CHAPTER TWO #2
Of late, his two younger children—one an adult, the other in high school—had been rebelling more than usual against the restrictions their father had put on them.
Jude had loosened their security a bit, but only after having a discussion with Duncan about ways to make things a little less restrictive for Benji and Annie.
Had something happened that had led him to change his mind?
“As you know, Cole Halverson is arriving shortly,” Duncan said as he sat back in his chair.
“Has something happened to him?”
“No. However, he sent me an email a few minutes ago detailing a phone call he’d received.”
“A phone call? Was it threatening Annie?”
“No, though it did have to do with those pictures that showed up online of Annalisa and Cole. Someone saw the photo and recognized Annalisa.”
There was one explanation that came to mind for Jude, but was that even possible?
“Angelica?” he asked.
“Well, her name is Angela Reynolds, but she thinks she might be related to Annalisa.”
“And she reached out to Cole with this information?”
Duncan nodded. “I guess it was the only way she knew to get in contact with her.”
“So you’ve spoken to this Angela person?” Jude asked.
“No. I thought it would be best to get some verification before we revealed who we are.”
Jude nodded, agreeing with that completely. “How do you want me to handle it?”
“I sent the info to the tech guys so they can look a bit further into her to see what info we can get before we decide on our next move.”
“And if it’s really her?”
“Then I think I want you to initiate a meeting with her. As a representative of our family… without telling her who we are. At least not until we’re sure of who she is.”
“And to make sure that the people who kidnapped her aren’t still in her life,” Jude added.
Duncan sighed. “Yes. We must make sure that there is not an ulterior motive behind her reaching out. Either because of the people who kidnapped her, or because of the type of person she is.”
Jude frowned. “Do you really think she might be seeking you out with evil intentions?”
“I wish I didn’t have to be so skeptical,” Duncan said. “However, I’ve learned not to take people at face value. It is far better to be safe than sorry. I learned that lesson a long time ago.”
Jude remembered when the kidnapping of Duncan’s twin girls had occurred.
His dad had been part of the security team, though not the head of it yet.
His promotion had come after Duncan had fired the previous head for bungling the security checks that should have been done on the pair who’d abducted Annalisa and Angelica.
Duncan's gaze darkened as he looked at a framed photo on his desk. Jude knew without seeing it that it was the one of the twins as toddlers, taken just weeks before the kidnapping.
"I won't make the same mistake again," Duncan said quietly. "Not with Annalisa."
"Of course not," Jude agreed. "I'll handle this with the utmost caution."
"I know you will."
When his computer beeped, Duncan shifted forward to look at the monitor. “Here’s an email from our team with an initial report. You should have a copy too.”
Jude pulled out his phone and opened his email program. Sure enough, there was an email from the head of the team that Duncan used to follow any leads on the kidnappers.
For years, there had been nothing substantial. It was as if the kidnappers had disappeared off the planet.
Now, however, they had something to work with. And wow, had they run with it.
"She lives in Briar Hollow, Kentucky,” Duncan read. “Small town, population under a thousand. Works at a bakery called Sweet Nothings. No criminal record. Limited digital footprint. Most of which has been over the past couple of years. Nothing really before that."
Jude leaned forward. “I would have thought they’d include a picture. Visual verification would go a long way to helping us plan our next step.”
“I’m sure that as soon as they get their hands on one, they’ll forward it.”
This tech team had never been under Jude or his father’s responsibility. They’d reported directly to Duncan, but they had always updated Jude, at Duncan’s request.
He’d questioned his dad about why details of the kidnapping hadn’t been released to the public. Or why the cops hadn’t been brought in. His dad’s explanation had revealed to Jude just how wealthy Duncan really was. And not just wealthy, but influential. More influential than most in the world.
And with power and influence backing him, Duncan made the choice to keep from letting the world know what had happened in order to prevent the rest of his family from becoming targets.
He’d also been able to hire people who were more skilled than anyone who worked for the police department, and some of them were willing to step into the gray areas in order to get information in their search.
A second beep from Duncan’s computer sounded just as another email showed up in Jude’s inbox.
“Pictures,” Duncan murmured.
Jude’s heart pounded as he clicked to open the attachment. It felt almost surreal to be at this point. Twenty-four years of dead ends. Of no leads. Of losing hope.
Jude glanced up at his boss and saw that the wall hiding his emotions had dropped. There was now a wealth of feeling on the man’s face as he stared at his monitor.
Looking down at his phone, Jude found himself looking at a familiar—and yet completely unknown—face. “Oh, wow.”
“Yeah…” Duncan’s voice trailed away. “Wow.”
The picture looked like a selfie. One taken to use as a profile picture on social media. There was no denying that the woman in the photo was Annie’s twin. However, there were subtle differences.
Annie’s hair was long and straight, while Angela’s was shorter and had some curl to it. Annie had a ready smile and a confidence to her that it seemed like the woman in the photo lacked.
Even though it was a selfie, Angela looked uncertain, almost shy, her shoulders slightly hunched. The photo radiated awkwardness, which made Jude even more curious about her.
Jude studied her face more carefully. The resemblance to Annie was uncanny—same delicate bone structure, same blue-green eyes—but there was a wariness in Angela's expression that Annie had never shown.
"It's her," Duncan said, his voice thick with emotion. "After all these years…"
Jude nodded. "The resemblance is undeniable."
"What do you make of her?" Duncan asked, gesturing at his monitor.
Jude considered the question carefully. Reading people was part of his job, and even from a photograph, he could see aspects of the woman’s personality.
"She looks… cautious. Wary," he observed. "Which isn’t exactly the expression of someone planning to exploit a connection to your family."
Duncan rubbed his jaw, eyes never leaving his screen. "Unless that's exactly what she wants us to think."
"Possibly," Jude conceded. "But my gut says otherwise."
He scrolled through the additional photos that had been sent. These included another woman, and Angela looked more relaxed in those.
Jude lingered the longest on the one that had the two women sitting with their heads pressed close together, smiling at the camera. From the angle of the picture, he assumed that the other woman had taken the snap, which may have explained why Angela looked more relaxed.
“The team gave another update, along with the photos,” Jude said, scrolling through the rest of the email.
“According to this, Angela lives with someone named Kiara in an apartment in Briar Hollow. Both work minimum-wage jobs. It seems neither have a license and there are no vehicles registered to either of them. I’m sure we’ll know much more in another twenty-four hours. ”
“The money I pay to have the best computer specialists working for me has been worth every penny,” Duncan murmured.
“So where do we go from here?”
“I want you to go to Kentucky and meet with them.”
Jude wasn’t surprised to hear that that was Duncan’s plan. The man trusted him to be discreet and to make sure that Angela was safe. He’d played a role in the safety of Duncan’s family for most of his adult life, and that wouldn’t be changing anytime soon.
He opened the attachments again and swept through them, pausing on the selfie photo once more. Something shifted within him as he studied the woman.
Her world was going to be turned upside down. Going from a minimum-wage existence to life with one of the richest men in the world was going to be shocking.
How would she handle that?
And how would everyone handle her return?
Jude was well-versed in human physiology to know that this wasn’t going to be an easy process. Each person would have a different struggle with Angela’s reappearance in their lives.
But at the end of the day, Duncan would have his daughter back. Annalisa and Julian would have their sister back. And Elizabeth and Benji would meet Angela for the first time.
Jude’s role in everything would be the same as it had always been. He’d protect Duncan and his family in any way he could.