YOU BETTER RUN (Eva Rae Thomas Mystery Book 11) Read online

  “That is so wonderful,” Tom said and clutched her hand tighter. “I’m actually a twin myself. My mom always said that it was a handful at first, but the advantage came later because we always had one another, my sister and me. We were inseparable and would always play together….”

  He paused like he realized he had said too much. Then, he went quiet.

  The doctor took over. “It is often genetical that if twins run in one family, then it’s likely it will be passed on to the next generations.”

  The doctor wiped the gel off her stomach and printed the sonogram for them. Raina took it and thanked him before they left. Tom took her out for frozen yogurt after, and they sat in silence before she finally asked.

  “You are a twin?”

  His eyes avoided hers. “Yeah, well… let’s not….”

  “I didn’t even know this. Why have you never told me?”

  He shrugged and ate his yogurt with a small spoon. “I didn’t think it was important.”

  “You didn’t think it was important to tell me you have a twin sister?” Raina asked, surprised.

  Tom scooped more yogurt on his spoon, and then it snapped.

  “Now, look at that,” he grumbled. “Why do they make these spoons so small? For crying out loud. Now, I have to go get a new one.”

  He rose to his feet and grabbed another spoon, then returned. “Can you believe how small these spoons are? Do they think only kids eat this?”

  She gave him a look, and he paused.

  “What?”

  “I can’t believe you have a sister, and you never told me.”

  “Yeah, well, it’s not that important.”

  “We’re starting a family here, Tom. I think it is important. Come to think of it, I know nothing about your background or your family. You never want to talk about them; why?”

  He shook his head. “It’s not worth talking about.”

  She ate from her strawberry yogurt with chocolate sprinkles. Tom didn’t even look at her. It had been the same every time she asked him about his family since they met. He would either avoid answering completely or give her half sentences or sometimes get angry at her for even asking. What had gone wrong between them? Did that mean that their children would never know that part of their family? There could be cousins, aunts, uncles, and grandparents, and they’d never know them? Raina didn’t even know if both his parents were still alive or if they were still married. Tom refused to answer every time she tried to turn the conversation in that direction. She had thought he’d come around at some point and hopefully start talking about it if she gave him time to trust her enough. But so far, it hadn’t happened, and she was beginning to think it might never.

  Was he going to avoid them forever? Didn’t he want them to meet his children?

  “It might change once he gets his own children,” her mother had said when she discussed it with her and, if she was honest, complained about it. “A lot happens to a person once they have their own children.”

  Raina emptied her yogurt while staring at Tom, hoping her mother was right.

  Maybe when the children are born. Perhaps then he will have a change of heart. Maybe he will soften up by then.

  He reached over and grabbed her hand in his, then squeezed it. “I love you. You love me. That’s all that matters right now. You, me, and the babies.”

  That made her smile.

  “You’re right,” she said.

  “I’m always right,” he said with a sly smile. “Don’t you forget that.”

  That made her laugh out loud. “Don’t get too used to the idea. Soon, you will have to answer not only me but also two little ones. You’re in for quite the ride, my friend. I hope you’re ready for it.”

  He lifted her hand and kissed the top of it.

  “It’s all I want in the world. You and the babies are all I need.”

  Chapter 7

  Susan Kellam, who I had been told was the owner of the house, shot to her feet as I entered the living room through the sliding doors. Chief Annie was right behind me.

  “Mrs. Kellam?”

  She nodded.

  I shook her hand. “Eva Rae Thomas, FBI. I have been asked to be a consultant on this case. Can we talk?”

  She nodded again, visibly agitated. She pointed toward the couches. A couple of teenage girls were crying in the corner, hugging each other, while the rest just sat on the floor or the stairs, staring blankly into thin air.

  “O-of course. Do you want to sit down?”

  “Yes, that would be nice, thank you.”

  We all sat. Mrs. Kellam folded her hands neatly in her lap like I often had watched my mom do. It was usually a sign that she was nervous.

  “S-so, who is she?” Mrs. Kellam asked and nodded toward the sliding doors. “The girl?”

  “That’s what we’re trying to figure out, Mrs. Kellam,” Chief Annie said.

  I saw Matt in the corner of my eye. He was by the pool area, talking to a couple of colleagues. Alex was keeping his distance but stayed close to me.

  “You don’t know her?” I asked and glanced at the girl sitting next to Mrs. Kellam on the couch. She was the spitting image of the girl I had just seen lying in the body bag. It was almost creepy.

  Mrs. Kellam looked at her daughter, then at us. “I… I have no idea who she is. I don’t even think Meg knows, am I right?”

  Her daughter shook her head. She was pale and looked like she could get sick at any minute. Mrs. Kellam shook her head in ragged movements.

  “You’ll have to excuse my daughter. She’s… she was the one who pulled the… the body out of the pool. She’s in shock.”

  “You haven’t seen her?” I asked, puzzled. “The girl?”

  “No. I came home to find the police here, and I wasn’t allowed to go out there,” Mrs. Kellam said.

  I looked at Annie, who nodded. “We did ask her if she had any other daughters—if the girl could be her daughter, and she said no.”

