“As I said before, we moved to a small town in South Carolina. Then years later my parents split up.”
“Because of what had happened?”
Pine played with her paper napkin. “I always assumed that was the reason. They argued constantly. It was about a lot of things, but Mercy’s name kept coming up.”
“What happened after that?”
“I chose to live with my mom. We stayed in South Carolina and my dad lived nearby. Then that all changed.”
“How so?”
“I was just about to start high school when my mother told me we were moving.”
“Moving where?”
“She didn’t tell me until the movers came. We ended up going to Texas.”
“Did she say why?”
“Not really.”
“And did you ever learn where you were actually born? Britta was very clear that you were not born here.” She paused and added, “I was very surprised by that—but don’t worry, I didn’t let her see that.”
Pine looked at Blum, easily reading her thoughts. “I know where I was born. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you that before.”
“You have the right to keep your private information private, Agent Pine. But I hope you know that anything you do tell me will be kept in the strictest confidence.”
“I know that, Carol.” She paused, marshalling her thoughts. “I was born in New York. They didn’t tell me that. I only knew because I had to apply for a passport when I was in college. I was into Olympic-style weightlifting and I had to travel overseas for competitions. I remember looking at my birth certificate, which I needed to get a passport. I had asked my mom for it. I just sat there staring at the piece of paper for the longest time. You see, up to that point I’d always thought I’d been born in Georgia. I really had no recollection of living in New York.”
“Well, since Britta believed you moved here when you were around two, it’s not surprising you have no memory of New York.”
“I asked my mom about it. She just sort of blew it off. Said of course I was born there and that we had moved to Georgia later. She said she had told me, but I don’t think I would have forgotten that.”
“No, I don’t think you would have.”
“It was tough moving to Texas right before I started high school. I’d made some friends, now I was starting from scratch.” She paused. “My dad wasn’t around anymore. I rebelled. I started binge drinking. Did some shoplifting. Smoked some weed. The police got called in. I was definitely going down a bad path.”
“What happened to turn you around? Your mom?”
“No, it wasn’t her. I mean, she tried to talk sense into me, but I wasn’t prepared to listen. I was too upset with her for moving and my dad not being around. And I was really missing Mercy. I felt alone, I guess.”
“So, what happened then?”
“This is going to sound stupid.”
“I’ve seen a lot of life. So try me.”
“There was a little carnival where we lived. It had a fortune-teller. I got my fortune read. I don’t know why. Anyway, the lady told me something.”
“What was that?”
“She felt my palm and said she sensed two heartbeats in me, not one. And she told me she thought I knew why.”
Blum sat back. “Mercy?”
Pine nodded. “It was like a switch got turned on inside me. I hit the books, started playing sports, worked my ass off to—”
“—live your life and live your sister’s life for her?”
“Something like that,” Pine said in a pained voice. “And in the interest of full disclosure, I came home from college one summer and my mother had gone. There was a note to me saying that she basically had to move on. She left enough money for me to live off and to pay for the rest of my education. I haven’t seen her since.”
“My God,” said a visibly distressed Blum. “She just…abandoned you?”
“Well, since I was an adult, legally that wasn’t the case. But in every other aspect of the word, yes, she abandoned me. I called the police and filed a missing persons report, but there’s no law against an adult going away voluntarily. There was no evidence of any foul play.”
“But still, you must have been crushed.”
“I was, for a long time. I looked for her, of course. Then when I became an FBI agent, I looked harder, all in my spare time. I still came up with zip. I keep looking periodically,