Next Door Secrets (Secrets Series Book 2) (16 page)

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Beth sat on
Kaylee’s
unmade bed and showed her how to work a yo-yo. She
even showed her a few tricks like
rock the baby, shoot
the moon and Texas Star. “Yo-yos are the perfect toy for an only child.” As
soon as she said those words, she cringed.
Kaylee
wasn’t supposed to be an only. “I played with a yo-yo all the time when I was a
kid.”

Kaylee
tried to do one of the tricks, but the string got
tangled. She let out an exasperated grunt.

“It takes practice
is
all.
Here, let’s start with the Sleeper.” She got
off the bed so it would be easier to do the maneuver. Holding the yo-yo in her
upright palm, she flicked her wrist down. When it reached the end of the
string, she gave it a slight tug to bring it home. “Now you try.”

Standing up,
Kaylee
tossed the yo-yo slightly to the side, so it didn’t
work.

Beth corrected her
and tried to be patient while she tried over and over again. What she really
wanted was to look in the closet to see if any snacks were still hidden there. She
decided to make small talk. “Are you happy to have your cast off?”

“Yeah. In art
class, we’re making ceramics and it’s hard to do with only one hand.”

“What are you
making?”

“A coffee cup for
our moms for Mother’s Day.” She stopped playing with the yo-yo. “I guess I’ll
give it to my dad.”

Beth studied her
sullen face. “It must be hard not having your mom around.”

Tears shone in her
eyes as she nodded. “I really miss her sometimes.”

“Will you show me
her picture again?”

Dropping the yo-yo
on the bed,
Kaylee
dashed to her closet. She pulled
open the door to reveal her usual stacks of groceries.

Beth’s hopes fell.
“You know your dad will always have plenty of food for you. You don’t need to
keep any in here.” Perhaps
Kaylee
needed some
professional counseling to deal with her traumatic background.
A mother who starved her, tormented by the older kids in foster
care, losing both her mother and sister.
The girl had had more than
enough stress in her eight years.

Eight years old.
Kaylee
was eight. The Facebook post said her missing
daughter was seven. So it definitely couldn’t be her. Beth nodded to herself.

Shrugging off
Beth’s comment about the hidden food,
Kaylee
sat
cross-legged on the carpet and opened the Chutes & Ladders box. She set
aside the turquoise earrings and her eyes focused on the small, damaged photo.
“I hate Mother’s Day.”

“I bet you do.
Hey, maybe we could spend it together this year. The church always has a
special Mother’s Day tea after the service. Would you like to go with me? I bet
Maria will be there.”

“Dad won’t let me.
He hates religion.”

She wasn’t big on
religion, either, but the tea was an important tradition to her mom. “Well,
maybe you and I can do something afterwards.” When
Kaylee
handed over the ripped photo, Beth studied it.
Kaylee’s
little sister did look like the photo she’d seen on-line. “What was your
sister’s name?”

“Willow.”

Not Skye. Hoping
something was written on the back of the photo, Beth flipped it over. Nothing. “What
about your mom? What was her name?”

“Mommy.”

Beth let out a
little laugh. “Of course. But do you remember her real name? What grown-ups
called her?”

Kaylee
pulled the picture from her grasp. “Dad said not to
talk about her.”

It made sense he
didn’t want to discuss his ex, the one who’d neglected
Kaylee
.
The one who couldn’t be bothered to make sure the girl had three meals a day.
“It’s hard for him, I’m sure. But you can tell me.” Her heart seemed to be
beating in her ears. She didn’t want the
internet
kidnapping to be about
Kaylee
, but something
compelled her to ask. “What was your mom’s name?”

Her mouth twisted
in a funny way and then she blew a bubble with her gum. She took the pink glob
out of her mouth for a quick look at her accomplishment “I did it! I did it!”
She shoved it back in her mouth and clapped her hands.

Beth decided to
try another approach. “Do you remember your mom’s funeral?” Obviously if
there’d been a funeral, the woman on-line couldn’t be
Kaylee’s
mother. The woman was using a kid’s picture to run some kind of get-rich-quick
scheme. That’s what it probably was.

Chomping her gum,
Kaylee
blinked back tears. She stashed the photo and
covered the game box with its lid.

