When Shadows Fall (21 page)

She didn't know what to say, but even if she had known, she didn't have a chance to speak. A doctor and a nurse came into the room, and Peter was immediately drawn into conversation about his mother's health and what tests they wanted to run.

With Peter Harper and the medical professionals encircling Molly's bed, she felt very much on the outside. She didn't even know if she was Molly's granddaughter, and here she was intruding on what might be the last moments of a woman's life.

Shaking her head, she turned and walked out of the room and ran straight into a solid male chest.

Colton
!

He caught her by the waist.

"We have to stop meeting like this," he said lightly.

"What are you doing here?"

"Looking for you. I figured you'd want to talk to Peter, and he was probably here."

"You were right. I just spoke to him." She tipped her head toward Molly's room. "I told him about the birth certificate and that I thought I could possibly be his niece. He wasn't receptive to the idea. In fact, he was quite rude about it. He accused me of being after his mother's money. When I said I wasn't, he told me I should be glad I was adopted, that Francine was a drug addict, and that I was better off without her."

Colton's gaze narrowed. "What you really need to do is find out for sure if you're a Harper. You need a DNA test."

"Which I'm sure would require Molly's consent, which she can't give, and I doubt Peter would be interested in making it happen."

Colton thought for a moment. "Maybe we can figure out another way to get a sample. We still have the key to Molly's house. Perhaps we can get her DNA off a hairbrush or a glass she recently used."

A tingle ran down her spine. "That's actually not a bad idea."

"Why don't we go there now? Peter is still with Molly, so he won't be at the house."

"All right." As they walked down the hall, she added, "I told Peter I had his mother's journals, and he flipped out, demanding that I return them immediately."

"Interesting over-reaction."

"I thought so."

They took the elevator to the lobby, then made their way into the parking structure.

"Do you want to follow me to Molly's?" Colton asked. "I'm parked right over there."

"Sounds good." He started to walk away, but she called him back.

"Colton? Why did you come looking for me? I thought you'd be angry with me after what happened with Eleanor."

"I told my grandfather I'd keep my eye on you."

"Is that really the only reason?"

His expression turned more serious. "No."

She waited for him to explain, but he didn't say anything else. He just gave her a long look and then headed to his car.

Chapter Seventeen

Olivia thought about Colton on the way to Molly's house. She was happy that he'd shown up at the hospital and relieved that he wasn't blaming her for his grandmother's setback. They'd been practically inseparable since they met, and yet during the few hours they'd been apart, she'd actually found herself missing him. It was so strange. She was used to working alone. In fact, she'd always thought she preferred to be on her own. But this week was different.

Maybe it was because Molly's story had taken a personal turn for her. It wasn't just about writing a book anymore; it was about finding out who she was and what story Molly wanted her to tell.

Or perhaps Molly didn't want her to
tell
the story but rather to
hear
it, to know where she came from.

Or maybe she was completely off-base, and she wasn't related to Molly at all. She needed to find out for sure.

A few minutes later, she was unlocking the door to Molly's house. Being back in her home reminded Olivia of all the things she had yet to look at, the stack of letters that Colton had found and the rest of the contents in the box she'd pulled down from the closet. She wasn't usually so slow to follow up on potential clues or to walk away from a job when she was right in the middle of it. But that's exactly what she had done the night before, when she'd allowed Colton to convince her to live in the moment and leave the past behind. Well, that moment was over, and it was back to business.

"I'm going to get some plastic bags out of the kitchen," Colton told her. "We'll need something to put Molly's hairbrush in."

"I feel kind of sneaky," she said, following him down the hall. "Is this right?"

"We're not hurting anyone."

"But even with a sample, how am I going to get a DNA test? Will it be difficult to find a lab that will do that?"

"No, because I have a sister who's a doctor. I'll get Shayla to help us."

"Will she do that?"

"I'm ninety-nine percent sure." He opened Molly's cupboards, located a box of plastic bags and then headed back down the hall and up the stairs.

Colton was definitely a man on a mission, she thought. And it was kind of nice to let him take charge of this. While Colton was gathering samples from Molly's bathroom, Olivia returned to the bedroom closet.

She'd been so shocked by her find yesterday that she hadn't looked beyond that one box. Maybe there was more to be discovered.

Molly had quite a few clothes in her closet, many of which appeared to be costumes, probably from her theater days. As Olivia looked through the dresses and coats, she couldn't help thinking about the fact that she didn't even know how to sew. Her mom didn't sew, so there had been no one to pass on that tradition. If she'd grown up with her biological family, would she have different skills now?

She reached the end of the rack and realized there was another box on the floor behind all the costumes. She dragged it out and pulled off the lid. The box was filled with thick yellow envelopes stuffed with what appeared to be bills and tax returns. However, what was most interesting about the receipts were the dates. She would have expected the information to be recent, the past few years, but the envelopes went back to the mid-seventies, the time during which Molly had been working with the theater group.

"Did you find something?" Colton asked, startling her.

She stood up and waved her hand toward the envelopes. "I'm not sure. These look like bills and tax returns, but they're from forty years ago. It seems strange that she wouldn't have thrown them out by now."

"Some people keep things forever."

"In their closet? And where are her current files?"

A puzzled look came into his eyes. "Okay, now you're making me more curious. Let's take the box with us."

"Really?"

"We can't stay here, Olivia. We don’t know how long Peter Harper will be at the hospital, and if there's something here linking you to his mother, and he wants to cover that up, this apartment is going to be his first stop."

"Why would he want to cover it up? Molly is sadly dying and Francine is already dead. What does it matter if I'm his niece? Why would he care?"

