Page 14 of Storm Surge

“ME’s on the way here now,” Callahan told him.

“Good.” If this were Sofia Collins like Will believed, they’d need DNA to prove the body in the grave was Collins’s former wife. “I’m going to the cabin to speak to Jamie and her aunt. When the ME arrives, give me a call.”

Sheriff Callahan nodded.

Will started for the cabin. Along the way, he met the crime scene unit heading toward the body and stopped to speak with the lead investigator, Saul Walker.

“Any idea who the deceased is?” Saul asked. He and his team had been working overtime processing this crime scene. Just when they thought they were nearing the end, the grave was discovered.

“Not definitively, but I’m guessing this is Collins’s wife. I spoke to the sister briefly and she told me there’d been no word from her in years. Collins told her she left him and Jamie. I have a feeling she never got off the property.”

Saul’s revulsion was evident when he shook his head. “Unbelievable. The depth of this man’s depravity is limitless.”

Will had seen firsthand the extent of Collins’s depravity. “I need to do a DNA swab if you have a kit handy.”

Saul appeared surprised by the request but readily complied. “I do.” He opened his backpack and removed one of the kits. “Do you need me to help you with that?”

Will shook his head. This was something he needed to do himself. “Thanks, but I’ve got it. Let me know what you come up with at the gravesite.”

“You got it.” Once Saul and his team left, Will continued toward the cabin. For now, he wouldn’t tell Betty or Jamie about his theory concerning Sofia. Not until they had a positive ID.

He stepped up on the porch where Betty obviously had been watching for him because she came outside and closed the door. He understood why she was overly protective of Jamie and with good reason. According to Betty, Jamie’s mother had abandoned both her daughter and her husband. She’ helped raise Jamie until she went away to Georgetown in Washington D.C. According to Betty, Jamie came home for holidays and then she’d graduated. Soon after, she’d had the accident. Collins returned to the states and brought Jamie home to Betty’s care.

“What do you need, Mr. Grayson?” Betty’s resentment dripped in every word, every frown. She was cooperating as best she could, but it wasn’t willingly. Betty wasn’t happy to have them on the property.

“Ma’am, I’m here to get a DNA sample from your niece.”

Betty’s hands posted on her waist and she blocked the door. “Absolutely not. I won’t put her through that. Why would you need a DNA sample anyway?”

Will held onto his patience as best he could. “Because I need to make sure she is really Martin Collins’s daughter.”

She gasped. “Of course, she is. Martin adores Jamie. Why would he claim she was his daughter if she weren’t?” At least she’d dropped the pretense that her brother’s name was Alfred.

“You’ll understand that I can’t take his word for anything after the crimes he’s committed. I’ll need a sample of Jamie’s DNA, but first, I want to speak with you more about Martin’s wife, Sofia.”

“Sofia? I don’t know anything more than I’ve told you already about that woman.”

Will thought about the decaying body buried in the woods. “When exactly did Sofia leave Martin?” He watched Betty’s reaction for any sign of deception. There wasn’t any. Betty only knew what Martin allowed her to.

She glanced back at the cabin and then motioned toward the cliffs nearby. “Let’s take a walk. I don’t want Jamie to overhear. She’s the only good thing to come from my brother’s marriage to Sofia.”

He accepted her need to protect her niece for now. “All right.” Will waited for her before they started for the nearby cliff. “When did Sofia leave Martin?” Will asked again once they were some distance from the cabin.

Betty was silent for a long time, staring ahead at the ocean. She sighed deeply. “Sofia left her family I believe around fourteen years ago, and it just about broke Jamie’s heart. And Martin’s. But it was hardest for Jamie. She’d turned thirteen shortly before. A young woman needs her mother.”

He couldn’t imagine how hard that was losing her mother so young. “What can you tell me about Sofia’s background? How did she and Martin meet?”

“I don’t know anything about her background. Martin never told me, but she and my brother both worked at the CIA. Sofia was an agent. They worked together.”

Will jerked back as if she’d struck him. “She was CIA?”

Betty smiled at his surprise. “Oh, yes. She was one of your own.”

Will was speechless for the longest time.

“My brother trained her, and he was smitten from the beginning.” She smiled at the memory. “My husband and I were living in Florida at the time. I never met Sofia. When I came here to take care of Jamie, she was gone. My husband had recently passed away, so it was good timing for me,” she said before Will could ask the question. “Sofia and my brother lived in the lodge until she disappeared. When I came here, Martin built the cabin for me. Jamie became my little girl.” Her expression softened whenever she spoke of her niece. It was easy to see the affection Betty had for Jamie. “And then when Jamie graduated from high school, she went to Georgetown.”

Lizzy had told him she’d attended Georgetown. A coincidence? No way. She’d been excited to start the FBI Academy in the fall.

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