AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Yeah, her parents are dead.”
I’m drawing two sisters, both blonde and dressed in nurse’s uniforms.
Two sisters that look alike, not like me and Zoe.
The charcoal smudges on the page as my hand jerks involuntarily.
“Rakel . . .” I say.
“What?”
“Pull up the hospital directory.”
Rakel finds the right page, scrolling until she sees the nurse in question: Lida Copeland.
“Look at that,” Rakel says. “They could be twins.”
I join her at the laptop, my eyes fixed on the blonde woman facing the camera with only the ghost of a smile. Her face is angular and elegant, the austere lines of her jaw and her wide, full mouth offset by the heavy frames of her glasses.
The glasses can’t disguise her beauty, or the sadness in her eyes that is all too familiar to me.
“Not twins . . .” I breathe. “That’s her. That’s Dean’s mother.”
We found Rose Copeland.
21
DEAN
Cat comes running up the stairs of the Bell Tower, filled with a nervous energy I’ve never seen before.
“You look excited to see me.” I grin, grabbing her and trying to kiss her.
“I am!” she cries. “But not for—not just for that.”
“What, then?” I say, my fingers slipping through her curls as she twists out of my grasp, too anxious to stay still.
She’s pacing around the tower, nervy and almost hectic. Bright spots of color flame in her cheeks, her eyes glinting like black jet. She’s grasping a folded piece of paper in her fist.
“I was looking for something. I didn’t want to say anything in case I couldn’t find it. But I did! Earlier this morning. And I’m almost certain of it.”
“What . . .” I say.
Her agitation is infecting me. Not in a positive way—I’ve never liked surprises.
Cat twists the paper in her hand, her eyes as big as I’ve ever seen them.
“I think I found your mother.”
I stare at her, uncomprehending.
“She’s working at a hospital in Chicago. At first I thought it was her sister, but her sister lives in Madison with her husband and kids. I think your mother is using her name and social so she can work without anyone knowing . . .”
Cat’s words are a swarm of wasps swirling around me—too fast and too loud.
“It took some digging but she has an apartment in Chicago, too. You wouldn’t need an apartment and a house if it was the same person . . .”
I shake my head, trying to clear the cacophony.
