Hope practically raced forward, grabbing Casey’s arm with sheer desperation. “Did you find Linda? Was she at that place Sunny Gardens?”
“Yes.” Casey studied Hope intently, saw the genuine emotion in her eyes. Not that any confirmation was necessary. Still, she was relieved to get it.
“Did you talk to her? Did she tell you where Krissy was?”
Casey turned to Peg. In the process, she spotted Hutch, and tried to ignore the blazing fury in his eyes.
“Linda Turner has a new name and a surprising accomplice. Don’t ask me how I know. Just accept it as a hot tip. The sooner you can act on this, the better.”
“Go on,” Peg said curtly.
“She was admitted under the name Lorna Werner. You would have found that out the minute you showed her picture at the front desk. You also would have found out that talking to her is useless. She drifts in and out of reality, and she didn’t kidnap Krissy, although she certainly inspired it. If she has an inkling where Krissy is—which I doubt—she’d never be able to give us a coherent description, much less directions to where Krissy’s being kept. Only her accomplice can.”
“Is this accomplice mob related?” Sidney asked.
“No. Your mob ties had nothing to do with your granddaughter’s abduction.”
“So you know who Linda’s accomplice is,” Peg concluded.
“Yes.” Casey was both frank and blunt. “I can tell you, which would be hearsay. Or I can show you, and say we found this evidence outside the gates of Sunny Gardens, where a good Samaritan must have dropped it. Your choice.”
Peg glared at her. “Show me.”
Ryan produced a flash drive containing the data he’d copied off Gecko. He walked over to one of the FBI computers. “May I?”
“Go ahead.”
He inserted the USB drive and punched in a few commands on the keyboard.
A minute later, the video recording came up. First, Linda. Then, the familiar voice. Finally, the appearance.
A simultaneous gasp filled the room as Linda and her accomplice launched into their visit, which included some probing questions from her accomplice, obviously fishing to see if Linda had been approached by law enforcement, leading to genuine relief when she realized that she hadn’t.
“Hope?” Edward turned to her, white shock on his face. “What the hell—”
“It’s not your wife, Mr. Willis,” Casey interrupted. “We watched this video many times and with great care. Her body language, her choice of words, her delivery—they’re all completely different. That woman is impersonating Hope. But she isn’t Hope. She’s Felicity.”
“Oh my God.” Vera’s legs buckled under her, and Patrick Lynch caught her before she dropped to the floor. “Oh my God,” she whispered again, staring blankly at the monitor as Patrick eased her into a chair. He himself was stark-white. “Felicity is…alive?”
“Yes.” Casey nodded. “She’s been with Linda all these years. Once we realized that, all the pieces fell into place. Why it was so easy for the kidnapper to masquerade as Hope. Why I never saw anyone but Hope come and go at the ransom drop. How the kidnapper got in here to steal Hope’s pendant and Krissy’s toy—and to knock Ashley out when she surprised her.”
“Felicity must have used Krissy’s keys,” Edward surmised, obviously shaken to the core. “They were in her backpack, along with our alarm code and Krissy’s cell phone. All our numbers are programmed into that phone. That’s how she managed to call Ashley’s cell in order to bypass the phone taps and get to Hope for the ransom money.”
“Money she was probably planning to use to raise Krissy,” Casey continued. “It’s also why the gardener was so convinced he saw Hope enter the house when Ashley was checking the mail. And why Claudia Mitchell had an unexpected and fatal experience at Sunny Gardens. She must have freaked out when she spotted the woman she thought had fired her. She was filled with pent-up anger—after having to apply for a job that was beneath her, and dealing with a boyfriend who was being held by the police. I’m sure she blamed Hope for the whole fiasco. My guess? She went over to confront her, only to realize it wasn’t Hope after all. Talk about ammunition. We all thought it was a mob hit. But it wasn’t. It was a desperate act committed by a desperate woman.”
Reflectively, Don added, “The mob did everything they could to get us off their backs. How ironic. The one thing they weren’t guilty of was the very thing that might have gotten them caught.”
