Sisters By Choice

by Lillian Duncan

  “I want to stay with you.” Sabrina clung to Marcus.

  Patti’s heart cracked. She’d been through so much. It was obvious she was terrified.

  “I love you. I will see you soon.” Marcus said, as he set her down. “You be a good little girl for Anna and Aunt Patti.”

  “I not a little girl. I a big girl,” Sabrina said with hands on her tiny hips.

  “Of course, Sabrina, that’s what I meant. You are a big girl.” Marcus chuckled and gave her another hug. Over Sabrina’s head, he looked at the two women. “I’ll call the minute I know anything.”

  The moment he was gone, Anna threw up her hands. “I cannot believe this. Mr. Marcus and Miss Jamie working for the FBI. I did not know any of this. Miss Jamie must be in mucho danger.” Tears trickled from Anna’s eyes. “I should have known.”

  “Jamie was trying to protect you.”

  “Miss Patti. I have something for you. I hope you will not be mad at me. I am sorry I didn’t deliver it to you sooner, but Jamie told me to give it to you if something ever happened to her. I didn’t want to do it in front of the policeman, or Mr. Marcus. And then I got hurt and couldn’t give it to you.” Anna handed over an envelope.

  When Patti touched the envelope she shivered as if someone had walked over a grave. Not her grave. Jamie’s.

  The little energy she had seeped out of her. Sitting down on the sofa, she opened the envelope and found a slip of paper and a key.

  Her heart fluttered as she looked at her sister’s handwriting.

  2057 Southern-Abby Lane #411.

  Nothing more on the paper. There wasn’t a city or state, but it had to be important.

  The key could go to an apartment or house that Jamie lived in when she was out of town. Excitement surged through Patti. If she could discover where Jamie lived, maybe she could find Jamie.

  A sense of futility came over Patti. She would never be able to find Jamie on her own. She didn’t know the first thing about finding missing people. She was a counselor at a high school, not a private detective.

  But Carter would know what to do.

  15

  The next morning, Patti was up long before Anna or Sabrina. Too many things were on her mind to allow sleep. The address changed everything. Giving it to Marcus wasn’t an option.

  Carter would help her. He’d promised.

  When Sabrina stumbled into the room hand-in-hand with Anna, Patti already had sausage and pancakes cooking.

  Sabrina ran over to Patti and gave her a hug. “Good morning, Aunt Patti.”

  “Hey, sweetie. I hope you’re hungry. I cooked breakfast for you,” Patti said with forced cheerfulness.

  After breakfast, Patti broke the news.

  “Sweetie?”

  “What?”

  “I have to go away for a few days, but Anna is going to stay here.”

  “You cannot leave. We are…” Anna gave a meaningful look at Sabrina who sat eating a pancake. “We are s-a-f-e. You need to stay here, too. Mr. Marcus said so.”

  “I have to try and help. I can’t just sit here and do nothing.” Patti attempted to keep her voice casual.

  “This is no good. Mr. Marcus did not think it was a good idea. Better for you to stay here, with us.”

  Sabrina’s eyes were wide as they moved from Anna to Patti and back again.

  “It’s OK, Sabrina. Anna and I are just talking.” Patti took her plate to the sink and rinsed the dish. “I can help. I’m going to call Carter. He’ll know what to do with the address and key.”

  Anna nodded.

  “Anna, how does Jamie wear her hair?”

  “It is shorter than yours. It comes to her shoulder.” Anna gestured with her hands.

  “Bangs or no bangs?”

  “This is not good, Miss Patti. You need to…” Anna threw up her hands in frustration. “No bangs. She go to Jean-Pierre’s.”

  “Where’s that?”

  “He’s in the phone book. I don’t see how you can leave. Those FBI men won’t let you leave.”

  “Yeah, that’s a problem, but I’ve been thinking.”

  Anna’s gaze reminded Patti of her mother’s after she and Jamie had done one of their many pranks. “I’m sure you have.”

