Finding Bailey: A Lake Tahoe Romantic Suspense Novel

by Dana Mason

  James’ smile faded, and his new expression did nothing to put her at ease. His eyes traveled her from head to toe, and she became increasingly uneasy about her choice in clothes. Maybe she should have worn a dress instead of jeans and boots. He did the very same with Ryan, but she wasn’t sure Ryan noticed the condescension.

  When Stanley approached, he put her much more at ease. His relaxed posture and smile were charming and playful. He was the spitting image of his father, with dark hair and a smile like Bailey’s. He was broader than James, and Bailey thought he must be an athlete. Instead of the customary handshake, he gave her a light hug.

  “It’s nice to finally meet you.”

  “Thank you so much,” she said with all sincerity. “This is Ryan.”

  “Ryan, great to meet you, too,” Stanley said, smiling and shaking his hand. “I’ve seen you play at El Lago. You’re really great.”

  Ryan nodded with a huge smile. “Thank you.”

  “Well, let’s have a seat,” Linda said. “I’ll go get some refreshments.”

  Once they were seated, Bailey looked around the room. She wanted to fit in. She wanted to feel at home. But she didn’t. When her eyes landed on the mini grand piano, though, she smiled and instantly felt better.

  “Do you play piano?” Bailey asked, gesturing to the instrument.

  “No.” Alex brushed his hand and smirked. “Linda attempted to learn a couple years ago, but it bored her quickly.”

  “Oh…” she said.

  “Do you play?” Stanley asked.

  She shook her head. “Um, well, I know how. I mean, I know the basics, but I’m not very good. I tried, but couldn’t quite…” She grinned and closed her eyes briefly, picturing her mother playing. “No rhythm. My mother…uh…Helen Morton was a music teacher. She played every day. Ryan plays beautifully, though.”

  “Was?” James said. “Your mother doesn’t teach any longer?”

  “No.” Bailey shook her head. “She passed away last summer.”

  “Oh, sorry…” James said.

  “Sorry, Bailey,” Stanley said. “It must be difficult losing a parent.”

  Bailey fought not to laugh. Not that any of this was funny, just extremely uncomfortable. How odd would it have been to point out she’d lost both parents, even when her father was sitting with her? And even stranger, she’d technically lost three parents, if you included Theresa Spatz.

  Even so, she couldn’t help but smile at the irony.

  “This is pretty weird,” Stanley said with a chuckle.

  Bailey finally laughed. “Right? Very weird.” At least one of them got it.

  She glanced around again just as a confirmation that her sister hadn’t bothered to attend the meeting. “I guess Nicole decided—”

  “Oh, yes, Nicole couldn’t make it today, but we’re expecting her in the morning,” Alex said, his face turning into an instant frown. “Sorry, Bailey. She really wanted to be here, but today wasn’t a good day for it.”

  “That’s okay. We didn’t exactly give everyone time to plan. This was a little last minute. Sorry about that.” Bailey said.

  “Don’t apologize. We’re just glad you decided to come,” Alex said, smiling,

  Bailey gave a curt nod and said, “I’m sorry it took me so long. I, um…had some things to work through, as I’m sure Nicole does, too.”

  “We don’t need to—” Alex waved his hand as if to brush away the tension.

  “No, but we’ll need to. We’ll need to address the elephant in the room.”

  Stanley chuckled, and that made her look up at him with narrowed eyes. Ryan’s head also popped up to glare at him.

  “Sorry,” he said, his face softening, concern in his expression “It’s not funny. It’s just… I admire your frankness. This family could use a little more of that.”

  Alex sighed heavily and said, “Stanley.”

  Stanley looked over at his father. “It’s true, Dad. We can’t sweep everything under the rug all the time.”

  Linda chose this perfect time to return to the room with a tray of drinks. Bailey took it upon herself to change the subject. It wasn’t her intention to start an argument, but she did want to make it clear they would have to talk about it eventually. It’s not like she could continue to ignore her sister’s absence.

  “Are you in school, Stanley?” Bailey asked.

