a courtroom. You know that, counselor. However…”

Detective Jacobs pressed his lips together and made a note on a legal pad. “I got a quick look at your cold-case file from 1995 and one of the first rape kits used in Massachusetts was used on you at the hospital that the police took you to, that night you escaped. We just have to locate it in an evidence storage facility and hopefully, nothing has happened to it over the years. I don’t know if those things even have a shelf life, or if the evidence spoils, so bear with me while we try to locate it. So, we
might
have some DNA evidence that could link the suspect to you. In your file, the photos were so sad...I’m sorry. Are you holding up okay, Jessie?”

“Thank you, I’m well,” she said softly, looking at Sam. “It’s been decades since my captivity, and I still have some issues. Identity being the main issue. PTSD being secondary. But I am happier now because I know who I probably am and I have a great support person in Sam.”

Sam smiled.

Jessie continued, “And now, I might know my mom’s name and my mom’s sister’s name.” She looked at her probable aunt, who glanced at her and looked away.

“Let’s wait for the test results,” Jessie Alden said.

Very hurt at the woman’s behavior, Jessie cleared her throat. “How did those people, Tansy and Frank, get their hands on me when I was a baby girl?”

“We think someone in the unwed mothers’ home was killing the teenage moms and selling their newborn babies to sex traffickers or to upscale adoption agencies. We haven’t yet connected Frank and Tansy to the unwed mothers’ home. And that’s why you’re here today.”

“I really thought that I was kidnapped from my family after I had been with them for a while. Not kidnapped at birth. Not sold. I mean, to be bought by someone who used me for a…never mind. You know what I’m saying.”

The detective said, “It is kidnapping, but not in the traditional sense that a lot of people assume, as you might have, that a woman wanted a child to love and snatched one.”

“That’s what I thought, not that my life matched that fairy tale. I just didn’t think of myself as being a
trafficked
child. Per se. Not that word.”

“It happens everywhere. In Spain, more than 300,000 babies were stolen and sold in Spain between 1960 and 1989, most of them from unwed mothers.”

Jessie gasped. “Three hundred thousand stolen babies? That’s horrible!”

“It happens in the U.S., too, but not to that degree. We try to investigate every case that is reported, especially when the mother is told that her newborn baby died, but nobody will show them the body.”

“Is that what you think happened to my mother?”

“We don’t know yet.”

Jessie Alden’s phone vibrated and she checked it. “I have to go pick up my mother after some dental work. She’s had to have a lot of visits lately. I’m sorry but I can’t stay longer.”

“I have a grandmother?” Jessie put her hand over her heart.

“If you end up being related to us, you will.”

“What’s her name?”

After a slight hesitation, she said, “It’s Beth Conyers. But she has dementia and she lives in a nursing home.”

“I’m so sorry. Can I visit her and take her a small gift?”

“I don’t think that would be a good idea. She’s not really communicative.”

“But…I still want to visit her.”

Jessie Alden shook her head. “Sorry, that’s not possible. It would be upsetting to her.”

The two Jessies looked at each other uncomfortably. Jessie was truly stunned and hurt.

Detective Jacobs said to Jessie Alden, “My mom has dementia, too, and we’ve been searching for a dentist who can handle her. What’s the name of your mom’s?”

“It’s Cheng. Dr. Sandra Cheng.” Jessie Alden put down her coffee cup on the edge of his desk and rose to leave.

“Thanks!” Detective Jacobs said. “Oh, don’t forget to let me know about the samples for the DNA test, after you talk to your lawyer.”

“I will. Thank you, Detective.” She nodded at Jessie. “Good-bye.”

“Can we at least exchange phone numbers?” Jessie asked.

“Let’s wait until after the testing.”

And then, Jessie Conyers Alden left.

When it was just the three of them, Detective Jacobs turned back to Jessie and Sam.

“Hey, Sam, nice to see you.”

“Hi, Bob. I wanted to thank you for giving that information to Linda about the case.”

“You’re welcome. I kind of owed you one, since that internal investigation where you helped me, for free.”

“Well, you were innocent. Any good lawyer should have gotten you off.”

“Still, you saved me and I was kind of broke. I won’t ever forget that you stepped up to the plate when I was being an ass to Linda and cheating on her.”

“You’re welcome,” Sam said. “And you know that I didn’t let my personal feelings get in the way of your legal case.”

“I know that.” Bob paused and said, “You’re both going to see me do something odd in a moment and I request that you not ask me
any
questions about it.”

Sam and Jessie exchanged looks.

“Fine,” Sam said.

“S-s-s-sure,” Jessie said, stammering.

“Good,” Detective Jacobs said. He got a plastic evidence bag out of a supply cabinet. With a pen, lifted Jessie Alden’s empty coffee cup off the corner of his desk, put it in the evidence bag, sealed it, and signed it.

“Oh, my God,” Sam exclaimed.

Jessie’s jaw dropped.

“Jessie,” Detective Jacobs said, “I’m only going to say one more thing before I send you to the basement to give your DNA samples.”

“What?” she asked.

“You are the spitting image of your aunt. And I say that as a
cop
.”

He put a finger to his lips.

They both nodded.

Chapter Twenty-two

“That was bizarre!” Jessie said when they were finished with the police department.

“No
kidding
that was bizarre. You drive, Jessie,” Sam said, as they got in his Volvo. “I need to use my phone and find the place where we need to go.”