  “It was a very strange question,” Mrs. Kellam said.

  “So, the girl isn’t your child?”

  “No, my child is here,” Mrs. Kellam said and tapped her daughter’s leg with a nervous laugh.

  “But, Mom, I told you….”

  “Okay, wait,” I said, interrupting her. “But Meghan is adopted then, right?”

  Mrs. Kellam looked appalled. “No! How could you possibly suggest such a thing? I gave birth to her myself nineteen years ago.”

  “And the girl out there isn’t her sister?”

  Mrs. Kellam shook her head. “Her… what? No. Why… I would… I don’t understand. Why do you keep asking me that?”

  “Could it be a cousin? Sometimes cousins are very similar,” Annie said.

  Mrs. Kellam shook her head. “Her dad was an only child, and my brother only has boys. I don’t understand why you keep asking this?”

  I exhaled. “Because… well, maybe you need to see for yourself.” I nodded at Chief Annie. “I think it’s time she sees it.”

  Chapter 8

  “Time that I see what?”

  Susan felt her heart rate go up drastically. What were they talking about? All these strange questions had her stirred up. Were they going to accuse her of something? It was, after all, not her fault that her daughter had a party while she was out of town, was it? Could they charge her with anything? They were underage and drinking, so maybe they could? But she couldn’t have stopped it since she wasn’t at home.

  Maybe it was time for her to lawyer up? Just in case?

  “Would you be so kind as to tell me what is going on here?” she asked, looking at the short, slightly stubby red-haired woman in front of her. This was getting tiresome. It was awful that they had a party without her permission, yes; that was beyond horrible, but why did she feel like they were treating her like a suspect? It wasn’t Susan’s fault that someone had fallen in the pool. She was probably drunk out of her mind.

  “I need you to come with me,” Eva Rae Thomas said
and walked to the sliding doors. “Out to the pool area.”

  Susan exhaled. She had really hoped she wouldn’t need to get more involved in this. Was this really necessary? It wasn’t enough that she had to live with the fact that someone had died in her pool? Every time she took a swim—which wasn’t often anymore, but it did happen—she would have to be reminded that there had been a dead body in the water—a young girl. It was terrifying.

  I will probably have to drain the water, right?

  She followed the red-haired woman outside and was blinded by the scorching sunlight. Susan placed a hand to cover her eyes till they got used to the light and she could see. There were a ton of people walking around out there. Some were taking pictures, others dusting for fingerprints or taking shoe prints from the grass. Her backyard was a true mess, and it was going to be hard to get it back to its usual splendor after this—especially her Azalea bushes. Someone had trampled them completely. And the hibiscus that she loved so dearly looked awful! It was like a horror show out there.

  Susan grimaced when someone in a blue bodysuit trampled through her marigolds. He picked up a piece of clothing from between them, put it in a plastic bag, and then carefully sealed it.

  Susan closed her eyes briefly when seeing that it was a bra. She was going to have a serious talk with her daughter about this.

  “Right over here, Mrs. Kellam,” the police chief said and pointed at the black body bag on the pavement next to the pool's edge.

  They stopped in front of it, and Susan felt a shiver go down her spine, despite the eighty degrees outside and the scorching sun lurking above their heads.

  “Is this really necessary?”

  Eva Rae Thomas placed a hand on her arm, then nodded. “I’m afraid so. We need to see if you know this girl.”

  “But I already told you I don’t? If Meg doesn’t know her, then how would I…?”

  While she spoke, a man in a blue bodysuit pulled the zipper open, and the girls’ face and torso came to light. Susan stopped talking and could barely breathe as the face appeared. She bent down to better see up close, then stared at the girl in front of her, barely able to breathe. The pool area started to spin, and she felt her heart race so fast it hurt her chest.

  “Do you recognize this girl?” Eva Rae Thomas asked.

  “But that’s imposs…” Susan paused, then looked at her daughter standing in the opening to the living room. She looked down at the girl in the bag, then back up at Meg.

  “But… but I don’t… I don’t understand? How… how is this…?”

  “I want you to think this through, Mrs. Kellam,” Eva Rae Thomas said. “And try to remain calm and focused. Do you know who this girl is?”

  “Yes, that’s my… that’s my daughter. That’s Meg.”

  She glared at the girl in the bag, her heart pounding in her chest. There was a loud whooshing sound in her ears, and she could tell that people around her were speaking to her, but she could no longer hear them.

  She didn’t feel the spinning ground hit her either as she slammed her face into the pavement.

  Chapter 9

  “She’s going to pass out!”

  I ran to grab Mrs. Kellam, but I wasn’t fast enough. She deflated almost like a punctured balloon and fell to the concrete below before any of us could catch her. I knelt next to her. I reached down and touched her head, then placed it in my lap. My fingers came back covered in blood.

  “She’s hurt.”

  “I’ll call for an ambulance,” Annie said and grabbed her radio, then walked away while speaking into it.

  “Mrs. Kellam?” I asked, trying to wake her. “Susan?”

  I felt her throat and got a weak pulse.

  “Susan?”

  “Mom?”

  Meg had come out to us and knelt next to Susan.

