Fatal Charm

by Aimée Thurlo

  As Amanda started back, she saw Tony come to meet her at the door. “Let’s get going, Mandy.”

  “Where?”

  “You and I are going to pay Mr. Biddle an impromptu visit.”

  They walked up the gravel road and arrived at Ricky’s a few minutes later.

  Amanda glanced at the driveway. “If Ricky was home, his motorcycle would have been parked by the door, under the porch. That’s where he keeps it.”

  “Good. Then we can take a look around at our leisure. You never know what we’ll find.”

  “You mean peek through windows?”

  “Sure. If he’s not here, it can’t hurt.”

  Amanda hurried after Tony as he walked toward the rear of the house. “Wait, Tony! Remember, he’s got a dog inside.”

  “What kind?”

  “A rottweiler.”

  Tony stopped in midstride. “That changes things.”

  “But the dog’s inside the house, not out.”

  “No problem, then. Just be quiet when you approach a window. With any luck, he won’t hear us.” Amanda behind him, Tony crept up to a side window and looked in. The living room was covered with stacks of computer printouts and file folders. Even the sofa lacked enough space to sit down. “This guy doesn’t have a lot of outside interests, does he?”

  “Tony, be reasonable. We’re not going to learn anything out here. Let’s just go back to my place and wait until he returns.”

  “In a minute. Don’t be so impatient.”

  Amanda looked over her shoulder. This was making her nervous. The idea of skulking around anyone’s home, peeking in windows, invading their privacy, was repulsive to her. “If he’s as smart as you give him credit for, he’s not going to leave evidence lying out in the open where anyone can see it.”

  “You never know,” Tony whispered, and kept walking toward the back of the house, staying close to the outside wall. The curtains were drawn on the first set of windows they passed, but a crack between the curtains had been left in the next. Tony leaned forward, cupping his hands on the pane to see in. “Amanda, go back to the car and wait for me there.”

  “You don’t actually believe I’m going to leave you here now, do you?” She moved in beside him and glanced inside. “I—” She staggered back, going pale all of a sudden. “I don’t believe it.”

  Tony steadied her, gave her hand a hard squeeze, then went back to the window. He studied the interior, anger making his muscles grow taut. Photos of Amanda, obviously taken without her knowledge, were plastered all over the walls.

  “Should we call Raymond?” she managed to say at last.

  “Taking photos isn’t against the law. What we’re doing is.”

  “But these...” She shook her head. “I walk with Hope to my mailbox every day. I never saw anyone hanging about.”

  “He used a big telephoto lens for most of these.”

  “He snapped a photo of me in my bathrobe through my window. To do that he had to have been in my backyard.”

  “None of them shows you undressed at least. It could have been worse.”

  “This is bad enough,” Amanda said, her voice shaky. She felt dirty somehow. Her private moments, like playing with Hope in the baby pool in the backyard, were there on the walls of some man’s home. She shuddered. “I had no idea...”

  Tony gave her a sympathetic look. “There’s a framed photo on his nightstand. That wasn’t taken with a telephoto. It’s a snapshot of you and Hope at a lake.”

  Amanda turned back to the window and looked inside. “That was taken from my bedroom. It was the one I kept on my dresser, the one I told you had been stolen.”

  “Certainly that’s evidence that he broke the law. But it’s not enough by itself.”

  “What are you talking about? He took it from my bedroom!”

  “He could claim he found it out by the road after the incident with the fire, for example, and that he hadn’t quite gotten around to returning it to you.”

  “Ricky probably would say something like that. He’s smooth. I’ll give him that. But now I’m convinced he really did set that fire. Maybe he was jealous, I don’t know. I mean, he’s obviously a full-fledged creep.”

  Tony moved to the next window. “At least he only keeps one of you in his study, but believe me, you don’t want to see it.”

  Amanda moved forward. She caught a glimpse of herself in a wet T-shirt, braless, playing under the sprinkler with her daughter. Her breasts showed clearly, accentuated by the water and thin material. “That son of—” Suddenly, a dark beast slammed against the pane, rattling the entire window frame. Amanda recoiled from the glass. “That’s his dog! I wondered where he was.”

