Dead Ringer (9 page)

He
liked helping Kendall. He wanted to see her succeed. And he also felt confident
that no one would find him. He'd been very careful when he'd laid Jackie on the
bank. He'd not even stepped out of the flat-bottomed boat when he'd dropped her
body on the shore.

The
serious glint in Kendall's eyes told him she was frustrated by the police. She
wanted more and they weren't giving it to her. Pride burned inside him. He and
Kendall had much in common. In so many ways they were kindred spirits.

When
he'd first arrived in town, he'd written Kendall a couple of e-mails, via the
station's Web site. He had told her how much he liked watching her. She'd not
responded back. But he didn't really blame her.

This
time when he'd sent her a text message, she'd gotten right back to him.
Who
r u? How
do
u know this?
Satisfaction had burned
as he'd stared at the words.

Allen
considered sending another text but decided now wasn't the best time. Better to
stay under the radar for now.

Friday, January 11, 8:12
A.M

Sweat
dripped into Kendall's eyes as she simultaneously pumped on the elliptical
trainer and hit the rewind button on the remote. The CD in the TV mounted on
the wall clicked backward. The trainer was located in her basement. The space
remained unfinished, but the addition of track lighting had banished the gloom
and transformed the crude space from dank to suitable. It wasn't an optimal
place to work out but practical and efficient.

She
was near the end of her sixty-minute workout and felt a measure of satisfaction
as sweat rolled down her face. The pinch that always seemed to be in her
shoulder had eased somewhat and she felt good. Her mind drifted to the day
ahead. It was Saturday but she was going to work on the White story before she
had to report to the hospital for physical therapy on her shoulder. She was
looking at another month of PT before the docs pronounced her totally healed
from last summer's shooting.

Kendall
rubbed the scar on her shoulder before she replayed the broadcast from last
night. She watched as she interviewed neighbors and coworkers of White and
could see that she was
softer
than she had been last summer when she'd
covered the Guardian. The old Kendall would have gone for the interview with
Phil White, regardless of his grief. Mike certainly hadn't been happy when
she'd announced they were backing off for the day. But she'd been adamant.

She
pumped harder on the machine.

Ironically,
the viewers had loved her work. E-mail response had been tremendous. Though
there'd been nothing from her tipster. Despite a wave of unease, she'd sent him
another text message asking for an interview but doubted he'd respond.

Four
minutes remained in her workout when the front doorbell rang. "Damn." Nicole
hadn't gone to work yet and Kendall hoped she'd grab the door. An
obsessive-compulsive streak always kept her pushing as hard as she could until
she reached exactly sixty minutes.

She
listened hoping to hear the door open. The bell rang again. "She's in the
shower, I bet."

Kendall
started working faster, trying to will the clock to reach sixty minutes. She
wanted to finish the workout before the visitor rang again. Three minutes and
twelve seconds to go. Two more rings sounded from the upstairs hallway.

"Damn."
She hit
STOP
on the machine and climbed down.
She shut off the TV and grabbed a towel draped over a nearby table. She climbed
the steps to the first floor.

The
doorbell rang again.

"I'm
coming!" Kendall hurried down the center hallway. She glanced out the side
window and saw a familiar face. As she opened the door, cool air chilled her
overheated skin and she shivered.

"Ms.
Shaw?" The grinning man standing on her front porch was medium build and looked
to be in his late thirties, early forties. He wore painter's pants, a white
sweatshirt, and a thick army jacket. Dark graying hair framed a rounded,
pleasant face.

"Todd
Franklin!" The carpenter she'd been waiting for.

He
tipped his head forward.
"Yes, ma'am."

She
clapped her hands together. "Thank God. I didn't think you'd ever come. Please
come inside."

Todd
wiped his feet off on the front porch mat and came into the foyer. "Sorry I'm a
few days late. My job on the south side just took longer than I expected. You
find all kinds of problems when you're renovating."

"Please
don't say that," she said. "We're thinking only positive thoughts when it comes
to this renovation."

He
laughed. "I'll do my best." He glanced at her sweat-stained jog top. "Did I
interrupt your workout?"