Jim’s voice boomed
from the kitchen, sounding as if it was on edge. “Come and get it!”

Feeling guilty for
upsetting
Kaylee
, Beth reached out and gave her a hug.
“If you ever want to talk about them, sweetie, let me know. I’m here for you. I
always will be.”

“Mommy’s name was
Gola
. It means winter in Cherokee.”

CHAPTER
SEVENTEEN

Beth sat on the
edge of her seat at the kitchen table, anxious to get out of there. After a few
bites that she didn’t really taste, she noticed there was some kind of weird
rivalry going on between Parker and Jim. They glared at each other and ate in
silence. It was as if there was too much testosterone in the room. What didn’t
make sense was that neither of them wanted her to be their girlfriend. Anger
percolated inside of her about that, but she’d deal with it later.

She had to figure
out what was going on.
Kaylee
lied about things, like
her dad working as a police officer or being a professional baseball player,
but it was starting to look as if her mom really was Native American.
Maybe not a princess, but still.
Was
Kaylee
the liar or was Jim?

Taking a drink of
her orange juice, she tried to form the right question. “Jim, how long did you
say it had been since
Kaylee’s
mom died?”

“About two years.”
He buttered his toast and took a bite.

“
Kaylee
told me she had a sister. Was she your daughter,
too?”

He scowled at Beth.
“No.
Kaylee’s
mom and I divorced soon after
Kaylee
was born. I moved away and didn’t stay in contact.
It’s something I regret now, but at the time, I was young and self-centered. I
wasn’t ready to be a father.” He took a quick bite. “Not that her mom was ready
to be a mother, either.” Disdain tainted his voice. “I have no idea who
Willow’s father was.”

“How did you find
out about the car accident?” She noticed Jim rolling his shoulders as if he
were tense. “I mean, if you moved away, how did you know
Kaylee
was in the hospital?”

“I had friends in
the area. One of them called and told me
Kaylee
needed me. I drove all night to get to her.” He made eye contact with
Kaylee
and gave her a tight-lipped smile.

Could he have lied
about her mother’s death just to gain custody? What kind of a monster would lie
about something that big? She studied his gray eyes in hopes of seeing into his
soul. As usual, he was a closed book.

Beth cut her eggs
into bite-sized pieces. “So
Kaylee
was the only
survivor?”

“Yes. I try not to
bad mouth the woman in front of
Kaylee
, but she’d
been driving drunk. She crossed the center line and not only killed herself,
which was doing the world a favor, but unfortunately, she killed her
second-born and an innocent man on vacation with his family.” Jim sighed.

“I assume it was a
closed casket funeral?” Beth caught Parker raising his thick eyebrows at her.

Jim got up and
grabbed the pan off of the stove. He placed it in the sink and started running
water inside to soak it. “This isn’t exactly polite dinner conversation.”

Even though she’d just
taken a bite of egg,
Kaylee
opened her mouth. “It’s
not dinner, Daddy. It’s breakfast.” She giggled.

“Whatever!” He
kept his back to them while the pan filled with water. He scraped the spatula
across the bottom, causing a raking sound. “What’s with the twenty questions?”

Beth took a
breath. “Sorry.
Kaylee
showed me a picture of her mom
and sister and it made me wonder about them. That’s all.”

Dropping the
spatula, he faced
Kaylee
. “I didn’t know you had a
picture of them.”

Her gaze hit the
table as if she were in trouble.

The water
overflowed the pan and gurgled as it went down the drain. Jim turned the faucet
off, then ran his hand through his hair. “After the accident, I brought
Kaylee
to live with me. We didn’t have time to pack up the
house because I had to work the next day. I just bought her new clothes and
whatever she needed. We started fresh.”

Kaylee
stopped eating. “I kept the photo in my shoe so I’d
always have it with me.”

Probably
because she’d been whisked off to foster care in the past.
She knew she
had to keep her prized possessions close. Beth looked at
Kaylee
.
“How did you get your mom’s earrings?”

The little girl
chewed on her thumbnail.

Jim stepped closer
to
Kaylee
. “You have your mom’s earrings?”

