Stirred (38 page)

The photo had been taken at a Big Sister/Little Sister weekend four years ago, or so the banner in the background revealed. Also in the background stood a small group of Big Sisters and their young counterparts. But up close, in the foreground on the right, Aurelia’s face loomed large, her platinum-blonde hair shining brightly in the sunshine, and her arm slung around the neck of a chunky girl with striking eyes and short, dark hair. Where Reely’s smile glowed, lighting up her entire face, her Little Sister appeared the exact opposite—her mouth firm and her eyes flat. I didn’t recognize the girl as anyone Aurelia had ever introduced me to, but when I turned the photo over, I found what must be her name, and damn if it didn’t match the one on both the birth certificate and Declan’s irrevocable trust.

Alexandra Morra.

That was it. Besides the sex, she was the one thing they seemed to have in common. I felt sure, if I could find this girl, I could find out what secret Reely had been keeping for Declan and how they were all connected. And maybe, if I was lucky, that would lead to their killer.

Eden had called me down and was cleaning off Aurelia’s kitchen table when I walked into the room. She set some paperwork in the center next to her phone and looked up at me.

“Whatcha got, boss?” I asked, both hands on my hips.

She chuckled at my appearance. “Where’ve
you
been?” she asked with a grin.

“The attic,” I replied. “Can’t you tell?” I flopped both arms against my thighs.

Eden wrinkled her nose at the cloud of dust that rose around me. “Well, go brush yourself off so I don’t start sneezing. Then come back and sit down. I’ve something to show you.”

I went out back and slapped at my black t-shirt and loose-fitting jeans, then returned inside and washed my grimy hands and face before taking the chair next to Eden.

“Do I pass inspection?” I asked after noticing her staring at me.

Momentarily flustered, her face warmed to a becoming shade of pink, but she couldn’t seem to turn away. Instead, she offered me a nod and an appreciative grin before turning her attention back to the task she’d been working on. She picked up one envelope and handed it to me.

“Here…” she started, looking rather uncomfortable by whatever it was she was about to show me. “I, um…think this pretty much…you know…speaks for itself.”

I raised a brow, but proceeded to slide the contents out. I couldn’t help but snort in amusement over the obscene image on the front of the card. After a small shake of my head, I opened it and read the inscription.

I rolled my eyes. “What a prince.” I looked up at Eden. “Sounds like she had something on him, though, huh?”

Eden nodded. “Looks that way.”

“Any idea what it could be?” I added as I laid the open card on the table in front of us.

“You tell me,” she said and handed me a thick document.

“Huh…your husband’s irrevocable trust,” I confirmed before perusing it a page at a time. “This’ll take some time to look over carefully.” I glanced back up at her.

“No doubt. But first…look here…and here,” she said, pointing out two names.

I read over those portions, then rifled ahead and read some more before returning to the sections she’d first directed me to. I read silently for a good five minutes, slipping back and forth between the pages.

“Well…I’ll need more time to be sure, but…at first glance, it appears Ian, at least, is well-provided for. You, not so much. Just an annuity from what I can tell.” I caught Eden’s worried eyes. “Seems the bulk of this particular trust is reserved for your friend, Aurelia, and this other gal, Alexandra.”

Eden’s concern turned to suspicion. “That’s what I got out of it, too.”

“Do you know who this person is?”

She shook her head. “Not a clue.”

I focused back on the document and rummaged through it again to find the passage I was most curious about. With a finger pressed to the paper, I read aloud, “
Should trustee one—
that’s Aurelia
—predecease
trustee two–
Alexandra
—trustee two shall receive trustee one’s portion
.” I sat back in my seat and looked up at Eden. “I’d say that’s motive enough to kill them both. Wouldn’t you?”

“Damn straight,” she replied as she tapped her fingers against the table.

I could tell Eden was anxious, but my thoughts were too engrossed in who this unknown woman could be and why Eden’s husband had chosen to allocate such a staggering amount of money to someone his wife didn’t even know. Stranger still, the name sounded vaguely familiar. I stared at the name, urging my brain to recall it, but all I got back was a big, fat blank.

“There’s something else,” Eden said and pushed a single sheet of paper my way.

I picked it up and studied it. “The woman’s birth certificate?”

“She’s hardly a woman,” Eden offered and pointed to the birth date.

“She’s only nineteen?” I asked, and she nodded. “Think your husband had another kid with someone else?”

She shrugged. “Maybe, but…considering Ian’s strong resemblance to his father, and the fact this girl doesn’t look at all like Declan, I seriously doubt it.”

“You’ve
seen
her?” I asked in surprise.

Eden shook her head. “Oh…no, but…I have a picture.” She slid a large laminated photo toward me, and I glanced over it. “That blonde in the middle is Aurelia,” Eden pointed out. “And, I assume by the same name on the back, that girl with her is Alexandra. It was taken almost four years ago, so she would’ve been only fifteen, which is kind of weird the sorority would even consider her, but…there it is.”

I flipped the photo over, and, sure enough, the girl’s name was scrawled across the back, along with Aurelia’s.

“There
are
those intelligent few who start college early,” I said and spun the picture around again. “I told you about my friend Trinitee, right?” I asked with a brief peek up at Eden, who nodded in reply. “She started when she was sixteen, and finished in two years.”