  “You invite them in for coffee and breakfast.” She pointed at the leftover pancakes and sausage. “If they ask about me, tell them I’m taking a bath. I’ll slip out while they’re eating, and they won’t have to know.”

  Anna muttered in Spanish and crossed herself.

  “We have to do this for Jamie.”

  Anna nodded her agreement.

  Patti got her purse and hid in a closet by the door. For a moment, she lost her nerve.

  But Jamie was out there somewhere and needed her.

  Tears threatened, but she took a deep breath. It was time to do something to help Jamie. If Jamie could be brave and courageous, so could she.

  After all, they shared the same genes.

  ****

  Carter Caldwell glared at the phone.

  Marcus Hanks had called. The FBI thought he might compromise the investigation. He was no longer on the case.

  He had no plans to break the promise he had given to Patti. It would be easier with the FBI cooperating, but he wasn’t without his own resources.

  He’d missed talking with her last night. Her quick wit and warmth came through each time they talked. He’d become accustomed to spending time with her and Sabrina. Visiting them at the hospital had been the highlight of each day, but no phone calls were allowed while they were at the safe house.

  He turned back to his computer.

  The door opened and his boss walked in.

  “Hey, Chief, what brings you down to my office?”

  “Caldwell, this office should be condemned.” Carter’s boss shook his head as he looked around the room.

  “I know. I know. As soon as I get some time, I’ll get it organized.”

  “Good to hear, because as of now, you’ve got the time.”

  “I’m busy with the Jakowski disappearance.”

  “No, you’re not.” He made an elaborate show of looking at his watch and then back at Carter. “As of this moment, you are officially off the case. In fact, there is no case. You need to dump that file in the trash and forget you ever heard the name.”

  Carter’s blood boiled.

  Marcus had gone over his head.

  He should have known better than to trust him.

  “No way. I started this case and I’m going to—”

  “You are done investigating that case.” The tone of the police chief was firm.

  They glared at each other.

  “That’s an order, Carter.”

  “You’re going to turn your back on this?”

  “I have no choice in the matter, and neither do you. We both know things like this happen in the real world. Even I have a boss.”

  “But—”

  “No buts, Carter. When Homeland Security calls these days, you do what they ask if you value your job.”

  “Homeland Security?”

  “That’s what I said. They wouldn’t give details. You are officially assigned to this hog-sty you call an office for the next three days. You get this office cleaned up and stop investigating. Otherwise, you’re going to be reassigned to permanent desk duty. Got it?”

  “I hear you, Chief.”

  ****

  Patti waited.

  The guards had refused offers of breakfast. Now it was time for Plan B.

  Anna was in Sabrina’s room explaining they were going to play a little game to make sure the policeman were doing their job.

  She took a deep breath and waited, peeking through the slats of the closet door.

  A blood-curdling yell came from Anna, and then from Sabrina.

  The front door opened and the two guards rushed in.

  Quietly, she opened the closet door, then the front door. She ran as fast as she could. Once the stairwell door closed, she took a deep b
reath and waited for the pounding of her heart to slow down.

  16

  The bright afternoon Florida sun beat down on Patti as she walked from the beauty salon. Ohio’s winters might be brutal, but so was this heat.

  She looked back at the salon and gave a little wave to the man staring out at her. It hadn’t been easy to get an appointment the same day, but Jean-Pierre agreed only because she was Jamie’s sister. And like everyone else, he loved Jamie.

  Patti walked towards the car she’d rented.

  With her hair cut shorter and layered, Patti’s natural curl came to life.

  Jean-Pierre put in a few highlights to match Jamie’s sun-lightened hair.

  Patti had to admit it looked and felt great, but she’d been shocked at the price. She wrote out a check that would cover her own grocery bill for a month. Money couldn’t buy happiness, but it sure could buy beauty.

  She wondered if Carter would like it.

  What a ridiculous thought.

