you loved Anna and when she wouldn’t leave Darwin, you killed her.”
He shook his head. “I did love Anna, but not in the romantic sense. I loved her as a friend. We were close. She was…fragile. We worked together, and somehow I became something akin to an older brother, yet not family.” He knew this would hurt, but he had to say it. “She was so ashamed of what her life had become. She didn’t want her real family to know how bad it was, how much she endured. But she could talk to me. I didn’t judge her. I listened, and when I could, I helped her.”
He wasn’t certain how Molly Harper was reacting to his words. She was listening, though, and that was further than he’d gotten with anyone else. “She talked about you a lot.” He wanted to reach out and touch her hand, to offer comfort, but he didn’t. “She admired you so much, even though you were the younger sister. She told me all about you. How brave you were, and strong. She felt she lacked those qualities.”
Molly’s tears slipped down her cheeks. She made no effort to wipe them away. “Anna never saw herself the way I did. To me she was my big sister. She taught me to dance and to fix my hair. She helped me pick out the dress for my high school prom. She always had time for me.”
“She had time for everyone. That was her gift,” Thomas said. “That’s what made her special.”
“Who would kill her?”
“I don’t have an answer for you. Not yet.” This was a question he’d thought about since his arrest five days ago. The first suspect was Anna’s husband, Darwin Goodman. But the police had interrogated and released him. Darwin had an alibi for the time of the murder. That didn’t clear him in Thomas’s book—and at his arraignment Thomas had made a big scene accusing Darwin of killing Anna—but why would even a wife-beater like Darwin abduct and hide his own child if Kate was alive? He would have had legal custody of Kate. He didn’t have to steal her.
“Did she ever mention anyone else who might want to hurt her?”
He’d given this a lot of thought also. “No. Anna made friends easily, though she didn’t let many people close. She did her job and went home to her family. Kate was in day care during the day, and Anna sometimes stopped by my place with the baby after she’d picked her up. She was always headed home to make dinner. Everything seemed routine, up until the evening before she was killed.”
“What happened?”
“She and Darwin had another fight. She showed up on my doorstep with Kate. Darwin hadn’t hit her, but he’d threatened her. It was the first time she even talked about leaving him.”
“But she went back home.”
He nodded.
“The police have cleared Darwin.”
“I know, but that doesn’t make it a fact. They’ve accused me and I didn’t do it.”
“Do you have any other suspects?”
He hesitated before he answered. In some ways, it would be easier for her to believe he’d done it and was going to be punished than to think that her sister’s murderer was still at large. “I wish I could tell you who did it. I can only tell you that it wasn’t me.”
Molly rose. “A jury will determine your guilt or innocence, Mr. Lakeman.”
“To be honest, Miss Harper, I’m not nearly as worried about my guilt as I am about that little baby girl. The police never found her body. They’re basing their conclusions on evidence that led them to the river. But I don’t find the evidence conclusive. Kate could be alive.”
That stopped her. Her fists clenched and she leaned toward him.
“If you know something, tell me now.”
“I was camping that night. There was another couple there, John and Judy. I don’t remember their last names. But they were there. We played cards for a while, they drank a few beers and I had coffee. I got a headache and went to bed. When I woke up at five-thirty, they were gone.”
“What does that have to do with Kate?”
He could hear the frustration in her voice, and he knew if he didn’t make her understand, she would leave.
“If you can find those campers who’ll verify my alibi, then you can clear me. I’ll help you hunt for Kate.” He leaned closer. “If you think there’s a prayer your niece is alive, let me help you find her.”
She stepped back from the table. “I can’t split my time trying to clear your name. I have to focus on finding Kate.”
“She is alive, isn’t she?” Thomas asked. He could read the truth on her face. Molly Harper wasn’t used to lying or even faking the truth. “How do you know she’s alive?”
She shook her head. “You can’t, or won’t, help me.” Molly moved to the door of the room. “Deputy, I’m finished here.”
She was almost out the door when he called out to her. “Go to the campsite. Carrillo Pass Park. There’s a lake. I was on the west side of the lake beside a stand of oaks. John and Judy were camped twenty yards to the right of my tent. Check it out.”
Then she was gone, passing the deputy who would unhook him from the chair and lead him back to the cell where he’d remain until his trial began.
MOLLY ENTERED the corridor and was startled by the black cat. He’d obviously been sitting beside the door, listening to the entire conversation. He followed behind her as she left the jail and went to the parking lot for her Jeep. She was trying hard not to cry. Against all odds, she’d pinned her hopes on the fact that Thomas Lakeman would tell her what had happened to Kate.
She got in the Jeep and leaned against the steering wheel, gathering her ragged courage and any scrap of hope she could muster. She had to keep believing the baby was okay. She had to keep hunting. She couldn’t give up.
She pulled the note from her pocket. “The baby is alive. Don’t stop hunting, but don’t go to the police.”
“Meow!” The cat tapped the glove box.
In the few hours she’d been with Familiar, she’d learned to respond to several of his commands. She opened the glove box and watched as he ruffled through some papers. What tumbled out were several maps. He found the one he wanted and presented it to her with a few teeth marks in it.
“It’s the local map,” she said, opening it up. “What?”
Familiar seemed to study the map before he put his black paw on Carrillo Pass Park.
“Meow!” It was more of a command than a request.
“You’ve got to be kidding.” She looked at him. “You want to follow up Thomas Lakeman’s cockamamie idea that I validate his alibi?”
Familiar’s green eyes blinked twice.
“It’s a waste of our time.”
He put his paw on the map and extended his claws. When he removed his paw there were several holes surrounding the state park. He batted the keys dangling in the ignition.
“I
