by Kathi Daley
“I’ve missed you,” I said, hugging the handsome man who stood on my doorstep.
“I’ve missed you as well.” He took a step back and then asked, “Are you ready?”
“I am. Just let me grab my purse.”
During our meal, Adam asked lots of questions, and I caught him up on both the case of the missing boys and the case of the found charm bracelet. He seemed interested and offered input when appropriate, but I could tell he had something on his mind. Once I’d caught him up, I asked about his trip. He provided the details, but it felt like he was simply reciting the contents of his calendar. Adam and I knew each other well enough that most of the awkwardness we’d experienced at first seemed to be gone, so why the awkward lunch?
“Is everything okay?” I asked.
“Everything is fine. I guess I’m just a bit jet-lagged.”
“I guess that’s understandable. You did have a whirlwind trip. Did you make it to England to visit your family?”
“No, not on this trip. I did, however, speak to Amber and Kent Wentworth while I was on the east coast.”
“Really? Amber and Kent are Marilee’s parents.”
He nodded.
“Did they have any insight as to what might have happened to her?”
“They told me that Marilee was somehow involved with a man named Dillinger Fagan, and the last time they spoke to Marilee, she was on her way to Rio with the guy.”
“Rio? I thought she was supposed to be taking care of Avery and me.”
“Kent and Amber thought that as well. Everyone in the family did, but Marilee told everyone, including them, that she didn’t think the children were safe with her, so she’d found friends who were willing to take temporary custody. When Amber initially tried to talk Marilee into bringing Ava and Avery to Massachusetts so she and Kent could look out for them, Marilee refused. Once Marilee left for Rio, her parents never heard from her again. Amber told me that she tried to figure out what Marilee had done with the two little girls, but there was no trace of either child once the group left Piney Point. She tried to track down Wilma as well, but her attempts were unsuccessful.”
“Did Amber know about the money? Did she know that Warren was putting twenty grand into accounts for Avery and me?”
“No, Amber said that Marilee never mentioned any money. Keep in mind that Marilee had everyone convinced that Warren was the bad guy.”
“It sounds like it was actually Marilee who was the bad guy in this story.”
“Yeah,” Adam agreed. “Kent and Amber have admitted that things were handled poorly from the beginning. They admitted that they should have personally made sure that you and Avery were cared for rather than depending on Marilee to handle things. They admitted that after Marilee left you at Piney Point, they should have flown out and taken over custody. I could tell that they felt awful about the way things turned out. When I told them about the money and that Marilee had apparently lied about Warren in order to take the money and run, they felt really awful.”
Part of me wondered why they hadn’t done more, but another part of me knew that dwelling on the past wouldn’t do me a bit of good. “Did they know why Marilee left me with the cop who raised me, which seems to be what happened since he had the photo of Marilee with Avery and me, and he apparently knew my real birthday? He may even have had my real birth certificate.”
“They didn’t know for sure, but they did say that Marilee lived in Savannah for two years when she was fresh out of high school. Amber assumes she must have met your dad then. I told Amber that the man you ended up with was a cop, and she shared that Marilee had a roommate whose brother was a cop but didn’t know his name.”
“My dad didn’t have a sister.”
“Maybe your dad was friends with the brother, and they met somehow. Maybe when Marilee was looking for someone to hand you off to, she came up with a story about you being in danger and handed you off to the cop who raised you. That story does make more sense than him finding you in a burning building.”
I frowned. “That does make more sense. What doesn’t make sense is that my dad came up with the burning building thing in the first place. There has to be a reason for the elaborate lie.”
“I agree with that. But given the fact that your father is dead and Marilee is long gone, I’m not sure how we’re ever going to unwind that part of the story.”
I took a sip of my iced tea and then leaned back in my chair. “If Marilee did, in fact, know my dad, and if she did indeed hand me off to him, then who did she hand Avery off to? If we can get a list of everyone Marilee knew, perhaps we can figure that part of the story out. That’s the part of the whole thing that means the most to me. If I can find Avery, I’m not sure I’ll even care if I don’t unwind the rest.”
“I can ask Amber to come up with a list. I’m sure she’ll have names we can start with. People Marilee knew in school. People she worked with. While it is a longshot, I agree that digging into Marilee’s past seems like as good an idea as any at this point.”
Adam agreed to call Amber once he got home and could look up the number. Once we’d finished our meal, we headed back to the cottage. I’d planned to spend the whole day with Adam, but he really did seem tired. While I knew that he genuinely wanted to help me, I think in some way, my search for answers had put him in an awkward position with his family. It seemed that they’d all dropped the ball. I imagined that having someone constantly bring that fact up couldn’t be pleasant.
I offered Adam a drink when we got back to the cottage, but he declined. He promised to call me tomorrow, but he did confess that he needed to get some sleep before he fell asleep on his feet. I kissed him on the cheek and wished him sweet dreams, and then I went inside. I couldn’t help but wonder if Marilee was still alive. If she had taken off and was still present in the world, then maybe I could find her. Finding her really was my best chance at finding Avery. I wasn’t sure how I’d go about tracking this woman down, but I knew her name, and I knew who she was with when she headed for Rio a quarter of a century ago. That wasn’t a lot, but it was a place to start, and lately, I’d found that as long as you had a place to start and you had brilliant friends willing to help you, the rest eventually fell into place.
Coming Next from
Gooseberry Bay
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USA Today best-selling author Kathi Daley lives in beautiful Lake Tahoe with her husband, Ken. When she isn’t writing, she likes spending time hiking the miles of desolate trails surrounding her home. She’s authored more than a hundred and fifty books in thirteen series. Find out more about her books at www.kathidaley.com
