Page 36 of Deadly Past

He smiled to encourage her. “I will. Go and lock the door.”

Wynona hurried to the bedroom and engaged the lock, then pulled the chair near the bed up against the doorknob. She could hear Declan speaking to Becky.Please hurry!

Over her thundering heart, she heard the basement door open. Declan’s steps descended the stairs. A second later she heard what sounded like a struggle followed by a thud, and then silence. Wynona raced to the door. She listened, but there was no sound for a long moment, and then steps came down the hall to the bedroom. She waited for Declan’s voice.

“Open the door, sweetie. It’s Mom.”

But the voice on the other side of the door wasn’t her mother. Her mother was dead.

Wynona clasped her hand over her mouth.

“She’s scared. You’ll have to open the door,” The woman spoke to someone. They were going to try and break down the door.

Wynona raced to the window and struggled to push it up. It was stuck from years of not being used.

Something slammed against the bedroom door. She screamed and tried desperately to open the window without any success.

The bedroom door flew open. Two people stepped inside. Wynona slowly turned. “Cathy, what are you doing?” She managed.

The woman who had introduced herself as Amos’s daughter, whom they now knew was an imposter, held a gun on Wynona. “Don’t worry, sweetie, I’m not going to hurt you.”

“What did you do to Declan?” Wynona glanced to the man at Cathy’s side. It was the same man who had taken her sister. Her legs threatened to buckle. “You—you took my sister.” A sob escaped. “What did you do to Lacey?”

The man took a step closer, and Wynona retreated, her back slamming against the windowsill.

“I didn’t do anything to my daughter. Why would I? We both love her.”

The words washed over her, but for the life of her, she couldn’t make them make sense.

“Lacey isn’t your daughter.”

Cathy put her hand on the man’s shoulder. “Let me.” The woman stepped closer, and Wynona moved to the other side of the bed.

“She is. And sweetie, you’re our daughter, too.”

Wynona eyed her as if she were in an alternate universe. “That’s preposterous. My mother was Grace Harper. She’s dead.”

Cathy shook her head. “She wasn’t your mother; I am. Grace and Sam stole you and Lacey from us when Lacey was still a baby.”

“That’s a lie.” Wynona immediately rejected the notion, but things that she’d once dismissed as strange started to add up. Like after the disappearance of Lacey. She remembered hearing her parents talking about this being their fault.

“It is the truth, Wynona. The man and woman who claimed to be your parents took you both from us and then disappeared. We knew them as Jamie and Paul Drake back then, but they changed their names after they took our girls to stay hidden. We were so heartbroken.”

“I don’t believe you.” She couldn’t.

“It’s true. You see, we’re from Canada. Your father and I never gave up. We eventually found you both living in Bangor. Your father and I couldn’t go to the police because of something that had happened before, and so we decided to take you both during the night. Only we weren’t able to get to you.” Cathy smiled sadly.

Wynona stared at her as if she’d lost her mind. “None of this is true.” Where was Declan? Was he still alive? A noise near the front of the house caught her attention.

Cathy whipped around to her husband. “Someone else is here. Go check it out.” She turned back to Wynona. “He’s okay. Your father just had to make sure he didn’t try to stop us from taking you because you see, we need your help.Laceyneeds your help.”

Lacey. “Lacey’s alive?”

“Of course, she is, but the diabetes has affected her kidneys. She needs a transplant.”

That was why they’d came back for her. As Lacey’s sister, Wynona might be a match. . .which meant this woman was telling the truth. She was her daughter and Lacey was dying. Getting words out was almost impossible but she had to ask. “Where is she? I want to see her.”

“And you will soon, but you have to come with us now. We need you.”

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