by Natalie Ann
“Well, hello there.” He was guessing it was Ava’s mother since they looked so much alike. “I’m Lacy Mills and this is my husband, Michael. We are Ava’s parents.”
“You’re a doctor,” Adele said to Ava’s father. “Ava told me so. And so are you two. And you’re twins.”
He’d never had a problem telling Hudson and Carson apart. They weren’t identical, but you could tell they were twins.
“I’m Hudson.”
“And I’m Carson.”
“You work in the ER and you look at bones,” Adele said. There were smiles on everyone’s faces, including his own and he started to realize what his daughter was missing in life by not having another family other than him and his mother.
He didn’t see Adam often, but even then, Adam was single. Adele had some step cousins on Ellen’s side that were younger than her, but she’d never met them. He only knew because he’d seen it on a Christmas card more than having a conversation.
Part of him wanted to reach out to Ellen’s family but then realized they could do the same. And it seemed as if Adele could gain another family here if things worked out.
“She is a little pistol.”
Ava looked at her father who’d said that to her as he was walking back on the deck. Her mother was indeed down playing with Ava in the sand, her brothers joining in. Seth was sitting in a chair watching and everyone seemed to be having a great time.
All things considered, she couldn’t have asked for a better meet and greet and then reminded herself that her mother was the only one that hadn’t met Seth. Now she was starting to wonder if her mother just really wanted to meet Adele.
“She is. So accepting too. I know Seth was nervous about it. Even me. I was shocked he’d told her so soon about us, but she was thrilled.”
“She should be thrilled,” her father said, putting his arm around her shoulders. “You’re a pretty great person and a good catch for a young man.”
“Are you trying to sell me to the highest bidder?” she asked, bumping shoulders with him. She was lucky in life and knew it and had to remind herself daily that though someone stole her identity, maybe they just wanted what she had.
For years she didn’t want everyone to know her relation to other Bonds, rather wanting to pave her own path.
That person wanted money, but they weren’t getting what was worth a heck of a lot more. What was deep in her heart and had been for generations.
“There is no amount of money out there that I’d do that for.”
“So you don’t like Seth?” she asked, frowning.
“I do like him. I liked him before you met him, but a man will always have this bond with his daughter. They will never think someone is good enough or can watch out and be there for them as much as their father.”
“Is that a warning?” she asked. “That I should be aware that Seth feels this way about Adele? I can assure you I figured that out a long time ago.”
“Just a reminder is more like it. My advice to you is to never put him in a position to choose because there are no winners in that situation for anyone.”
She knew that. She’d done it in past relationships when she put her job first. It didn’t work for anyone. “I know,” she said. “I’m not doing it now. We talk things through and I’ve told him I’d follow his lead with Adele.”
“And you may not always agree with his lead so you should be able to talk about that too,” her father said.
“Now you are being contradictory.”
“No. I’m giving you fatherly advice. You’ve always spoken your mind before and I expect you should this time too. Be cautious but don’t get pushed around.”
“I get it. I won’t be. I’m happy. I looked around today at the family and thought to myself, this is probably why someone stole my identity. They wanted what I’ve got even if I didn’t always appreciate it myself.”
“Whoever it is wants money, Ava. They don’t know what you’ve got or how you’re feeling. They want what they don’t have and they got forty thousand dollars’ worth of possessions. They are probably moving on to the next person now.”
“Which is a grim thought,” she said. “I’ve never known you to be this cold.”
“I’m being realistic. There is a good chance you’ll never know who did it and I’m not sure it matters. Everything that can be done to clear your name is happening, right?”
“Yes. Hailey told me one of the cards not only wiped it clean but they removed me from their listings of bad credit or whatever they do. I’m clear there. Four more to go.”
“And it’s going to take time, but it should happen.”
“Because I’ve got money and a lawyer doing what they are for me,” she said.
“Yes. You’re lucky that way. Not everyone is. You can’t save the world so don’t even get that in your head,” her father said to her.
“I stopped wanting to save the world when I was five and that bird died in the backyard.”
Funny how she remembered things like that at the oddest of times. “Remember that,” her father said. “Be the best person you can be. Enjoy what you can and who you are with.”
“Did you come up here to give me a little lecture?” she asked. She’d come up to go to the bathroom and grab some more snacks out of the fridge.
“Let’s say I know when to make my move, but your mother sent me up to help you carry down stuff.”
“It’s one plate of food,” she argued.
“There is more in there and if I don’t come down with something, then I’ll be the one getting the lecture.”
“And you love every minute of it,” she said, then waited on the deck while her father went to get more food. When he came out they walked down together.
“Ava,” Adele yelled. “Look. Lacy and I put a mote around the castle and we are making Carson and Hudson do it too.”
“I see that,” she said. “They all look great.”
Adele had on a bright yellow and orange one-piece swimsuit and was running back to the water’s edge to fill her bucket and bring back some more water to dump in.