“The nurse gave them
to me.” Tears welled up in her eyes. “She said to give them to Mommy when she got
better. I swear! I didn’t steal them.” The tears spilled down her chubby
cheeks. Her lower lip jutted out and Beth felt horrible.

Jim put his hand
on
Kaylee’s
shoulder as if to comfort her. “It’s OK.
It’s OK.”

Kaylee
turned and buried her face into his stomach. He
hugged her and a moment later, gave Beth a stone cold glare.

Realizing she’d
crossed the line, Beth put her napkin beside her plate. “I’m sorry,
Kaylee
. I didn’t mean to upset you.” Tapping Parker on the
arm, she rose. “I think we’d better go. Thanks for breakfast. Again, I’m so
sorry.” Her focus travelled from
Kaylee
, who had her
eyes clenched, to Jim, who didn’t appear to have forgiveness in his heart.

She and Parker
made their escape as quickly as possible.

Once she closed
and locked her apartment door, she leaned against it and took several quick
breaths.

Parker cocked his
head at her. “What was that all about? 'Was it a closed casket funeral?' Who
asks something like that?"

With her hands
trembling, she spoke in a whisper. “I’m not sure
Kaylee’s
mom is really dead.”

“What?”

“I have to show
you something.” She flipped open her laptop as they sat on her couch. A minute
later, she pulled up the webpage and showed him the pictures. “Do you think
this girl looks like
Kaylee
?”

He squinted at the
photos. “Kind of. I guess. But not exactly.”

“That’s because
none of them are current. Even though
Kaylee
would’ve
been six when Jim took her, none of these photos show her much older than
three. Kids change a lot in just a few years.”

“So why aren’t
there any pictures of her at age six?”

“I don’t know. Maybe
her mom wasn’t too keen on taking pictures. Plus the page says her daughter
would be seven now but
Kaylee
is eight. I wish there
was a good picture of the girl’s eyes. If they did, it would be obvious that
it’s someone else’s kid and I could forget about it.”

“Wouldn’t her own
mother know exactly how old she is?”

“True. Then I
thought maybe this wasn’t her mom, but someone else pulling a scam. That would
explain why the photos are so old. But I asked
Kaylee
her mom’s name and she said
Gola
. That’s a pretty
unusual name. This can’t be a coincidence, can it?”

He shook his head
and read the entire narrative. “None of the other names match.”

“I figure Jim
would’ve changed
Kaylee’s
name if he took her. She
told me once her middle name is Skye, though.”

His square jaw
fell open. “This is crazy.” Squinting, he examined the photos some more. He
leaned his
six foot
frame back against the couch
cushion. “If they’re on the run, that would explain why they move around all of
the time.”

She nodded. “But
what if Jim’s right? That the mom was driving drunk and caused the accident?
Then he acted in
Kaylee’s
best interest by taking her
away.”

“Surely the courts
would agree. There wouldn’t be any reason for him to kidnap her.” He made air
quotes with his fingers when he said kidnap.

Apparently neither
of them figured Jim for a kidnapper. But then she remembered how he answered
the phone that one time defensively with, “Who is this?” She thought about how
he assured Beth that
Kaylee’s
mom “
ain’t
no
angel.” What about this
aunt that was supposed to babysit
Kaylee
? Beth had
never once seen any trace of her. Was Jim weaving truth and fiction together as
he went along? “What if Jim made up everything bad about
Kaylee’s
mom to help his case? We don’t know anything except what he feeds us.”

Parker’s chest
rose and fell. “You’re right. He’s very secretive about where they’ve lived,
but then he offers all sorts of details about what a horrible mother his ex
was.”

“He’s covering his
bases. Who would go look for
Kaylee’s
mother if she
was abusive?”

“Or dead.” He
scratched his chin. “Well, Jim Stein is probably an alias, but let’s search the
internet
for
Gola
Moon and
see what pops up.”

She typed in the
name and hit “enter.” In addition to the website they’d already seen, a couple
of articles in a Tennessee newspaper were listed. Beth clicked on one. It was
about the accident. It said that
Gola
Moon had a
blood alcohol level above the legal limit when she crossed the center line on
the
Cherohala
Skyway and struck oncoming traffic,
killing a man and a four-year-old girl.
The next article
followed-up with the fact that
Gola
was in a coma.
The prosecutor said if and when she recovered, she would stand trial.