  “Yes. UC Davis,” he said. “I like being close to home for some reason.”

  “Yes, well, he’s my baby,” Linda said with a sweet smile as she handed out glasses of lemonade.

  “Oh, yes,” James said, rolling his eyes. “He’s certainly the baby.”

  “Stanley plans on being veterinarian, and UC Davis has one of the best vet schools in the country.”

  “Yeah, that, and he’s Mom’s baby,” James teased.

  They all chuckled this time, and that helped Bailey relax a little. The mood lightened, and Bailey was relieved now that the formalities were over with. Too bad Nicole wasn’t there. The thought of having to do all this again made her a little nauseous.

  “Bailey, we’re so glad you’re here. You, too, Ryan.” The sincerity in Linda’s voice was evident.

  “Thank you. I’m glad to be here, too.” She glanced around the room and said, “I was just telling Alex how sorry I am it’s taken me so long to get in contact.”

  “Oh, honey, we understand.” Linda’s eyes focused on Bailey. “We’re just relieved you’re okay. We were so worried. What William did… It’s horrific. And to think…” Her voice wavered, but she pulled herself together. “He could be such an animal. We really had no idea.” She covered her mouth for a moment, clearly upset. James placed a hand on her shoulder in comfort.

  Bailey leaned forward, actually happy to finally talk about it. “I didn’t know… Well, he fooled me, too.” Her eyes drifted to the floor. “I’ve never considered myself naïve, but Dex certainly proved me wrong.”

  “Bay…”

  “No, Ryan, it’s true. Even you warned me away from him, and still, I didn’t see the signs.”

  “It’s not the same thing, and you know that. I didn’t warn you because of some intuition about his character.”

  “But it was.” She looked up at him. “You always said he was a bad guy. You never trusted him.”

  “If I had any idea he was capable of doing what he did… Hell, I never even guessed he was married. Seriously, even as often as he stood you up, he still seemed totally available most of the time.”

  Bailey nodded. “Yes, he did. When we weren’t together, we talked on the phone all the time. He never seemed to be hiding anything from me.”

  “You didn’t know he was married?” James asked.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

  Bailey laid a hand on her chest. “Of course not. Do you think I would’ve—”

  “How would we know? We don’t know you,” James said.

  “James,” Alex said. “You shouldn’t make assumptions.”

  “He’s right. You don’t know me,” Bailey said, dropping her hand to her chest. “This is why it’s important to talk about this. You don’t know the circumstances behind everything, and it’s important to me that you do know. It’s important I meet Nicole and talk to her about this.”

  When Bailey’s voice broke, Alex piped in. “You’ve been through enough. We don’t want to cause you more pain.”

  Bailey’s heart nearly leaped out of her chest, and tears welled up in her eyes, but at the same time, she had to fight her hysterical laughter again. “But so have you.” Her mouth involuntarily turned into a frown, and tears dripped traitorously from her eyes. “You’ve all been through so much, too.” She waved at Alex. “You lost a wife and a daughter. You’ve all spent your lives not knowing what happened to this child who disappeared.”

  “We don’t have to talk it all out today, Bailey,” Alex said again, his voice soft and placating.

  “But we do need to talk it out.” She wiped the tears from her face. “I didn’
t know Dex was married. I would never have started seeing him if I had. I didn’t know I was a missing child. I found out I was adopted after my mother died. I immediately started searching.” She looked over at Ryan. “Ryan was there with me every day. He helped me with every step. And now I understand why Dex did everything to discourage my search. I know why, but what I don’t know is how he knew who I was before I did. How the hell did he figure it out?”

  Stanley leaned forward. “We’re not sure either, but we have a theory.”

  Bailey nearly jumped out of her seat. “Please, tell me. I need to know.”

  “No, I don’t think this is the right time,” Alex said. “This is supposed to be a happy reunion.”

  “Why not?” Bailey said. “I need to know. I need to know how he found out.” She dropped her head for a moment, not sure what else to say.

