Page 113 of Hidden Resolution

He grasped where she was going. “It may have been your sister.”

“I think so, and Billy was there. Or at least, I suspect he was. I remember seeing someone who looked like him from behind and thinking it was odd he wouldn’t greet me.” She shrugged, but still appeared bothered. “I told myself I must’ve been mistaken. But it was the same night you saw the woman. Your comment made me forget all about him.”

“They had to be working together,” he mused.

“On the GenCon ads?”

She didn’t want to see the connection regardless of the clues.

“Shonda, you said your mother ran out of money.”

“Yes, but Papa still makes sure she has everything she needs. He has the chain of restaurants and an old family fortune.”

He waited for her to get it. But when she did, her horror hit him in the stomach, right next to the fucking bullet wound.

“You once told me your mother was never there when you were growing up. And it was also the reason she and Nolan broke up,” he reminded her gently.

“Yes, she was gone so much of the time, he thought she was having an affair.” Pale and shaken, she met his steady gaze. “Do you think she was spending time with my sister?”

“It’s a strong possibility. It could also be why her house was set on fire while she was out of town. Because she needed the insurance payout.”

“This is insane,” she said, shaking her head.

“Agreed, but it doesn’t mean it’s not real.”

33

Shonda’s mind immediately rejected her mother’s involvement. Until she heard or saw any evidence directly, she may never believe it. Mason’s theory couldn’t be ignored outright, though, and it did need to be expanded upon. Still, a lot of things made sense now.

“This is insane,” she muttered again, jumping up to pace off her rising anxiety.

If her mother had raised them separately, it meant she’d planned to separate them when they were still in the womb. Was Shonda meant to go to her father? Was her mother trying to be fair by offering up one of the children? Perhaps after he’d stated he had no time to raise a baby—a constant complaint of Eva’s—her mother was forced to keep her and her sister apart. How could a twin be explained after the fact? How could Eva risk a visit between them? As a child, Shonda wouldn’t have been able to help herself, and she’d have blabbed about spending time with her sister.

But the truth was coming clear. As the years passed, her mother had become more distant, taking off for longer periods of time. By middle school, if Shonda saw her for one week a year, it was a lot. She’d essentially been raised by a slew of nannies.

Her father had continually thrown money at the situation, not seeing it as a problem. His business was his love, and he’d poured his heart and soul into building a multi-million-dollar enterprise with the name Luigi’s in big bold letters.

Allison Grant must be the missing link.

Had she been in on the scheme from the beginning, too? Her involvement was the only explanation for Billy’s attempt on Shonda’s life and the reason the sisters-in-law were “estranged” from before Shonda’s birth.

“They’d planned for me to disappear in St. Thomas and for my sister to take my place,” she concluded woodenly.

The truth was difficult to bear. Not only was she unloved, but she was an inconvenience.

“Theywerelooking for something in my room, Mason. My passport.”

Sapped of all energy, she feared her legs would no longer hold her upright. She collapsed on the recliner.

“What are you saying, love?”

“It wasn’t about the money. My mother could’ve gotten it from my father at any time. He loves her,” she said, warming to her theory. When Mason’s brows dipped, indicating his confusion, she said, “They intend for my twin to take my place. If I disappear, she could easily step in. It would give her access to my father’s millions, and she’d no longer live in the shadows.”

Mason was silent as he processed her theory.

“That’s diabolical,” he breathed.

“Yes, but brilliant. Since Papa tends to be self-absorbed, and we rarely see each other, they must believe he wouldn’t know the difference,” she reasoned. “With my passport, they intended to make me disappear and for my sister to transform into the new, improved Shonda Grant.”