  Carter Caldwell might be handsome and charming, but that was as far as it could ever go. His smile and sparkling green eyes popped up in her mind’s eye.

  She liked the man, more than she cared to admit. But there was no future for the two of them. Patti needed to keep reminding herself lest she forget it.

  She had to find Jamie, to act as bait to lure the killer…no, kidnapper, into the open.

  But first, she needed to find this address. Hopefully, it would lead her to where Jamie worked.

  At the police station, Patti headed back to Carter’s office. She knocked and waited. If Carter wouldn’t help her, then she would hunt for Jamie on her own.

  “Come in.” His deep masculine voice came through the door.

  “Hi, I need your help.” Patti said quickly.

  “Have you lost your mind? Why aren’t you in the safe house? We agreed for you to stay put,” Carter shouted, shock and anger threaded in his tone.

  Patti had hoped he would be reasonable. “I won’t be bullied. I intend to find Jamie.”

  He stared at Patti for several long moments. “You’re wearing Jamie’s hairstyle.”

  “Do you like it?”

  “What are you trying to do? Get yourself killed?”

  “Don’t yell at me.”

  “I’m not yelling.”

  “Your voice sounds very loud to me.”

  Carter took a breath and asked the question again in a much calmer voice.

  “I want to help. I have an idea. Remember when you told me it wasn’t safe because I look like Jamie?”

  “Of course,” he said. “What you’re getting at?”

  “Just listen to my idea and don’t dismiss it.” She gave him a look and waited.

  Finally, he nodded.

  “I want to go where Jamie was working. When the people there see me…who knows, it might rattle a few cages. Something’s bound to happen. It’s a good idea. It will work.”

  “A good idea that might get you killed.”

  “I can’t sit and wait. If I can use the fact Jamie and I are identical twins to find her, then I will. With or without your help.”

  “This isn’t a game, Patti.”

  “Don’t you think I know that? It’s my sister who’s missing.”

  Carter took a deep breath and drummed his fingers on his desk. “I know it’s hard, but you’ve got to have faith.”

  “Faith in who?” Her heart raced.

  “Faith in me, the FBI, and in God,” his voice was soft and low. “Believe me, Patti. I want you to see Jamie again. I want Sabrina to have her mommy back.”

  “OK, you want me to trust you. Then you need to trust me. I want…no…I need to know what’s going on.”

  “You need to let the professionals handle this situation.”

  The slip of paper and the key were her ace in the hole. “You don’t trust me. Just tell me what city she flies off to all the time. That’s all I want to know.”

  “I do trust you, Patti.”

  “It sure doesn’t feel that way, Carter. I look like Jamie. I can speed the investigation along.”

  “There’s no way Marcus would put you in harm’s way. And I’m not even asking him.”

  “You think Jamie’s dead, don’t you?” her voice trembled with emotion.

  “She’s dealing with some very dangerous peop—”

  “What people?”

  Carter stood and closed the door, and then perched on his desk. “If I tell you, will you go back to the safe house?”

  “Tell me what you know.”

  He stared at her, and then nodded. “This is confidential information. Do not tell anyone or I’ll get fired. Jamie’s working with an Anti-Terrorist task force in cooperation with Homeland Security.”

  Stunned, she opened her mouth to speak, but no words came out. Finally, she choked out the words. “Anti-terrorist? I thought this was about drugs.”

  “We were wrong. Now you know why you need to go back to the safe house and let the FBI handle the situation.”

  Jamie. Out there with terrorists.

  She couldn’t breathe and her heart pounded. She breathed deep and gripped deep, hidden strength through sheer willpower.

  “I’m not going back, Carter. Just tell me what city she works in.” Patti kept her voice calm and reasonable. “If I go there, I could—”

  “You can’t do that,” Carter exploded, on his feet within seconds. “I forbid you.”

  “You can’t forbid me to do anything. This is still America and as far as I know, it’s not a police state.” Glaring, Patti jumped up. “I can do what I want.”

