Ripples by Aleatha Romig

Author:Aleatha Romig [Romig, Aleatha]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Romig Works LLC
Published: 2017-10-31T07:00:00+00:00

Chapter 16

Our prime purpose in life is to help others. And if you can’t help them,

at least don’t hurt them. ~ Dalai Lama

Taylor Roach watched the young woman from afar. Though the woman across the cafe resembled Natalie Rawlings, that was the extent of it. She wasn’t her twin. She was at least two inches shorter and she always wore her hair in the same ponytail. She was attractive, but didn’t have the beauty of Tony and Claire’s daughter. All three of their children were beautiful or handsome, but there was innocence about Natalie, a naiveté that radiated from her like an aura.

If Taylor were to be reflective, Natalie had possessed that quality all of her life. And then there was her flair.

Taylor recalled Nat’s creativity and style. Her hair and clothes were always changing, reflecting her mercurial personality. Some days she even changed them five or six times. Taylor and Phil would joke that she wasn’t even aware that she did it, but they saw it as her unspoken barometer. Taylor couldn’t recall Nat ever wearing the same hairstyle for weeks on end or the same style of jeans and sweaters as this woman did.

The woman lifted her gaze toward Taylor and nodded as she slipped the small recently purchased cell phone into the rubbish container.

Taylor waited until the woman exited the cafe before following her onto the street.

With the late winter breeze whipping their hair in knots, Taylor met her eye-to-eye and asked, “Do you have your instructions for the next text?”

“No,” Diane said. “But I’ve been giving this a lot of thought, and I think I need to stop. I’ll tell him and you that I quit.”

Taylor smiled as Phil came up beside her.

“And lose your double pay?” Phil’s hazel eyes squinted. “I’d give that more thought if I were you. I mean, you still have the debt that got you into this in the first place. And your sister isn’t getting any better.”

Diane shook her head. “But Mr. Sawyer made it clear that I couldn’t tell anyone about this. He said if I did...you don’t understand. He’s—”

“Intimidating,” Taylor said, interrupting the speech she’d heard too many times. “As we mentioned, our employer is also intimidating.”

Phil grinned. “Yes, my money is on ours. And once we find yours, he won’t stand a chance. And you can stop with the ‘Mr. Sawyer.’ We know that’s an alias.”

Diane shook her head. “Listen, I don’t know anything. It’s the only name he’s given me. I just answered an ad.”

“We’ve heard it all before,” Phil said. “Don’t worry about it. Keep making the text messages he tells you to make. At this point, the people to whom you’re sending them know that it’s not their daughter texting. They also know we’re zeroing in on her location.”

“I didn’t have anything to do with her disappearance.”

Taylor tilted her head. “Diane, that isn’t true. You didn’t take her, but you pretended to be her. You lied to the German border patrol. You’re not innocent.”

“But I never even saw her.

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