"No
worries." He was the one interruption she would surrender time on the machine
for. She moved down the hallway. "My roommate gave you the grand tour last
month. You remember, Nicole?"

"I
sure do. She was a big help."

"I'm
sorry I couldn't be here.
New job.
My first few months
were pretty hectic."

"Oh,
I know how it is. I see you on TV sometimes."

Kendall
had learned long ago not to ask viewers what they thought about her broadcasts.
Negative reviews had a tendency to chew on her. "It's always good to be
working."

"True
enough."

"Let
me show you the kitchen."

"Great."
He followed behind her. "That roommate of yours--Nicole--did she have that baby
yet?"

She
crossed into the kitchen and pulled bottled water from the fridge. "Not yet.
Still has about three or four weeks to go.
Water?"

"No, thanks."
Todd glanced around the kitchen. "I reckon
she'll make a good mama."

He
unwittingly stumbled to the edge of an emotional minefield that Kendall had no
desire to enter. She let the comment drop. "Well, as you can see, the kitchen
is still as awful as it was when you first saw it. Frankly, I believe it's a
lost cause, but the designer assures me that you can do miracles."

"I'll
make it just the way you like it," he said.

He
possessed a confidence she liked. And he'd come with excellent references, so
for now she was ready to turn the job over to him. "Bless you." She opened a
cabinet drawer. The contents were neatly organized and she found a spare key
easily. "Here's a key to the house. While you're working, I'll just leave the
alarm off."

"Yes, ma'am."
He put the key on his own ring. "First day or
two
it's
gonna be a terrible mess in here. And the
demolition will be noisy."

"It'll
be worth the sacrifice." She clapped her hands together, more excited than
she'd been on any Christmas morning. "So, you are going to start today?"

"I
am."

"Then
I'll leave you to it?"

He
nodded. "Go on and do what you need to. I've got it from here. I'll be in and
out of the house a lot, dragging in tools, so expect to hear the door opening
and closing. Mind if I work tomorrow?"

"Not at all."
Kendall went upstairs and laid out her
clothes. Her selection included a pencil-thin black skirt, a Bolero jacket,
sheer black stockings, and high-heeled shoes. The sooner she dressed the sooner
she could get to work on her Jackie White story. Brett felt the story would
play out quickly. But she wasn't so sure. She'd backed off talking to Phil
White yesterday, but today she'd do her best to get hold of him.

Nicole
appeared in the doorway as Kendall pulled a silk blouse from her closet.
Freshly blown-dry hair brushed Nicole's shoulders and an aqua empire shirt
covered her belly and grazed a pair of maternity jeans. "That the contractor I
hear moving around downstairs?"

"The one and only.
I hope he gets the job done
quickly. I'm so over contractors."

Nicole
nodded. "Big day planned?"

"No
bigger than usual." Kendall took a second glance at Nicole. "You're all dressed
up."

She
exhaled a deep breath and smoothed her hand over her belly. "I'm headed to the
adoption agency today. I have an appointment with a counselor."

Kendall
directed her full attention at Nicole. "How are you doing with that?"

Nicole's
eyes watered. "Honestly? I'm scared."

Kendall
dropped the blouse in her hand onto the bed. She had a million things she
wanted to get done today and yet she heard herself saying, "Do you want me to
come with you?"

Nicole's
face brightened. "Would you?
God, that
would help a
lot."

"When's
your appointment?"

"An hour."

"I'll
be ready in thirty minutes."

"You're
the best."

Kendall
crossed the room and hugged her. "Just don't let it get around that I can be
nice. I've a reputation to uphold."

Nicole
laughed and swiped a tear. "I promise."

Thirty
minutes later, Kendall headed down the main staircase dressed and ready to go.
Drop cloths now covered the kitchen floor and partway into the hallway.
Sporadic bursts of banging hammers sounded from the kitchen. She sighed. She
didn't like people in her house. She valued privacy. But if she wanted a new
kitchen, sacrifices were required.

She
found Nicole in the living room. She had her coat on and was tapping her foot.
Seeing Nicole like this turned Kendall's mind to the woman who'd given her up. Had
her own birth mother been this nervous when Kendall had kicked in her belly and
she'd thought about giving her up?