“Everything okay?” Seth asked her when she went to sit back down next to him.
“Perfect,” she said. “This couldn’t be a more perfect day.”
23
You Need Security
It was anything but perfect in her eyes when she got home several hours later.
The sun was dropping and there was a stunning orange hue in the sky at dusk. Life on Amore Island sure was pretty.
She’d parked in the garage and got out, then went to the back door to let herself in.
The first thing she noticed was that her bedroom door was opened a quarter of the way. It never was. Ever since she was a child she always closed doors so that they were resting shut but not clicked closed. In her house that gave privacy but made it easy for someone to go in without turning the handle or waking another up with the clicking sounds. It was something that carried over to adulthood with her.
That meant whenever she walked out of a room, she shut it exactly like that. The fact that her bedroom door was opened more than it should made her pause and wonder what was going on.
Could she have been so nervous about her family cookout that she rushed out leaving it that way? She didn’t think she was because it was almost second nature at this point.
Normally she might brush it off, but since her identity was stolen she was being more cautious. Her first instinct was to go into her room and see if anything had been touched, but she didn’t. Instead she went upstairs where there were more doors. All those doors should be shut the same exact way, closed but not clicked shut.
They weren’t. All four doors were closed shut and there was no way she’d do that. Ever.
She took a deep breath and walked back downstairs with her heart racing and went outside to her car pretending like she might have forgotten something. If someone was watching the house she didn’t want them to think she knew something wasn’
t right.
Of course that would change when they saw people at her house because she was calling Mac first. Probably silly to call the chief of police, but it’s what she was doing.
When she was around the corner, she pulled her phone out and called Mac. He picked up on the first ring. “Sorry to bother you on your day off,” she said.
“Which means you wouldn’t call me if there wasn’t a problem,” Mac said. “What happened?”
“This is crazy. I know it is. But I think someone was in my house while I was gone today.”
“Any signs of forced entry?” he asked.
“No. I mean I unlocked the door and went in, but my bedroom door was opened a quarter and it never is. I didn’t go in because it just seemed off to me. Then I went upstairs to check out the rooms up there and all four doors were closed shut. I never close a door fully. Never have.”
“Where are you?” he asked. “I’ll come over right now.”
“I’m just driving around. I left the house as if I forgot something. I didn’t know if anyone was following me or watching the house and didn’t want to alert them. Can you come over in your vehicle and not the police SUV? Maybe they won’t know who you are if I’m being watched.”
“Yeah. Don’t go back home. Not yet. Let’s meet up and then I’ll follow you home and we’ll walk through what you did.”
“Should I call Griffin?”
There was a sigh on the other end. “The chief in me wants to say no, that I’ve got it covered, but the cousin in me knows that he should probably be brought in. He’s got more reach than me and, to be honest, it might be nice to have a second set of eyes.”
“I’m not sure if he’s even around or available,” she said. “Maybe I should check with Eli first before I call his employee.”
“You know as well as I do that Eli will have Griffin come over. And I’m not sure Griffin is anyone’s employee, but that is another story. Anyway, give me an address to meet up.”
She told him where she was parked and waited, then placed a call to Eli who then handed his phone over to Griffin. She explained the same thing to him and he said he’d be on the way. Since he was at the other end of the island it would take longer, but at least she felt like she was doing something.
When she saw Mac pull in behind her in the parking lot, she put the car in drive and then pulled out, him following her. She moved back into the garage, him parking on the other side of the two-car driveway.
“It’s so good to see you,” she said with a big smile on her face. “I’m glad I saw you. Come on in for coffee.”
Mac just rolled his eyes at her, but played along. She pulled her key out and slid it in the lock and turned it without touching the handle and got the door to open, then pushed it with her foot.
When they were inside, Mac, said, “Did you touch anything other than the door when you came in?”
“No. Griffin is on the way too.”
“That’s fine, but I’m not waiting. Text him and tell him to ring the doorbell like he’s a guest,” Mac said. She pulled her phone out and did as Mac said, then watched when he pulled his gun out and put it to his side while they were on the back porch. What the hell? Why didn’t she realize there might be someone in the house? Now she felt like an idiot! “Why don’t you go back to the garage. I didn’t notice anything out of the ordinary when I pulled in. I doubt you are being watched other than a nosy neighbor. The street is clear of cars. Did you notice any when you pulled in that were parked in the road?”
“I hadn’t paid attention. There is normally one or two now and again, but not often.”
“Stay out here or wait in the garage by the car where you can leave if you need to. You can get out. I’m not blocking you.”
She had wondered why he didn’t pull right behind her but on the other side. Now she knew.
She was nervous before walking into the house but now it was magnified with Mac in the house with his gun and she was standing here wondering what the hell was going on.
