Page 4 of Hunted

Sighing, Lexi stepped on it.

Chapter Three

DEA Agent Kira Waters was about to meet her half-sisters for the first time. She was nervous, which was weird, because she didn’t get nervous anymore.

She passed a boutique, and couldn’t help checking her reflection in the glass. Maybe she should’ve toned it down, just for today, she thought. Maybe she should’ve worn one of those stupid pantsuits her mother had bought her instead of leggings, over-the-knee-boots, and her signature biker jacket. But that would’ve clashed with the scarlet highlights in her short, dark auburn hair.

The coffee shop was just ahead. She told herself there was nothing to be nervous about as she tapped over the sidewalk, and finally through the doors out of the winter cold and into the café. She scanned the tables and spotted the women. Had to be them. Two blondes, one butterscotch, the other platinum, and a curly brunette. All three had long hair, making her self-conscious about her short cut.

The brunette glanced her way, saw her looking back, and nudged the others. They all smiled and got to their feet to greet her with awkward hugs.

“Toni Rio,” said the brunette.

Her face would’ve been familiar even if Kira hadn’t seen her picture. She was a bestselling author of true crime novels.

“You’re pretty well known around the DEA, Toni. I’m gonna get a lot of mileage out of being your sister.”

“And maybe I’ll get a little research out of being yours?” she said, lifting her brows, making it a question.

Kira laughed it off, and turned to the platinum blonde in the pretty yellow sundress, who had the tiniest baby bump ever. “You’re Cait,” she said.

“I am. So good to meet you, Kira.”

“You, too,” she said. Toni had told her on the phone that Cait was expecting. “When are you due?”

“Not until June,” Cait replied with a quick, raised-eyebrow look at the third woman, who had to be Joey.

Joey shook her head and said, “My intuition says mid-May.” Then, “Great to meet you, Kira.”

“You too, Joey.” Kira knew about this one. In addition to talking to Toni by phone, she’d researched all of them before coming to meet them. Of course she had. She was a cop, it’s what she did. Joey was a self-proclaimed psychic, and by all accounts, a pretty good one, though Kira didn’t believe in that sort of thing.

They all sat down, half-sisters with the same father, who’d only recently learned of each other’s existence. Kira ordered a coffee, and then there was a lot of getting-to-know-each-other chit-chat. Toni was the only one who’d been raised by the man who’d fathered them all, and Kira was full of questions about him, but about halfway through, she sensed there was something else on their minds, so she stopped talking, sipped her coffee, and looked at each of them, waiting.

Toni said, “There’s one more of us. And even with my resources, we haven’t been able to find her. We’re hoping you might be able to help.”

Kira frowned as Toni tapped her phone and handed it to her.

“She’s in danger,” Joey said. “I feel it right to my bones.”

Kira was looking at the photo of another half-sister. She’d inherited a little more of their father’s Latin blood, like Toni had, naturally brown skin and huge brown eyes. “She’s beautiful,” she said. “What’s her name?”

“Lexia Stoltz,” Toni said.

Kira’s head came up fast. “Doctor Lexia Stoltz?”

The other three nodded.

Kira looked across at Joey. “You’re right. She is in trouble.”

“What kind of trouble?” Toni asked. She looked like she’d jump into the middle of it without much provocation, whatever it was.

“The kind I can’t tell you about,” Kira said. The other three looked at her expectantly, almost willing her to say more, and she looked away, then back again, and felt compelled to tell them something. “She hasn’t done anything illegal or anything like that. But … the DEA is looking for her, too. And we’re not the only ones.”

The genius Dr. Elliot Stoltz had died in his sleep only three weeks after they’d arrived at the massive, Adirondack log cabin. Six months after that, Lexi was still there. She’d driven the U-Haul back to pick up her car, put the house on the market, and wrapped herself up in the cabin like a big warm blanket.

Her mother had loved the place, from what she remembered. It was odd how her most vivid memories of her mom were set there. And they were happy memories; blurry, sketchy, happy memories. But they comforted her.

Lexi had only been five when her mom had died. And her father had grown steadily colder and more hateful toward her every day since. Maybe he had been before, and her mother’s love had protected her from realizing it. Maybe she’d just been too young to remember.

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