“But you’re not sure, or you wouldn’t have come to me and Joe.”

“As sure as I can be.” She shrugged. “Maybe it’s just that I’ve never been able to give Beth anything, and this is a way that I can do that.”

Eve shook her head in disbelief. “So you’re going to make a gift of Joe and me,” she said dryly. “That’s my choice, Sandra.”

“But you’ll do it. You have to do it. She’s your sister, Eve.”

“Blood may be thicker than water, but it’s difficult to embrace that concept when I’ve just discovered that she exists.” She waved a hand as Sandra opened her lips to speak. “Don’t talk to me any longer. Not right now. Just get in your car and go home. I promise I’ll discuss this with Joe.”

“Discuss? No, I want your promise to do it.”

“Go home, Sandra.”

Sandra stood there, gazing at her for a long moment. Then she smiled confidently. “You’ll do it. I know you, Eve. You won’t be able to help yourself. You can’t even keep yourself from working on those ugly skulls because you think it’s your duty. How could you refuse to help your sister?” She turned and headed for the door. “I’ll go in and get my purse and that telephone number and the name of Beth’s school. I feel much better about her now.” She suddenly glanced over her shoulder and the smile had disappeared. “I should have loved you more, shouldn’t I? You’ve done everything for me, and Beth is almost a stranger. I do care about you, Eve.”

“I know you care as deeply as you’re capable.”

“It’s just … she was first, Eve. I guess some people only have so much to give. Maybe I’m one of them.”

“Maybe you are.” She turned away and looked back at the lake. “I’ll take care of your Beth, Sandra. I can’t speak for Joe, but I’ll do everything I can.”

“Then it will all work out. I knew it would. Because she’s your Beth, too, Eve.” She disappeared into the house.

Her Beth? It was going to be strange thinking of Beth Avery as belonging to her. A sister? She had always been on her own as far as family was concerned. As a child, she’d had to fend for herself because of Sandra’s drug habit and general lack of responsibility. Then when she’d given birth to Bonnie, her daughter was her family. Jane MacGuire, her adopted daughter, had come into her life when the girl was only ten years old, but she was mature far beyond her years. They had been friends, not mother and daughter.

She sat down on the porch swing to wait for Joe. She’d have to try to absorb both Sandra’s story and the surprise and emotional upheaval that it had brought before she would be able to share it with Joe. Because she did not wish to share the pain, he had gone through too much already during the years of searching for her Bonnie’s killer.

A sister …

*   *   *

“SO WHAT DO YOU WANT ME TO DO?” Joe asked quietly, when Eve had fallen silent after telling him Sandra’s story. “If it were anyone but Sandra, I’d be a lot more shocked. But I can actually connect the dots.”

“So can I. Particularly if I think of Sandra as more of a child than an adult. She was wild and self-indulgent, but she was also a victim.” She grimaced. “Not that she’s not still a child in many ways, but I have to remember that she probably likes it better than being an adult.”

“And how do you feel about Beth Avery?”

“I’ve been trying to figure that out. Curious, surprised, sad for her condition … maybe a little cheated.”

“Cheated?”

“That I didn’t know her when I was growing up. Sisters are supposed to be … close.” She shook her head in bewilderment. “But I’ve never experienced that, so it might be a bunch of bull. How do I know?”

“You can’t.” His arm tightened around her shoulders. “You have to accept the relationship as it is now.”

“There is no relationship. And if there was any hope of one, it probably was destroyed when she had that accident.” She nibbled at her lower lip. “I don’t know anyone with mental trouble, and I don’t have a clue what kind of problems she has to deal with. Was it a physical brain injury? Or was it a mental illness caused by an injury? Or did she have the mental illness before, and it caused an accident? Does she have a chance of being cured? I can’t turn my back and walk away. I have to find out, Joe. I have to find her.”

“Then I have my answer, don’t I?”

“I said I have to find her. I won’t ask you to go along with me.”

“But you know that I can’t do anything else. We’re in this together for the long haul.” He gave her a quick, hard kiss. “So shut up. I’ll catch the next flight I can get out to Santa Barbara. I was thinking that I might have to do it anyway, after I finished those phone calls to the police department and the hospital.”

“You made the calls?”

“You asked me, didn’t you? I would have told you right away, but I could see that it was more important that you tell me what Sandra had been up to.” He shrugged. “I didn’t find out much. The local police made me jump through hoops to prove I was a detective with ATLPD, then they were brief as hell about any progress they’d made on finding Beth Avery. According to them, zilch. Then I was transferred to the captain, and he started asking me questions about where I’d received information about Beth Avery’s escape from the hospital.”

“‘Escape’?” Eve frowned. “That sounds … odd. It brings to mind padded cells and bars on windows. Sandra said she just wandered off. I got the impression it was very light restraint.”

“The word was ‘escape.’” He paused. “And I got the same word when I talked to Joseph Piltot, the human resources manager at Seahaven Behavioral Health Center. Only there it was accompanied by panic and a denial that there had been any escape from the hospital. He said I’d been misinformed, and I’d be wise not to spread rumors to that effect.”

“I don’t like that,” she said slowly.

“Neither did I. Of course, it could be that the Averys are trying to keep media coverage of a deranged relative to a minimum. If Richard Avery is going to run for president, a family mental-health issue could be awkward. There’s still a stigma out there that’s hard to overcome.”

Her lips tightened. “And if the media started digging, they might unearth the fact that Avery is a pedophile who impregnated a fourteen-year-old girl.”

Joe nodded. “That would be even more awkward.” He kissed her again and got to his feet. “But something that you told me is making me uneasy. I believe I’ll do some digging myself.”

“What?”

“It may be nothing. It’s just that all the years Beth Avery was growing up, the Avery family went to a hell of a lot of trouble keeping her out of view and away from anyone who might ask questions. She even spent most of her life in Europe.”

“So?”

“There’s nothing farther out of view than a mental hospital. Sandra said she was under heavy sedation.”

Eve inhaled sharply. “My God.” She felt sick as she saw where he was going. “They’d have to be monsters.”

“Yes, but we both know there are monsters out there.”

“She had an accident. Brain damage.”

“I’d like to see the accident report, talk to witnesses, and see the X-rays.”

“You’re jumping to conclusions.”

“I didn’t say I was going to do that yet. I’ll just put out feelers to see where I can put my hands on them.” He smiled recklessly. “You know what a suspicious bastard I am.”

Yes, she knew. Joe had been a cop too long to take anything at face value. He was always instinctively searching below the surface, probing, brushing away the lies until he glimpsed the truth. “I hope you’re wrong this time. I can’t imagine who could be that cruel, to condemn a woman for no reason to exist in a living hell like that for all those years.” She shuddered. “She was seventeen, Joe.”

“And everything Sandra was told might be true. I’ll fly out to Santa Barbara and see what I can find out. If it still doesn’t feel right to me, I’ll take the next step.”