He came out a minute later. “Come on in. It’s clear. There doesn’t seem to be anyone here. It was stupid of you to walk around when you felt something off.”
“Yeah, I’m realizing that now.”
He nodded his head. “You’ll have to let me know if anything is missing or moved in your room.”
“Did you open the doors upstairs?” she asked.
He held up a rag. “Yes, barely touching them. Bri and Sidney’s old rooms are still empty, Kayla’s has the bed in it and nothing else. The closet doors were all shut the way you described you normally do with the exception of Kayla’s. That one was opened a bit more.”
“Like someone thought there might be something in there?” she asked.
“Could be. It’s the only room up there with furniture in it. My guess is if someone was looking, they didn’t realize you would notice the quirk about the doors and opened them and shut them when there was nothing to find.”
“There isn’t anything. I don’t keep anything in my room either.”
“When Griffin gets here I’ll have you touch things and check if anything is missing. Let’s go look around your office and see if you notice anything moved or touched.”
They walked into her dining room where she had her office and she looked around, but she didn’t see where anything was touched by sight alone.
Then they went to her room and she did the same thing. “Everything looks fine,” she said. “This is so odd. I feel silly.”
“Don’t feel silly,” he said. “I want to ask if you are sure about the doors. Is it possible that your brothers or someone could have shut them upstairs when you moved in?”
“No. After everyone left, I went upstairs and set the doors that way. I did it because I put some winter clothes in Kayla’s old room. It was one of the last boxes I unpacked and figured I’d remember that was the closet I put them in since it’s the only one with furniture. I would have taken care of the doors at that point. It was after everyone left. I haven’t been in any of those rooms since. I just go upstairs and sweep the floor for dust in the hallway.”
“Okay. Well, how about that coffee?” he asked.
“You want me to touch something?”
He smiled. She always thought her cousin Mac was good looking when he smiled, it was just he rarely did. Or he didn’t before he met Sidney. Now he seemed to be a changed man.
“I doubt anyone was here making coffee other than you, but I could be wrong.”
“No. You’re not. What a rotten way to end the day. Sorry if you had plans.”
“No plans. Sidney is working and I was puttering around the house,” he said.
By the time she had the coffee poured and placed in front of him, the doorbell went off and Mac got up to go answer it. She heard the two of them talking but couldn’t understand the words. They were obviously keeping quiet for her.
“Let me get you some coffee too,” she said, then turned to look at Griffin. He was in black dress pants and a tailored blue shirt. No tie, but nice pricy shoes. He dressed similar to Eli when he was working. Sometimes he had a jacket on, but not right now.
“That would be great. Fill me in, Mac.”
She sat down and listened while the two of them talked, then she watched as Griffin started to put some fancy tape on all the doorknobs and all the way around. “What are you doing?”
“Pulling prints,” Griffin said.
“Why didn’t Mac do that?” she asked, looking at her cousin.
“Do you want this on record?” Mac asked.
“I’d prefer not.”
“Then let Griffin take care of it. He will eliminate your prints from things. You’ve touched it all, but the key is to see if there is someone else other than yours. Have you had anyone else here that might have touched your doorknobs other than your brothers?”
She thought for a second. “No. Seth was here with Adele a few weeks ago but I’ve cleaned since. I’m kind of a neat freak and wipe down all the
handles once a week.”
“Which is good for us,” Griffin said. “When did you do it last?”
“This morning,” she said, smiling. “Sunday morning is my disinfecting day. I did the upstairs weeks ago and, as I told Mac, all I’ve done is sweep the hallway for dust.”
“Even better,” Griffin said. Once he was done, he did the same to the back door. She was quietly watching everything and feeling like she was on some crime show. “There are smudges upstairs. If you are saying you wiped them down they should be clean. Not sure I can get a print off of them, but it’s something. Down here I’ve got to eliminate yours and go from there.”
“Which doesn’t make me feel any better,” she said. “I’m not sure how anyone could get in.”
“I checked and noticed that your kitchen window looks loose. It’s not very big, but a small person could get in if they wanted to. There is no screen on it either and it’s on the back of the house where no one would see them.”
“Just great,” she said.
“Let’s go check and see if anything is missing in your room,” Mac said.
She walked around her room, looked over everything, and she didn’t notice where anything was taken. They went through her desk too. The same thing. “Nothing seems to be gone. After getting my identity stolen I don’t get or keep any bank statements here. It’s all in my mother’s name. I had my purse with me so that has the only debit and credit card that I’ve got. There is no cash here and my jewelry is still here. The little I’ve got. Most of it is in a safe deposit box at the bank. After this happened I decided to make sure it was all secure there. Seth suggested that.”
“Smart,” Griffin said. “I’m going to go back and see what I can find out from this. I’m assuming you’ve got somewhere to stay tonight?”
“I can’t stay here?” she asked looking over at her bed. “That’s odd.”
