Page 116 of Trust No One

The booze had diluted my pride. But I’d never made the call.

The next day I downed aspirin to dull a throbbing headache, drank some water, and got on with my life. I was sure I was over her. And then I saw her at the hospital.

The honey hair I remembered was longer. Her body was leaner, and her blue eyes still burned with worry. The fading bruises on her pale neck had triggered something primal in me. I’d wanted to track down her attacker—make him pay.

“Agent, come look at this,” Meg said.

Meg’s voice cut through. I found her in a walk-in closet. The clothes were light florals, along with high heels and plenty of sparkly purses. A small section was dedicated to shirts and pants that belonged to a man.

In the back, Meg had pulled out a box and opened the top. The container was filled with photographs. More of Amy and Gabe. A few dated back to high school. Amy and Maria. Amy and Raine.

“They really looked alike,” Meg said.

“I’d known Amy was changing her look. The difference is notable.”

Some other images were just Raine. Not here, but in Alexandria. Outside a courthouse, near a sleek town house, in a tony city restaurant.

Had Amy been following Raine before she died? Or maybe Maria had. Her lawsuit would have given her cause to keep up with her cousin.

An undercurrent of tension radiated.

“We’re running a full background check on Amy,” I said. “Maybe I’ll see a pattern of behavior.”

“What do you remember about high school?” Meg asked.

“As little as possible,” I quipped.

“Did you know Amy?”

“I saw her around. Raine met her during her lunch hour at school. Raine needed help with her mother, so she hired Amy. Amy needed a home after she aged out of foster care.”

“How long did Amy work for the Hales?”

“I think about a year. Mrs. Hale died in October.”

“Interesting.”

“Meaning?”

“What was Raine’s attitude toward her mother?”

“She saw to her mother’s needs, but she kept her distance as much as possible.”

“Resented her a little?”

“Maybe. She was deferring college because of her mother’s illness. It was hard.”

“I bet.”

“Raine talked about being close to her father, but never her mother.”

Meg shrugged. “Raine hires Amy, a girl she knows lives on the margins. Amy looks like Raine and then really starts to mimic her. Can’t tell one from the other in the dark.”

“Amy was infatuated.”

“And Raine tolerated it in high school. Why? Was she just overwhelmed, or was it more?”

“What are you thinking?”