Proof of Life Read online

  “I’d ask you to both stay in touch with me, especially if you find out anything further,” Tanner continued, sliding two business cards across the table.

  “Of course,” Shanna murmured.

  He pocketed Tanner’s card and then removed his arm from Shanna’s shoulder, immediately missing the warmth of her skin and the vanilla scent she wore. “We’d appreciate you keeping us in the loop, too, especially if you find out anything about Shanna’s sister.”

  Tanner’s smile resembled a pained grimace. “Guess that’s the least I can do after the way you’ve helped us out.”

  He and Shanna shook the agent’s hand again before leaving. Outside, he noticed a young man with a sullen expression on his face sitting beside Hank Nelson.

  Recognizing Dennis Green from his photo, he gave his brother’s roommate a brief nod before making his way to the door. Shanna followed much more slowly, hardly able to tear her gaze away from the boy she believed to be Kenny Larson.

  “Are you okay?” he asked in a low voice as they walked out to their respective vehicles.

  “I just can’t help thinking how happy his family will be to see him,” she admitted slowly. “But he already has a life, and adopted parents who love him. He wanted to find his birth mother, but discovering he was really kidnapped must be a shock. I’m just realizing how difficult it will be for him to reconcile his two identities.”

  He knew she was talking about Skylar more so than Dennis Green. “Shanna, don’t think the worst. Not yet. Skylar is alive, which is more than you’ve hoped for over the years, isn’t it?”

  “Yes, it is.” She stopped beside his SUV, glancing up at him. “I’m sorry, Quinn. I don’t know what’s wrong with me. I should be happy that Skylar is alive and well. If she doesn’t want me in her life, then I’ll learn to live with that.”

  Would she really? He wasn’t at all convinced. “I’m sure that in time, Dennis Green and Skylar will come around.”

  “I know,” she said quickly. But there was a faint glitter of tears in her eyes.

  “Shanna,” he murmured, hating to see her upset. “Don’t cry. Please don’t cry.”

  “I’m not,” she protested, even as she sniffled.

  Unable to stand her suffering for another second, he drew her into his arms and lowered his head to capture her mouth in a gentle kiss.

  FOURTEEN

  Momentarily surprised by Quinn’s kiss, it took a second for her to respond. This kiss was different, more deliberate than the first one. When she felt him begin to pull away, she quickly wrapped her arms around his neck to stop him, holding him close and trying to tell him, without words, to stay.

  He obliged her by kissing her again, and her brief sadness over Skylar was quickly replaced by overwhelming feelings for Quinn. He tasted wonderful, and she’d been dreaming about this moment since the first time he’d kissed her.

  All too soon, the lingering kiss was over and she clung to his shoulders, worried her boneless legs wouldn’t hold her weight.

  “Shanna,” he murmured again, his face buried in her hair and his arms wrapped tightly around her waist. She loved the way he said her name. The way his heart pounded in his chest beneath her ear made her feel good to know he was as affected by that kiss as she was. “I hope you’re not looking for an apology.”

  She laughed weakly and shook her head, wishing they could stay like this forever. “No, Quinn. I’m not looking for an apology.” In fact, she wondered what he’d think if she asked him to kiss her again.

  “We’d better get going,” he said with true regret, but he didn’t move. Clearly he was waiting for her to decide where to go from here.

  She didn’t want their embrace to end, but they were standing in the middle of the parking lot, and besides, she really did want to go back to Phoebe’s apartment building to see if there were any fingerprints on the surface of the mailbox. Prints that didn’t belong to the postman, that is.

  “I guess we’d better,” she agreed, loosening her grip. Strength returned to her limbs as her heart rate slowed to normal. The moment she pulled away, he released her.

  His gaze searched hers and she smiled, feeling her cheeks turn warm. Her fair skin made it difficult to hide her feelings.

  “You’re so beautiful, Shanna,” Quinn said in a low, rough tone. “I don’t deserve someone as good and kindhearted as you.”

  She thought that was an odd choice of words. “That’s funny, because I was just thinking we deserved each other.”

