Don't Look Back (27 page)

“Mom! Spill it.” Sam, the impatient one.

“Your dad and I went through some hard times back before you were born, Jamie. Sam was about nine years old, so she probably remembers some of it.”

Samantha shook her head. “No, I don’t remember any hard times.”

“Well, they were there, whether you remember them or not. Anyway, your dad hurt his back real bad one summer. He climbed up on the roof to repair a shingle and fell off.”

“Oh, wait! I do remember that,” Sam declared.

“He was on a lot of medication. But the pain was horrible.

And he was afraid to have surgery. So, the doctors tried to keep him comfortable with painkillers. Lots and lots of painkillers.”

“He got addicted, didn’t he?” Jamie whispered, looking at her dad. He nodded and clenched his jaw.

“Yes,” her mother cleared her throat. “He did. I knew it and so did a lot of other people, but your dad wouldn’t admit he had a problem. Even after the surgery that he finally consented to have, he couldn’t seem to kick the drugs. His back healed, but he was never really completely out of pain.”

“So he kept taking the painkillers. Where did he get them?”

“He just doctor hopped. Saw one doctor after another. Since he rarely turned anything into the insurance company, nothing was on record. And back then, they didn’t have the kind of computer tracking systems they have now. So, it wasn’t hard to get his hands on the pills.”

Her mother’s throat bobbed and Jamie’s dad took up the story even while she wondered where they were going with this. “One day I was in a mindless, drugged daze, not feeling any pain, that’s for sure. I left a few pills out on the table, intending to pop some more. The phone rang and I went to answer it, leaving the pills on the table.”

A quiet sob from her mother echoed in the room.

“Sam, you were old enough to know better, but you’d had a rough day at school. A bully had pushed you down and said some mean things to you. You grabbed a few of those pills, popped them in your mouth, and swallowed them before I could blink. I threw the phone down and tried to make you throw up. You just looked at me and said, ‘But Daddy, I had a bad day. I want to feel better just like you.’”

Sam gasped. “I don’t remember that.”

Tears dripped down her mother’s cheeks. “We had to rush you to the hospital to get your stomach pumped.”

Her dad stood. “I felt like I’d been slammed with a ton of bricks. The fact that I had taught you that a few pills could make you feel better, and then I couldn’t stop you from – ” He broke off, swallowing hard.

“He left that night and I didn’t hear from him for two years.”

Jamie sat straight up. “What? Wait a minute.
I
happened somewhere in those two years. Are you saying,” she gulped, “Daddy’s not my daddy?”

“No,” her mother rushed to say, “he’s definitely your daddy. Neither one of us knew I was pregnant when he left. I didn’t find out until about a week later.”

Jamie and Samantha stared at their parents in stunned disbelief. Then Jamie shot to her feet and faced her mother. “Why are you telling us this now? There’s more, isn’t there?”

“Yes,” a sob, a sniffle, then, “there’s more.” She looked at Samantha. “Are you okay with me telling you this? I didn’t want to do this now, but she wants to meet you and is insisting on sooner rather than later.”

Samantha leaned forward, wincing. “I’m fine, it just hurts to move.”

“Who wants to meet us?”

Another glance exchanged between her parents, then, her father said, “Your sister.”

26

Ever since her parents’ had dropped that emotional bomb, Jamie had been like a zombie. All day, she’d gone back and forth between work and checking on her sister. The one in the hospital, not the one she’d just learned existed.

She had another sister somewhere in the world. How insane was that? And not just any sister, a
twin
. Someone who looked exactly like her. Maybe. What if she was a fraternal twin? Jamie hadn’t thought to ask. Her mind had buzzed like a horde of swarming bees.

After her parents finished their incredible tale, they’d left, leaving Jamie and Samantha to talk about it, to deal with this life-changing news.

She had a sister who’d discovered she was adopted when her father delivered the news on his deathbed. After his funeral, she’d started the search and found her family, Jamie’s family, in a matter of minutes.

While Samantha and Jamie sat there stunned, absorbing the information, good news had come in the form of the doctor. Samantha could go home as long as she promised to stay in bed and keep her feet elevated.

Jamie volunteered to take care of her. Having identified all of the bodies, she could take some time from work until something else came in. If an anthropologist was needed while she was out, the one from Charlotte would help out as well as the one in the neighboring town of Greenville. That had been the arrangement before Jamie took her current job a year and a half ago. It could be done again in an emergency.

Between the two of them, Jamie’s duties were covered.

Safely ensconced in Samantha and Connor’s newly wired, heavily secured home, Jamie sat at the kitchen table reviewing the files of the missing/dead girls once again. She glanced at the clock. Nearly midnight. She should be exhausted. But her mind hummed, and Jamie knew if she went to bed now, she’d toss and turn for hours.

So, she might as well work.

Pushing aside thoughts of a sister who wanted to meet her, she focused her attention on the details in the files.

Concentrate
, she ordered her scattered brain.

Connor and Dakota had gone to check on something two hours ago. Samantha was sleeping, and Jamie wanted to jump out of her skin. She needed to go home. And as soon as Connor walked in the door, she would.

Her life had been upended, her security stripped away from her, and a panic attack threatened to undo her. She needed her home. But her home wasn’t safe anymore.

It didn’t seem to matter. The urge to flee nearly strangled her. Hands shaking, she picked up her new cell phone and punched in Maya’s number. Should she call her this late? Jamie had before and Maya never seemed to care.