  “I’ll put you in protective custody,” Carter yelled.

  “And I’ll call the papers and tell them I was detained illegally.”

  The seconds ticked off.

  Patti became aware of Carter’s raw masculine energy.

  Her stomach turned to butterflies as he moved towards her. When he reached out and touched her arm, Patti felt a stab of disappointment. She’d wanted more from him than a simple touch on the arm—a lot more.

  “It won’t help Jamie if we are at each other’s throats.” Carter flashed his charming smile. “Let’s be friends.”

  “Your kind of friendship, I don’t need.”

  “I’m doing everything I can to keep you safe. Did you hear me say the word, terrorists?”

  Terrorists.

  This was so much more complex than she’d first believed. Carter was right. There wasn’t anything she could do to help Jamie. It was in God’s hands.

  Patti sat down, relieved to move away from Carter. “I can’t believe any of this. Terrorists.”

  “Well, believe it.”

  She took the address and key out of her pocket and handed it to him. She wasn’t going to jeopardize Jamie’s safety to prove a point.

  “Anna gave me these. She was afraid to give them to me in front of you so she waited until we got to the safe house. She thought they might be personal. I have no idea what it means. Has to be important, but I don‘t know what to do with it, or where to start.”

  “It’s too small for a house key. Could it be for a safety deposit box?” He inspected the paper she’d given him. “2057 Southern-Abby Lane #411. No city or state.” He looked up and gave her a thoughtful look. “Were you planning to investigate by yourself?”

  “Maybe. Did Marcus tell you what city she worked in?”

  “You think this address might be in the city where Jamie worked?”

  “It’s possible. If I could find it…” her words trailed off.

  “If I told you where she works, would it prove I trust you?”

  “Maybe.”

  “I can’t, Patti. I don’t know myself.”

  “I just…I can’t believe this.” Patti jumped up from the chair.

  “Well, believe it.” Carter raised his hands in a gesture of frustration. “You could make the situation worse.”

  Trust, respect, and cooperation were the things she wanted from him. Their gazes
met.

  Carter spoke quietly, his eyes never leaving hers. “I know it’s frustrating. That little girl may have already lost her mother. She doesn’t need to lose her aunt, too.” He took a deep breath and touched her arm. “And I care because I…I…think you make the world a better place by being it.”

  Hokey, but her heart skipped a beat, anyway. Then her practical side took over.

  Men used any means to get what they wanted. He wanted Patti to be a good little soldier and go back to the safe house.

  She refused to be manipulated. “I thought maybe it was an address here that could help. I wish I’d looked closer at those IDs.”

  “The FBI took all of them.” Carter glanced over at the computer. “I suppose it couldn’t hurt to look at an address. We have a program that accesses addresses from across the country. Let’s start with Palm Beach. You never know, we might get lucky.”

  He typed in the address.

  NO SUCH ADDRESS flashed on the screen.

  “Let’s expand the search to within two hundred miles of Palm Beach.”

  “Good idea.” Patti inched forward.

  When Carter turned to her and smiled, she realized she was pressed up against him.

  She moved back embarrassed. “I was just trying to look—”

  “Yeah, I know what you were trying to do.”

  “Behave, Carter.”

  They found nothing.

  Carter looked up. “Maybe I’ll check California.”

  “Why would you…” A light bulb came on.

  He was giving her privileged information.

  She wanted to hug him. “Thank you, Carter.”

  “I know Marcus flew out to California, but not which city. Let’s start with the major cities.”

  They were still searching when a knock startled them. The door opened and a man walked in without waiting for an invitation. He stared, anger making his face appear ruddy.

  Patti moved back to her own chair.

  “Caldwell, you don’t look like you’re working on the order I gave you.”

  “This is Patti Jakowski, Chief. We were just—”

  “You’re not on the case. There is no case, remember?”

  “No case?” Patti asked, her gaze moving between the two men.