Heart of Gold - B.J. Daniels Page 0,82

The evil sister. The one who was so horrible to her. Had it been Lacey and not Lindy?

“Or maybe Lacey killed her to get back at you,” he said. “After all, you chose her sister over her. That made Lindy your favorite. Not to mention the fact that you knew Lacey was living in that house and yet you let her remain in the basement, a secret.”

Kat’s eyes filled with fresh tears. “No, I don’t want to believe that.”

“You said you contacted Matt after the murder,” Charlie said. She needed to know the whole story and feared that Kat could make an escape at any moment.

Kat swallowed and nodded, swiping at her tears. “Matt told me that...” She hesitated as if not wanting to say it. “Lacey had a complete breakdown on her return. He said she’d had other problems before that. He hadn’t been able to control her. She would take off and be gone for weeks on end without any explanation.”

“Matt didn’t tell her she had a twin?” Charlie asked.

Kat shook her head. “He was afraid of what she might do. When he found out that she’d been living in our basement for a short while, he was shocked that she had somehow found out about us. Once I told him what I thought had been going on before the murder, he realized it explained the change he’d seen in his daughter. Before that, he thought she was just being a typical teenager.”

“You said she had a breakdown when she returned to Brazil after the murder?” Shep asked.

“Lacey was so hysterical after Lindy’s murder that...he had to have her institutionalized for her own safety. He blamed me of course for all of it. If I’d left Lindy with him...”

“That shouldn’t have come as surprise, given what you did,” Charlie said.

“When did you speak to him?” Shep asked.

“I was still in the hospital after the accident. Don’t you see? I’d lost everything, both daughters, my husband, everything.” She looked up, meeting Charlie’s gaze. “I couldn’t help myself, let alone you.”

Charlie knew that wasn’t the reason Kat hadn’t reached out to her, but she let it go. Kat looked as if she might break down again.

“You said he institutionalized Lacey?” Shep said. “Like in a mental hospital?”

Kat nodded.

“But now she’s out? She has to be out if she’s the one who is terrorizing Charlie again.”

It took Kat a moment to answer. “I heard a few weeks ago that Matt had been killed in an accident on a construction job. Apparently Lacey had been doing better so she was allowed to attend her father’s funeral with an attendant. The attendant was found unconscious with a head injury and Lacey was gone.”

“And we know where she turned up, don’t we?” Charlie shuddered at what the young woman was capable of doing. “Why me? Why wouldn’t she haunt you and your new daughter?”

But she didn’t wait for an answer because it came to her like a bolt of lightning. Her eyes filled with tears as she swung her gaze to Shep. “Because she blames me for her sister’s death. Which means she was there that night.”

“Clearly, all this hatred has little to do with you, Charlie,” Shep said quickly. “It’s misdirected.”

Kat clutched her purse. “I know what you both think of me. But I can’t change the past. If I could...” She rose again. “I have to go.”

“Not yet. What happened to Charlie’s doll? The one her father bought her?” Shep asked.

The woman blinked. “The doll? Oh, that doll. I forgot all about it. It was such a beautiful, valuable doll, I couldn’t leave it in that old house since I knew you wouldn’t be back for it, Charlie.”

“You couldn’t have gotten it to Charlie anytime over the years,” Shep asked.

“If it makes you feel any better,” Kat said, clearly ignoring him, “you aren’t the only one who’s been terrorized by my daughter. When you told me about the doll, I knew Lacey had been in my house. I’d noticed other things that had gone missing. Mostly money, jewelry, favorite things of mine. I thought I’d imagined it at first—just like that lingering scent of Lindy’s favorite perfume.” Kat bit her lip as if to hold back more tears. “It was Lindy’s favorite so of course Lacey would wear it.”

“She destroyed the doll and left it on my doorstep.”

Kat’s expression crumpled for a moment. “I’m sorry, I didn’t know the doll was missing from my room. But you’re not the only one she