“So Felicity ran Claudia Mitchell off the road?” Hope asked, her voice quavering with shock and pain. “My sister is a murderer?”
Casey took Hope’s hand. “She’s not stable, Hope. She probably shattered completely when she thought Claudia was going to undo everything she’d done. Krissy means everything to her. She’s transferred all the love she felt for Linda to Krissy. She’s frantic to hold on to her. It’s the only way she can hold on to herself.”
“But she doesn’t even know Krissy,” Edward protested.
“It doesn’t matter.” It was Hutch who spoke up now. “Casey’s right. Linda Turner was Felicity’s mother for thirty-two years. She kept Felicity isolated from the world. Linda became Felicity’s lifeline. When Linda’s illness made it impossible for her to continue living on her own, Felicity panicked. She was losing her mother. The only way she could survive was to repeat the cycle. It gave her a sense of completion.”
“Stockholm syndrome,” Patrick said.
“Exactly.”
“But how did she find me…us…Krissy?” Hope asked weakly.
“That I don’t know,” Hutch replied. “On some level, Felicity knew who she was. She knew she had a twin. If she kept tabs on you that easily, my guess is, she isn’t far away. Especially if she visits Linda every week.”
“Dear God.” Vera buried her face in her hands. “Linda comforted me. She became my friend. And all the time, she had my baby. My Felicity.”
“That’s probably why she inserted herself in your life,” Casey said. “She wanted to stay on top of the investigation, to make sure no one suspected her.”
“And no one did.” Patrick’s tone was grim. “Including me. I always held out hope that Felicity was alive. But not this way.”
“None of us saw this coming.” Peg turned to Casey. “That’s why you didn’t want us going to Sunny Gardens.”
Casey nodded. “If you’d burst in there with a warrant, you’d risk upsetting Linda enough to call Felicity and blurt out something. Clearly, Felicity’s already wary. She must have heard rumors. That’s why she made that extra trip to see Linda yesterday. She customarily visits every Wednesday. But she wanted to see if law enforcement had been poking around. Right now, she’s probably feeling relieved. Which means she’ll have no reason to grab Krissy and run.”
“Today’s Tuesday,” Peg said. “Wednesday’s just one day from now.”
“So we wait,” Don qualified. “We remain patient and sit tight. Then, tomorrow, we stake out Sunny Gardens. We let Linda and Felicity have their visit. And when Felicity leaves, we follow her. She’ll lead us straight to Krissy.”
“How can we do that?” Hope asked, tears coursing down her cheeks. “I know that Felicity is my sister, and God help me for saying this, but we’re leaving an unbalanced woman with my five-year-old child. Who knows what she’s doing to her, and what she could keep doing to her until tomorrow afternoon?”
“She’s not harming her.” Claire spoke up for the first time. “Krissy’s scared. But she’s safe. Felicity’s created a virtual princess suite for her. She tried to replicate the one Linda made for her all those years ago. It’s her idea of a safe haven.” Claire paused, sage realization flickering in her eyes. “Now I understand my visions. I kept getting images of Hope—or the person I thought was Hope—interspersed with my images of Krissy. I couldn’t understand why. Or why I never got so much as a glimpse of the kidnapper. Now I realize I was seeing the kidnapper. Only it wasn’t Hope.”
“But Krissy’s safe?” Hope aske
d Claire pleadingly. “You’re sure?”
“She’s frightened. And she doesn’t understand why you haven’t come. But she’s physically unharmed.”
“And psychologically?”
“Psychologically she’s a lot better off enduring one more scary day than a long, scary lifetime,” Hutch stated flatly. “She’s only been gone a little over a week. I know that seems like a lifetime to you. But she’ll recover. On the other hand, if we miss this chance, we could lose her for good.”
“We don’t have a choice.” It was Edward who spoke, his tone hard and determined. “I want my daughter back. We lose nothing by waiting, since we have no clue where Felicity is hiding her. I don’t see a choice.”
