by Becki Willis
Makenna never thought it would happen to her. She knew it happened to other people: people adopted by loving families who, for whatever reason, still craved the knowledge of their true roots … where they came from, who their birth parents were, what could have been. Happy and secure within the Reagan clan, she never thought she would be among those people.
But one look at her mother’s face, and all of that had changed.
Not her feelings for Madeline and Kenneth Reagan, of course. They were the absolute best parents any one could ever have, and she loved them with all her heart. She could not imagine her life without them or the extended family she gained through them. But there was a piece of her past missing, and without it, she no longer felt whole. She needed to know the facts of her childhood - why her parents had abandoned her, why they had deprived her of her twin, why they had let Kenzie suffer all those years - in order to move forward with her future. No matter how much she loved Hardin and wanted to marry him, she had to find peace with her past before she could become his wife.
She knew the news would not settle well with her fiancé, and that worry only added to her distraction.
Perhaps it was the exhaustion, perhaps it was the worry, but, impossible as it seemed, Makenna almost forgot she and her sister were being stalked.
After investigating Kenzie’s surprise gift, Makenna was running late for an interview she was doing. She paid little attention to the man standing in the lobby of the Grayton Enterprises building; after all, it was home to one of Austin’s most prestigious architectural firms and people were always scurrying in and out. When she visited the library later in the day and the man opened the door for her, she smiled and thanked him for his help. It was not until later, when she noticed the same man at the gas station refueling a blue Chevy two pumps over, that Makenna began to feel uneasy.
She dialed Hardin as she waited for her tank to fill.
He answered on the first ring. “Good evening, beautiful.”
“Hello, handsome.”
“What’s up, my soon-to-be-bride?”
Makenna tried for nonchalant. “Oh, just getting gas before I head home. You?”
“Still up here in Waco. This officer shooting is turning out to be more complicated than we originally thought.” She could hear the weariness in his voice.
“Will you be home by the weekend?”
“One way or another.”
“Good.” It was their first holiday together, and she was looking forward to meeting his entire family, even though the thought was a bit daunting. “Listen, I know you’re busy and I know you have a lot going on, but I thought you might could run a plate for me.”
“Why? What’s wrong?” With just those few words, she could hear the immediate concern in his voice. She could almost hear him straightening to his full five feet eleven inches, knew he was squaring his muscled shoulders, could practically see him tightening his stomach and flexing his sculpted chest. He was taking his officer stance. Affection no longer softened his words. His voice was sharp and commanding as he asked brusquely, “Makenna, are you in trouble?”
She could not directly lie to him, so she avoided the question. “I see a car that matches the description of the one following Kenzie. I know there are a ton of these cars in Austin, but I thought it was worth a shot.”
“Absolutely. I’ve told you to always trust your gut.”
She rattled off the license plate number and waited while Hardin ran it through the DMV files. They chatted about the upcoming weekend while the computer searched. Makenna pulled back onto the road, watching her rear view mirror as she took a roundabout way home.
“Anything?” she asked after a while.
“It came back registered to a John Black from Galveston, so I did a search for that name and address.”
“And got nothing, I’m sure.”
“Other than the fact that the plate belongs on a green ‘98 Tahoe, no. The address doesn’t exist.”
“So this could be the car.” Makenna slowed down as she made the final turn toward their apartment. No one seemed to be following her, but their address was hardly secret. Raymond Foto had found them with no problem.
“I want you to be extra vigilant, Makenna.” His voice was stern.
“I will, I will.”
“Why do you sound so guilty?”
Makenna laughed. “Why do you know me so well? Okay, so I forgot to obsess about this whole Joseph Mandarino slash Modern Power fiasco today.”
“Makenna, this is no joking matter. There are people who still want to keep your father quiet. They will go to any means in order to do that, including hurting or kidnapping one or both of his daughters. And that just happens to include the woman I love. You cannot blow this off.”
“I know that, Hardin,” she said in a small, tired voice. “I was temporarily distracted by my newest obsession.”
“I’d like to think that was me, but I hear the sadness in your voice. You’re talking about your birth mother.”
“I can’t let it go, Hardin. I keep thinking about that picture. There was so much love in her face. How could a woman who obviously loved her children that much suddenly abandon both of them? She left me at a church, Kenzie with- with that woman. How could she do that?”
“I don’t know, honey. I wish I had the answers for you.”
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to throw all this at you. I know you have a lot on your plate right now and don’t need to add my problems on top of it all.”
“My plate will always be big enough for your problems. I want you to always come to me when something is bothering you,” he said tenderly.
“Even when I obsess over crazy little things? Like what I’m going to take Friday to your family’s celebration? Your mother is an excellent cook and I don’t want to embarrass myself by bringing some Ellie Mae Clampit knock-off.”
She loved the sound of his warm, rich laughter. “Stop worrying about it. You don’t have to bring a thing. Believe me, there will be plenty of food.”
“That’s not the point. It’s etiquette to bring something.”
“What about those mean little cookies you made the other night, the ones with the cinnamon sprinkled on top?”
“Those came from the Kroger bakery.”
