“I don’t understand. How can you be here?”
Her mother sat in the chair beside Serena and took her hand, clasping it between hers. “Oh, my sweet baby, there’s so much to tell you. I didn’t want to leave you, but I didn’t have a choice. Your uncle has always been power mad, and he’d do anything to get more. When I discovered what he planned, he—he tried to have me killed.”
“Mom! Did you go to the police?”
Christine nodded. “Of course, but I didn’t know he had the chief of police in his back pocket. My brother had dirt on half the influential people in town, and the other half were scared to death of him. The chief took my statement, and the next thing I knew, I was grabbed on my way out of the grocery store. I was taken to an old barn and tied up for days. I knew my brother would come put a bullet in my head when he was ready. I managed to get away, and I ran. When I tried to contact Abner, your father told me I was dead to him. He must have divorced me somehow, because you know he remarried. I changed my name, did odd jobs here and there, and tried to live a normal life. None of that’s important. I met a wonderful man a few years after I ran.” Serena wanted to ask the question burning inside, but didn’t dare. The answer might hurt too much.
“Why didn’t you take Sharon with you?” Trust Antonio to know exactly what she’d been thinking.
“I wanted to. Every single day I missed you. A couple of times I even drove by the house, trying to catch a glimpse of you. I tried to come up with a plan where I could take you with me, but I knew it wouldn’t be safe. You didn’t deserve to live a life on the run, where I might not be able to keep you from harm. Jim had guards all around the place, watching, waiting for me to make a mistake. He knew I’d try to come back for you. If there had been any way, if I didn’t think Jim wouldn’t hunt for us every single day, I’d have risked everything. But I know your father loved you. Leaving you behind was the hardest thing I’ve ever done, and I’ve regretted it every day. I did it to keep you safe. I never expected your father to drag you into Jim’s web of lies.”
“How did you end up getting dirt on my uncle?”
Christine smiled and brushed her hair over her shoulder. The soft blonde color, so similar to Serena’s natural color, made it obvious they were related, and Serena almost reached out to touch it, see if it was as soft as she remembered from her childhood.
“I met someone. A wonderful man who helped me see the good in people again. I was jaded, distrustful, and believed most people were exactly like your uncle. Out for money and power, and didn’t care about anybody or anything except themselves. It took me a long time to open myself, to trust him. Isaac worked for the government, an aide for a senator. Once he heard my story, he convinced me to talk to the senator. She asked if I’d be willing to help take down my brother. I had to say yes. What else could I do? I knew Jim better than anybody else, knew what he was capable of. It was only a matter of time before he killed people. It was inevitable.”
Serena nodded. She agreed with her mother’s assessment, because she’d felt the same. If only she’d known her mother was out there, alive and gathering evidence. It looked like they were cut from the same cloth, as the saying goes, because they’d had the same goal.
“The senator had me contact somebody from the old days. It was a huge risk, because if word got back to Jim, things might have gone completely differently. I slowly ingratiated myself within the lower ranks. Changed my looks. I was heavier, I wore a wig and glasses. Nobody recognized me, and I stayed quiet and meek, making my way unobtrusively around until I became a fixture in the background there, so nobody paid attention to me. Before long, they started talking freely whenever I was around. Even my brother didn’t recognize me, because I looked so different from the polished, sophisticated woman I’d been before he tried to have me killed.”
“I’ve always known he was evil, but I thought he was loyal to family.” Serena shrugged but had a hard time containing her shock.
“I began sneaking my cell phone into meetings, and recording everything. Most days the information was useless, but when Jim gets angry, he tends to get mouthy, too. He’d make mistakes, forget I was there. Remember, everybody around him was loyal to a fault. Nobody crossed Jim. I recorded things that would make you blush. I took photos of things when nobody was looking. Jim was careful, always so careful. But others weren’t. Every few days, I turned the information over to the senator, but I kept my own file.” Christine’s eyes filled with tears. “I can’t tell you how thrilled I was when he was arrested. Until I found out you’d be testifying against him.”
“I had to. I was the only one who had enough information to take him down. No one had a clue you were doing the same thing I was, collecting evidence. I don’t remember ever seeing you.”
“That’s one of the things which took so long. I couldn’t go back to Oklahoma. Everybody would recognize me, even with the disguise. I hung out at the Louisiana compound.” She grinned. “He hated anybody calling his precious center a compound. Wouldn’t let anybody say it. Made it sound too much like a cult, with him as the leader. Idiot didn’t recognize it for what it was, a