Beth checked
Parker’s expression. “Do you think Jim knows she came out of the coma? Maybe he
thought she did die.”

“I don’t know.
What doesn’t make sense is why is he hiding? What he told us about her mom is
true. She was an alcoholic.”

“What if he isn’t
quite as law-abiding as he seems? What if the courts wouldn’t have awarded him
custody for something we don’t know about?” She remembered
Kaylee
saying she was placed in foster care for a while. Had Jim been abusive, too? “I
wish we could get a hold of more records.”

“Like what?”

“Child Protective
Services records. Jim was awfully nervous when CPS investigated
Kaylee’s
broken arm. I’d like to know why
Kaylee
was taken into foster care.”

He cracked his
knuckles. “Could your mom find out more?”

“I’m sure the
records are supposed to be confidential, but maybe Mom could find out something
because she works at legal aid.”

He nodded. “It
can’t hurt to ask.”

“Good idea.” She
put down the computer and reached for the phone. No one answered. She checked
her watch and realized her mom would still be busy with post-church activities.
“Hey, Mom. Call me when you get in. It's important." After she
disconnected the call, she turned to face him. Hands on hips, she said, "Now
I want to know why you don’t consider me your girlfriend.” She slapped his arm
playfully.

"You're the
one who goes on and on about your neighbor. You talk about him and
Kaylee
as if you wish you were part of their lives."

Her mouth opened
to protest when the telephone rang.
Hoping it was her mom
,
she grabbed it
. Someone was crying on the other end.
"Hello?"

"Beth, it's
me," a girlish voice sobbed. "Hannah."

Adrenaline shot
through Beth's body. "What's wrong?" She clutched the phone tight.

Hannah had trouble
speaking through the tears. "Oh, Beth. It's terrible. It's the worst thing
that could happen."

"What?"
Was she hurt? Did Ryan cheat on her again? "Tell me what's wrong."

"I did
something stupid."

Those were the
exact words Hannah had used the night she'd gotten drunk. "Hannah, you can
tell me anything. I won't judge."

"
I'm.
. . I'm pregnant."

Beth's jaw went
slack. She struggled to breathe normally. "Are you sure?" It was a
dumb thing to say, but she didn't know what else to say. She could see Parker’s
concerned face, but she could fill him in later.

"Yeah. I took
three tests because I couldn't believe it." She cried softly.

"Hannah,
it'll be all right. You have options, you know." Thinking that Hannah
might choose to have an abortion, Beth cringed. There was her religious
upbringing again, popping up unexpectedly.

"I'm keeping
it. I've already decided."

"What about
school?"

"I don't
know. All I know is I can't get rid of it."

"I
understand. But you're young. You have your whole life in front of you."
Ah, the same pep talk she'd given herself sixteen years ago. Things hadn't
exactly turned out the way she'd planned, but she bit her tongue. This was
about what was best for Hannah. "Have you told your mom?"

"No. She's
gonna
kill me."

Beth nodded. Poor
Connie. She'd done her best to raise Hannah after her adoptive father died, but
her strict rules had backfired. "What about Ryan? Does he know?"
Parker's eyes grew wide, but she ignored him.

"It's not
Ryan's."

"What?"
Her jumbled thoughts made it difficult to speak. "Whose is it then?"

Hannah sighed
loudly. "Do you remember the last night when I was visiting you and
Parker?"

Her heart sped up.
"Yes." Beth didn't know if she wanted to hear this, but of course,
she needed to. "Did
somebody.
. ." She
couldn't even say the word
rape
.
".
. . take advantage of you?" Every muscle in her
body tightened, waiting for Hannah’s response.

A half laugh-half
sob came over the line. "Not exactly." She paused. "I wanted to
do it. I was tired of being a virgin. I was afraid of losing Ryan."

"Oh,
Hannah." Disappointment replaced fear. Why hadn't Beth taken her to get
birth control? Why had she been so afraid to overstep her bounds? Now Hannah's
life was messed up. "Why didn't he wear a condom?" Not that it
mattered now. Beside her, Parker closed his eyes and shook his head. He
understood.