"You ask a lot of good questions. Maybe the answers are in that box." He walked over and handed her two plastic bags in which he'd put a hairbrush and a toothbrush. Then he picked up the heavy box. "Anything else we should take?"

She sighed, feeling guilty that they were taking anything at all. But since she'd already tried the straightforward approach with Peter and that hadn't worked, she was going to have to be more devious. "This is all I saw in here. Peter is probably going to file charges against me for stealing this stuff. I hope you're willing to bail me out of jail."

"I'll probably be in the cell next to you. But speaking practically, Peter may not notice anything is gone. It's not like we're taking expensive jewelry, cash or electronics—just a bunch of old papers."

"You're right. Let's take everything to my hotel. We can go through the papers there."

"Sounds like a plan."

* * *

"Where shall we start?" Olivia asked, as Colton set the box down on the small round table in her hotel room twenty minutes later.

"Why don't you read the letters to Molly?" Colton suggested. "And I'll dig into this paperwork. But before we do all that…what about lunch?"

Her stomach grumbled at his question. She could definitely eat something. Since she'd left Colton's house earlier that morning, she had yet to grab any food. "I am hungry."

"There's a deli down the block. I'll grab us some sandwiches. Any requests?"

"Turkey is fine. I'm not picky; whatever comes on it is great."

"You got it. I'll get plenty of snacks. I have a feeling we're going to be here a while."

After Colton left, Olivia sat down on the bed and picked up the letters. She slipped the first one out of the stack and pulled two sheets of paper out of a pink envelope. Then she began to read…

Dear Molly,

I know we're not supposed to keep in touch, but it's been almost two years now and I wanted to reach out and let you know that I'm doing so much better. I've made some friends here in Houston and the kids are starting to do well in school. Joey Jr.'s nightmares finally stopped about two months ago, and I don't think they're going to come back. His personality has completely changed now that he's not living with daily threats of violence. We've all been reborn, Molly. It's an amazing thing.

I can't thank you and Eleanor enough for helping me to change my life. If you hadn't come to me with such understanding in your eyes and also such determination, I am quite certain I would not even be alive right now. But I am alive and I am well and happy. It's been difficult to have no contact with my family, but I know the complete break was absolutely necessary. I hope one day I'll be able to see them again, but my first priority is the kids, and I'll do whatever it takes to keep them safe and to keep me safe so that I can be a good mother to them.

Love always,

Gracie (I actually feel like Gracie now, too. You couldn't have picked a better name for me.)

Olivia wondered when the letter had been written. There was no date but the pages were yellowed, and if Gracie had been one of the women helped by Molly's group, then her escape had probably been forty years ago. Little Joey Jr. was probably a man in his fifties by now, and his mother Gracie would probably be in her seventies or close to Molly's age. She wondered if their good fortune and happiness had continued after this letter; she really hoped so.

She moved on to the next letter.

Dear Molly,

You were right. The first step is always the hardest. You told me I deserved better, and it took me almost dying to actually realize that. I hope all is well with you. I think of you and Ellie often and send you my prayers and love. You are two of the strongest women I've ever met. You both risked your lives for me. No one could have given me a greater gift, and even though we may never see each other again, I want you to know that you're always in my heart.

Yours truly,

Kelly

Molly and Eleanor had certainly changed lives, Olivia thought, as she read through several more letters that expressed similar sentiments. With each letter, she felt more proud of what Molly and Eleanor and their friends had accomplished. They'd stepped up when so many others had probably turned away. And even if they'd only been able to do it for a few years, they'd made a huge difference in the lives of many women, and not just the women but also their children.

A knock came at her door, and she got up to let Colton in. Seeing the two large bags in his hand, she suspected he'd gone overboard at the deli.

"They had a lot of good food," he said, answering her unspoken question. "I probably bought too much, but we won't go hungry."

"It looks wonderful." She moved the box off the table and helped Colton set out the food. "I have a small refrigerator, so you can leave the leftovers here."

"If there are any leftovers. I'm starving." As they sat down to eat, Colton added, "So did you start looking through the letters?"

She nodded as she took a big bite of her turkey sandwich. Swallowing, she said, "The ones I read were all thanking Molly for getting them out of whatever terrible situation they'd been in. One alluded to the fact that she'd changed her name and had had no contact with anyone in her family for almost two years, but that her children were doing really well without living under the threat of violence."

Colton shook his head, a grim look in his eyes. "I don't know what kind of man hurts his wife and his kids."

"I don't either." She paused. "Have you ever seen that kind of violence?"

"Once. We responded to a residential fire where a man had locked his wife in the bedroom and set fire to the place."

"Oh, my God." She set down her sandwich, losing her appetite. "That's horrible. What happened? Were you able to save her?"

"Yeah, we saved her. And he went to prison."

"At least there's some justice in the world. I know that's not always the case, especially when it comes to domestic violence." She paused for a moment, popping the top on a can of soda. "I wonder how your grandmother and her friends were able to stop. They were obviously doing a tremendous amount of good, so how did they walk away?"

"The danger got to be too much for them. I think their cover was blown and what they'd been able to do in secret, they couldn't do anymore."

"That's true."

"They had to look out for themselves and for their families. I'm actually a little more curious as to how they got started versus how they ended."

"They must have seen a need. One of the women who wrote one of those letters was probably the catalyst."

"Which makes that box of paperwork interesting, too," Colton said, tipping his head toward the envelopes they'd taken out of Molly's house. "I wonder if we'll find the details of their rescues."

"I have to think we will. It's a long time to keep paperwork unless it's important in some way."