gripping the phone until her fingers ached. “This time I want answers. If you don’t tell me, I’ll get them on my own.”
“I only want you to be...safe.”
“Safe? So this doll is a threat.” She cursed under her breath. For years she’d had to deal with people her father had swindled or old partners he’d shortchanged or screwed over. Half the time she didn’t know who was after them or why they had to keep moving, always on the run from something. She’d felt as if she’d had a target on her back all her life because of this man. “What have you gotten me into now?”
“You can’t believe this doll is my doing.”
Why had she thought that her father, a man who lied for living, would be honest with her? Coming here had been a mistake, but then again, she’d had no one else to ask about the doll—or the photo.
She reached into her pocket. She’d come too far to turn around and leave without at least trying to get the truth out of him. “Who are these people in this photograph, and why would someone want me to have it?” she demanded as she pressed the crinkled photo against the Plexiglas between them.
DJ watched all the color drain from his face. Growing up, she’d learned to tell when he was lying. But what she saw now on his face was pain and fear.
His gaze darting away from the photo as he lowered his voice. “I don’t know what this is about, but what would it hurt if you just got out of town for a while?”
She shook her head. “Stop lying to me. You recognize these people. Tell me the truth. Is this my mother? Don’t you think I noticed that she looks like me? Am I that baby?”
“DJ, how is that possible? I told you, your mother died in childbirth.”
“Then this woman isn’t my mother?”
“On my life, you aren’t the baby in that photo.” He crisscrossed his heart. “And those people are not your family.”
She’d been so hopeful. She felt like crying as she peeled the photo off the grimy glass and dropped it back into her bag along with the doll. She’d had to leave her gun in her car and felt naked without it. “But you did recognize the people in the photo.”
He said nothing, which came as little surprise.
“I have no idea why I came here.” She met his gaze. “I knew you’d lie.”
“DJ, whatever you think of me, listen to me now,” he pleaded.
DJ. That had been his nickname for her, and it had stuck. But hearing him say it had her fighting tears. She’d once thought her father was the most amazing man in the world. That had been a very long time ago.
She got to her feet, shaking her head at her own naïveté as she started to put the phone back. She’d fallen for his promises too many times in her life. She’d made a clean break when he’d gone to prison, telling him she never wanted to see him again.
Drawing the phone to her ear, she said, “It is clear to me that you’ve lied to me my whole life. What I don’t know is why. But I’m going to find out.”
“I did the best I could, just the two of us,” her father said, his voice breaking. “I know I could have done better, but, DJ—”
She’d heard this before and couldn’t bear to hear it again. “If I have family—” Growing up, she’d often dreamed of a big, boisterous family. Now, with Christmas coming, she felt nostalgic. If she had family, if that’s why they’d left this for her now...
She’d seen an ad in a magazine of a family around a beautifully decorated tree on Christmas morning. That night she’d prayed to the starlit night that she could be that little girl in the ad.
But her prayer hadn’t been answered, and now she no longer believed in fairy tales. If anything, life had taught her that there were no happy endings.
“DJ, you have to listen to me.” He’d raised his voice. The guard was making his way down the line of booths toward him. “You don’t know how dangerous—”
“Dangerous?” she echoed.
The guard tapped him on the shoulder. “Time to go.”
“DJ—”
“Just tell me the truth.” She hated how vulnerable she sounded. She’d seen his face when he’d looked at the people in the photograph. He had recognized them. But if they were her family, then why had he looked so...hurt, and yet so frightened? Because he’d been caught in a lie? Or because she had something to fear from them?
She’d had to become strong and trust her own instincts for so long... Growing up on the run with her father had taught her how to survive.
That was, until she’d found the doll and the photo of three people she didn’t know, one of them holding a baby who, no matter what he said, was probably her. But what about that would put her in danger?
“Last chance,” she said into the phone.
The guard barked another “Time to go.”
Her father’s gaze locked with hers. She saw pleading in his eyes as he quickly said into the phone, “There’s a reason I lied all these years, but the truth is...you will be hearing from my family in Montana soon. Go to them until you hear from me.” The guard grabbed the phone from her father’s hand and slammed it down.
DJ stood staring at him, his words rooting her to the floor. Her father had family in Montana? She had family? A family that would be contacting her? If this was another lie...
Slowly she hung up her phone as she watched Walter Justice being led away. Frowning, she pulled out the photo. He’s sworn these people weren’t her family. Then who were they? Her mother’s family? A cold dread filled her at the memory of her father’s reaction to the photo.
The doll and the photo proved that they knew about her. That at least someone in that family wanted her to know about them. And now she was going to find them. That she was on her own was nothing new.
And yet the fear she’d seen in her father’s eyes almost burned through her resolve.
* * *
IN BIG SKY, MONTANA, Dana Cardwell Savage braced herself as she pushed open the door to her best friend Hilde’s sewing shop. Christmas music played softly among the rows and rows of rich bolts of fabric. For a moment she slowed to admire the Christmas decorations that Hilde had sewn for the occasion, wishing she had time to sew. She missed quilting and the time she used to spend with Hilde back when they were partners in Needles and Pins.
Seeing her friend at the back, she moved on reluctantly. She needed to tell Hilde the news in person. Her only fear was how her friend was going to respond. Their relationship had taken a beating three years ago. Hilde had only begun to trust her again. And now this.
“Dana!” Hilde saw her and smiled, clearly pleased to see her. Raising four children, Dana rarely got down to the shop that she and Hilde had started together. Hilde had bought her out long since then, but Dana still loved coming down here, where it was so peaceful and quiet.
She
