Brady’s pleading gaze held Ava’s. He really cares about her. How had Jayne gotten to this rich, good-looking young man?
“She vanished, and she told me in the past to find you if she ever disappeared.”
Alarms went off in Ava’s head. “You better come in.”
3
Minutes after he’d arrived on her doorstep, Ava had Brady settled on a stool in her new kitchen, with a glass of iced tea in his hands. He sat at an island that was so big she had to stretch onto her toes to wipe its center. The contractor had measured how far Ava could reach before approving the island. He had a client who was annoyed with him that she had to climb on a chair to clean her island. He refused to make that mistake again.
Brady watched as she poured her own iced tea. “It’s so weird. You walk like her and move your head the same way.” He blew out a breath. “Her hair is the same color and length too.”
“That’s unusual,” Ava said as she took the stool beside him. “In the past she’s tried to keep her hair as different as possible. Blonde or purple. She’s always said brown is boring.”
“She was making a fresh start. We both were.”
Fresh start. How many times have I heard her say that?
“She’s a drug addict. She always will be. The same with you.”
“I know that . . . We both know that.”
“Who decided the two of you should leave the local clinic and go to Costa Rica?”
His shoulders slumped. “Me.”
Ava doubted that. Jayne was a master of manipulation. It would have been child’s play for her to convince Brady he’d come up with the idea when she’d planted it seed by seed in his brain. Ava knew Jayne had always wanted a lengthy tropical vacation. No doubt she had seen the possibility with Brady.
“You were married when you met my sister.”
He slumped more. “I was. But it was over before I entered the rehab clinic. I didn’t leave her for Jayne.”
Maybe true. Maybe not. But either way, Brady believed it now.
“The two of you decided you’d make more progress in Costa Rica at a different rehab clinic?”
“Yeah, but we checked out of there three months ago.”
Ava blinked. “Where have you been?”
“We’re living not far from the clinic. It’s really beautiful down there.”
“Your family was providing you with money to live in a foreign country?”
“It’s pretty cheap. We had a huge place with an ocean view for less than ten thousand a month.”
She swallowed. Brady was serious. To him that was cheap.
“When did she leave?”
“It’s been about two weeks.”
“What? And you’re just telling me now?” Ava tightened her grip on her glass of tea.
Not my problem. Jayne is not my problem.
Two decades of trying to help her sister had ripped holes in Ava. The scars were deep.
Jayne’s suicide attempt last year had nearly destroyed her.
Ava had to build a wall and keep it between the two of them, and Mason had done everything in his power to help.
“I thought she’d be back. She would take off for a few days sometimes, but she always came back.”
“Hang on.” Ava pulled out her phone and opened a locator app. After Jayne’s suicide attempt, she’d added her sister’s phone to the app without Jayne knowing. In the hospital, she’d used the facial recognition on Jayne’s phone to approve the addition.
Being a twin was good for some things.
Ava had checked the app once a month, noting that Jayne was still in Costa Rica. It’d given Ava some peace, but not much.
Right now the app couldn’t find Jayne.
Her phone was off.
“Where would she go?” This is the Jayne I know. Vanishing acts.
Brady shrugged, keeping his gaze on his tea. “I don’t know. She asked that I not talk to her about her disappearances. She was always clean when she came back. I could tell she hadn’t been using or drinking.”
Ava bit her tongue to stop from lecturing Brady on the characteristics of a healthy relationship. “What was she doing? Shopping? Have you checked your credit cards?” she asked bitterly. Jayne had run up huge debts with Ava’s cards multiple times.
“I got her some cards in her own name.” He finally met Ava’s eyes. “I looked. There’s no charges on hers or mine.”
“What about cash?” Ava asked as she searched her email. “Did she have access to a good amount of cash?”
“Of course.”
She jerked her gaze up from her phone. A deep line had formed between Brady’s brows, as if her question confused him.
How do people fall for her scams over and over again?
Shaking her head, she went back to her email and found what she was looking for. “My last email from her was four months ago.”
“I thought the two of you emailed every week. She always kept me up to date with what was going on with you.” He frowned at her stomach. “You don’t look pregnant—oh! I’m sorry!” He sat up straighter on his stool, looking stricken. “Did something happen—”
“I’m not pregnant and never have been,” Ava said dryly, wondering what other stories Jayne had made up about her to entertain Brady. “Give me a minute, please,” she said as she hit Zander’s number on her screen.
Special Agent Zander Wells was her closest friend at the Portland FBI office. If anyone could dig up information on Jayne, it would be Zander.
“Ben just asked me where you are,” Zander answered as a greeting to her call.
“Something’s come up.”
“What happened?” His tone sharpened. “You sound like shit.”
“Thanks a lot.” She paused. “Jayne has happened.” Her words sounded flat.
“She okay? Are you okay? It’s been quite a while . . . What did she do this time? Is she back from Costa Rica?”
Zander knew everything about her sister’s history.
Ava took a breath. “She’s missing. Brady Shurr is here and just told me she vanished about two weeks ago.”
Zander’s computer keys started to rapidly click. “When did you last hear from her?”
“Four months ago.”
The clicking stopped. “I’m sorry, Ava. I know how hard it is on you always waiting and wondering what will happen next.”
“Well, it’s finally happened, and now I can relax,” she joked, feeling tears start to burn in her eyes.
They weren’t tears for her sister; they were tears of release. The dark cloud of uncertainty hovering over her head since last fall had finally broken apart.
“There is no relaxing when it comes to your twin. We all know that. Let me see what I can find on her,” Zander said. “Do you have an address for her in Costa Rica? Or a cell phone number?”
Ava asked Brady for the information and relayed it to Zander.
“I’ll call you back in a few minutes,” Zander said, and ended the call.
Ava’s finger wavered over Mason’s number on her cell phone. Not yet.
She didn’t want to disturb him at work when she had essentially no information to share. He’d drop whatever he was working on. He understood better than anyone how Jayne could rip her up inside.