  “She just passed out,” I said to calm her. I could see the panic painted on her face.

  “But… the… blood?” Meg said, her voice shivering.

  “She hit her head when she fell,” I said. “She’ll need some stitches.”

  Susan groaned and blinked her eyes. Meg leaned in over her.

  “M-Mom?”

  “Meg?”

  Susan tried to sit up but got dizzy and laid back down in my lap.

  “Rest,” I said. “We need to get you to the hospital.”

  “What happened?” she asked.

  “You passed out.”

  She remembered. She gasped for breath and felt her head. “Meg. Oh, dear God. Meg!”

  She tried to sit up again, but I pulled her back down. “Please. You need to wait for the ambulance to get here.”

  “But… Meg… my daughter… the girl in the bag, that’s my daughter.”

  “No,” I said. “Your daughter is sitting here next to you.”

  Meg grabbed her mother’s hand in hers. “Mom, I’m right here. I’m here.”

  Susan stared at her daughter, blinking and narrowing her eyes. Then I felt her relax again.

  “But… I don’t understand,” she said. “How is this possible?”

  Annie came back out and signaled me.

  “The ambulance is here,” I said, relieved.

  Susan’s head was bleeding heavily, and had soaked my jeans. I was getting worried for her. I turned my head to see the EMTs come through the backyard with a stretcher. They attended to her briefly, then lifted her on the stretcher and rushed her away. Meg went with them, looking terrified as she got into the back, and they closed the door.

  “Poor kid,” Alex said as he came up behind me.

  I nodded, thinking of my oldest kid, who was only a few years younger.

  “Yeah, it’s been a day,” I said.

  “You okay?” he asked, placing a hand on my shoulder.

  I smiled, looking up at him, when I spotted Matt out of the corner of my eye. He was staring at us, and the look in his eyes made my heart drop. He was hurt.

  I pulled away from Alex, then walked past him with a brief, “I should get back.”

  Chapter 10

  THEN:

  She was getting heavy. Raina could almost see the difference for each day that passed when looking in the mirror. She would stand naked in front of it in the bathroom, then turn to the side and feel her growing stomach. It seemed almost impossible that it could get any bigger than this, but her doctor said it would.

  “You have to remember that you’re carrying not just one but two babies.”

  Oh, there was no way she was forgetting that. All night long, when they fought inside her and kicked and moved, she was reminded that there were actually two of them. And Raina—if she was being honest—was a little terrified at having to deal with two babies instead of just one like all of her friends. Her best friend, Emma, had recently given birth to a baby boy, and she had vividly told Raina how much work such a little creature demanded. And Raina had seen it for herself when visiting her friend and seeing the messy house, along with her friend’s exhausted eyes. And Emma only had one baby.

  Raina was going to have two? It seemed impossible.

  It’ll be okay. Others have done this before you. You can do it.

  Raina got herself dressed, even though it was getting harder to do so by herself, then walked to the store to get some fresh strawberries. She had been craving those since the beginning of the pregnancy, and today, for some reason, more than ever. She walked in, wearing her big loose maternity dress and a coat thrown casually over it since she wasn’t cold these days. It could snow and rain and blow the coldest winds, but she was always warm. It was her big belly that kept her warm, her mother kept telling her.

  “It’s like walking around with your own heater strapped to you,” she would laugh.

  Raina failed to see what was so funny about that. She was so hot at night too, and now that spring was coming, and everything was warming up, it was only getting worse.

  Raina opened the fridge and grabbed a couple of cartons of milk, enjoying the cold air from inside of it as it h
it her face.

  She leaned on the glass as she closed it again, feeling dizzy. The doctor had told her that her blood pressure was very low due to the pregnancy, and she had to be careful when getting up or turning suddenly. He explained that the blood would take a while to get to her head.

  “Are you okay?”

  An elderly man had approached her. He looked concerned.

  “Do you need any help?”

  Raina smiled and let go of the glass. “I’m okay. Just a little dizzy.”

  Even though she smiled reassuringly, he still looked concerned, and she started walking to the produce area to get those strawberries. She would eat them with milk and sugar on top, something her grandmother had always served her as a child, telling her it was a Scandinavian tradition. Right now, even the thought was like heaven to Raina. She couldn’t wait to get home and eat. It was like it was all she could think about these days.

  As she went toward the produce area, a woman passed her in the cereal aisle. Their eyes met, and the woman smiled gently, then looked down at her stomach. Something about her, something in her eyes, made Raina stop.

  “Excuse me,” she said as she passed Raina, and Raina stared at her, even long after she had walked past her. She didn’t know why. There was just something about this woman that she couldn’t quite put her finger on.

  It was like she knew her.

  Oh, dear Lord, the pregnancy hormones are messing with you, Raina.

  Raina chuckled at herself, then grabbed the strawberries and walked to the check-out. While putting her groceries up, she kept looking behind her, as she felt like someone was watching her. When she paid and was about to leave, she spotted the woman in the long beige trench coat standing in one of the lines. Their eyes met again, and a shiver of cold ran down Raina’s spine.

  Then she rushed outside, closing her coat as she walked home, wondering who that woman was and why she was staring so intensely at her.

  Part II