“Rox,” he called.He tossed her the keys to the rental.“Go on ahead.I’m going to see if I can help.”
It was what he did.He might not have the inside track on anything like Lexie’s boyfriend or sway with the legal system like Maxie’s, but he knew his way around engines.
His eyes narrowed, though, when he neared the sedan.Well, didn’t that just take the cake?
The driver recognized him at the same time that he recognized her, and her eyes widened.When he gave the universal signal to roll down her window, she seemed hesitant.
He raised his voice instead.“Pop the hood.”
“He’s a mechanic.”Roxie was suddenly at his side.“A good one.”
The mousy clerk finally rolled down her window.Her lips were flat with worry, and she smoothed her monotone hair back into its clip.“It’s been acting up on me lately.”
Billy moved to the front of the car.“Let’s take a look.”
Fumbling under the steering wheel, the clerk finally found the latch.She got out of the car as he started looking over everything.Moving to stand next to Roxie, she folded her arms over the taupe raincoat she wore.Everything about the woman was plain and colorless from her hair to her clothes to her car.
Next to Roxie, she practically disappeared.
Still, Billy kept an eye on both of them as he started going over the engine.
“I’m Carol.Sorry about Mr.Fenton,” she said to Roxie.
“He seems like a real douche.”
The clerk blushed and glanced up at the window to her office.
“He is,” she whispered conspiratorially.“Still, we have to work under some pretty strict rules.Process and confidentiality are important, especially when abuse or neglect are present.Sometimes people are separated for good reason.”
Billy watched Roxie.She turned a bit pale at that statement.
“I suppose.”She shivered and hurried to put on her boots again.“That’s why I’m trying to figure out what happened.”
Carol rubbed her arms.“Is it true what you said up there?That identical triplets were separated?”
“Mmm hmm.”Swinging her purse off her shoulder, Roxie pulled out a folder.Thumbing through it, she finally found a photograph.It was of her, Maxie, and Lexie in Indigo Falls.There weren’t any pictures of them together as kids.
Carol took the picture, careful to hold it by its edges.“Oh my.You do look alike.”
“And we have the DNA to prove it.”Roxie waved another piece of paper, but then her shoulders slumped.“I was hoping we could find out more information about why we were split up or where we came from.”
“I’m sorry.There are limits to what we can share and when.”Carol chewed on her lower lip.“I’d have to see the 19-SS/A to determine what information we could provide.”
Roxie sighed.“Fenton doesn’t seem interested in getting me what I need.He just wants to know who dropped the ball.”
“Would it help if I looked into things this afternoon?”
“Help?”Roxie immediately perked up.“That would be great.”
Billy braced his hands against the car’s grill.“I don’t have any tools with me.”
“I think my husband has some in the trunk.”Carol hit a button on her key fob to unlock the back end.
The tools Billy found were rudimentary, but he’d made do with less.
Carol passed the picture back to Roxie and glanced again at the fourth-floor window.“When did you say you were separated?”
“My sisters were adopted twenty-six years ago.They were two years old at the time.Why?”