I focused back on the picture and examined it more closely. Just as her name sounded familiar, her face struck a chord with me, as well. I tensed my eyes and stared hard at the image of the girl Aurelia had her arm thrown over. I’d never been all that great with names, but faces tended to stick with me, and I definitely recognized this one. I just couldn’t place it.

Then it struck me like a bolt of lightning, and all I could think was—
no, it can’t be.

She looked so different in the photograph, considerably heavier, and while her hair was dark, it was very short and shone with a sanguine glow in the bright sunlight. But it was her large eyes that drew me in and confused me the most. There was no mistaking the slightly almond-shape of them, but the color was all wrong. This young girl’s eyes were a weird shade of hazel—a combination of brown and green, but with a gold starburst in the center around each pupil. Even still, I couldn’t deny the freakish similarities between this girl and Trinitee.

Trin would’ve had to have dyed her hair black, easily done, of course, but then she would have had to have lost at least twenty-five pounds, too. Entirely possible, and not overly difficult for someone so young and tall. But the eyes…they were way off. Trin had light, silvery grey irises, almost lavender, which I’d always found unique enough to be considered odd. And odd enough that they might actually be colored contacts.

But why? Why would Trinitee alter her identity? Why would she hide her relationship with Aurelia Wylde and Declan Ross? And what was that relationship exactly? Why would she change her name? And what was this other name doing in Declan’s trust? What was behind the one-year disparity in their ages? Were these two people really one and the same?

And, most pressing of all, where the hell was Trinitee Marsh?

I held the photo out to Eden. “Do you know this girl, or at least recognize her?”

Eden took the picture back and looked at it as she shook her head. “No, not that I can recall, but there is something familiar about her, like she looks like someone I know or something, but I can’t remember who. I know she’s not Aurelia’s kid, and I doubt she’s Declan’s. So, if not, what could she have been blackmailing him over?” Eden tossed the photo down and locked eyes with me.

I shrugged. “Maybe she knew Declan was embezzling from his hedge fund.”

Eden’s entire frame went rigid. Her jaw dropped open, her eyes wide and round. “What?” she shrieked. “Are you freaking kidding me? How do you know this?”

“Detective Reed told me. Said he was under investigation by the F.B.I.”

Eden’s hands flew to her mouth, where they trembled as tears pooled in her eyes. “Oh my God, Sean, do you know what this means?” she asked, but didn’t let me answer. “I’ll lose everything now. They’ll seize his accounts, freeze his assets. My school. My home. Ian and I will be out on the street with nothing!”

And there it was.

Again.

The money.

She jumped to her feet, but so did I. I held her in place and looked her in the eye.

“That’s not gonna happen, Eden, but even if it did, I’d take care of you. And Ian, too. You’ll never be out on the street. I’m here for you. You know that, right?”

She rested her palms against my chest, her eyes soft, even in her anxiety. “Thank you, Sean.” She raised a hand to my cheek. “You’re so sweet. But...there’s a very real possibility we might
both
end up in prison. And now, if the police arrest me, I might not even be able to afford a decent attorney. Even Ian’s college money is wrapped up in those funds. My future is in serious jeopardy. I have to at least be free of these charges. We have to find that girl. She’s the key to solving this.”

Eden gave my arms a squeeze, then turned to sort through Aurelia’s secret evidence. I gave her room, moving to lean against the counter’s edge, where I quietly observed her. She grabbed the trust document and moved into the den area, taking a seat at Aurelia’s desk as she read through the legalese. All the while, her hands shook, and she sniffed back her tears.

I knew she was worried, and I wanted to alleviate her anxiety by telling her who I thought this girl actually was, but at the same time, I couldn’t shake the feeling something was off with Eden, that she was withholding information and was connected more deeply than she was letting on. Maybe it was my own restraint that led me to think, if I was capable of withholding, then so was she. But I was in a precarious position and
had
to be careful.

Once I admitted the girl we were searching for might, in fact, be Trinitee, that would be yet
another
thread tying me to the murders. I was certain Trin was duplicitous in all this somehow, but I was frightened for her, too. She was still missing, and there was all that blood in her apartment. I desperately wanted to know how her blood had gotten on the sweats she’d loaned me.

That was when I recalled what Reed had said about the blood-type matching both Trin
and
Eden. I stepped toward the table and stared down at the photograph once more. While I knew this image was most likely Trinitee, there was something else about it that bothered me, like I’d seen it before, or one very similar. But where?

I was pretty sure it was recent. The circumstances were on the tip of my brain, teasing me, yet not allowing me to fully realize it. Which meant I must’ve been drunk, or at least drinking at the time. And then it hit me.

I’d been sitting in that bar with Trinitee while she scoured through Eden’s Twitter account, including her pictures. There were several before-and-after shots. Trin had even remarked on them, how Eden had bloomed during her college years. And that was exactly what I was seeing here in this photo. Except it wasn’t Eden. It was Trinitee.

I slipped my phone from my back pocket and pulled up Eden’s Twitter account, where I skimmed through her photos until I found the old before-and-afters. Then, with a quick glance to make sure Eden wasn’t watching, I slid her phone closer and scrolled through her pictures until I found the one of Jacob she’d shown me earlier. I set my phone down next to it and Aurelia’s photo and stared. My heartbeat exploded in my ears, and the hair on my arms stood on end.