“He still has a child with him, one who isn’t feeling well. The weather is about to turn bad. He’s going to drive someplace he feels safe, at home. He’s going there.” Jac was almost sure of it. “Ava said…he was taking Olivia where she could see the other stars.”
Max jerked a bit. “He called them that. Said Olivia and Ava were his stars. At Emery’s party.”
“Just an off comment?” Barnes asked.
“I don’t think so. He said it a few times,” Max said. “To me, and to Chalmers.”
“Rachel said he wanted to be with the stars of the show at all times. He had astronomy books in his home. And his office. It was a lifelong passion,” Jac said. “He was going to take the girls to a planetarium while she helped me with landscaping. She’d told me she had to wait until Paul was busy with the girls before she could come over.”
“He kept in touch with Ronalda, as Philip,” Dani said quietly. She was clicking away at her laptop, doing a preliminary database search on the biological mother. Her screen was visible on the digital screen behind her. “Phone calls, emails. I’d say he had an active relationship with his biological mother. Not so for Paul Sturvin. The real Paul Sturvin, anyway. There are a few emails from Paul to Ronalda, about once a year. Stilted. Until after Philip Sullivan #1’s supposed death. Then the tone warms considerably.”
“Is it possible she knew which twin was which?” Jac asked, looking up at Max. “I mean…the saying is a mother knows, right? Marianna Dennis certainly knows how to tell her twins apart. Maybe Ronalda confronted him about what he’d done to his brother and he gave her Bentley in exchange for her silence?”
“I know what you did, P. A mother always knows. That is the first email she sent Paul after his brother’s death. I can only imagine where it went from there,” Dani said. “I’m cross-referencing everything I can find on her now. I’ll have addresses and license—whoot!”
Jac stepped closer, to see the screen for herself. There it was: the license plate number of a maroon family sedan. It matched the partial Nat had gotten.
“Is it possible he took Olivia back to his mother’s? To his actual birthplace?”
“It might be the only place he ever truly felt safe,” Max said quietly. “Bring up the satellite images.”
Dani worked quickly.
“That place is within twenty minutes of the pharmacy,” Jac said. “And Ava said there was a barn. That could be it right there.”
It felt right. Jac knew it.
“We need to get up there,” Max said. “Meet up in fifteen. I’m calling in Lytel’s team. They can meet us there.”
96
Lytel’s team somehow ended up on the road ahead of them. Max followed. “This could be another dead end.”
“Or a stepping stone to the finish line.” Jac rubbed one hand over her eyes. Any lethargy from only sleeping three hours since the case began was gone. All that was left was a sense of urgency she couldn’t explain, but was experienced enough to know not to resist. “Paul/Philip is going to run out of places to go soon. At least staying in this area. He has to realize this. And he’s not stupid. He’ll know exactly how hard it is to go on the run. He might just decide to cut his losses, kill Livy, and start all over again with a new family somewhere else.”
“We’ve heard of a lot of strange things, but killing your twin and assuming his life is probably at the top of the list,” Max said. “Maybe.”
Jac checked over her shoulder, at the convoy of vehicles behind them, then looked at the one in the front. Lytel and his team were in one vehicle, Whit and a few other agents they’d recruited took the other.
If Paul/Philip was at the house where he’d spent the first four years of his life, they would find him soon.
She just hoped they found Olivia with him.
The longer she was out there, the further away Olivia would slip. Jac wouldn’t give up hope. Not yet.
Not yet.
She wouldn’t stop looking until she found Rachel’s older daughter.
Jac saw the flashing lights when they were approximately a quarter of a mile away from the property. “Max…the only house out this far on the satellite was Ronalda’s.”
He pressed on the gas. “I know.”
“No, no, no. Damn it!” Jac leaned forward in the passenger seat, trying to get a better look through the storm. “The house is on fire!”
“I’m going as fast as I can. I’m not about run us off the road,” Max said. Jac grabbed her radio and relayed the information to the two SUVS behind them.
Not that that was necessary.
Max pulled in. There were six fire-response vehicles and a dozen firefighters combatting the fire consuming the house.
The house was a total loss.
Jac waited until he threw it into park then hopped out. She pulled her credentials out and flashed them at the local sheriff who had jogged up to meet them. “PAVAD, Jaclyn Jones. Can you tell me, was anyone inside?”
“Not sure at this point,” he said. “Deke Colton. This is my scene for now. Give me one good reason I should turn it and the DB over to you, and it’s yours. I’m rather busy tonight.”
“You said you didn’t know if someone was inside,” Max said, coming up behind Jac. “Hello, Colton, how have you been?”
The man’s expression cleared. Jac gave thanks—Max having a connection to the sheriff would just speed things up. “Not bad, Jones. I take it this is related to something