  A shadow darkened his green eyes, and he turned to open the driver’s side door of his SUV. “Where are you heading off to?” he asked, completely changing the subject. “I have to make a copy of Brady’s notes for Agent Tanner, but then I can meet you back at the coffee shop, or Karly’s Kitchen if you want to grab something to eat.”

  She wanted to ask why he didn’t think he deserved happiness, but sensed he wasn’t going to open up about the topic here and now. Maybe later they could eat dinner and talk. “Karly’s Kitchen is probably a good idea. We already know Phoebe isn’t returning to the Corner Café tonight. How about we meet in an hour? I’m going to check Phoebe’s mailbox for fingerprints first.”

  “Shanna.” The exasperation in his tone was clear. “Don’t set yourself up to be disappointed.”

  She knew he was only trying to help, but she didn’t appreciate the way he kept bursting her bubble. “If that happens, it’s my problem, isn’t it?” she said curtly as she slid behind the wheel. She reached over to close the door, but he hung on to it.

  “I’m sorry,” he said with a sigh, sensing her annoyance. “I really do hope you’re right and that you find something significant.”

  She couldn’t help thinking Quinn was the type of man who hedged his bets. The type who didn’t get his hopes up so he wouldn’t be disappointed. Maybe because he’d been hurt in the past? “I’ll see you in an hour, okay?” she said, forcing a smile.

  He hesitated, and then stepped back and released the door. Quinn stood watching her as she started the car and then backed out of the parking spot.

  Leaving him standing there felt strange. She hadn’t been left alone much the past few days. With Quinn driving her around and helping her, she’d gotten used to his presence.

  About time she stood on her own two feet. Quinn wasn’t going to be with her forever. Once they’d found Skylar and the person who’d killed his brother, they’d likely go their separate ways.

  She lightly touched her lips, still tingling from Quinn’s kiss. Maybe they wouldn’t go their separate ways. Maybe this time, he’d kissed her as a way to tell her he wanted to keep seeing her even once this investigation was over.

  The thought made her smile.

  And even the sharp disappointment, fifteen minutes later, of not finding any fingerprints on Phoebe’s mailbox didn’t wipe the smile off her face.

  Quinn couldn’t get Shanna’s voice out of his head as he used his computer at work to make a copy of Brady’s notes for Agent Tanner.

  That’s funny, because I was thinking we deserved each other.

  For a moment his heart had leaped with excitement, before it crashed to the pit of his stomach. That was easy for her to say, since Shanna didn’t know everything about him. She didn’t have a clue how close he was to making the same mistakes his father had made.

  He dropped off the removable storage disk for Agent Tanner and then decided to go back to the coffee shop to chat with Brady’s friends before heading over to meet Shanna.

  There was no point wishing his life had been different. But he did wish that he could be the man Shanna thought he was.

  Lost in thought as he walked up to the Corner Café, he almost missed the flash of purple hair. As soon as he realized the girl ahead of him might be Phoebe, he broke into a run.

  Thankfully, she was just as oblivious because he caught up to her easily enough. “Phoebe?” he asked urgently.

  She turned around in surprise, her gaze narrowing with suspicion when she
saw him. “Leave me alone!” she cried.

  “Wait! Please, don’t run.” Keeping one hand up where she could see it, he reached into his breast pocket to pull out his badge. “You’re not in any trouble, I promise. I just want to ask a few questions, okay?”

  She didn’t run, but stood glaring at him. And then she sneezed twice in a row.

  “Bless you,” he said automatically.

  “Thanks,” she muttered, sniffling loudly and digging in her pocket for a tissue. “Better stay back—I’m full of germs.”

  “Is that why you called off your shift?” he asked, tempted to call Shanna but worried he might scare Phoebe away if he did.

  “Yeah.” She blew her nose loudly. With her puffy eyes, red nose and purple hair, it was hard for him to tell if Phoebe bore any resemblance to Shanna—if she could possibly by Skylar. “Have you ever tried serving customers when your nose is running like a faucet and you keep sneezing and coughing? Mega gross.”

