Page 44 of Not Our Daughter

“Then who really killed my mother?”

“We don’t know. The police never focused their investigation on anyone but us. And although we tried, there was nothing we could do to change that narrative without potentially exposing ourselves. We never wanted to risk losing you. We felt we had no choice but to hide all these years.”

Jade took a deep breath, trying to process all this new information. She was angry about being lied to her entire life. She felt a sudden lack of identity. Who was she anymore? But if what her mother was telling her was true, her parents had also sacrificed everything for her. Family, careers, home. There was no telling what else. They’d given up their whole lives to make sure she was safe and okay. She sighed, shook her head. She desperately wanted this to be true. Her mother had always been her best friend. She couldn’t handle the thought of losing her. But she really didn’t know what to feel right now.

“So how did the FBI find us?” she asked.

Her mom resisted answering her question.

“Tell me,” Jade insisted.

“Your father had set up an offshore account under a different name and put a lot of money in it when we left Austin all those years ago. We never touched it. Until yesterday.”

Jade’s mouth dropped. “My surgery?”

Her mom nodded. “We think they must’ve been tracking it this whole time.”

Jade cursed. Something she’d never done in front of her mom before. But she didn’t care right now. “So this is all happening because of me and my stupid back?”

“No, Jade, it’s happening because of all of us. We’re a family.”

Jade gritted her teeth. If it weren’t for her back, none of this would’ve happened. Everything would still be normal. This wasn’t fair. She wished she could go back and hide how much pain she was dealingwith every day. Then maybe her dad wouldn’t have touched the money. Jade suddenly thought about her dad, felt a catch in her throat. “But Mom, the news is saying Dad shot and killed a police officer last night.”

“It’s not true. Dad would never do something like that.”

“Then why’re they saying it?”

“We honestly don’t know what’s going on. Another man is involved. I’ll tell you more, but we should get back to the van. Your dad is probably waiting on us and freaking out.”

They stood, but Jade didn’t move. She began to tear up again. Her emotions were running all over the place. She could barely control them. And while she was angry at her parents, the one thing she wanted more than anything right now was to be held by her mother. She desperately wanted to feel safe. And her mom had always been her safety net.

“What is it?” her mom asked.

“It’s just ... I love you, Mom.”

Her mom embraced her.

“I love you, too. More than anything.”

Thirty-Three

Cole fell flat on his face just inside the department store entrance. What the hell had just happened? He’d heard a loud boom in the parking lot, and then the glass door next to him had shattered. He pushed himself up, looked back. Was it lightning? That didn’t make any sense. He would’ve felt the surge of electricity. Had the police just shot at him? Did they know he was running inside the mall? He stepped back toward the broken glass door and took a quick peek outside. His eyes first went to the police scene. It didn’t look like anyone from that direction was headed his way. Then his eyes shifted left. And that’s when he felt a punch to the gut. Across the parking lot, he spotted the stocky guy. He couldn’t believe it. The guy was here in El Paso. And he was running through the parking lot, straight toward Cole. How was this possible? How had the guy been able to track them all the way here from Winter Park?

The answer didn’t matter right now. Finding his girls and staying alive mattered. Cole spun around and took off running, threading through a group of shoppers who had come over to check out the ruckus around the glass doors. While he didn’t want to cause a disturbance, Cole couldn’t get himself to slow to a brisk walk. The panic wouldn’t let him. So he just dismissed all the stares, shifted in and around thedepartment store sections, and once again found himself entering the main mall corridor. He briefly stopped there to get his bearings. If his wife and daughter were inside the mall, where would they have gone? His only thought was they’d come inside to search for him. And if they knew he was looking to buy phones, they would’ve probably gone to the same upstairs electronics store he’d just left.

He took off down the corridor, this time trying to temper his speed; otherwise, all the stares would likely place a target on him. Would the stocky guy start shooting in the middle of a shopping mall? Cole didn’t want to find out. He reached the escalator and began impatiently jostling his way around people on the way up. Reaching the top, he turned to look down behind him toward the entrance of Dillard’s, searching for the stocky guy. There was no sign of him yet. But then he cursed. He spotted Lisa and Jade hurrying past the escalators back toward Dillard’s. They were headed straight into the killer’s path. He had to stop them. But he didn’t want to yell out and draw attention to them. He jumped onto the descending escalator and began aggressively pushing his way down, repeatedly saying, “Excuse me, sorry,” and drawing annoyed glares.

Reaching the lower level again, he hustled down the corridor after his girls. Cole grabbed both Lisa and Jade by the arms from behind, startling them.

“Cole?” Lisa said. “What’re you—”

“This way!” he said. “Hurry!”

He yanked them both to the right.

“What is happening?” Lisa said. “We have to talk to youright now.”

“Dad, stop!” Jade said, pulling back.

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