The Black Sheep's Redemption

by Lynette Eason

  “I know. It’s just…”

  “No need to explain. I understand.” Owen changed the subject. “How are the twins? I guess they didn’t miss you last night.”

  “No, they were still sleeping when I got home.”

  “Well, Paige wants to see them again soon. She had a blast with them yesterday.”

  Paige. Owen’s nine-year-old daughter. The daughter he’d just discovered and was building a relationship with.

  “They’re great. They love Demi and are perfectly happy with their little world. I’ll bring them by the bookstore soon and Paige can read them a story or something while I have a cup of coffee or catch up on some sleep in one of those big comfy reading chairs.”

  Owen laughed then sobered. “Sorry it’s taking us so long to figure this out, bro.”

  “Yeah, me, too.”

  “But hang in there, we’ll get it done.”

  “I know.” He paused. “Any calls after Demi’s picture went up?”

  “Yeah. We’re sorting through them. When you do something like that, all the weirdos come out of hiding.” Charles winced.

  “So,” Owen said. “Douglas and Merry are getting married in two weeks. Let’s try to make the fishing trip before then.”

  “I’ll look at my schedule and let you know.”

  Owen hung up and Charles dropped his head in his hands. Closing his eyes, he drew in a deep breath and prayed out loud, “Lord, I know I haven’t been very talkative lately, but I’m thinking that’s a mistake. Please help me out here, if You would. I really need a break somewhere.”

  * * *

  Demi really needed a break. Not from the children or her job, but from her thoughts. “Hey, guys,” she said to the kids who were digging in the sand. “What do you say we get cleaned up and go into town to get some ice cream?”

  “Ice cream!” Brianne was the first to respond. Of course. Demi laughed.

  “Dino, too.” Aaron held out the toy to her.

  “Does Dino want ice cream?” she asked.

  He grinned and nodded.

  “All right, let’s go. Everyone on the bicycle.” Charles had provided her with a double-stroller-like contraption that could be pulled behind her bicycle. She’d used it often last week when they got antsy or sleepy. Helmets on and strapped in, the twins sang a song about ice cream while Demi pulled out the cell phone Charles had given her and pressed the number one. Charles had programmed his cell number for her. He answered on the third ring. “Hello?”

  “Hi, how’s it going?”

  “It’s going.”

  Demi frowned at his tone. He sounded…frustrated. “I don’t know how busy you are, but I thought I’d let you know that I’m taking the children up to the Sugar Plum Café for a scoop of ice cream.”

  “Are they wiggle worms today?” The frustration had disappeared to be replaced with a warmth that entered his voice every time he referred to his children.

  Demi relaxed a bit as she swung a leg over the seat and got herself situated. “They are, but they’re excited about the ice cream.”

  He paused. “I’ll meet you there. I could use a break.”

  “Really?”

  “Actually no. I’ve had a pretty long break already, but I need to get out of here. See you in a few minutes and be careful.”

  “Will do.”

  She hung up and looked back at her little charges all buckled in to ensure their safety. Blankets tucked in around them would keep them warm from the cool morning wind. “Ready?”

  “Ready!” they yelled in unison.

  Demi pressed the pedal and they were off.

  Ten minutes later, she directed the bicycle into the parking lot of the Sugar Plum Café.

  It was eleven o’clock and the lunch crowd had already started filing in. But she knew there’d be a spot in there somewhere for her, Charles and the children.

  Unbuckling them, she took a little hand in each of hers and together they walked toward the door.

  “Hey, wait up!”

  Demi looked over her shoulder and felt her heart give a little skip when she saw Charles, still in his white lab coat, heading their way.

  “Daddy!” Brianne pulled from Demi and launched herself at her father. He caught her in a hug and kissed the top of her dark head.

  Aaron seemed content to watch their exuberance. Demi had a moment where her world spun around her and she pictured herself doing the very thing Brianne had done. Only she was throwing herself into Charles’s arms to receive his kiss on her lips. A welcome home, I’m glad to see you kind of thing.

  “Demi? You okay?”

  His question burst her daydream and she could feel a flush creeping into her cheeks. Turning toward the store to hide the fire in her face, she said, “I’m great. Let’s get that ice cream.”

  Once they got the children settled in high chairs with bibs and a large supply of napkins, they started in on the treat.

  Brianne managed to get most of hers in her mouth. Aaron wasn’t having much luck. Demi took his spoon to help him. She looked at Charles. “Has Owen run my picture on the news yet?”

  He nodded. “Yes, Owen said they were filtering the calls. When they get something worth following up on, we’ll be the first to know.”

  Demi bit her lip and slid another small spoonful of vanilla ice cream into Aaron’s waiting mouth. “Good. I think.”

  “It will be.”

  “Did he mention that I have amnesia?”

  “No, he didn’t want to invite any troublemakers or people who might want to take advantage of you. Instead, they ran the picture with the story that you were looking for your family and if anyone recognized you and knew who your family was, they were to call the eight hundred number at the bottom of the screen. As it is, we may have to weed through some crazies.”

