Page 87 of The Ice Sisters

In her mind, she saw the sharp ridges. The drop-offs that Mommy warned her not to get close to.

He hit another rock, and she screamed again. They were crashing over the edge and into the mountains…

ONE HUNDRED SIX

FEATHERWOOD FARM

God dammit, the brat was yapping and screaming like a rabid old hound dog. He needed to snuff her out, but he wanted to take care of the last two at once. He also wanted Barbara to watch but he’d had no choice but to throw her aside before security caught him.

At least they didn’t know who he was. That lying bitch Barbara still hadn’t figured it out either.

Hell, the cops probably already had choppers in the air and roadblocks and state police at every border. Thankfully they had no idea where he was taking the girls.

Not to his house. He was smarter than that.

Instead, they’d die at the same hellish place where he’d grown up. Where he’d been thrown after his daddy died and he was yanked away from his home.

He jerked the steering wheel to the right, settling back on the curvy road with another curse. Nose diving the van into the ravine would surely kill the girl. It would kill him, too.

But he did not want to die. He wanted to live to see the agony on Barbara’s face when she realized it was her fault her daughters had died.

Finally, he reached his destination and swerved into the graveled drive.

He’d have to go back and get Barbara. Until then he’d keep the girls here in the hell hole where he’d spent his nights as a child.

ONE HUNDRED SEVEN

COAL MOUNTAIN HOSPITAL

Ellie addressed the head nurse. “How’s Barbara Thacker? Can we see her now?”

“She’s awake but in a fog from the pain meds,” the nurse said. “Thankfully the wound wasn’t too deep. Can you wait and talk to her tomorrow?”

“No,” Ellie said. “Lives may depend on what she has to say.”

Alarm streaked the nurse’s eyes. “Okay, but go easy on her. She has a severe concussion.”

Ellie didn’t know if she could hold back. Not when Barbara’s secrets might have gotten the girls killed. Not if she was an accomplice to kidnapping and possibly murder.

She and Derrick followed the woman to a patient room down the hall. When they entered, Barbara was lying beneath a blanket, her hair tangled across the pillow, her face as pale as the white bedding.

“Ms. Thacker, it’s Detective Ellie Reeves and Special Agent Fox. Do you know the reason we’re here?”

She gave a resigned sigh and nodded. “Did you find Ivy?”

“No, the man who abducted her escaped. Her mother and father are a wreck. Loretta wants to see you, but we need to ask you some questions first.”

Barbara squeezed her eyes shut for a moment, then opened them, tears swimming. “How much do you know?”

Ellie wanted to hear the truth from Barbara. Maybe she’d even kept things from Loretta. “Some, but not enough. Why don’t you tell us what happened? And start with how you met Loretta.”

Barbara clenched the blanket then explained about delivering a stillborn baby and meeting Loretta, Rosalyn and Claire in therapy, then confirmed that she’d given them her frozen embryos for implantation. She also confirmed that they made a pact to keep their secrets and to allow Barbara to be part of the girls’ lives. “It worked well for us,” Barb said. “Until… recently.”

“That must have been difficult for you, watching the girls grow up and hearing them call your friends Mommy. Did you ever want to renege on the deal and have them live with you?”

Barbara cut her eyes toward the wall for a second, then straightened. “It was difficult,” she admitted. “But the girls were happy and I couldn’t tear their families apart.”

Ellie’s jaw tightened. “What happened earlier today?”

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