The Whispering Room

“That Lena—Ruth—may have played me. She could be setting her sister up to look guilty. But on the other hand…Rebecca broke into my house. She took my son from his crib and deliberately used him as a shield. I don’t think those are the actions of a rational mind. When I think of what might have happened…” She shivered and wrapped her arms around her middle. “Thank God, nothing did happen. I would never forgive myself if J.D. had been hurt. I can’t think of anything worse than not being able to protect your own child.”

“Neither can I,” Nash said quietly.

She looked up, stricken. “I’m sorry. I wasn’t talking about you.”

“I know that.”

But it was true. Letting your child down was not an easy thing to live with.

Nash remembered the day Jamie had been born, holding her for the first time. That soft, sweet-smelling bundle that had charmed him from the moment she opened her little eyes. He’d made so many promises to her and to himself that day, but in the ensuing years, he’d too often put work and his own interests first. He’d failed her as a father and there was no going back and making up for his mistakes. No way to get back all those moments, big and small, that he’d carelessly let slip through his fingers.

And now his twenty-year-old daughter sat in prison for taking the life of someone else’s child.

“I should get going,” he said. “Let you get some sleep.”

“I’m too wired for sleep,” she said. “I know I was rude to you earlier, but I wouldn’t mind if you stayed. It would probably do me good to have someone to talk to.”

“If you’re sure I won’t be in the way.”

Her smile was wan. “You won’t be. I really would like the company.”

“Okay. I’ll stay, then.”

“You want something to drink? Coffee? Dr Pepper?”

“No, I’m fine.”

She waved toward the couch. “Have a seat. I’ll be right back.”

While he waited, Nash picked up a photograph from the coffee table and gave it a casual glance, then a more thorough scrutiny. He was still studying the picture when she came back into the room with her drink.

“Do you have any idea where that might have been taken?” she asked, nodding toward the photo.

“Looks like someplace in the Caribbean.”

“Yeah, that’s what I thought, too.” She took a sip of her drink, then placed the glass on a coaster on the coffee table. “Nathan Mallet’s wife found it in an envelope he’d hidden in their attic, along with a wad of cash and a passport under the name Todd Jamison. She thinks he put it there just in case he had to make a quick getaway.”

“Sounds plausible.”

She nodded. “I can’t help wondering if Johnny had a stash hidden somewhere. Maybe he had a contingency plan, too. One that didn’t include me and the baby.”

Nash didn’t know what to say so he remained silent.

“I still find it hard to believe that he would do something like that. I thought I knew him. We were close, you know? How could I be so blind to what he was doing? There must have been clues and I just didn’t see them. But look at this place.” She waved a hand, encompassing the small, modestly furnished room. “We weren’t exactly living it up. If he was on the take, where did all that money go?”

“Like I said, he probably had an offshore bank account somewhere. If you look through his papers, you might even find an account number.”

“That’s not exactly a pressing concern of mine at the moment.”

“No, I guess not.”

She stared off into space, her face an open book of pain and betrayal, and Nash once again felt the need to wrap his arms around her, bury his face in her soft, sweet-scented hair. He couldn’t do that, of course. Not knowing what he knew.

“I just don’t understand how he could do that to us.” Slowly, she glanced up. “And I can’t help thinking that maybe there’s another shoe waiting to drop.”

Twenty-Four

Evangeline was banging on Lena Saunders’s door bright and early the next morning. She’d dropped J.D. off at her mother’s house, then called the station to say that she’d be taking a personal day. Lapierre was actually very gracious and understanding, although Evangeline couldn’t help wondering if she’d just gone down a notch or two in her captain’s estimation.

She couldn’t worry about that now, though. Through a strange set of circumstances, her house had been invaded, her son threatened, and now she had to do whatever she could to make certain nothing like that happened again.

Josh let her in and she was pacing the living room when Lena finally came downstairs. This morning she was dressed in icy blue with a wide silver cuff that reflected the sunlight streaming in through the French doors. Her hair was loose about her shoulders, and for a moment, the resemblance to the wild-haired woman of last night was so striking that Evangeline wondered if there might be only one sister with a split personality.

“Hello, Ruth.”

The woman stopped in her tracks, her eyes going wide with surprise. “How did you know?”

“Did you not consider that I would figure it out the moment I laid eyes on your sister?”