Page 31 of Special Agent Isabella

Abbie sat up; her wig resting askew on her head. Comically, with her hair halfway over her face, she peeked out from one eye. “Bel-la?”

“It’s okay, pal. It’s your Aunt Leslie from England.”

“I don’t have an aunt.” She hunched back against the sofa, her hands clutching the blanket.

Leslie stepped closer. Her face stretched into a smile intending to put Abbie at ease. “I’m your father’s sister, honey. I live in England. You were too small the last time I was here to remember me.”

Abbie searched for Bella’s arms. When Bella reached down to the child, in seconds she was wrapped around her body. She heard the whispered words Abbie spoke in her ear. “I don’t like her.”

She whispered, “It’s okay sweetie. I’ll be here. Let’s Facetime your mommy and let her see your auntie. Then you’ll be reassured.”

“There’s no need.” The visitor spoke up.

“No problem. Just take a sec.” Bella opened her phone and called Tanner who she knew would answer immediately. He did.

“Hey? Everything okay at the house?”

“Just want to confirm something with Stacy. Is she available?”

“She’s in a meeting, but I’ll interrupt if it’s important.”

“Her sister-in-law, Leslie Bolden, arrived from England, and Abbie doesn’t recognize her. I figured if her mom gives the okay, we’ll be fine.”

“Wait a sec.” She heard him walking over to the other side of the room and in minutes, she saw Stacy’s angry face.

“Don’t let that bitch anywhere near my daughter, Bella. I’m on my way.”

ChapterTwenty-Six

Stacy couldn’t believe her eyes when she saw that indeed Leslie had arrived. They met in her office, now empty other than the two women. “What are you doing here?”

“I came as soon as I could. I’ve been on assignment in Ukraine for months and didn’t know about the trouble until I got home.”

“That’s not what I meant. Why did you bother to come now?”

“You need family around, and I know your mother is in a home and you’ve no one else.”

“I sure as hell don’t need someone I can’t trust. Look, when Hank called his family in London, all excited about our relationship, you basically told him that if he intended to marry a Mexican immigrant, not to bring me home. Those were the exact words, right?”

“Not mine.”

“I heard them over the phone. He had it on speaker. My husband was excited to share our news with his family… you and his mother. She might have spoken those hateful slurs, but you didn’t stop her. Nor did you call back and apologize. It broke Hank’s heart that his immediate family would be so racially prejudiced.”

“I didn’t call back… you’re right. And I should have.”

“You had six years to make that call.”

“Most of that time I was on assignment out of the country. You have to understand, Mummy wasn’t well. If she’d have been in her right mind, she’d never have said those horrible things.”

“But she’d have thought them. I guess dementia just gave her permission to voice her prejudices rather them hide them.”

“How did you know she had an illness?”

“Hank called and talked with the housekeeper. He had his deployment papers and couldn’t travel there, but he contacted your neighbors, who went to visit your mother. They reported back to him about her health problems. He wanted to go to her then and make peace, tell her she was mistaken about me, but there wasn’t enough time.”

“She probably wouldn’t have recognized him. In those years, she floated in and out of reality often. One never knew when she’d be sane.”

“Yes. That makes sense for her. But what about you? And don’t bother lying. Before I ran for the senate, the election committee went through my background thoroughly, and that of my dead husband.”

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