  He chuckled, enjoying her self-deprecating sense of humor. “I completely understand. Look, I know you’re not feeling well, but a friend of mine wants to meet you and ask you a couple of questions if you don’t mind.”

  Her gaze turned wary. “Is this about Brady?”

  “Yes.” He kept his tone light, casual, so she wouldn’t take off. “Did you know Brady Wallace?”

  She nodded, her eyes filling with pain. “He came into the café all the time. We became close friends.”

  It was on the tip of his tongue to ask just how close they were, but he kept his questions nonthreatening for now. “I’m sure his death must have been hard for you.”

  “Very,” she said in a low whisper. “I cared about him a lot.”

  Her sorrow seemed genuine. “Did you attend his party that night?” he asked. His phone was in his pocket, and with a casual movement, hoping she wouldn’t pay attention, he opened the device and sent a quick text message to Shanna. Phoebe at café.

  “Yes. For a while.” She hunched her shoulders as if the memory was painful. “I didn’t stay long because I knew Anna was coming over after the play.”

  The slight sneer in her tone gave him a clue that Phoebe wasn’t a fan of Brady’s girlfriend. “Were you hoping Anna and Brady would break up?”

  Phoebe ducked her head, hiding behind her purple-streaked jet-black hair. “Can’t hurt to hope he’d finally see past the fakeness to her true colors, right? She wasn’t that good of an actress.”

  A shiver of unease slid down his spine. Was it possible their initial love-triangle theory had some merit after all? Both Anna and Phoebe seemed to care for Brady. Had one of them bashed him on the head?

  He found himself hoping and praying neither girl was a potential murderer.

  “What time did you leave the party?” he asked.

  She shrugged and then sneezed again. “Probably around nine-thirty or ten. That’s what time Brady thought the play would be over.”

  The time Brady thought Anna might come? “So Brady was trying to keep the two of you apart?”

  She avoided his gaze. “Only to avoid another scene.”

  “What happened?”

  “I was working Friday night—the night before the party—and Brady was at the café working on his article. I sat with him while on break, and of course Anna showed up. She went crazy, yelling and screaming at Brady. My manager came out, threatening to call the cops, so Anna left. Brady went after her.”

  He winced a little at her resigned tone. “I’m sure that was difficult for you, considering how much you cared about him.”

  “A little,” she allowed.

  He was about to ask another question when a familiar SUV suddenly pulled over to the curb beside them. Despite the no-parking zone, Shanna jumped from the vehicle and approached them.

  “Phoebe?” she asked in a rush.

  The girl looked taken aback. “What do you want?”

  Quinn put his hand on Shanna’s arm, trying to warn her to go slow. He hadn’t even asked whether or not Phoebe was adopted. “Phoebe, this is my friend, Shanna Dawson. Remember I told you she wanted to ask you a few questions?”

  Phoebe took a step back, shaking her head. “Look, I’m done with this scene. I don’t know who hurt Brady, and I’m sick. I need to go home. Maybe we can do this some other day, okay?”

  “No, wait!” Shanna said urgently. “Please, Phoebe, just give me five minutes?”

  The girl with the purple-streaked hair let out a heavy sigh. “Okay, what do you want to know?”

  Shanna hesitated and glanced up at him, as if unsure how to proceed. Since he’d established some sort of rapport with her, he asked the question he knew was burning first and foremost in Shanna’s mind. “Phoebe, were you helping Brady with his adoption story?”

  Her eyes widened in surprise. “How did you know?”

  “Were you adopted, too?” Shanna asked.

  “Yes, I was adopted. And Brady did want to include me in his story. I wasn’t really that anxious to participate, though. I mean, yeah, Dennis wanted to find his birth mother, but I didn’t.”

  Shanna paled. “You didn’t?”

  “No. Why would I want to find some woman who didn’t want me?” Phoebe asked in a hard tone. “One set of parents constantly fighting was bad enough. I wasn’t anxious to add another parent into the mix.”

  Shanna stared at Phoebe in dismay. From the moment she’d faced the girl, she was convinced Phoebe was Skylar. She was adopted, for one thing, but the big brown eyes and the heart-shaped face bore an eerie resemblance to the age-progression photo of Skylar.