“Oh. Well, I like your chocolate chip cookies.”
“Those come from the Keebler elves.”
Hardin laughed again. “Maybe as a wedding present, I’ll buy you cooking lessons.”
“And maybe I’ll buy you -” Her words were cut short when she saw what was parked directly in front of their apartment. “Oh. My. Gosh.”
“What? What is it?”
“You-You know how I told you the Senator bought Kenzie a new car?”
“Yeah, a sweet little forty thousand dollar car, you said. Why? What’s wrong?”
Makenna stared at the pale blue car in front of her, wrapped in a red bow. “I think he bought me a matching one.”
“What? Why would the Senator buy you a car? You’ve never even met the man!”
“I have no idea, but there’s a gorgeous car sitting here, wrapped in a bow just like hers was. They are identical, except for color.”
Hardin’s voice took a hard edge. “I think it’s time I had a talk with Senator Lawrence. Men don’t just go around buying cars for women without some secret agenda.”
“Hardin, I-I’m going to have to let you go.” Her voice was still stunned. “I’ll call you later. Love you.”
Keeping her eye on the ribbon-bedecked automobile, Makenna dialed her sister’s number.
“Hey, Sis, what’s up?” came the friendly greeting. She had obviously recovered from her morning depression.
“Kenzie, where is your new car?”
“At the airport. I’m in Brownsville, by the way. Kate called with a last-minute assignment and I had to fly down here. This place is crazy, with all this illegal border crossing mess and the political fall-out from it. But, why do you ask? And why do y
ou sound all weird?”
“Do you happen to know why there is another new car sitting in front of our apartment? A pale blue one, identical to yours, with a huge red bow?”
Kenzie’s gasp was amplified through the phone. “You have got to be kidding.”
“Oh, no. It’s here, all right, all forty thousand dollars’ worth of shiny chrome and metallic ice blue. Kenzie, this is insane! Why would that man buy me a car?”
“I-I have no idea. I’ll call him, just as soon as I finish up here.”
“It was one thing for him to buy you a car. You had just wrecked yours, and he knows you. But now he buys me one? This is insane.”
“Calm down, calm down. I’ll call him and get to the bottom of this. But look, right now I have to go. Our Senator is about to make a statement and I need to take pictures.”
“See, that’s the really crazy thing about this! Harry Lawrence isn’t even our Senator. You don’t see Senator Sam McCade buying us cars, do you? So why does Harry Lawrence?”
“Honestly, Makenna, you have got to calm down.”
“And just how am I supposed to do that?”
Makenna could hear the saucy grin in her sister’s words and the laughter bubbling just below the surface. “Well, start the smooth V6 292 horsepower engine, turn on the air conditioned leather seats, find a nice relaxing station on the satellite radio, and listen to it on the incredible state-of-the-art surround sound system. You don’t even have to put the car in gear. I promise you, five minutes in that car, and you’ll be a new woman.”
Makenna was not amused. “And just this morning, you wanted to return yours,” she said dryly.
“Ah, but then I drove it. No way am I giving it back now. Take yours around the block and you’ll be a convert, too.”
“We’ll see about that,” she murmured skeptically, circling the car twice before saying goodbye and going inside the building.
But when she found the car keys dangling by ribbon on their apartment door, she could not quite resist.
“Well, maybe one short block….”
***
One block was not quite enough, so Makenna went another, and then another. The car handled like a well-trained pet, responding to her every command. Even without the air-conditioned seat feature turned on, Makenna knew she was a convert. If only her conscious would allow her to keep the car!
Knowing she could never accept the extravagant gift, she reluctantly turned back toward the apartment.
That was when she saw the blue Chevy, cruising one street over, right in front of her building.
Makenna slowed down and watched as the Chevy made a loop and drove past her apartment yet again. Pulling into a driveway several yards away, she watched the car repeat the process three more times. Each time he drove slowly, craning his dark hair to see activity around the building. He finally pulled over, parking across the street from their building. Makenna watched as he took out a pair of binoculars and aimed them directly at their apartment. At their bedrooms, to be exact.
Makenna shivered in disgust. She always kept her draperies pulled so there was little chance the man actually ever saw anything, but the thought that he tried was enough to make her skin crawl. She was contemplating whether to call and report a Peeping Tom when the car pulled out of its parking space and headed down the street.
Without hesitation, Makenna put her car into gear and followed. The only thought going through her mind was that the driver would not recognize her in the new Chrysler 300. She kept several car lengths behind the Chevy, even allowing another car to slip between them as they wound back toward the interstate. After her ordeal in New Hampshire, she had learned a thing or two about tailing a vehicle, she thought with a grimace.
Instead of entering the ramp, the Chevy stayed on the access road and went two blocks before turning into a storage facility parking lot. Careful to keep her face averted, Makenna drove past the parked car and the driver who was getting out. From the corner of her eye, she noted the details: mid-forties male, dark hair, dark clothes.
Makenna went down three blocks, keeping her eye on the car in her mirror to make certain it stayed put. She turned onto the side street and came up behind the storage unit, not sure of what her next move should be. She had never done a stakeout before.
