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“Meet Camden Cole. ”
Crista moved closer to the table, her eyes locked on the picture of the stern older man. Hazel eyes stared back with cool detachment in a face as unemotional as a robot.
“I know him. ” She was shocked that she did know him. “He worked for the electric company. He was at the house just after my parents died. Alex had requested a new meter be installed. ”
“Bingo. ” Special Agent Cranston beamed at her as though she had answered a particularly difficult question. “That was just a few years ago, wasn’t it?”
Crista nodded slowly as Dawg stared at her in surprise. He had been unaware that she had been in town at that time, she had made certain of it.
“Alex asked me to come in and take care of a few things while he was out of the country. ”
“So, yesterday, while Miss Jansen was supposedly on her way to Virginia, she shows up at the detention center. ” Another picture slapped down in front of her, causing Crista to freeze in shock.
“That’s not me!” But it looked like her. The hair, the profile, even the clothes.
“So Natches spent a considerable amount of time informing me after Dawg got my agent lost in the mountains this afternoon. ”
Crista stared back at him as she felt fear beginning to build inside her. “I was with Dawg yesterday. All day. ”
“And Natches was in town spreading tales of your desertion. ” He shook his head sadly and cast Natches a chiding look filled with mockery.
“Sometimes you have to tell a few lies to get to the truth. ” Natches’s smile lacked any humor.
“We were in the office after we found the attempted break-in,” Dawg reported. “I kept her up there until well after closing. ”
“Yeah, Natches was telling the customers about that one, too. ” Cranston nodded. “He hinted you blamed her for the break-in?”
Dawg grunted as Crista stepped back and stared at the three men.
“Who is in the picture?” she asked.
“Looks like you. ” Cranston gazed back at her blandly.
The patently false look of innocence would have been amusing at any other time.
“Crista, look closely at the rest of the photos,” Natches said softly.
Crista moved back to the table as Cranston laid out half a dozen glossy color and black-and-white photos. There were none that showed the woman’s face clearly. Most were in profile, and all looked remarkably like her.
“I have clothes just like these,” she whispered shakily, feeling Dawg move closer to her, his hand settling comfortingly at her back.
The neat, almost businesslike outfits were identical to those hanging in her bedroom closet.
“Agent Dane checked your home and confirmed that these same clothes were hanging in your closet. ” Cranston nodded.
“You were in my home?” She stared back at him in shock. “Without a warrant?”
“Honey, it’s a criminal investigation; of course we searched the house with warrant in hand. The clothes are now in custody and on their way to the lab for tests. ”
“What kind of tests?” Shock filled her voice now, not just her mind.
“DNA tests, little girl. ” Cranston frowned. “We’re looking for DNA other than yours. Criminals don’t always think about the many ways DNA can be found. A stray hair, sweat, sometimes blood from something as innocent as a scratch. We’re hoping our boy here left something. ”
“Boy?” Dawg latched onto that word before Crista could make sense of it.
“Natches caught it. ” Timothy shook his head. “Right here. ”
He pulled one of the pictures free and handed it to Dawg.