  “You don’t seem to understand what this has cost Bailey,” Ryan said. “This man broke into her house. He’s destroyed property, stolen family letters, forced us off the road, sending our car into the river in Wisconsin.” Ryan placed his hand on Bailey’s back in support. “That’s all before kidnapping her and trying to have her killed.”

  “Now I understand why,” she said, standing to pace the room. “I get why. He had Nicole. He didn’t want her to find out he had an affair, but I still need to know how. How did he find out?” She sat back down and stared at Alex. “There are still huge chunks of information missing, and I won’t rest easy until I know everything.”

  Alex nodded. He looked at Linda then back to Bailey. “He wasn’t only trying to keep Nicole in the dark. His motives weren’t only about keeping his affair a secret. Nicole has a substantial trust fund. A trust fund she’s only a year or so away from accessing. I’m sure money was his main objective in not only keeping your existence a secret but possibly in marrying Nicole in the first place.”

  Bailey’s lips went into a large O as she whispered, “Oh, I see.” She placed her hands over her mouth and thought about that for a moment. Having Dex threaten her life over an affair was bad enough, but finding out it had more to do with money didn’t make her feel any better. “Does Nicole share this theory?”

  Alex shrugged and hesitated with his answer. “I’m not sure. I’ve always suspected he had a motive for marrying her, but she never— she insisted he loved her. Honestly, I always hoped I was wrong.”

  Stanley snorted at that. “No, you didn’t.”

  Alex sighed and looked over at Stanley. “I’m sorry you have such a low opinion of me, son.”

  “Dad, you never trust anyone we bring home.”

  “Stanley,” Linda said. “This isn’t the time.”

  He lifted his hands in defeat. “You’re right. Sorry, Bailey.” He smiled at her. “You want to know how he found out about you?”

  She mumbled, “Yes.”

  Stanley looked over at Alex, and Alex nodded his assent. “Okay.”

  Stanley stood and left the room. A few moments later, he returned with a box. “Bailey, we’re not sure how he found out, but we have an idea.”

  James picked up the drink tray so Stanley could set the box down on the ottoman between them.

  Alex rested against the couch cushions and said, “You started seeing William about two years ago, correct?”

  “I met him about eighteen months ago. In October. He came to Tahoe for a bachelor party.”

  “On November 1st, every year, we celebrate your birthday.”

  Bailey was not expecting to hear that. Her mouth hung open as she stared at him.

  “Every year, on November 1st, we order a small birthday cake. We pull out all of your baby photos, and we talk about you. This is what we did as a family to keep you alive in our hearts.”

  She placed a hand over her mouth, fighting to keep her emotions in check.

  Linda opened the box and placed a baby book and photo album down in front of her.

  “On that November 1st, after you’d started seeing William, we did the same thing we do every year. We pulled out your photos, we had a cake ready, we lit candles, and told stories about what we imagined your life would’ve been like if you’d been here.” Alex paused for a moment. “For some reason, Nicole decided she wanted to revive the search for you.”

  Stanley chuckled and said, “You have to understand—Nicole is a crusader. When she gets an idea in her head, she can’t let it go. She won’t stop until she has answers, and she decided to take on the cause.”

  “Not that we’d given up,” Alex said. “But after twenty-six years, we’d pretty much lost hope.”

  “This was especially true after Alex submitted his DNA to the FBI,” Linda interrupted. “We were so hopeful, and then, for months and months, we waited to hear something, but nothing happened.”

  Bailey closed her eyes and shook her head. “And that was over five years ago. I’m so sorry…”

  “Don’t do that,” Alex said. “This is why I didn’t want to talk about it.” He sighed and said, “We’re not telling you this to make you feel bad. None of this was your fault.”

  “Anyway,” Stanley said. “Nicole decided to become the private investigator in the family. She started interviewing people Dad went to school with. She talked to the FBI. She talked to experts about missing children cases.”

  “She even hired an age progression artist.” As she said this, Linda lifted a group of photos and drawings out of the box and handed them to Bailey.