Hope was still openly weeping. “She’s scared, Edward. She probably thinks we’ve abandoned her. Plus, she sees me, yet she knows it’s not me. Can you imagine how confusing and devastating that is to a child of five? Another day like that…it kills me that she has to go through this.”
“Keep your eye on the prize,” Casey said quietly. “It won’t ease your fear or worry, but it will give you the strength to go through with this. It’s the only way, Hope. The task force will surround the building. They’ll alert the Sunny Gardens staff. The minute Felicity arrives, they’ll know her car and her license plate. They’ll put a GPS tracking device on it. There’ll be plainclothes police and agents posted on the street. She’ll be followed and tracked from every direction. There’s no chance of her getting away.”
“I want you and your team there,” Hope stated flatly. It wasn’t a request. It was a demand that was aimed at the task force. “And I want to go with you.”
“Not a good idea, Judge Willis,” Peg intervened at once. “We’re perfectly capable of handling this alone. If there are too many people present, it could alert Felicity to the stakeout.”
Hope’s tearstained stare was unflinching. “Forensic Instincts did an extraordinary job of solving this case thus far. I’m sure they can manage to situate themselves on the scene without being spotted. As for me, I’m Krissy’s mother—and Felicity’s sister. I might be needed to defuse the situation. You can’t force me to stay away.”
“You’re right. I can’t. But I can strongly advise you. You’re emotionally involved. You have no objectivity, much less training. You’re more apt to jeopardize this operation rather than assist it.”
“Peg is right, Hope,” Casey inserted. “You have my word— Forensic Instincts will be there every step of the way. But she’s right about you accompanying us. You’re way too close to the situation. You could wind up putting yourself, and this stakeout, at risk. I agree with Peg’s advice. Stay here. Be patient. We’ll call you the minute we have something.”
“Advice received,” Hope returned without so much as a pause. “And rejected. I’d go crazy here, wondering what was happening. I don’t want updates. I want to be there. And I will be. I’m paying your fee. That entitles me to occasionally call the shots. This would be one of those times. I’m going to Sunny Gardens. And you and your team are going to take me.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
Day Nine
It was 2:40 p.m.
The task force, BAU and local police were positioned all around Sunny Gardens. Ryan’s van containing the entire Forensic Instincts team—plus Hope Willis—was parked in the wooded alcove on the east side of the grounds near the gardens where Linda was sitting. They’d been banished there, since the task force wanted to utilize all the prime areas that gave them a full view of the front and rear parking lots.
That was just fine with Ryan, since the Sunny Gardens administration had agreed to allow minimal video surveillance, and Ryan had arranged for Gecko to be part of that surveillance. Given the little critter’s range, the alcove was perfect for keeping an eye on Linda—and her guest.
Ryan made sure that Gecko was primed and ready.
The facility’s senior staff had been told only that one of their visitors was a person of interest in a law enforcement matter, and that they were to say nothing to anyone about the FBI and police presence. Their instructions were issued casually, as if the basis for the inquiry was standard rather than high priority. They were to make sure there was no disruption to their patients, and no panic among the rest of the staff.
Two forty-five.
The three-o’clock shift was arriving, and the task force, along with Sunny Gardens security, was monitoring the arrival of each vehicle. The visitor lot was separate from the employee lot. Both were being heavily surveilled. Nothing seemed amiss—yet.
Inside the van, Casey slanted a quick, anxious glance at Hope. The waiting game had depleted her to the point of near-collapse. Her complexion was sallow, her eyes were haunted and she was gaunt from having eaten next to nothing all week. She’d said very little during the ride up, just sat in the backseat of the van, twisting her hands in her lap and staring out the window. But her spine was stiff, and her entire body was rigid with worry.
Casey had sat beside her, offering an occasional word of reassurance, but mostly remaining quiet, aware that nothing she could say would ease Hope’s anguish. The only cure for her torment would be having her daughter home. And that’s what this stakeout was all about.
The minutes ticked by, and three o’clock came and went—along with Felicity’s perfect opportunity to drive through the gates and get lost in the lineup of cars. Casey’s whole team was starting to get antsy, even Hero, who whined with the keen instinct of knowing something wasn’t right.
