Light from Her Mirror (Mirrors Don't Lie Book 3) (8 page)

Makenna
was finding it increasingly difficult to focus.

Not
because of the late nights she had been keeping: true, between the sleepless
nights and the evening on 6th street, she was running on minimum sleep. But the
real reason she could not concentrate was because she had become obsessed; ever
since she had seen the picture of her mother, she was consumed with the need to
know more about her.

Makenna
never thought it would happen to her. She knew it happened to other people:
people adopted by loving families who, for whatever reason, still craved the
knowledge of their true roots … where they came from, who their birth parents
were, what could have been. Happy and secure within the Reagan clan, she never
thought she would be among those people.

But
one look at her mother’s face, and all of that had changed.

Not
her feelings for Madeline and Kenneth Reagan, of course. They were the absolute
best parents any one could ever have, and she loved them with all her heart.
She could not imagine her life without them or the extended family she gained
through them. But there was a piece of her past missing, and without it, she no
longer felt whole. She needed to know the facts of her childhood - why her
parents had abandoned her, why they had deprived her of her twin, why they had
let Kenzie suffer all those years - in order to move forward with her future.
No matter how much she loved Hardin and wanted to marry him, she had to find
peace with her past before she could become his wife.

She
knew the news would not settle well with her fiancé, and that worry only added
to her distraction.

Perhaps
it was the exhaustion, perhaps it was the worry, but, impossible as it seemed,
Makenna almost forgot she and her sister were being stalked.

After
investigating Kenzie’s surprise gift, Makenna was running late for an interview
she was doing. She paid little attention to the man standing in the lobby of
the Grayton Enterprises building; after all, it was home to one of Austin’s
most prestigious architectural firms and people were always scurrying in and
out. When she visited the library later in the day and the man opened the door
for her, she smiled and thanked him for his help. It was not until later, when
she noticed the same man at the gas station refueling a blue Chevy two pumps
over, that Makenna began to feel uneasy.

She
dialed Hardin as she waited for her tank to fill.

He
answered on the first ring. “Good evening, beautiful.”

“Hello,
handsome.”

“What’s
up, my soon-to-be-bride?”

Makenna
tried for nonchalant. “Oh, just getting gas before I head home. You?”

“Still
up here in Waco. This officer shooting is turning out to be more complicated
than we originally thought.” She could hear the weariness in his voice.

“Will
you be home by the weekend?”

“One
way or another.”

“Good.”
It was their first holiday together, and she was looking forward to meeting his
entire family, even though the thought was a bit daunting. “Listen, I know
you’re busy and I know you have a lot going on, but I thought you might could
run a plate for me.”

“Why?
What’s wrong?” With just those few words, she could hear the immediate concern
in his voice. She could almost hear him straightening to his full five feet
eleven inches, knew he was squaring his muscled shoulders, could practically
see him tightening his stomach and flexing his sculpted chest. He was taking
his officer stance. Affection no longer softened his words. His voice was sharp
and commanding as he asked brusquely, “Makenna, are you in trouble?”

She
could not directly lie to him, so she avoided the question. “I see a car that
matches the description of the one following Kenzie. I know there are a ton of
these cars in Austin, but I thought it was worth a shot.”

“Absolutely.
I’ve told you to always trust your gut.”

She
rattled off the license plate number and waited while Hardin ran it through the
DMV files. They chatted about the upcoming weekend while the computer searched.
Makenna pulled back onto the road, watching her rear view mirror as she took a roundabout
way home.

“Anything?”
she asked after a while.

“It
came back registered to a John Black from Galveston, so I did a search for that
name and address.”

“And
got nothing, I’m sure.”

“Other
than the fact that the plate belongs on a green ‘98 Tahoe, no. The address
doesn’t exist.”

“So
this could be the car.” Makenna slowed down as she made the final turn toward
their apartment. No one seemed to be following her, but their address was
hardly secret. Raymond Foto had found them with no problem.

“I
want you to be extra vigilant, Makenna.” His voice was stern.

“I
will, I will.”

“Why
do you sound so guilty?”

Makenna
laughed. “Why do you know me so well? Okay, so I forgot to obsess about this
whole Joseph Mandarino slash Modern Power fiasco today.”

“Makenna,
this is no joking matter. There are people who still want to keep your father
quiet. They will go to any means in order to do that, including hurting or
kidnapping one or both of his daughters. And that just happens to include the
woman I love. You cannot blow this off.”

“I
know that, Hardin,” she said in a small, tired voice. “I was temporarily
distracted by my newest obsession.”

“I’d
like to think that was me, but I hear the sadness in your voice. You’re talking
about your birth mother.”

“I
can’t let it go, Hardin. I keep thinking about that picture. There was so much
love in her face. How could a woman who obviously loved her children that much
suddenly abandon both of them? She left me at a church, Kenzie with- with
that
woman.
How could she do that?”

“I
don’t know, honey. I wish I had the answers for you.”

“I’m
sorry, I didn’t mean to throw all this at you. I know you have a lot on your
plate right now and don’t need to add my problems on top of it all.”

“My
plate will always be big enough for your problems. I want you to always come to
me when something is bothering you,” he said tenderly.

“Even
when I obsess over crazy little things? Like what I’m going to take Friday to
your family’s celebration? Your mother is an excellent cook and I don’t want to
embarrass myself by bringing some Ellie Mae Clampit knock-off.”

She
loved the sound of his warm, rich laughter. “Stop worrying about it. You don’t
have to bring a thing. Believe me, there will be plenty of food.”

