“Nothing new. Really.” This morning Adeline had filled her in on the latest. But the parts she’d learned this afternoon—those were the ones she wanted to discuss. Except for the incident at the cemetery.Not going there.Telling Wyatt would be ordeal enough. “There are somesmall connections between the victims that, with the second abduction, are proving more significant than previously theorized.”
Irene’s fingers tightened on the fragile dishes. “What sort of connections? If you’re allowed to say, of course,” she qualified.
“Both victims are blond. The resemblance is noticeable but not inordinately noteworthy. Career oriented.” She shrugged. “Like I said, nothing really significant.” She didn’t know why she even mentioned those details. Her mother was fully aware of what the victims looked like and who they were. With Penny Arnold’s abduction, however, those points were, as she’d said, more relevant.
Irene nodded. “There are still no leads on who might be behind this awful nightmare?”
“Not a one.” Adeline crossed one leg over the other. She resisted the urge to curl up at the end of the sofa the way she used to. Relaxing wasn’t on her agenda. She had questions. Deciding on the proper avenue of approach was the snag. “There is this kind of strange link between me and the two victims. It may be nothing but we have to look into any and all possibilities.”
The cup and saucer rattled. Irene set her tea aside. “This is something you learned today?”
Adeline nodded. Her instincts were humming. It wasn’t unreasonable that her mother would be nervous about discussing the case. The ugliness had hit pretty close to home. The Prescott woman had disappeared only a few miles from here. Even so, there was something not quite right about her overall reaction. The way her back had stiffened and the fact that she didn’t look Adeline directly in the eye now.
“Yes.” Adeline pushed to her feet. “Maybe I’ll have one of those cookies after all.” She wanted to watch her mother’s body language and get a better grip on the situation before she said anything she might regret.
Irene chattered as she scurried around the kitchen before settling a plate on the counter, then embellishing it with not one but three cookies. There was no way to miss the way her hands shook. Thetension rippling through Adeline moved to the next level. This was so not right.
Maybe there was something going on in her mother’s life that Adeline didn’t know about. If she learned that Cyrus had been giving her trouble ...
“You’ll need milk.”
Her mother’s statement snapped Adeline from the troubling thoughts. “That’d be great.” Relax. She’d come here for answers. No need to go making something out of nothing.
Irene reached for the fridge door and launched into more rambling about what some friend that Adeline couldn’t remember had gotten herself for Christmas.
When the milk was poured and Adeline had selected the cookie with the most visible chocolate chips, she indulged in a bite and savored the decadent taste.
“Now.” Irene had posted herself on the opposite side of the breakfast counter from her daughter. Her hands were clasped in front of her. “You were saying something about a connection.”
“Yeah.” Adeline sipped the cold milk. Tasted like old times. “Did I ever have a near-drowning experience?” She picked off another bite of cookie. “You know, in the tub or in a pool. Maybe a lake.” She popped the sweet chunk into her mouth.
Her mother’s brow furrowed in concentration. “Not that I recall.” She shook her head. “I’m certain you didn’t. I would surely have remembered.” She swiped the cookie crumbs from the counter into her hand and marched them to the trash as if another moment scattered on the counter would have created a tragedy of some sort.
Her mom had always been a little obsessive about cleaning.
“Why have I always been afraid of the water? Something had to have happened. Maybe I was with a friend’s family.”
“Oh, Adeline.” Her mother waved her hands back and forth as if to dismiss the entire notion. “You know the reason for that.” She presseda palm to her chest. “I was always scared of the water. Never learned to swim and I guess my irrational fears rubbed off on you.”
True. She placed the half-eaten cookie back on the plate. “Is there any chance at all that we knew Cherry Prescott’s or Penny Arnold’s family at some point? You know, when I was a little kid?” Neither family had lived in Pascagoula, but there were other possibilities. Church gatherings, Girl Scouts, school activities. It wasn’t impossible.
Her mother blinked. Three times. Rapidly. Her face blanked. “Why would you ask that?”
Why would she ask why?Adeline swallowed back the hesitation. “We all three are afraid in one way or another of water. We’re all three blond with blue eyes and have a number of other facial similarities.” The implications of what she was saying loomed inside her head, made a breath next to impossible. “And some psycho is targeting us. Calling us ‘princesses.’ There is either a connection in our pasts that put us on his radar or this creep has made one hell of a big mistake.”
That trapped-in-the-headlights expression claimed her mother’s face. “I’ve ... I’ve heard you say that those awful serial killers oftentimes pick women who look alike. Considering that, are these similarities really so unusual?”
Again, this was true, but ...
Adeline’s heart pounded harder, making her chest ache, with every statement her mother made. She was hiding something. There was no way on earth to deny that glaring fact.
“You’re right,” Adeline allowed. “The sticking point is the whole water thing. That’s not exactly something I’ve broadcast over the years, and from what I’ve learned so far neither did the other two women involved in this case.”
“I ... I don’t know what you want me to say, Addy.” Her mother swiped at the counter again when there were no crumbs to swipe. She glanced around the kitchen as if looking for something else to do. Then she grabbed the dish towel from the sink and rubbed her hands.
That bad, bad feeling that had taken root was wrapping round and round Adeline’s throat and squeezing. For about five seconds, Adeline was at a loss for words. “I just want you to answer the question. Did we or did we not know the families of these victims at some point in the past?”
“Your question is preposterous. Why would you ask me such a thing?” Irene huffed. “I think you ... you ...” The color of frustration and no small amount of anger climbed her cheeks as she looked Adeline straight in the eye. “I think it’s not safe for you to be here. You should go back to Huntsville and let Wyatt do his job. Not only are you a target of this insane person, but you’re thinking up all these ridiculous ideas.”