  “What if I told you that your mother didn’t give you up at birth?” Shanna asked, keeping her voice steady with an effort. “What if I told you that you were kidnapped as a five-year-old child and adopted by someone else illegally?”

  Now it was Phoebe’s turn to pale, her red nose standing out starkly against her features. “No. I don’t believe you.”

  “I’m not lying about this. There’s an FBI agent working on the case right now. I—we believe you might be my sister, Skylar Dawson.”

  “I’m not your sister,” Phoebe said now, her tone carrying a hint of panic. “My parents told me I was adopted as an infant.”

  “So you don’t remember this?” Shanna pulled out the stuffed elephant triumphantly. “Ellie the elephant was your favorite toy. You took her everywhere with you.”

  Shanna thought there was a flash of recognition in her sister’s eyes, but then Phoebe was shaking her head vehemently. “No, I don’t. I’m not listening to any more of your garbage, either. Leave me alone, do you hear me?”

  Phoebe spun away and Shanna moved to follow, but Quinn stopped her with a hand on her arm. “Don’t,” he advised in a low tone. “Give her some time, Shanna.”

  She watched Phoebe hurry away, heading in the direction of her apartment. “But she’s Skylar. She looks just like the age-progression photo I have. I know she’s Skylar!”

  “It’s highly likely,” Quinn agreed. “And I’m sure we’ll get her fingerprint match to prove it. But that doesn’t mean she’s going to welcome you or your parents with open arms, Shanna.”

  She closed her eyes and ran an unsteady hand through her hair. Quinn was right. Skylar’s expression had mirrored that of Dennis Green as he’d waited to be interviewed by Agent Tanner.

  She’d found her long-lost sister, but clearly Skylar wasn’t interested in the family she’d been taken from fourteen years ago.

  “Don’t torture yourself over this, Shanna,” Quinn said. “You found your sister alive and well. Isn’t that what matters most? And given time, she might come around.”

  “I hope so, Quinn,” she murmured. Reaching into her pocket, she pulled out the age-progression photograph and showed it to him. “See what I mean? Once you look past the purple hair and the eyebrow piercing, you can see they’re the same person.”

  “The resemblance is difficult to ignore,” Quinn agreed. “So we’ll let Agent Tanner know, and he’ll take
over from here. Who knows, maybe she’ll believe someone in authority, like the FBI, rather than the two of us.”

  She nodded, trying not to be disheartened. Quinn was right, though. God had helped her find Skylar, and there was nothing more she could do to change Skylar’s mind about her family.

  She’d leave that problem in God’s hands, too. Please, Lord, help Skylar to realize how much we love her, care about her and miss her. Amen.

  “Are you ready to eat?” Quinn asked.

  Shanna shook her head. “I’m not hungry, and if you don’t mind, I want to see my mom.”

  “You don’t have proof yet that Phoebe is Skylar,” he pointed out reasonably.

  “I have the proof I need,” she said, holding up the age-progression photo. “Did you see the way she looked at the stuffed elephant? Phoebe is Skylar, all right. And my mother deserves to know she’s alive.”

  Quinn looked as if he wanted to argue, but then he stepped back. “Okay, will you call me afterwards?”

  “Sure,” she replied, somewhat absently. She was glad he wasn’t going to try to stop her from doing what she knew in her heart was right. Impulsively, she gave him a quick hug. “See you later.”

  “Take care,” he said, hugging her back.

  Smiling for the first time since she’d received his text message, she walked around to get into his SUV.

  The ride to her mother’s house didn’t take long. Her mom had stayed in the house after her parents had split up, and Shanna knew her mother refused to move because she secretly hoped her sister would somehow find her way back home.

  Her father hadn’t moved far, either; his auto-repair shop was close to the Carlyle University campus.

  When she knocked on her mother’s front door, she looked surprised to see her. “Shanna, what are you doing here?”

  “I found Skylar,” she blurted.

  Her mother swayed and grabbed the edge of the door for support. “What? Did I hear you correctly? You found Skylar?”