Page 80 of Sinister Secrets

“She’s still alive,” I whisper.

Though Chelsea never said, I’d assumed our mother was dead. The sight of the eerie grin she gives me with bloodstained teeth suggests that’s not true. I watch as she gets to her feet, calculating the odds, knowing that the time to make a decision is running out.

I can’t aim properly with my hands bound behind my back. While I’m confident that I can hit her and stop her from leaving, I can’t be sure that the shot won’t be fatal.

It’s not a risk I can take.

Swallowing hard, I lower the weapon. Victory blazes in her eyes. But she makes no attempt to escape. Instead, she walks past me, giving me a wide berth as she steps to the edge of the pond.

“I always knew it might come to this,” she says, staring into the murky water with a sad look. “I mean, after a whole lifetime of hearing how wonderful you are, I knew there was a chance that I might not win.”

“There is no winner here,” I say. “It didn’t have to be like this. We’re sisters. We could have been—we could still be—family.”

She turns to face me, tilting her chin in the way that now strikes recognition in my heart. “That’s where you’re wrong. You and I will never be family.” Her lips curve up, eyes never leaving mine as she takes a step forward, then another, wading into the pond. “But she’ll never be your family again either.”

She raises her hand suddenly, jabbing herself in the neck with a syringe similar to the one she used on me. Within seconds, she collapses, falling face first into the water. I watch in horror, my knees sinking into the muddy shore as I scramble toward her as fast as I can, but I can barely move, let alone swim without the use of my arms and legs.

Still, I continue forward into the liquid, my progress excruciatingly slow as it rises to my waist, my chest, my armpits… and yet I’m still nowhere near close enough as her body floats toward the center of the pond. My breath hitches, sobs tightening my chest as I realize all I can do is watch as my sister dies—taking any hope of seeing my mother again with her.

CHAPTER 47

Though I sit tall and straight in the chair, I feel fragile, as if a gentle breeze could break me, shattering me into a million pieces. But I keep my head up, my expression neutral, painfully aware as my chin tilts just the tiniest bit as I silently wait for the man across from me to speak.

Had I always done that? Or is it something new? A quirk that will serve as a constant memory of what happened?

“Thank you for coming in today, Agent Knox.” Director Lopez’s gaze leaves mine briefly, dropping to the stack of papers on his desk. Clearing his throat, he lifts his eyes back to mine and says, “I want to begin by saying that I’m very sorry for your loss.”

I nod, unsure of how to respond. Though a simple thank you would suffice, it also seems a disservice, though to who or what, I’m not sure.

For one brief, glittering moment, I had a family again. I’m not entirely sure the woman who took that from me deserves to be mourned, even if she was my little sister. Until I figure it out, those feelings are going to have to stay in the box I put them in, buried deep under a pile of baggage in my psyche.

“I’d like you to know that with the new evidence that’s come to light, the Gator Glade Sheriff’s Department has ceased investigating you as a suspect.”

It makes sense considering that Chelsea’s fingerprints had been discovered all over the duplex where Gordon’s body had been stored.

“The complaint the victim’s mother filed against you has also been withdrawn. The photos she received in the mail were proven to be fake. Nancy Dunn admitted to her involvement in altering the originals when she was detained at the airport for questioning, though she alleges to not have had a choice. She claims that Chelsea was blackmailing her, threatening to lie to the authorities about her involvement in your grandfather’s murder in order to gain her assistance and access to her house as needed.”

I wonder if Chelsea had been in the house the first time I visited. If this all could have been avoided if I’d taken a softer approach like Lopez had suggested and managed to talk Nancy into letting me come inside. Or would my sister simply have made her move then?

“What about her identity? Has any headway been made tracing the alias WITSEC had her living under?” I ask, rubbing absently at the scabs encircling my wrists, the rest of my skin still sunburned and tender from the time it took me to free my legs and make my way back to the house, where Jake was frantically searching for me.

“I’m afraid not. Ms. Dunn says that she, Alicia Witt, and Gordon only ever knew her as Chelsea Knight, and her fingerprints aren’t on file anywhere.”

I swallow down a knot of disappointment. I had hoped—still hope—that there’d be a way that Chelsea could help lead me to our mom.

“I’ve made some inquiries through both official channels and a few personal connections, but, despite the arrest of your mother’s attackers, they still feel that there’s a risk to her safety.”

In other words, her location and the name that she’s living under will remain closely guarded secrets.

“I have asked that, if at all possible, a message be relayed to her about your sister’s—” He winces, not knowing how to refer to the woman who made it her life’s mission to cause me grief and destruction. Someone who would rather kill herself than risk revealing the one thing that could help ease decades of pain. “About what happened. Unfortunately, it’s unlikely that they’ll choose to forward it.”

Because doing so might compel my mother to break protocol and come out of hiding. In other words, that little shred of hope that I’ve been clinging to? I should let it go.

And yet, despite knowing how slim the odds are of one day reuniting with my mom, I refuse to admit defeat. She’s out there somewhere, and one day, I’ll find her. I have to believe that.

“Under the circumstances, I’d understand if you’d like to request some time off to regroup.”

“That won’t be necessary.”