A
jolt of sadness rocketed through Kendall and it took an effort to shake it off.
She was starting to believe that her reasons for helping Nicole weren't as pure
as she'd first thought. Maybe understanding and knowing Nicole would help her
understand her own birth mother.

Kendall
grabbed her coat and slipped it on. Between hammer strikes, she shouted, "Todd,
we're outta here!"

"Will
do, Ms. Shaw!" he shouted without even looking out of the kitchen. "I'll see
you tomorrow!"

Kendall
and Nicole exited the front door and moved down the narrow alleyway beside the
house to the garage in back. They each got in their own cars and soon Kendall
was following Nicole toward Monument Avenue. Minutes later they walked together
toward a nondescript stone building with a wrought-iron railing around a small
grassy yard. Five steps led to a covered porch and a black lacquered door that
had a tarnished brass knocker in the center. A brass sign by the front door
read
SERENITY
FAMILY SERVICES
.

Nicole
swallowed as she stared up the steps toward the door. "They've come highly
recommended."

"I
know." Kendall smiled. "I checked."

"You
did?"

"I've
got lots of connections. They come in handy."

"And
you heard all good things, like I did?" Hope and fear wove around the words.

Kendall
met her gaze head-on.
"All good.
I would have told you
if I'd heard anything squirrelly." She hooked her arm into Nicole's. "Let's see
what they have to say."

Nicole
pressed her hand to her belly. "Okay."

They
climbed the steps.

The
adoption counselor's office was designed for comfort, Nicole noted. Shag
carpet, pale blue walls, pictures of happy kids and families, bookshelves lined
with every book on child psychology and adoption ever written. There was even a
basket full of stuffed animals and toys in one corner.

But
she didn't feel the least bit comfortable. She felt as if she were being
pricked by a thousand pins and needles. And she felt like a failure and a
quitter. Logically, she understood that adoption was a good, sound decision.
A loving decision.
But logic and emotion didn't always
agree.

The
counselor, Carnie Winchester, rose and immediately came out from behind her desk
to greet Nicole and Kendall. Carnie was medium height, had shoulder-length red
wavy hair and a peaches-and-cream complexion. Hip-hugger jeans, a fitted
T-shirt, and a collection of beaded bracelets on her left wrist gave her a
Bohemian look. Everything about Carnie belied Nicole's image of an adoption
counselor. For some reason, she'd expected a matronly woman, not a woman so
close to her own age.

"Nicole,"
Carnie said as she extended her hand. Her voice was soft and soothing. "It's a
pleasure to meet you."

Nicole
took her hand. "Thank you. Wow. I didn't realize you were so young."

Carnie
smiled. "I'm sorry I'm so casually dressed but I've got my teens' support group
meeting tonight and don't have time to go home and change. We'll be playing
dodgeball."

Nicole
could picture Carnie with the kids and bet she was good with them. "No problem.
I'd like you to meet my friend Kendall Shaw."

Kendall
put out her hand. She looked positively regal and very out of place here. "It's
nice to meet you."

Carnie
didn't hide her surprise when she met Kendall's gaze head-on. "I watch you
every night. You're great."

"Thank
you," Kendall said.

"You've
really added some life and glamour to the station."

"Thank
you." Kendall accepted the compliment with ease. She was never arrogant, always
gracious. She reminded Nicole of a queen.

Kendall
lifted a brow. "May we sit?"

That
was something else about Kendall that Nicole admired. She had a way of
politely, but definitively, directing the people around her.

"Of
course," Carnie said.

Nicole
and Kendall settled on the couch and Carnie sat across from them in an
overstuffed chair, tucking one of her legs under her.

Kendall,
looking so smooth and sleek, crossed her legs. Nicole struggled to get
comfortable. The baby had chosen this moment to sit on her bladder and her
swollen feet felt as if they were overflowing her shoes. When she did finally
get comfortable, she suddenly found that she was at a loss for words. What did
a woman say when she was considering giving away her own flesh and blood?