He glared at her. “Yes, Hailey, she did.”
“Hailey, was that my name?” Keep him talking. Her frantic gaze went to Rachel who was visibly shaking.
“Yes.” The smile returned. “I wanted to call you Hannah after your mother, but she said that would be too confusing. So, we named you Hailey so that we could all have the same initials.”
HL.
“Then, I had to go away for a few days.” Ava could tell there was more to the story he didn’t want to tell. “When I came back, Hannah had escaped with you. I searched for you both. She’d given you to her sister and her husband who claimed to be your parents. I tracked her down first at the old mine where she was hiding out.”
The glass fragments they’d found in the shack. The sagging wooden bench that held an old miner’s helmet, an old window frame missing its glass, and a sheet of newspaper stiff and covered in wax. He’d left those clues because of where he’d found Hannah.
“What about the newspaper?” Ava knew in time her team would discover its importance, but she wanted to keep him talking.
“It mentioned Hannah’s disappearance. A photo of her was given to the paper by her sister. I showed it to her before I made her pay. But I’m glad you got to meet your real mother after all this time. You pulled her from the lake.”
Ava’s stomach turned.
“Don’t listen to him, Ava. He’s a liar,” Rachel yelled.
Wax whirled around. “Shut up!”
Rachel jerked back as if he’d struck her.
Wax’s shoulders lifted and then slowly relaxed before he turned back to Ava. The smug smile was back in place onhis face, but there was something else that scared her. A faint resemblance...to her.
“Why the blue cloth?” Her mind whirled over the evidence they’d found. Each had its significance.
“Taken from the dress I gave Hannah. After you were born, I presented her with the baby bracelet. She left everything—all my special gifts behind.”
She had to know the truth of what happened to the people she believed had abandoned her. “What about Hannah’s sister and husband?”
“I found them, but the impostors had given you up before I located them. They changed your name, so I had no idea where you were. No matter how hard I tried to make them talk, they wouldn’t give you up.”
“So, you killed them. You killed all of them.”
And this monster standing in front of Ava now was her father.
Chapter Twenty-One
The Final Act
“This has to be it.” Caleb stared at the thick wall of the mountain and tried to see anything that resembled an opening. “How did he get inside?”
He tried the hot spot app but the walls were too thick.
Shadow barked excessively anxious to be let free.
“He can find her.” Caleb was almost sure of it. He opened the door and released the dog.
Shadow tore past the front of the Cat and darted down the side of the mountain. Caleb ran after the K-9 while the others piled out.
The sound of chopper blades rose above the noise of the building storm and Shadow’s quest.
He reached a particular spot and sat, barking continuously.
“This has to be it.” Caleb went to work trying to locate the hidden panel.
Everyone worked in different areas along the mountain.