  The dog barked furiously, sending a spray of spittle onto the glass. Then, to their surprise, the animal suddenly ran out of the room.

  “Why did he turn and run like that?” Amanda asked, puzzled. “If Ricky had driven up, we would have heard his cycle.”

  Tony considered the mystery for a second. “Tell me there’s no doggie door.”

  “No, there isn’t. Ricky doesn’t like them.” Amanda heard a creaking sound and looked around for its source. A massive snout was forcing up the sash of a partially open window. “Oh, great. I never expected a doggie window!”

  Tony grabbed her hand thinking quickly. If they headed toward the front of the house, the dog, already halfway out, would, no doubt, get them as they went by. With Tony pulling her by the arm, they ran toward the old cottonwood farther along the side of the house. “Climb!”

  “I can’t climb trees! I haven’t done this—” She heard a thump as the animal leaped to the ground, eager for the chase. Without hesitation, she jumped to the first branch and scrambled up.

  Tony was right behind her. He’d just hoisted himself onto the branch beneath Amanda, when the dog pounced, his jaws snapping inches from Tony’s leg. “Forget it, boy. I’m not a hot lunch.”

  The dog sat down at the base of the tree, eyeing them. Its throaty growl made Amanda’s hair stand on end. “We can’t go back down there. He’ll rip us apart.”

  After carefully assessing the situation, Tony said, “We’ve got one chance. We crawl over this branch, past the trunk, to the branch on the other side that’s just above the garage. Then it’ll just be a matter of getting onto the garage roof, walking across, and jumping down into the empty lot on the other side of the wall.”

  Amanda glanced nervously at the dog, then at the branch. She’d always hated heights, and this wasn’t improving her phobia. “We could stay here until Ricky gets home. After he puts the dog away, I’ll take care of Ricky. You could look the other way while I punch him right on the nose.”

  “As much as I would enjoy seeing that, I think I better warn you. Ricky may not call the dog off. He may call the cops instead, and have us arrested.”

  Amanda closed her eyes, trying to suppress the rage building inside her. “The man is such a creep.”

  “Agreed. But that knowledge won’t help us in our current situation.”

  “All right,” she said with a sigh. “We’ll do it your way.” She began crawling up toward the branch. At least the tree was easier to hold on to near the trunk. The skin on her palms and thighs, however, was being scraped off by the rough bark. “Remind me never to climb a tree with a skirt on.” Amanda stopped once she got to the trunk. “Hang on for a second. I need a breather.”

  Tony gave her bare legs a teasing glance. “So do I,” he drawled.

  “Don’t get cute. I’m in no mood.”

  “Yes, ma’am.” As he looked away, he got a glimpse through the window of Ricky’s garage. “You didn’t tell me Ricky also had a car.”

  “I didn’t know he did.” Amanda leaned down, angling for a peek. “It’s an off-white sedan, like the car that tailed us that time.”

  “There’s no license plate on it now. Interesting. Still, it’s not anything we can use in court,” Tony answered.

  Mumbling sourly to herself, Amanda continued a
cross to the other branch. Her legs felt as if they were on fire. Finally they reached the top of the garage and stepped onto the roof below.

  Walking across the flat roof to the other side, Tony climbed down and then reached up to help Amanda. “Climb over the side and let yourself go. I won’t let you fall.”

  “Are you kidding? If I let go, I will fall. Gravity does that to you.”

  “Okay, get technical.” Tony exhaled softly. “You’ll fall, but I’ll be right here to catch you.”

  Amanda studied the edge of the roof. It really wasn’t that far to the bottom—a little under ten feet, if she judged it right. If she climbed over, her feet would be more than halfway down before she even let go. “Step aside. I’ll do this on my own.”

  A second later, she released her hold on the roof ledge. As she dropped, Tony reached out and caught her in his arms.

  “Put me down! I didn’t need help,” she protested.

