Page 41 of Shrouded Past

“Yes, I’m certain.”

“Do you remember anything else?” Katrina asked gently as she cleaned up the spilled coffee. “We know this is hard for you.” Katrina’s sympathetic expression felt sincere.

“Only a feeling that there’s more I don’t want to remember. I think something really bad happened to her, and I think I was there.”

A stunned silence followed. Katrina returned to her seat.

Bryce reached for her hand. “Whatever it is, it will come out in time, and you’re not alone. You have me—you have everyone on the team to help you through it.”

Looking into his eyes, she saw something she’d never considered before but she desperately wanted. A future. When she’d been with Edmon, her world had been so small. Just the two of them. And she’d been hurt and traumatized by something that she’d witnessed. There was no thinking beyond the moment. Now that she’d been set free it was as if the part of her that had existed quietly hidden by the trauma had been set free and she wanted more than to live in fear. She wanted to know what happened to her mother. Why Edmon had been so afraid it would be her fate as well.

Will returned to the kitchen. “I spoke to Chris, my detective friend on the force at Cape Elizabeth. He’s going to see what he can find out about Edmon and Marina. Oh, and the child with Piper’s name who died was in the news for a while after her passing. She had a rare form of juvenile cancer.” He glanced around the room as if realizing something had happened. “What’d I miss?”

Delcan filled him in and showed him the photo.

“I see the resemblance,” Will told Piper. “You look like her.”

She focused on the younger woman and realized he was right. “In the photo, she’s about my age now.”

Bryce studied the picture. Her birthdate is September 27, 1973, so she would’ve been twenty-five at the time the photo was taken.”

“I’ll snap a photo of it and send it to Chris. This might help him in searching for Marina.” Will took the photo and texted it to his friend. “There’s something else, and it may be related to what’s happening here.” Will told them that one of the officers assigned to the Cape Elizabeth police department was missing. “According to Chris, this officer had been suspended several times for misconduct, but he was cleared. He was supposed to report to duty three days ago, and he never did. His apartment was searched. It appears he left in a hurry.”

Piper thought about the badge she was positive she’d seen in the kidnapper’s vehicle. “So, he’s a cop,” she murmured.

“It appears so.” Bryce asked Will what they knew about the officer other than his service record not being very stellar.

“Not much. His name is Alan Darby.” Will waited to see if Piper recognized the name.

She shook her head, and he continued. “He’s been accused of taking bribes, although it was never proven. Hang on. Chris sent me a photo of Darby.” Will brought it up and handed the phone to Piper.

She stared at the officer in his uniform and couldn’t be sure. “His eyes are dark like Skeleton Man, and I think he’s the same height, but I can’t be sure.”

“Still, there’s enough possible matches to the man who took you that I’m going to let Chris know.” He typed a message and hit Send.

“If Darby were the kidnapper, then how did he fit into what was happening to you?” She shared her concerns.

“I’m guessing he’s working for the people who wanted Edmon dead . . . your family is what Edmon claimed,” Bryce said. “If what we believe is true and Edmon was your uncle and Marina your mother . . . who is your father and how is he involved in this?”

Piper hadn’t thought about the possibility that her family member who wanted her dead might be her own father. The thought made her sick to her stomach.

“Will, when will you get the DNA report on Piper?”

Will picked up on what Bryce was suggesting. “You’re right. It would confirm your relationship with Edmon and possibly help us locate your father. Hopefully, the results will come in soon.”

“This case is unlike anything I’ve ever heard before, and I lived through something awful myself.” Rachel scraped back her hair from her face. “It doesn’t make sense. If Darby is dirty and was hired by Piper’s father to bring her back to him, then he has to be up to something illegal. From what you’ve told us about Edmon, he was a decent man who truly believed he was protecting you.”

“What I don’t understand is why you were in Wyoming in the first place.” JT placed his hands on the table. “Maybe your mother took you there to escape an abusive relationship?”

Piper wished she knew. So far, nothing about the time she spent in Wyoming was clear.

Bryce’s phone beeped with an incoming message. He brought it up. “It’s from Stella. She can positively identify Edmon as the person who picked you up from the shelter.”

“So, it stands to reason he was my uncle.” If only he’d explained about their connection, she wouldn’t have been so scared. She wouldn’t have been so eager to escape if she understood what he was trying to protect her from. “I don’t understand why he didn’t just tell me.”

Will returned from checking in with his officers. “There’s no sign of anyone being around the house.”

The news was a relief for Piper. The kidnapper hadn’t found her yet.

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