“Hello?”

“Hi, Maya, sorry to call you so late.” She managed to get the words out around the tightness in her throat. Surprisingly enough, she thought she sounded almost normal.

“Hey, stranger, that’s okay, how are you?” A rustling sound filtered through the phone, and Jamie pictured Maya sitting up in bed and turning on the lamp on the nightstand.

“I’m not so good right now.”

Maya’s voice took on a more professional tone, yet still tinged with the concern of a friend. “What’s going on?”

“I’m on the verge of a panic attack. My coping strategies aren’t working.”

“Why not? Why the attack now?”

“A lot of reasons I don’t want to go into right now. I just needed to . . . to . . .”

“You need some security.”

“Yeah.”

“You know I’m here for you.”

“I know.” The pounding of her heart eased a bit. Still, her air felt cut off, like she couldn’t fill her lungs up full enough.

“Talk to me.”

“I’m trying.”

“How’s Samantha?”

“Pregnant.”

A gasp. “What? You’re going to be an auntie!”

Maya’s squeal of excitement fed Jamie’s. She pictured holding Sam and Connor’s baby. Then the baby wasn’t Samantha’s, it was hers. And Dakota’s. Her stomach did a little flip at the thought and the constriction in her chest loosened. “Yeah, I am.”

“When?”

Pant, suck in air, pant. “Around Christmastime, I think. She’s only about three months along. Twelve or thirteen weeks.”

“What a wonderful Christmas gift.”

“I need to go home, Maya.”

“Why?”

Anxiety twisted inside her once again. “I’m not sure. I just need to be there. I need to feel safe again.” Tears dripped down her cheeks to splat onto the file in front of her.

A hand settled on her shoulder and she jumped and whirled, heart pounding at full gallop once more.

Dakota stepped back, hands held in front of him. “I whistled, I promise.”

Sam stood behind him. “You’re supposed to be in bed,” was all Jamie could think to say.

Samantha jerked a thumb at Dakota, who stood in the doorway. “Had to let him in. Plus, I was up anyway. I have to go to the bathroom – again.” She disappeared, hand held tight to her wounded side.

Jamie turned back to the phone. “I’m sorry, Maya, I need to go. Thanks for listening.”

“Dakota’s there?”

“Yes. I’m going to get him to take me home.”

“Trust him, Jamie, lean on him. I truly believe God has put him in your life for a reason.”

Pausing, Jamie let that sink in. “I sure hope so.”

Saying goodbye, she hung up the phone. Her hands shook and she felt like her lungs still strained for air.

Dakota took her hand and cradled it between his palms. “I’ll take you home. Can you wait until morning? Connor is here now, and I can come by first thing. As early as you want.”

As much as she wanted to go . . . “What if it’s not safe?”

“I’ll make sure it is. I promise.”

She studied him. The reassurance she saw sent relief flowing through her. “Okay, I don’t know why I’m doing this. I don’t want to give in to the anxiety.”

“You’re worn down. You’ve been through so much and now you find your attacker is back. Give yourself a break, Jamie.”

His compassion nearly did her in. Sucking in a deep breath, one that finally hit her lungs full blast, she closed her eyes and drew on the strength she hadn’t been able to find only moments ago. “All right. I’ll be all right.”

“You will, I promise.”

“Why are you doing this, Dakota? Why do you care so much about me?”

His intense gaze bored holes into hers. Then he whispered, “I think you know why.”

“I don’t want to lose you,” she whispered back.

Then his eyes smiled. “Not a chance, lady.”

Standing on tiptoe, she pressed her lips to his, then stepped back.

Dakota didn’t move. He didn’t dare. She’d just taken a huge step forward and he didn’t want to make a wrong move. Lips still tingling, heart so full he couldn’t speak, he didn’t really have to worry about making any kind of move. The word
frozen
came to mind.

Then she pushed out a nervous little laugh. “Did I just do that?”

“Uh-huh.” He blinked.

“So, say something.”

“Um . . . how do you feel?”

“Like I can breathe now.”

“I’m glad
you
can.”

She caught his meaning and breathed a little laugh. Then she blinked up at him. “You’ll take me home first thing in the morning?”

“Sure. I’ll go home and grab a couple of hours of sleep and then pick you up.”

His mouth worked, but his feet wouldn’t move.

“Dakota?”

He blinked. “I’m leaving.” Still nothing.

She grasped his hand and tugged, freeing him from his stupefied paralysis. Lifting his other hand, he traced her lips with a finger. He couldn’t help the emotion that sprang from somewhere he didn’t know existed. “Thank you,” he whispered.

A silent nod from her.

Then he left with a lingering glance that burned itself into his mind. She stood in the doorway watching him go, her expression hopeful, longing.

Which caused hope to rupture within him.

The night couldn’t go fast enough, as far he was concerned.

Tuesday

Tuesday morning, his mind still unable to completely let go of the fact that Jamie had willingly kissed him the night before, he drove on automatic pilot back to the house he’d left only a few hours before.

One thought kept circling his mind.

She’d kissed him.

Wow.

He almost thanked God. Thought about it. Tried it out.
Thank
you, if that was something you did.

Arriving to the Wolfe residence, he barely had time to climb out of the car before Jamie exited the house and walked toward him.

A slight blush covered her cheeks, and he figured she was a little embarrassed from the night before. Uncertainty swirled in his midsection. Should he say something?