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Francine took off her glasses and said, “You’re right, wedon’thave time to waste.”
“Okay.”
“You want to drive while we talk? I don’t like sitting here exposed.”
Gibson put the van in gear and headed off.
“Have they made contact?” asked Gibson.
“She’s made contact twice.”
“‘She’?”
“Rochelle Enders.”
Gibson looked puzzled for a moment. “Wait, is that RE?”
Francine nodded. “We were in Albuquerque together. Her family was in WITSEC, too. They lived right across the street.”
“And BD? Bruce Dixon?”
“He and Rochelle dated some back then. Rochelle broke it off, I never knew why. Then Bruce’s father died, and he and his mom left WITSEC.” She looked over at Gibson. “Rochelle killed Bruce. I don’t know the reason. She stole his identity as Daryl Oxblood to rent the van she used to take my mother from the facility in Greenville. She didn’t have to kill him. She really didn’t.”
“And she killed your father, too?”
“She denied it. And she never denied anything if she had done it. Love her or hate her, she took responsibility for what she did.”
“But who could have killed him then?”
“Iwas going to kill him when I got to Stormfield that night. Then I found him dead, and saw the phrase on the wall.”
“‘Do as I say, not as I do’? What was that about?”
“It’s what my father always said. But he meant it in a different way than normal.”
“You’re going to have to explain that.”
“We always had to doexactlywhat he said. They were commands, not parental advice.”
“So if she didn’t kill him, whoever did would have known that?”
“Yes.”
“Could it be your brother?” Gibson said, watching her carefully.
“Doug’s with Rochelle.”
“But I thought you and your brother left together. That he waited for you to turn eighteen.”
“He was actually waiting forRochelleto turn eighteen, not me. He loved her. I did go with them initially. Rochelle and I just never saw eye to eye. I’m not like her and she’s not like me. But…we all endured shit that maybe allowed us to form a bond, at least for a while. Then she…made it clear I was not wanted.”
“What sort of shit?” Gibson said slowly. “And just so you know, I read the story about your father molesting little girls from your old neighborhood in New Jersey.”
Francine dropped her gaze. “Mr. Enders and my dad became really good friends. They each told the other about their backgrounds and why they were in WITSEC. They formed a bond around that. Mr. Enders had been a hit man for some Mexican cartel and then got nailed. So he flipped to keep himself out of prison and went into WITSEC with his family. Rochelle was an only child. Her father was scum; the guy had even killed little kids when working for the cartel. So of course he and my father got along great. We weren’t supposed to tell anyone about who we really were, but they didn’t give a crap about that. They just…rolled with whatever they wanted to do.”
“When you were little, did your father…?”
“I think he wanted to. I mean, he acted really…weird around me, and Dougie. But…my mother…”