  Demi grimaced. She hadn’t thought about that. When the police had run her picture while she’d been in the hospital, she hadn’t even considered that scenario. The police must have made the judgment calls in that case, too.

  “Well, if this isn’t a nice cozy scene.”

  Demi froze as she recognized the voice of Burke Hennessy. She glanced up to see him bearing down on their table.

  Charles’s posture went rigid. Demi ignored Hennessy and concentrated on feeding Aaron, hoping the children didn’t pick up on the sudden tension.

  “What do you want now, Burke?” Charles asked.

  “Don’t you have patients to take care of, Dr. Fitzgerald?” He didn’t give Charles a chance to answer before he said, “Oh, that’s right. You’re a murder suspect. I imagine not too many people in town are in need of your services these days.”

  Charles’s face went red and his hand clenched.

  Demi looked at the man who seemed to have nothing better to do than cause trouble. “Could you please just leave us alone?”

  Burke snorted. “Hiding behind a skirt? Who taught you that, your dad?”

  Charles stood. “Burke, I’d like nothing more than to smash your face, but I’m praying real hard that I have more class than that. If you want to take this outside, I’ll go, but you might want to think twice about how that will look to your constituents.”

  Demi blinked at the lightning-fast speed at which Burke backpedaled, his hands held in a conciliatory gesture. “Hey, no need for that.” Then he dropped his hands and his eyes hardened. “But you can tell your father that I’m calling him out in a debate. I’ve had enough of this Fitzgerald monopoly in the police department and the town. Tell your father I’ll be in touch.”

  Burke spun on his heel and left, seemingly unaware of the eyes that followed him. Charles cleared his throat and seated himself in front of Brianne. His daughter frowned. “Bad man, Daddy. D
on’t like him.”

  Demi choked back a surge of laughter, not thinking it was an appropriate response. Then she caught the glint in Charles’s eyes as he nodded to Brianne. “Very observant young lady.”

  Brianne grinned as though she understood and Demi’s heart softened at the exchange. She glanced at the door where Hennessy had just left. “I admire your restraint,” she said softly.

  Charles nodded his head. “Me, too.” Pulling in a deep breath, he let it out slowly. Demi watched him for a moment longer, wishing she had the right words to say. Having none, she stayed silent.

  He looked up and said, “How do you feel about fishing?”

  She shrugged. “I don’t know. Why?”

  “Because I think that might be just the thing to take our minds off everything that’s going on around here.”

  “And your mind off Burke Hennessy?”

  “Exactly.”

  “Sounds good to me.” She smiled then shivered as her eyes caught Burke’s staring back at them from outside the restaurant window.

  His malevolent glare said he wasn’t finished with them.

  TEN

  Surprisingly, the rest of the week and most of the next passed without incident. Thursday rolled around with no more break-ins, no more weird messages. And nothing on Demi’s true identity.

  It made Charles nervous, but relieved, too. Maybe whoever had been causing problems decided to move on to something else.

  The twist in his gut told him he could hope for that, but not to stop watching his—or Demi’s—back just yet.

  And the DNA results still hadn’t come in.

  Owen said that he and their father were nagging the lab, promising to leave them alone as soon as they passed on the results. So far there’d been no word. Charles refused to get his hopes up that they would come through any time soon.

  He gathered his fishing equipment from his garage and turned to see Owen’s orange Ford Raptor pickup pull into the drive. Victoria and their nine-year-old daughter, Paige, were with him.

  Demi rode up on her bike just then and Charles found his attention centered on her. With windblown hair and pink cheeks, she looked about eighteen years old. He gulped then caught the knowing glint in Owen’s eyes.

  Feeling the heat creep up his neck he focused on loading the equipment into the back of his truck. “Morning,” he called over his shoulder.

  Demi parked the bike and greeted his brother and Victoria. Paige hopped out and slammed the door. “Can I help get the twins ready?”

  “They’re already in their car seats.” Charles offered his niece a grin. “It was the only way I could get stuff ready.”

  Demi smiled. “I could have come a little early and helped.”

  “I appreciate that, but they’re in a good mood this morning so I handled it.” He turned to Paige. “But you can entertain them.”

  The girl gave an eager nod and climbed in the car where she was greeted with two-year-old squeals of glee.

  Charles felt the hair on the back of his neck spike and he glanced around. All morning, he’d felt the presence of someone lurking, spying, and the feeling was getting old. He didn’t spook easily, but the thought of someone watching him and the children made him jumpy.

  He stared toward the cliffs where Olivia had fallen to her death and shuddered.

  “Something wrong?”

  Owen’s perceptive question made Charles blink and he forced a smile. “Nope. Not a thing. Let’s go have some fun.”

  “I called Dad and told him we needed an extra rod for Demi. He said he had one hanging in the storage building behind his house and to stop by and pick it up.”

  “Sounds like a plan to me.”

  Demi stashed the bike in the garage and climbed in the vehicle with him. Paige decided to ride buckled in between the twins.