“Why isn’t she here yet?” Hope asked in a high, thin voice. “The chief administrator said she always arrives between two and three.”
“I don’t know,” Casey said honestly. “Maybe she hit traffic.”
Hope swallowed hard. “Or maybe she got wind of what’s going on and is staying away.”
Casey wasn’t happy. There was merit to Hope’s concern. But there was also budding hysteria in her voice. And that could result in nothing but trouble.
“Hope, listen to me,” she said quietly. “You can’t allow yourself to panic. We’re going to find Krissy. Think positively. And don’t go to pieces on me.”
A tight nod.
“We’re in business,” Marc suddenly announced from the passenger seat. He pointed out the window where a blue Ford Fiesta was rounding the curve. It slowed down and turned into the main parking lot. The license plate and the driver’s profile told them all they needed to know.
“It’s Felicity.” Hope made a move toward the door, and Casey pulled her back, signaling to Marc with her eyes.
He locked the doors.
“Don’t even think about it,” Casey warned Hope in as gentle a tone as possible. “If Felicity sees you, it’ll blow everything we’ve worked for. Just stay put.”
“She’s scanning the area,” Ryan noted. He was sitting in the back of the van with his laptop, ready to send the necessary signal to Gecko.
“Maybe that’s why she’s late,” Marc commented. “She’s not a stupid woman. Even though it would be harder for us to spot her in a crowd, it’s far easier for her to spot us in the quiet aftermath of a shift change. Ryan’s right. She is scanning the area.”
Clearly, both men were right. Because Felicity parked in the visitors’ lot, then exited her car carrying a shopping bag, with a tote bag slung over her shoulder. She looked both ways several times, then turned to peer behind her.
Satisfied that no one was lying in wait, she picked up the pace, crossing over to the front walk and heading into the main entrance of the building.
Ryan glanced at his watch. “She should be showing up in the garden in the next five minutes.” He cued Gecko up, gave him the necessary command. “All set. Now we just sit back and watch the video show from inside the van.”
As he spoke, a view of the garden—and Linda—appeared on the screen. She looked tired, her head resting against the back of the chair, her gaze fixed on the red ribbon around her finger. “Soon,” they heard her tell the string. “My
baby will be here soon.”
As if on cue, Felicity began to walk over. Even before the monitor confirmed that fact, it was apparent by Linda’s reaction. She sat up straighter, smiling and waving her hand.
“Hello, Mama.” Felicity leaned over and kissed her on the forehead. Then she sat down in the opposite chair and gave her the shopping bag, simultaneously placing her tote bag beside her on the grass.
“I brought you some of your favorites,” she announced, gesturing at the shopping bag. “Apples straight from the apple orchard, a box of cider doughnuts and two new nightgowns, both sleeveless and nylon, just the way you like them. I also brought you some new books to read, and this month’s gardening magazines.”
That made Linda happy. She leaned forward, lighting up as she surveyed the contents of the bag. “You’re so good to me. Such a good girl.”
“Here’s some more red string.” Felicity reached into her tote bag and produced a large spool of it. “Make sure you have them tie a piece around your finger next Wednesday morning.”
“I never forget,” Linda said proudly. “I always remind them.” She gazed firmly at Felicity. “Did you finish all your math homework? I can check it for you now.”
“That’s okay.” Felicity looked like a small child seeking her mommy’s approval. “I already checked the answers in the back of the book. I got most of them right. That’s because you helped me last time.”
“I did, didn’t I?” Linda beamed. “And I know you never look at the answers before you finish. You’re such a good girl.”
Felicity sat up straighter. Oddly, there were tears in her eyes, as if she knew on some level that the mother she’d loved was slipping away. “Do you know what else? I got a hundred on my spelling test. I wrote down all the words you taught me and the right way to spell them. I double-checked them when I was finished. I even used the dictionary. They were all right.”
“I’m so proud.” Linda clapped her hands together.