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12
Fear prickled my skin as I stared at the glass jar containing a blood-stained tooth. A handwritten label informed me the tooth once belonged to Zach Knopf and had been collected a few years ago.
In all, there were about a dozen glass jars with various items like hair, fingernail clippings, and cigarette butts. There was also a large plastic bag that held a beer bottle.
“Did you find the iced tea?” Dottie strode toward me, smiling as though everyone stored such things in their refrigerator.
When she saw my panicked expression, she frowned. “Brandy? Are you okay? You don’t look so well.”
My heart hammered. Of course I didn’t look so well.
“What’s wrong?” Lia asked.
Dottie followed my gaze. Then she gasped. “Oh my goodness. You found my stash.”
“Your stash?” Lia peered into the refrigerator.
Dottie rattled the jar, containing the lone tooth. “I know it looks a little strange but don’t freak out. It’s just my DNA evidence.”
“Your DNA evidence?”
Lia’s eyes widened as she took it all in. “Dottie, why do you have DNA evidence in your refrigerator?”
Dottie returned the jar to the shelf. Humming, she picked up the pitcher of iced tea and carried it back to the sink. “Ladies, I have a confession to make.”
My gut twisted. What was it? Had she lured us inside to do us harm?
Avoiding our gaze, she filled our glasses with the iced tea before handing them to us. “I haven’t been honest with you.”
“What do you mean?” I accepted the glass from Dottie, but no way was I drinking it. Hopefully, Lia was thinking the same thing. If she tried to take a sip, I’d just have to knock the glass out of her hand.
“I know who you are,” Dottie admitted. “I recognized you both immediately. I didn’t want to say anything to scare you away.”
“What do you mean you recognized us? How?” demanded Lia.
“From social media. From both the restaurant’s account and your personal account. I know you’re Lia Hermosa. Salvador and Ruth Anne’s daughter.” Turning to me, she offered an apologetic smile. “And Brandy... You look so much like your mother that I immediately made the connection.”
My heart pounded. “You knew my mother?”
Dottie shook her head. “I never met her, but I’ve seen pictures of her.”
“So you’ve known who we were this whole time?” Lia’s irritation was obvious. “Why would you deceive us and not tell us the truth?”
“Didn’t you do the same to me?” Dottie snapped. “Didn’t you pretend to be interested in my garden in order to talk to me and see the house?”
Lia’s eyes narrowed.
“Look,” Dottie said, “don’t be mad. I was just so happy to see you both. I knew Ruth Anne was in town to meet with the parole board. Did I go downtown hoping I could see you or influence her? No. I stayed home, working in my garden, pretending Eddie’s life wasn’t hanging by a thread.”
Dottie took a sip of her iced tea. “Don’t forget, you girls came here. To my home. I’m glad you did. I was... I am happy to see you both. And Brandy...” Tears pooled in Dottie’s eyes. “Your father misses you. He would love nothing more than to see you again.”
My blood ran cold. “How do you know my father?”
Dottie pointed to a framed photo on the wall of two little kids. “This is us when we were in the second grade. Your father and I have known each other since elementary school. We grew up together. We were neighbors. We used to... Well, we used to walk to school together. When I learned that he was being charged with your mother’s death, I just couldn’t believe it. Your father had his issues, but he would never do anything to hurt your mother. Never. He deeply loved her.”
“He loved my mother?” Skepticism thickened my voice. Nobody ever told me that before.
“He was a good husband and a good father. You and your mother meant everything to him.”