“That’s
not the point. It’s etiquette to bring something.”

“What
about those mean little cookies you made the other night, the ones with the
cinnamon sprinkled on top?”

“Those
came from the Kroger bakery.”

“Oh.
Well, I like your chocolate chip cookies.”

“Those
come from the Keebler elves.”

Hardin
laughed again. “Maybe as a wedding present, I’ll buy you cooking lessons.”

“And
maybe I’ll buy you -” Her words were cut short when she saw what was parked
directly in front of their apartment. “Oh. My. Gosh.”

“What?
What is it?”

“You-You
know how I told you the Senator bought Kenzie a new car?”

“Yeah,
a sweet little forty thousand dollar car, you said. Why? What’s wrong?”

Makenna
stared at the pale blue car in front of her, wrapped in a red bow. “I think he
bought me a matching one.”

“
What
?
Why would the Senator buy you a car? You’ve never even met the man!”

“I
have no idea, but there’s a gorgeous car sitting here, wrapped in a bow just
like hers was. They are identical, except for color.”

Hardin’s
voice took a hard edge. “I think it’s time I had a talk with Senator Lawrence.
Men don’t just go around buying cars for women without some secret agenda.”

“Hardin,
I-I’m going to have to let you go.” Her voice was still stunned. “I’ll call you
later. Love you.”

Keeping
her eye on the ribbon-bedecked automobile, Makenna dialed her sister’s number.

“Hey,
Sis, what’s up?” came the friendly greeting. She had obviously recovered from
her morning depression.

“Kenzie,
where is your new car?”

“At
the airport. I’m in Brownsville, by the way. Kate called with a last-minute
assignment and I had to fly down here. This place is crazy, with all this
illegal border crossing mess and the political fall-out from it. But, why do
you ask? And why do you sound all weird?”

“Do
you happen to know why there is another new car sitting in front of our
apartment? A pale blue one, identical to yours, with a huge red bow?”

Kenzie’s
gasp was amplified through the phone. “You have got to be kidding.”

“Oh,
no. It’s here, all right, all forty thousand dollars’ worth of shiny chrome and
metallic ice blue. Kenzie, this is insane! Why would that man buy me a car?”

“I-I
have no idea. I’ll call him, just as soon as I finish up here.”

“It
was one thing for him to buy you a car. You had just wrecked yours, and he
knows you. But now he buys
me
one? This is insane.”

“Calm
down, calm down. I’ll call him and get to the bottom of this. But look, right
now I have to go. Our Senator is about to make a statement and I need to take
pictures.”

“See,
that’s the really crazy thing about this! Harry Lawrence isn’t even our Senator.
You don’t see Senator Sam McCade buying us cars, do you? So why does Harry
Lawrence?”

“Honestly,
Makenna, you have got to calm down.”

“And
just how am I supposed to do that?”

Makenna
could hear the saucy grin in her sister’s words and the laughter bubbling just
below the surface. “Well, start the smooth V6 292 horsepower engine, turn on
the air conditioned leather seats, find a nice relaxing station on the
satellite radio, and listen to it on the incredible state-of-the-art surround
sound system. You don’t even have to put the car in gear. I promise you, five
minutes in that car, and you’ll be a new woman.”

Makenna
was not amused. “And just this morning, you wanted to return yours,” she said
dryly.

“Ah,
but then I drove it. No way am I giving it back now. Take yours around the
block and you’ll be a convert, too.”

“We’ll
see about that,” she murmured skeptically, circling the car twice before saying
goodbye and going inside the building.

But
when she found the car keys dangling by ribbon on their apartment door, she
could not quite resist.

“Well,
maybe one short block….”

***

One
block was not quite enough, so Makenna went another, and then another. The car
handled like a well-trained pet, responding to her every command. Even without
the air-conditioned seat feature turned on, Makenna knew she was a convert. If
only her conscious would allow her to keep the car!

Knowing
she could never accept the extravagant gift, she reluctantly turned back toward
the apartment.

That
was when she saw the blue Chevy, cruising one street over, right in front of
her building.

Makenna
slowed down and watched as the Chevy made a loop and drove past her apartment
yet again. Pulling into a driveway several yards away, she watched the car
repeat the process three more times. Each time he drove slowly, craning his
dark hair to see activity around the building. He finally pulled over, parking
across the street from their building. Makenna watched as he took out a pair of
binoculars and aimed them directly at their apartment. At their bedrooms, to be
exact.

Makenna
shivered in disgust. She always kept her draperies pulled so there was little
chance the man actually ever
saw
anything, but the thought that he tried
was enough to make her skin crawl. She was contemplating whether to call and
report a Peeping Tom when the car pulled out of its parking space and headed
down the street.

Without
hesitation, Makenna put her car into gear and followed. The only thought going
through her mind was that the driver would not recognize her in the new
Chrysler 300. She kept several car lengths behind the Chevy, even allowing
another car to slip between them as they wound back toward the interstate.
After her ordeal in New Hampshire, she had learned a thing or two about tailing
a vehicle, she thought with a grimace.

Instead
of entering the ramp, the Chevy stayed on the access road and went two blocks
before turning into a storage facility parking lot. Careful to keep her face
averted, Makenna drove past the parked car and the driver who was getting out.
From the corner of her eye, she noted the details: mid-forties male, dark hair,
dark clothes.

Makenna
went down three blocks, keeping her eye on the car in her mirror to make
certain it stayed put. She turned onto the side street and came up behind the
storage unit, not sure of what her next move should be. She had never done a stakeout
before.