  There were at least ten photos, some of them of a younger version where they must have placed her around thirteen.

  “As you can see, Nicole commissioned them to do several versions. Age progression is incredibly difficult when the child is so young,” Alex said.

  James laughed and said, “Nicole is now an expert on age progression and missing children searches.” His smile faded. “Not that it’s funny, but it’s just so like her. She’s so stubborn.”

  Bailey flipped through the different photos. Some of them looked nothing like her, but others were pretty similar. Some with lighter colored hair and rearranged features with a mixture of some that looked more like Alex. But she and Ryan both gasped at the same photo. It was so eerily similar. Not an exact match to her, but so, so close. She looked up, and they were all staring at her. “This is really strange.”

  “Isn’t it, though?” Stanley said.

  “Needless to say, if you were seeing William when this photo was created, he had to have noticed. Especially since Nicole was so dedicated to the search and getting answers,” Linda said.

  Bailey leaned back against the cushions, now feeling a little nauseous. She remembered the New Year’s weekend she’d spent with Dex. He had suddenly become so curious about her and her family. She closed her eyes, remembering his questions about where she’d been born and about living in Wisconsin, which, of course, she barely remembered.

  “That son-of-a-bitch,” Ryan muttered.

  “So…” Bailey said. “Do we know if he did any other research after this? Do you think he knew how I ended up on the side of the road in the Mortons’ yard?”

  “The FBI searched William and Nicole’s loft in Oakland. If there was anything to be found, they took it. Since then, Nicole has also gone through everything William owned, but nothing turned up.”

  “Nicole must be devastated,” Bailey said. “First, she loses her husband then finds out—”

  “Bailey, she’s devastated her search put you in danger. She’s devastated she almost lost her sister before even meeting you. She feels awful for what he’s done to you,” Linda said.

  The room grew quiet, but Ryan interrupted the silence and said, “Bailey has always wanted a sister.”

  James and Stanley both smiled wide. “So has Nicole.”

  * * *

  They talked for another hour before Linda showed Bailey and Ryan to their room. They followed Linda upstairs, and she described each room as they passed. “This is James’ room, and Stanley’s is over here. They share a bathroom. Your room
is here, and you share a Jack and Jill bathroom with Nicole. Of course, Stanley is the only one who still lives here, but we like to keep their rooms just so. We want all our kids to feel like they can come home whenever they want—and that includes you now, Bailey.”

  Linda opened the door, and Bailey had to suppress a gasp. The view from the window was incredible. The house backed against a river, and the setting was so tranquil. The backyard was perfectly manicured, with a large lap pool. Beyond that, a walkway led to a boat dock and the flowing river. Green trees, wildflowers, flowing water. The sight, though not as beautiful as her lake, was still stunning.

  “Wow, look at that. I had no idea. I thought this house was surrounded by trees.”

  Ryan grunted, putting the bags down. “That’s beautiful.”

  “Thank you.” Linda smiled. “We spend a lot of time on the river. If you like golfing, the club is nearby, too.”

  “It’s lovely, really,” Bailey said, and when she could tear her eyes from the windows, she walked around the room, taking it all in. The walls were a soft green, the furniture high-gloss white, except for the antique desk in the corner. The linens were all a beautiful purple, offsetting the green perfectly. Fresh lavender flowers stood perky on the bedside table, and Bailey felt like she was staying in some high-class bed and breakfast.

  She leaned over to smell the lavender.

  “Those are from my garden.”

  “You must be a very talented gardener.”

  “Oh, flattery! You’re catching on fast,” Linda said, leaning against the doorframe.

  Bailey and Ryan laughed, then Bailey said, “I have a few talents, and they all revolve around numbers.”

  “Numbers, really?” Linda pursed her lips. “You are your father’s daughter.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Alex is an economics professor.”

  “Oh, right. I think I read that.”

  Linda smiled. “Well, it seems all four of you have inherited the best of your father.” She lifted her hand. “I’ll give you two a few minutes to settle in. Please, let me know if you need anything.”