Page 125 of Almost Dead (The Cahills 2)

“I know this is a shock, but we found out through your grandmother’s diary, and records at Cahill House, that before your mother was married, she had a baby girl and gave her up for adoption. She was at Cahill House. That’s how she met your father.”

“No way!” Cissy held up her hands. “I mean, I would have known. Someone would have told me. Gran would have…” Her expression changed from denial to something darker, as if the muscles of her face were drawn by the fingers of fear.

“I don’t know how to say this but straight out,” Paterno said. “You have a half-sister, Cissy. She was adopted by a couple named Engles. Sounds like she’s now Diedre Lawson.”

“And Elyse Hammersly?” Jack spit out.

“And she killed my—our—mother and kidnapped my son?”

“It’s speculation, but it fits. Do you know where Diedre lives?”

Cissy shook her head. “Rachelle would. She owns Joltz and works with Diedre.” Cissy held up a hand as if to stop the tide of information. “Are you sure about this?”

“You’re the one who came up with the name,” he reminded them. “When I showed you the picture, I only knew the name Engles.”

“This is unbelievable!” Jack was shaking his head, and he placed an arm around his wife.

Amen, Paterno thought as he called Quinn again and gave her the updated information. Then, after telling the Holts he would let them know the minute he tracked down Diedre Engles, walked out to have a discussion with the FBI.

Cissy stared at the door as Jack closed it soundly behind Paterno. Seconds ticked by. The wet spot on the wood floor where the detective’s raincoat had dripped seemed to spread. Paterno expected her to just sit here and wait while her child was being held by a madwoman, a woman who could be her half-sister. But she couldn’t. “Something about this doesn’t make sense,” she said.

“None of it makes sense.” Jack was pacing in front of the fire, his gaze traveling to the pictures of Beej on the fireplace, then to the toy box where their son’s stuffed animals, little cars, and Legos lay stacked and untouched.

That great gnawing pain started up again, ripping through her guts, slashing at her heart. In her mind’s eye, she saw Beej standing over the toy box, and her throat burned.

“Do you trust the police to get our boy back?” Jack asked, his voice verbalizing the very question running through her mind.

She shook her head. “They haven’t been able to protect anyone, not since Marla escaped. Look what happened to Gran and Rory…”

“And Cherise and Tanya.” He plowed anxious fingers through his hair. Pain and despair darkened his eyes. “I can’t stand it. I have to do something.”

“What?”

“I don’t know, but I can’t sit around and wait one more minute. I’m going to find B.J.”

“If you leave, the police will follow you.”

A muscle worked in his jaw. “Do you think that we’re going to get a ransom call?”

“No.” She was certain of it.

“And even if we do, don’t you think this person…Diedre has our cell numbers? If we didn’t pick up here, she’d call one of our cell phones.”

“She’s got my number,” Cissy agreed. The feds had made sure she got her cell phone operational, as she hadn’t had the time. “It’s on the new phone.”

“Right. So if she’s got Beej, and it seems like she does, then she would call your cell, right?”

“I suppose. But what is it you want to do?”

“I want to look for our boy. Right now we’re doing everything she wants, everything she expects. She knows we won’t go against the FBI or the police. That we’ll stay here and wait. I agree with you. This isn’t about ransom money.”

“What do you want to do?” Cissy asked.

“Call Rachelle. She knows more about Diedre than anyone else, right?”

Cissy was nodding.

“She might tell you more than she would tell the cops.”

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