  Charles cranked the truck and headed to his dad’s house. The sun continued to creep higher in the morning sky and the day promised to be a warm one. They’d shed their jackets in a couple hours, relax and maybe catch a fish or two.

  A perfect day made even better because of the woman sitting beside him. “I’m glad you wanted to come with us. It took a little longer to get this trip lined up, working around Owen’s schedule and Victoria’s need to find someone to cover the shop, but I’m glad you decided you’d come.”

  Demi smiled. “Sure. I don’t know if I’ve ever gone fishing before, but the adventure sounded too good to pass up.”

  He laughed. “Yes, I’m sure adventure is the right word for it.”

  A few minutes later, they pulled into his father’s drive. “Sit tight. I’ll just go in and get the rod.”

  Demi nodded and Charles climbed from the vehicle.

  Owen met him. “I want to get some tackle, too.”

  Together the brothers entered the building and Charles went for the rods hanging on the wall while Owen opened the steel cabinet attached to the back wall.

  Charles found a rod he thought Demi could use and turned to find Owen holding something and frowning at it. “What’s wrong?”

  “These.”

  Curious, Charles walked over for a look.

  Several pictures of a couple, one holding a baby, stared back at him. “Where’d you find those?”

  “In Dad’s tackle box on the bottom under a bunch of fishing stuff.”

  Owen flipped through them, his face paling with each one.

  Charles took them and did the same. He swallowed hard. Several showed a man and a pregnant woman in various poses. In one, the man had his hand possessively on the belly of the young woman, a grin on his face. He flipped the picture over and read, “My little one. Boy or girl?”

  And then there was the picture of the man and woman holding a baby. No names or a date on the back.

  “Hey, what’s taking so long?” Victoria asked from the door. “The natives are getting restless.”

  Owen turned to her and held out the picture. “Look at this.”

  With a question in her eyes, Victoria took the photo and looked at it. Then her brows pulled together at the bridge of her nose. “Why does this picture look so familiar—like I’ve seen it before?”

  “Where would you have seen this?” Charles asked.

  “I’m not sure, but…”

  Charles’s heart thudded, dread coursing through him. His eyes met Owen’s. “Is it possible?”

  Owen swallowed hard. “You thinking what I’m thinking?”

  “An affair?” Just saying the words left a foul taste in his mouth.

  “A what?” Victoria sputtered.

  “This is Dad in the picture, Victoria,” Owen said.

  She squinted. “Really?” A pause. “I didn’t see it at first, but yes, the resemblance is there.”

  “And the woman he has his arm around is not Mom,” Charles said.

  “Who’s the baby?” Owen asked quietly. “You don’t think…”

  Victoria gaped as she took in what Owen was saying. “That doesn’t mean that your father…”

  “…had an affair or that we have a half sibling,” Charles finished the sentence for her.

  Owen looked at Charles. “That’s true. We don’t know who this woman in the photograph is.” He paced from one end of the toolshed to the other. Then he spun and jabbed a finger at Charles. “Just like I don’t believe you killed Olivia, I don’t believe Dad cheated on Mom.”

  Charles sucked in another breath. “You think I want to believe it? There’s no evidence pointing to me being a killer.” He shook the picture. “This just raises some questions, that’s all.”

  Owen ran a hand down his face. “I don’t know. I just…don’t know.”

  “Looks like we have some
thing to talk to Dad about. And soon.”

  “No,” Victoria protested. “Not yet. Douglas and Merry are getting married this weekend. Don’t ruin the wedding for them.”

  Charles paused, his heart thumping with adrenaline. This possibility of an affair, a half sibling, if it was true, sucked the air from his lungs. “I don’t know. This is pretty serious stuff.”

  “I agree,” Owen said. “I want some answers.” He pulled out his cell phone and dialed his father’s number. Charles waited impatiently.

  Finally, Owen said, “Hey, Dad, give me a call when you get a chance, will you? We need to talk.”

  He hung up and rubbed a hand down his suddenly haggard face. Charles suddenly wasn’t much in the mood for fishing.

  * * *

  Demi didn’t mind waiting in the truck, but she wondered what was taking them so long in the shed. Tears spilled down Brianne’s cheeks as she kicked her feet. “I want out!”

  “Don’t you want to go fishing?” Paige asked.

  “No!”

  Demi stepped from the truck, ready to release the child from her car-seat prison when she saw Charles, Owen and Victoria exit the shed. Charles carried the fishing pole while Owen tucked something into his shirt pocket.

  Victoria looked shaken and pale.

  What had happened?

  Everyone climbed into their respective vehicles. Charles placed the fishing rod in the back and the troubled, tight look on his face worried her. After pacifying Brianne with a peanut-butter cracker, Demi looked at Charles. “What’s wrong?”

  He glanced in the rearview mirror. “I just need to process something before we talk about it, all right?”

  Demi bit her lip. “Sure.” He didn’t want to talk in front of Paige.

  But for her, some of the excitement of the day had dimmed in light of whatever had happened in the storage building.

  They rode in silence, broken only by the chattering of the children and Paige’s exuberance at fishing in the river. “It’s going to be so much fun!”