  Amanda dusted herself off while the dog barked furiously on the other side of the wall. Then he leaped up, his claws scraping near the top.

  “Let’s get out of here before he finds a way to get over that wall,” Tony said. Silence descended as Tony drove back to Amanda’s. It wasn’t until he pulled into her driveway that he finally spoke. “Time’s running out, Mandy. The kidnappers are going to bolt like they did before. I have to find a way to force Ron to tell me what he knows, or I’ll never find Carmen.”

  “What do you have in mind?”

  “When Ron brought Hope to you, were there any personal effects that came with the baby?”

  “Just a blanket.”

  “Did you keep it?”

  “Sure. It was pretty. It was all hand embroidered. Hope uses it for her dolls nowadays.” She led the way to Hope’s room, walked over to the toy shelf and pulled it out. “Here it is.”

  Tony took it in his hands and stared at it for a long time.

  “I don’t see how you could use this against Ron,” Amanda said, puzzled by his behavior.

  “I have an idea, but I need to talk to Raymond first. I want him to use some of his informants.” Tony placed the blanket back on the shelf. “I’ll see you again in a few hours.”

  “I’ll go with you,” she said, accompanying him to the door.

  He shook his head. “No. Not this time. You’ll have to trust me on this. I’ll explain later, but right now I’ve got to get going.”

  Amanda watched Tony leave, uneasiness spreading through her. She returned to Hope’s room and brought out the blanket again. He’d stared at it with such an odd expression on his face. Yet if the blanket itself had been important, surely he would have taken it with him. The only assumption she could make was that it had somehow triggered an idea for him.

  Amanda sat on Hope’s bed, staring at the empty room. She missed her little girl. The childless house was filled with a silence so thick it seemed to have substance. She lay back on the pillows that still smelled of Hope’s baby shampoo.

  All she felt right now was emptiness. How had things gone so wrong? Amanda closed her eyes, and her body began to drift peacefully. The quiet enveloped her in a soothing cocoon. Then an image began to form slowly, like a photo being developed before her eyes.

  “You,” Amanda said, recognizing her nightly visitor. For the first time, the image was clear and she could make out the details of the woman’s face. Her green eyes danced and her auburn hair cascaded softly around her shoulders.

  “I came to say goodbye,” the woman said. “Tony will need you more than ever soon, just as you’ll need him. You’re on the brink of your greatest dream or your most haunting nightmare. In the end, the choice will be yours. Just remember, some things come only once in a lifetime.”

  “Wait! Who are you?”

  The image seemed to flicker then coalesce once again. “I was drawn to you, Amanda, because as mothers we share a common bond of love.” The image faded, but the stone that hung from a chain around the spirit’s neck continued to glow. The opal flashed with fire and bathed Amanda in gentle flames filled with warmth and love. Then, in the blink of an eye, that vision was gone, too.

  Amanda woke up slowly. The woman had seemed so real, not just a figment of her imagination. She accepted that reality now, with a certainty that came from the depths of her soul.

  Just then the phone rang. Amanda walked almost unconsciously to the living room and picked it up.

  “Amanda, it’s time we talked.” Ron’s voice was clear and unmistakable. “And don’t try to record this. Believe me, you’re going to want this conversation to stay private.”

  “I’m not recording,” Amanda said, sure now that he had found the bug she’d placed in his office. “What do you want?” Fear for her child and herself suddenly grew in intensity, touching a primitive level nothing had ever reached before.

  “Hope wasn’t my sister’s child. The papers I gave you are all forgeries. If Tony Ramos finds out, you’ll lose the girl for sure, Amanda. Hope is his child. I rescued Carmen from the wreck. I’d been drinking, and Ramos’s wife was already dead, so there was nothing else I could have done. I couldn’t risk calling the police, but if I’d left the baby there, she would have died. We couldn’t have children together, and I knew how badly you wanted to be a mother. So Katrina kept the child while I forged the papers. When enough time had passed to make my story believable, I brought her home to you.”

  Amanda’s head was spinning. She grasped the arm of the sofa, afraid she’d fall, then lowered herself onto it. “You’re lying. You couldn’t have done something like that.”

