“Okay. Good.” Facing Carolyn was the only way to settle this. I just hoped Misti wasn’t swayed, especially if her mother accused me of lying. I stood, clutching the photograph in my hand, and took a few steps toward the house before glancing over my shoulder. “Aren’t you coming?”
“No. She wants to see you alone.”
A chill ran down my spine. “Oh… don’t you want to hear what she has to say?”
“Yes but… she insisted on talking to you first. I’ll come up when you’re done.”
“Uh… I don’t think that’s a good idea. You should be there too.”
Misti shook her head. “It’s fine. Besides, her health isn’t the best, and I don’t want to upset her too much. After she’s spoken to you is soon enough. Her room is on the second floor. Just go inside and take the staircase. Her room is on the far end. The door’s open, and she’s sitting in a chair by the window.”
I nodded, picking up that Misti was slightly embarrassed, but, if I had ulterior motives like her mother claimed, she was best suited to deal with it.
Ulterior motives? Crap. If she’d convinced Misti to doubt me so quickly, she was a force to be reckoned with. But I was up for it. I could read her mind, so I had a huge advantage. If I was wrong then fine, but if she was a murderer, she needed to pay.
I stepped toward the house, and Coco immediately followed. “Oh, hey boy… you need to stay here. I’m just going inside for a minute, but I’ll be right back. Okay?” Coco sat on his haunches and stared at me. I ruffled the fur around his ears and gave him a pat. “Stay.”
He woofed, but this time it wasn’t yup like I expected. It sounded almost like a growl. Watch out. Hearing that took me by surprise. “Watch out?”
Yup.
I nodded and smiled. “I’ll be careful.”
Yup.
I entered the house, glancing over my shoulder to see Coco in the exact spot that I’d told him to stay. He hadn’t moved an inch. He was lying down on his stomach with his head up and his ears standing tall. Wow. That was impressive, and it was nice to know I had backup if I needed it.
I passed through the kitchen and into the big, open floor of the main house. To my left, a large staircase, with a heavy, wooden balustrade, went up to the second floor. It seemed to take forever to get to the top, but that was probably just my nerves.
At the top, I continued to the end of the hall, where a door leading into a bedroom stood open. I stepped inside and found Carolyn sitting in a plush, scarlet-colored, wingback chair. She sat straight and tall, as if the chair was her throne, and I’d been granted an audience.
Her sharp eyes were gray and cold, matching her silver hair. She was a little pale, but she looked pretty spry to me, and I wondered how sick she really was. She wore a yellow blouse over white capri pants, and the sandals on her feet showed off her red painted toenails.
“Shelby Nichols.” She tilted her head to study me. “You’ve certainly made a nuisance of yourself. Why are you filling my daughter’s mind with lies? What do you want?” Her piercing gaze caught mine with glittering accusation.
“I’m investigating Mack Haywood’s murder, and I want the truth.”
“That has nothing to do with me.”
“That’s where you’re wrong. It must have been a surprise to see Mack after all these years. You probably didn’t recognize him at first. When did you figure it out?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Ignoring her, I continued. “Was it after he called you on the phone and mentioned that he’d lost his daughter all those years ago?”
She swallowed. “He didn’t tell me anything about that.”
“Is that why you agreed to meet him at his house? So you could convince him that Misti wasn’t his missing daughter?”
“Stop it. You don’t know what you’re talking about. We never spoke about that.”
My brows rose. “But he did invite you to his house… maybe to look at some of his old photos? Like this one?” I held the photo out to her. “Go ahead. Take a good look and tell me that’s not Misti… or should I say… Macie?”
She twitched, but otherwise held onto her regal demeanor. She stared at the photo and hesitated before snatching it from my hands. “This means nothing. You can do all kinds of things on the computer these days.”
Guilt and fear tore into her. She couldn’t believe I had come to ruin all of her carefully laid plans. This couldn’t be happening. Not right now. Why had Mack ever found them? If only Ava hadn’t run away. She thought she’d taken care of it by killing Mack, but now I was there. Me and that damn dog.
She turned her head to gaze out the window, and I could see that she had a perfect view of the back yard. With the window open, the sounds of Ava and Misti talking were easy to pick up, and I knew she’d heard every word of my conversation with Misti. Coco sat in the same spot, and I realized he hadn’t moved, even with Ava trying to distract him.
Glancing back at me, she gave in to her anger and ripped the photo in half. “You don’t know what you’re talking about. You have no proof. And now you’re trying to spread these horrible lies. Misti doesn’t believe you. She won’t believe that I’m not her mother. I’ve been a good mother, and I’ve taken care of her all her life. She won’t throw that away.”
I shook my head. “It’s too late for that. She’s seen the photo. She wants to know the truth. You can’t keep it from her anymore. It’s time she
