wanted to engage in a long, ugly custody battle, one that would take months to resolve, he had to let Kristin go. If she wasn’t currently drinking, his grounds would be shaky, at best.
“You didn’t have to leave like that, Kristin,” he said bleakly. “How long would you have gone without a word if Cass hadn’t picked up your trail?”
“I’m sorry.” The words sounded choked. “But you would have tried to talk me out of it and I thought . . . I’d planned to call once I had a job lined up.”
His throat clogged. Staring blindly at the wall of his office, he cleared it. “Daily phone calls from now on. And I’m going to want to be able to speak to Tucker.”
“I can do that. It’s just until I earn enough money for school. A couple years maybe. And Atlantic City is only about an hour from Philadelphia.”
“You’ve got it all figured out.” His attempt at lightness fell flat.
“I’m trying to anyway.” Kristin’s laugh was shaky. “About time, don’t you think?”
After another minute in which the conversation seemed to grow more strained, Nate made his excuses and hung up. Then stared at the phone in his hand, his chest tight. He’d never minded stepping in to offer a helping hand when his sister needed it. And although taking on the raising of Tucker for a couple years had meant a major life and attitude adjustment for him, it had become his new normal. And it hadn’t hurt that Tucker, despite the challenges presented by his disability, was so great to be around.
Now apparently it was time to see how he was at stepping aside when that helping hand was no longer needed. Or wanted.
Drawing a deep breath, he dialed Cass’s landline number to tell her thanks. And that she could stop looking for Kristin.
Because Risa felt a measure of guilt for lying to Nate about where she was going, she assuaged it by making a point of swinging by both the hospital and Jerry’s first. And then, a couple hours later, she headed to her intended destination.
Carly Williams answered the door and looked at her without enthusiasm. “You again.”
“I’m sorry to bother you.” Risa flashed a smile that wasn’t returned. “I wondered if you’d remembered anything else about your sister, Tory, that might be helpful.”
“Look, I told you two everything I knew yesterday. Now I’ve got grandkids to lay down for naps and a house to clean, so if there’s nothing else . . .” She made to close the door.
“Actually, there is,” Risa said quickly. “Would you happen to have any pictures of your nephew? Sam Baltes.”
The woman screwed up her brow. “You mean when he lived here?”
“No, after he was grown. You’d indicated you saw him some after he got out of foster care.”
But Williams was shaking her head. “No, I don’t have anything like that. He was like a stranger when he came round after he got older. Didn’t have any reason to be snapping photos of him.”
“Would you mind looking at these sketches?” She handed her a sheet taken from the legal pad she’d drawn on last night. “Does either of these two men look familiar?”
Impatiently, the woman snatched it from her, glanced at it. Then she stared harder at the sketches of Jett Brandau and Darrell Cooper. “Who’s the artist? You? That’s a fine likeness there. Other than the hair color, you caught Sam darn near perfectly.”
“Darrell Cooper is Sam Baltes?” Stunned surprise sounded in Nate’s words.
“That’s what his aunt claims.” Risa lowered her cell phone for an instant as she slowed to make room for the moron in the next lane intent on cutting in front of her. A moment later she resumed the conversation. “Which means he’s donned another identity for some purpose. Probably that of the guy found burnt to death in his car.”
“Slow down,” he cautioned. “It might have been a case of his aunt making the wrong identification at that time.”
“And he decided to leave the Sam Baltes ID behind because the opportunity arose?” A mental fragment from the last two dreams flashed across her mind. Of the young blond boy racing down the street with Juicy. Of the image of the boy melding, transforming, into Darrell. There wasn’t a doubt in her mind. But she knew without his saying a word that Nate would take much more convincing.
“I need Darrell’s address.” She checked her rearview mirror and took the next exit.