Her Final Confession

Chapter Thirteen

PRESENT DAY

Denton, Pennsylvania

Caroline Weber didn’t recognize the young boy in the photo from 2004 that had been pinned to James Omar’s body. Josie asked her to forward it to her mother and sister to see if they recognized the boy, but neither of them did. They did, however, get the names and phone numbers of Gretchen’s other family members to Josie fairly quickly. She and Noah split up the list and started making calls. None of the family members had heard from Gretchen; all agreed to accept a text message with the photo of the boy from 2004, but none recognized him.

It was nearly eleven at night, and they had hit a dead end.

Noah leaned back in his chair, stretching his arms up in the air and then lacing his fingers behind his head. “We should call it a night.”

“Her mother is still alive,” Josie said, ignoring his suggestion as she made notes in the file on her desk.

Without missing a beat, Noah said, “Her mother is in prison.”

“I can call the warden,” Josie said. “Ask that she be shown the photo. I don’t have to go there.”

“Yeah,” Noah said. “I don’t think going there would be the best idea.”

Gretchen’s mother was an inmate in the same prison that currently held Josie’s mother—or the woman who had kidnapped Josie from her real family and posed as her mother for her entire life. Lila Jensen was as evil and toxic as they came. Even advanced ovarian cancer couldn’t kill her. When she had been incarcerated after taking a plea deal on the multiple charges facing her, the doctors had given her three months to live. That was six months ago, and the bitch lived on. Josie wouldn’t have to see Lila Jensen if she went to visit Gretchen’s mother at the Muncy prison, but still, she didn’t want to be anywhere near her.

“Besides,” Noah added, “wouldn’t Gretchen’s mother have been incarcerated in 2004?”

Josie said, “There’s always the possibility that other members of her family kept in touch with her. The correctional facility would have a log of visitors and know how much correspondence she was getting and from whom. I know it’s a long shot, but I don’t think we should discount her so easily.”

She pulled up the warden’s number on her desktop computer and then picked up the phone. Noah stood, came around the desk, and placed a hand gently over hers. “I think you’re forgetting that it’s eleven o’clock at night.”

Josie looked up at him and opened her mouth to protest, but Noah spoke first. “I know. I already know that you don’t want to stop, but there’s nothing more we can do right this second. There’s already a BOLO out for Gretchen and her vehicle. If either one is located during the night, we’ll get a call. The warrants are out to the cell phone providers for both Gretchen and Omar’s phones. I did one for Gretchen’s bank account and credit cards too, so we can see if there’s been any activity. We’ll likely hear from them tomorrow, but not sooner than that. We can’t talk to the warden at Muncy or to James Omar’s family until tomorrow. We’ll start first thing in the morning. Now, let’s go get some disgusting minimarket sandwiches and go home.”

Noah, always the practical one.

Josie stood, a small smile playing on her lips.

Noah lowered his voice. “Why don’t you come home with me?”

His touch felt electric. Josie would love nothing more than to spend a couple of hours distracting them both from whatever was going on with Gretchen. She would love nothing more than to finish what they had started so many times in the last few months. As she opened her mouth to accept his invitation, her cell phone chirped on the table with a text message from Trinity.

We brought home some cake from the restaurant. Are you coming home?

Then came a photo of all four Paynes in Josie’s kitchen crowding around a birthday cake. They were all smiling. Her family. The family she’d always wished for growing up. The family she would have died to have during all those dark hours locked in the closet of Lila Jensen’s trailer. A pang in her chest set off a feeling of longing that vibrated like a tuning fork within her. She turned the phone to Noah so he could see the photo.

“I can’t tonight,” she murmured.

He looked only mildly disappointed, and the sentiment only registered for a split second. Then he smiled down at her. “You should be with them. We’ll have plenty of nights, you and I.”

Josie resisted the urge to kiss him. Not here, not in front of everyone. Instead, she simply said, “Thank you.”