“Thanks.” Jayne peered up at Carter. “Is she always this open and trusting?”
“I haven’t known her long,” Carter allowed, “but in my experience, yes.”
Wasn’t that a good thing? Everyone else in her life seemed to appreciate that. Paige couldn’t go back and change the past, but she could definitely shape the future. No, she didn’t know much about her sister—yet. The only way to rectify that was to be open and listen.
“So you used the windfall to get through college.” Carter shifted, scanning the area behind the shelter of his sunglasses. “Why come to Charleston now? You need money?”
“Carter!” Paige gasped. Sure, one of them needed to ask the tough questions, but he didn’t have to be rude.
Jayne’s mouth twisted in a wry smile. “You’re pretty lucky he’s here to watch out for you.” She met Carter’s hard stare. “No. I’m not after money. I came for answers about my past, maybe to find my dad or some extended family. I had no idea my twin would be here.” Her smile wobbled, faded. “My therapist thought it would be helpful. Either to close a door on the past or be pleasantly surprised by something good. I keep bailing on relationships before anyone can hurt me like Yvette did.”
Paige silently hoped she fell into Jayne’s category of something good.
“Yost isn’t our father.” Jayne returned the photo to Paige. “What a relief. The man’s an arrogant jerk. But who else would keep sending money except a guilty parent?”
“It’s a logical assumption,” Paige agreed. “When did you go to see him?”
“Last Monday.”
Melissa had been killed on Wednesday night and Jayne had nearly been mugged the night before that. “That isn’t a coincidence is it, Carter?”
He shook his head. “Sure doesn’t sound like coincidence to me.”
“Can you help her?”
Chapter Nine
Carter didn’t like this at all. His job was to help Paige and she clearly believed every word her newly found sister had told her. In all fairness, her sister was either an excellent liar or telling the truth. He’d sent details to Jenna as Jayne offered them up and though it would take some time to be thorough, his assistant hadn’t found any immediate, glaring discrepancies.
He hit record on his phone. “What happened when you met Yost?”
“It took some legwork to find him since there wasn’t a listing for the law firm on the letterhead.”
To his surprise, she withdrew a folded piece of paper from her pocket and handed it to him. Old and faded, the letter was dated a month after the girls were born and signed by Yost. Three short paragraphs outlined a new agreement, including an allowance for medical bills and child support. He snapped a picture and sent it to Jenna for research before handing it back.
“When I found his current office, I set up an appointment using a fake name. He recognized my face. Looked as if he was having a bad flashback. He just stared at me for the longest time, his mouth gaping. Then he called me Yvette.” She turned the folded paper around and around in her hands. “He blew up when I asked about my twin sister. It got worse when I asked why he didn’t want to be my dad. He ranted about Yvette and extortion. He asked me how much it would take to keep me quiet.”
“And you said?” Carter prompted when she went quiet.
She hunched her shoulders and leaned forward. “I made some crack about being better than Yvette and having principles and compassion. Then I walked out.”
“The mugger found you the next day,” Carter stated. Jayne had unknowingly confronted the wrong person. A dangerous person. Considering Yost was the only person who knew Jayne was in Charleston, he was almost certainly behind the mugging and murder attempts. Particularly since she refused his money. The man had to be afraid of something if he automatically went to such extremes. What the hell was he hiding?
Paige looked up at him. “I still don’t understand why Dad would take only one of his babies. My mom would’ve loved mothering twins.” She sighed. “We always would’ve been dressed alike, but the love would have been equal.”
Jayne gave a snort. “A different set of issues to overcome as adults.”
Carter marveled that they could crack jokes. “Let’s walk a bit.” He could feel someone watching them, but couldn’t pinpoint a specific person. He sent a text asking Jenna to use any area cameras to help him identify the tail.
“I’m glad you found a way to get in contact at the funeral,” Paige said.
“Wasn’t easy,” she admitted. “I don’t know what I would’ve done if you hadn’t been there.”
“Well, I was.” She reached out and gave Jayne’s shoulders a squeeze. “Now the three of us can tell the police the truth.” Paige twisted back to look at Carter. “They can find the man with the tattoos, right?”
“They can,” Carter said absently. The question was would they look for him if they had the woman who’d been right there at the scene?
Jayne hesitated. “I’m willing to give a statement to help you,” she said. “But I’m not going down for killing your friend. That video puts me at the scene, and I don’t have the resources to defend myself like you do.”
“My parents and I will back you,” Paige declared.
“Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that,” Carter said, ending the conversation. “Keep moving, ladies.”
“I’m sorry I brought you bad news about your bio-mom,” Jayne said after a few minutes.
“Dad’s assistant said Yvette was a flirt at the firm and many of the other women thought she intended to sleep her way into a better life.”
“Sounds right,” Jayne agreed. “Given a choice, she’d always take the easy way over real effort.”
“It doesn’t look like either one of us inherited that trait,” Paige said.
Behind her, Carter agreed. Jayne wasn’t completely clear of suspicion, but he was leaning that way. The niggling awareness of being watched prickled at the back of his neck. Whoever was out here was good. Come on Jenna, he thought. Find the tail.
Carter kept scanning the area. His discomfort was mounting and he’d learned to heed his instincts. “Head for the market,” he said. He abruptly wanted these women surrounded by an unpredictable crowd and a quicker police response.
Paige turned, gave him a curious look, but didn’t argue the choice.
“It’s plausible Yost and Yvette conspired to double their money,” Jayne said.
“Plausible?” Paige stopped short and Carter nudged her along. “That’s horrific.”
Jayne shrugged. “She wasn’t a nice woman. From what I can tell, your dad is one of the good ones.”
“Our dad,” Paige said, emphatically. “I wish we hadn’t grown up so differently.”
“We’re in control of where we go from here,” Jayne said.
They reached the market and Carter guided them into the flow of foot traffic. It prevented further conversation and gave him a little time to think and time for Jenna to work.