  “You kept whining about not having kids. I gave you a child, and you never even had to lose your figure. You should be grateful.”

  “Grateful?” Her heart felt as if it had been caught in a vise. “How can you live with yourself knowing what you’ve done?”

  “The question is, are you going to play on our side now? You’ve got to sidetrack Ramos, Amanda. He’s getting too close. And if we go down, you’ll lose your kid, I promise. One blood test is all it would take to prove that Hope is really Tony’s baby girl.”

  Hope was hers. Amanda loved that child with every fiber of her existence. “I don’t know what I’m going to do. But whatever it is, it won’t be with you.”

  “You need my silence, Amanda, and it’s for sale. I want an answer.”

  “I have no answer to give you!” she nearly shouted into the phone. “It’s your fault I’ve been living a lie all these years, and you’ve put an innocent man through hell. How could you have done something like this?”

  “To survive, and to earn a living for us, if you remember. But my actions aren’t the question now. Will you keep Ramos off our trail?”

  “I need a chance to think this out.”

  “There’s no time, Amanda. I’ll have to take your delaying tactic as a no. So be it. You’ve made your choice. Now you’ll have to live with it.”

  The next sound she heard was the dial tone. Amanda began to tremble. Her world was coming apart at the seams. Her ex-husband, the man she’d once loved and trusted, had betrayed her and the little girl she’d grown to love as her own.

  Amanda thought of Tony and what he’d come to mean to her. Anguish as black as night filled her. They shared a child...and their love for her would tear them apart.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Tony met Raymond in the parking lot beneath the Bureau offices. “I need another favor from you. I want to run Carmen’s picture through the age progression. Right now, if possible.”

  “Sure. Did you bring a new photo of Carmen with you?”

  Tony reached for his wallet and took out the one he had retrieved from his desk at home. “It’s not big, but it’s a clear portrait.”

  “We’ve worked with worse.” Raymond led him through the rear doors to the technician’s office. “What’s the rush all of a sudden?”

  Tony told Raymond about the blanket Amanda had shown him. “It looks like the one Lynn bought for Carmen at a crafts fair. I
remember when she brought it home. She’d just found out she was pregnant and was so excited she’d started shopping right away.”

  “It’s not conclusive,” Raymond said. “There could have been dozens of others sold that looked just like it, if it was a popular pattern. Can you positively identify that blanket as the same one?”

  “No, I can’t. But Hope is almost exactly the age Carmen would have been.” Tony hesitated. “The only problem with this theory is that I know this is what the kidnappers threatened Amanda with at the start of all this. They told her they’d make her life miserable by making me believe Hope and Carmen were the same child. They didn’t pretend it was actually true. It was more in line with putting one over on me, then letting me stir things up.”

  “Maybe they didn’t want Amanda or you to suspect it really was true. Or maybe it isn’t. At this point, there’s only one way to know for sure. You and Hope have to have blood tests.”

  “I can’t approach Amanda with this, not yet. I want to have more evidence first. That’s why I want this age progression done.”

  Raymond handed the photo to the technician, and they waited as the program was initiated. Impatience tore at Tony’s restraint. The possibility that Hope was his Carmen, that he’d finally found his daughter, seemed almost too good to be true.

  Minutes ticked by, turning into eternities, as the program finalized the image. Finally Raymond tore the sheet from the printer. “It could be Hope. There are many similarities, but it’s not an exact match by any means.”

  Tony studied it. His instinct, that tool he’d learned to rely on throughout his life, now failed him completely. He couldn’t be sure, not from this. As he studied the image, he could see Hope’s smile and her eyes, but he couldn’t be sure his perceptions weren’t tainted by wishful thinking. Maybe this was what the kidnappers had hoped for all along, and why they’d been so certain they could convince him.

  “I’m still not sure,” he said at last. “And I won’t approach Amanda until I am. It wouldn’t be fair to her, or Hope. That little girl has already been through the breakup of one family. She doesn’t need news like this and a visit to the doctor’s.”