Hardin, of course, would be furious when he discovered what she was doing. But Hardin was two hours away and deep into an investigation. She found a place to park on the back street that allowed her a clear view of the blue car. She would wait here for a while, follow the car when it left, make note of the destination, and be home safe and sound before Hardin ever found out. Simple.
After twenty minutes, boredom sat in. Makenna turned the radio on low, but was afraid the beat from the bass would be detected. These were excellent speakers, after all. She found a local station with news, only half-listening to the reports of traffic jams and stalled vehicles along I-35. Using the redundant buttons on the steering wheel, Makenna browsed for another station. She caught the middle of a breaking news report about an armed robbery and assault. Hearing the address, she realized it was only a few blocks away.
Makenna looked around in concern, belatedly realizing she was not in the best of neighborhoods. Maybe this stakeout had not been such a good idea, after all. She was pulling out of her parking space when another thought occurred to her.
She zipped into the gas station on the corner and saw that it still sported a pay phone out front; with the popularity of cell phones, many places no longer offered the service. Pulling into the parking space closest to it, the phone was just steps from her car. The blue Chevy was still parked in front of the storage facility across the street as she dialed the number.
“9-1-1, what’s your emergency?”
Allowing her voice to tremble with nerves, Makenna tried to sound young and scared. “I-I’m calling about the robbery at Lou’s Liquor. I-I saw th-that man get sh-sh-shot.”
“May I have your name and location, please?”
“M-Mary Ann. I saw the man who did it. And-And I know where he is.”
“Miss, I’m going to transfer you to an officer who can take your statement.”
“N-No. He might get away. If you hurry you can catch him.”
“Who, ma’am?”
“The man in the blue car,” she said, keeping a quiver in her voice. In truth, the quiver was real; she knew she was playing with fire, giving a false 9-1-1 report that more than likely involved someone from the mafia.
“Tell me where you are and we can dispatch someone to your location.”
Makenna ignored the operator’s questions and continued with the information. “It was a man with dark hair, just like the radio said.” For good measure, she added, “Pretty old, about forty or forty-five.”
“Miss, are you calling because you heard about the robbery on the radio or because you saw it happen?”
“B-Both.”
“What was the man wearing, Miss?” The operator was already sounding bored, assuming the question would trip up a prank caller.
“Blue jeans, brown loafers, and a dark gray skirt, no collar. He’s parked in front of Store It 4U right now. I-I saw him shoot that man.”
The operator snapped to attention. “I’m dispatching an officer right now, Miss. What kind of car did you say he was driving?”
She rattled off the model and license number, gave an extra little whimper of fear when she insisted again that she saw him shoot the other man, then abruptly hung up the phone when she heard the whirl of sirens approaching.
With a satisfied smile, Makenna pulled away from the curb as the police swarmed into the storage facility. It was a diversionary measure at best, but it would take most of the night to sort out the lie in her story.
She might be alone in an empty apartment tonight, but at least she would sleep well.
Chapter Eleven
The Fourth of July fell on a Friday, offering exactly what Kenzie needed: a short workweek and a long weekend.
<
br /> Hardin’s parents, William and Hannah Kaczmarek, hosted a grand event each year at their New Braunfels home, less than an hour away from Austin. The house and the property were huge, offering plenty of room for the large group that attended. With six grown children and eight grandchildren, the Kaczmarek family alone was enough to crowd any space. Extended family, friends, neighbors and employees were also invited, and this year, Makenna’s family was included. Not all of her siblings could come, but even without them, the crowd swelled to over seventy-five people by the time everyone trickled in.
Two huge barbecue pits billowed with smoke, cooking whole briskets and authentic German sausage to perfection. Long tables were set up, laden with bowls of potato salad, slaw, macaroni & cheese, salads of every kind, relish and vegetable trays, chips and dips, and baked beans. Two more tables were dedicated to dessert, where a sugary sea of cakes, pies, cookies and banana puddings crowded the space. By the time each guest brought a dish to compliment the feast Hannah Kaczmarek had prepared, there was enough food to feed everyone for days. Even Makenna and Kenzie dusted off their recipe books and made desserts for the occasion.
Away from the food area, games were set up for horseshoes and volleyball and, later, their traditional afternoon baseball game. Several musicians in the family brought their guitars and fiddles, providing rounds of music for the day. Laughter and conversation floated in the air, adding to the noise and general good cheer.
Kenzie was in her element, surrounded by people and a party atmosphere. Dressed in white capris, a flag-inspired tunic and sparkling red jewelry that resembled fireworks, and with her long dark curls caught up in a messy bun, she caught the eye of several young men in the crowd. Naturally, she felt obligated to flirt with each and every one of them. Long before the meal was served at one o’clock, her face ached from smiling so much and she fairly sloshed from the many glasses of lemonade and sweet tea the men brought her.
Slipping away from Hardin’s cousin who did his best to corner her, using a dazzling smile to side step a man who worked for Kaczmarek Construction, and promising to catch up later with the mayor’s son, Kenzie made her way back toward the house. She had spotted a porch-swing earlier, just off to the side of the house. With any luck, it would be vacant.
