Not Our Daughter

Forty-One

Cole had parked the Ford Explorer in the very back of the lot, where they could easily see everyone who approached from the restaurant down the hill. Lisa was sitting in the passenger seat. He held her hand, trying to keep her calm. It didn’t seem to be working. With each passing second without seeing their daughter return, Lisa gripped his hand tighter. It felt like she was cutting off the blood circulation.

“Should I text her again?” Lisa said.

“No, give her more time.”

Lisa huffed. “It’s been too long already. We should’ve never allowed her to do this.”

“It’s only been fifteen minutes, Lisa. Be patient.”

She looked over and frowned hard at him. “It’s impossible to be patient when our whole world is down there by herself somewhere. The police could literally be coming at any moment and taking her away from us. If that happens, I’ll never forgive myself. I’ll fall completely apart. They might as well lock me away in the psych ward.”

“No one is locking you away. Because here she comes.”

They both perked up, stared through the windshield. Jade appeared first and was then followed closely behind by Hailey McGee. No one else was with them.

“She did it,” Cole said.

“Thank you, Lord,” Lisa whispered.

They both got out of the vehicle, circled around to the front, and stood there waiting. They wanted to look as disarming as possible. Jade kept walking toward them, but Hailey paused about ten feet away. She stared at them both for a good long moment. Her face grew pale, as if she were looking at ghosts. Lisa quickly pulled Jade into her safe arms, hugging her tightly. Jade handed him back his phone. He took a step toward Hailey.

“Thank you for coming,” Cole said in his warmest voice. “I’m sure this is weird, and probably a little scary.”

“ Horrifying is more like it,” Hailey replied. “The two of you have been the focal point of my nightmares for years.”

“I’m sorry,” Cole said. “I’m not sure what all Jade told you—”

Hailey interrupted. “She says you didn’t do it. It was someone else.”

“She’s telling the truth. And we need your help to figure out who and why. I have a video of the man we believe was involved in Candace’s death. Can I show it to you?”

Hailey looked uneasy but shrugged and nodded. He cautiously stepped over to her as to not spook her. A few feet away, he brought up the video of the stocky guy he’d taken from their home security camera the night of her sister’s death. He’d pulled it off his secure website just moments ago. He paused the video with a direct view of the guy’s face.

“Do you recognize him?” he asked.

Hailey squinted. For a second, she didn’t say anything. She just kept staring. “Where was this taken?”

“It’s from our home security camera thirteen years ago. Candace showed up to our house first. She was bleeding and panicked. When I let her inside, she fell right into me before hitting the floor. She said someone was coming to harm Jade—or Marcy—and then she begged us to leave right away. To take her and protect her. She died before I could even call for help. The guy in this video showed up moments after we left the house.”

Hailey looked at him. “But the police said they found the murder weapon. One of your kitchen knives. With your fingerprints on it.”

“We think the guy in the video used one of our knives posthumously. To lead the police in that direction. That’s why my fingerprints are on it. And then he deleted all the security camera footage. We were fortunate to save this video before that happened.”

“Oh my ...” Hailey covered her mouth like she might be sick.

“I’m sorry to be so graphic. I know how awful this must be for you.”

“But why didn’t you just tell the police the truth?”

“We tried. We sent the video I just showed you to our lawyer to share with the FBI. But it didn’t make any difference. So we kept running. We knew they’d take Marcy from us. And if they did, that would just put her right back in danger. Your sister clearly believed whoever did this would have no issue harming a child. We were never going to allow that to happen. But we almost did today. The same guy in the video tried to shoot and kill us earlier this afternoon.”

“This is crazy,” Hailey said. “I do recognize him.”

“You do?” Lisa said, stepping forward, immediately engaged.

Hailey nodded. “But it was way before the night of my sister’s death. Probably a year and a half or so. I remember meeting him at a bar. Candace dragged me there. Some sharp-dressed business guy in a suit was all over her that night. He was probably twice her age. But my sister never cared about that. She could tell he had money, so she was interested in him. We were so damn poor. My dad left us when we were little, and my mom was an alcoholic. Still is. Candace and I only had each other growing up. Anyway, the guy in your photograph was with the man in the business suit. I hung out with him while my sister and the other man sat there groping each other.”

“Do you remember his name?” Cole asked.

She shook her head. “It was just one night.”

“What about the name of the guy in the suit?” Lisa asked.

Another headshake. “I mean, this was so long ago. But I do remember the two guys had an odd relationship. It wasn’t like they were normal drinking buddies. It was more like the guy in the photograph was also the other man’s security or something. When I asked him to play pool, he declined and said something about him needing to be within eyesight of the other man. So I figured the guy in the suit must be someone important.”

“But you didn’t recognize the man in the suit from anywhere?” Cole said.

“No,” Hailey said, running a hand through her hair. “I don’t understand. How could the guy I met that night in the bar be involved with my sister’s murder?”

“That’s what we’re trying to figure out,” Lisa explained. “Do you remember anything else about the guy in the photo?”

“Yeah, I mean, he was real cowboy-like. He wore boots and Wrangler jeans. And he talked with a West Texas twang. A little too much for my taste. He was hitting on me and trying to impress me. I think he told me he managed some big ranch. He really bragged about it, saying something about it being one of the biggest ranches in Texas. I remember he even had a tattoo of the ranch’s brand.”

“On top of his hand?” Cole asked.

She thought about it for a second. “Yeah, his right hand.”

Cole made a mental note to look up ranches and see if it led anywhere.

“I don’t remember much else,” Hailey said. “I got bored and left early.”

“You ever see either of the guys again?”

“Nope.”

“What about your sister?”

“Not that she ever told me about.”

“You mentioned this happened way before the night your sister died,” Lisa said. “Do you remember a more specific timeframe?”

Hailey kind of laughed. “Funny. I remember the exact day. Sort of. It was the day Texas beat Texas Tech fifty-six to zero. I remember because my boyfriend at the time was a huge Red Raider fan. He had family out in Lubbock. And he was so pissed off that night after the game. I couldn’t even be around him. That’s how I ended up at the bar alone with my sister.” Hailey sighed, shook her head. “I can’t believe this is all true about Candace.”

“I’m sorry,” Lisa said. “I’m sure this is like ripping the Band-Aid off all over again.”

“No, it’s okay. I just ... I’m just so shocked to be standing here looking at Marcy, almost all grown up. I know that day in court was horrible for you guys. But my sister really did want to be a good mother. She worked hard to pull herself together. She was excited about the future. She told me she had a plan to finally get us out of poverty. That we weren’t going to have to fight and claw our way through life anymore. She said she was going to take care of us.”

“What kind of plan?” Cole asked, eyes narrowed.

Hailey shrugged. “I think it had something to do with the tech world, because she told me one of her old high school nerd friends was helping her. I figured she might be doing some kind of nudie website or something to make money. We knew a girl from high school who was making a fortune doing that kind of thing.”

Cole wondered if it could be something else entirely. “Do you still keep in touch with this high school nerd friend who was helping her?”

“Here and there. He’s a tattoo artist at a place called BlindSide on Sixth Street.”