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“Oh, for the love of God,” she whispered, swiping at her eyes with the back of her hand. Setting her jaw, she stood up and forced her knees to hold her. She stalked to the front door and looked out the peephole to make certain Officer Maya had left.
Sure enough, the cop and her car were no longer in view, but she didn’t breathe a sigh of relief just yet as through the fish-eye lens she saw a man and a woman walking up to the porch!
“Oh, God.” The supposed half sister and the investigator her father had warned her about. She thought about not answering, but as before, she knew she would just be putting off the inevitable. But that didn’t mean she would be buying the girl’s tale. The world was rife with predators who, upon learning of a family member’s death, would come out of the woodwork to take advantage of those left behind. Oftentimes claims were filed against an estate by long-lost family members who felt they were entitled to their due. Maybe that was what was happening. Maybe this girl thought there was money to be had, that Court, a lawyer, had been wealthy when he died....
Except that, according to dear old dad, this girl’s claiming to be your sister, so she can’t really lay claim to Court’s estate.
But why else would she suddenly appear, so close to his death? For a fleeting second, Elizabeth wondered if her father was actually behind this total fabrication. Along with a lot of people, he believed that because Court was a lawyer and drove a BMW, he was wealthy. And yet, for all her father’s faults and his desire to use her “ability” for profit, she didn’t think he would try to steal from her.
Before they could ring the doorbell and wake Chloe, Elizabeth slid the chain lock free and opened the door a crack, just enough so that she could see her visitors.
The man stopped short. He was tall, around six-feet, with deep-set eyes and dark, almost black hair that shone under the porch lamp. The look on his face was intense.
Great. Just what she needed.
The woman next to him, barely out of her teens, was staring hard at Elizabeth as if memorizing every plane of her face. Dressed almost like a boy, or street kid, she was a honey-blond, her hair pulled away from a face devoid of makeup, her features even.
With an inner jolt, Elizabeth recognized a resemblance between them. Her father hadn’t been wrong about that.
But whatever story they were peddling, she wasn’t interested.
“Elizabeth Gaines?” the man asked.
“My name is Elizabeth Ellis,” she said, her pulse elevating again. God, she was wrung out; she shouldn’t even be talking to these people.
“But it was Gaines,” the girl insisted. “You’re Elizabeth Gaines who went to Van Buren High.”
The guy sent his companion a look meant to silence her.
“Rex Kingston,” he introduced himself, focusing on Elizabeth’s face, or what he could see of it in the crack of the door. “Kingston Investigations.” He pulled out a card and moved up the steps to reach it toward her.
Reluctantly, Elizabeth took it from his fingers, then scanned it in the illumination from the porch light. Rex wasn’t the name her father had told her, but there it was on the business card. Joel “Rex” Kingston.
“And this is Ravinia Rutledge, my client.”
“I’m actually your cousin,” the girl cut in again.
“Cousin?” Elizabeth repeated. “I thought you were claiming to be my half sister.”
“You spoke to your father?” Ravinia asked.
“I . . . yes.” Elizabeth gazed at Ravinia who kept on studying her as if searching for something she couldn’t quite find. In those moments, Elizabeth felt something move through her, something she couldn’t name, but it stilled the breath in her lungs and for a second her body was suffused with heat. And then as quickly as it came on, it dissipated.
What the hell?
She turned back to Kingston, unnerved by the girl. “Why did she claim to be my half sister if she’s my cousin?”
His eyes also seemed to be searching her face, and his lips parted as if he were going to answer, but it was Ravinia who spoke up first.
“I wanted to find you. I thought your father wouldn’t believe a cousin as much as a sister. But I am who I say I am.”
“Well, that’s fine, but I don’t want to talk to either of you.”
“Wait!” Ravinia called as Elizabeth started to shut the door.
“Think about it,” the investigator said. “You’ve got my card. She has some information for you that you might like to hear. Call, if you change your mind.”
Ravinia looked at him as if he’d lost his senses. “I’m not leaving.”
