Read Chapter One of Imperfect Harmony…

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CHAPTER ONE

ROWAN

Rowan crouched in front of the children with tears flowing from her eyes. There was no longer any doubt in her mind that the young girl was Jessica’s child. And that meant Jessica hadn’t died the night she disappeared.

Had someone taken her? Was she still alive?

Before Rowan could ask the young girl any further questions, Ms. Opal came over to take control of the situation.

“I hope you’re happy with yourself,” she said in a scolding tone. “You just had to come up here and upset these kids.”

She removed the little boy’s hand from covering his sister’s mouth and pulled them to their feet. She had the children stand protectively behind her, and the little girl peeked around her skirt.

Rowan was confused by the woman’s shocked reaction. “You heard her, right? You heard her say that Jessica is her mother.”

Ms. Opal looked at her as if she had lost her mind. “All I heard was Xavier tell you no and try to protect his sister.”

“By covering her mouth so she can’t speak? That’s protecting her?” It didn’t even make any sense. The little boy was obviously in control of his sister, and he was the one who had probably told her not to speak to anyone in the first place.

“You can’t just force yourself into their home and into their room and scare them like this. I want you out of this house right now. Lord help you.”

“He said no because she spoke,” she tried to explain. She looked to the door where Tyler towered. “You were right there. You had to have heard it.”

“Well, I didn’t. And I’m not telling you again.” She glared at Rowan with hard, black eyes and pointed to the door. She was like a stone wall when it came to something she felt passionately about.

As stubborn as she was, it only made Rowan want to protest even more.

Tyler came forward and placed his hand on her shoulder. “Come on, Rowan. You heard her. It’s time to go.” She glanced at him to see his lip was busted. His mood had changed as well, and he was no longer empathetic to her.

She got to her feet and gave Ms. Opal a pleading look. “Did you really not hear her? How could you not? Are you serious?”

She had never known the woman to lie, but now she was questioning everything.

“Enough, Rowan,” she said. “Go!”

“But—” She barely got the word out before Tyler took her by the arm.

“Stop, Rowan,” he said. “That’s enough for now. Let’s go.”

Rowan tried to get him to see reason. “But she recognized her as her mother. He only said no to keep her from speaking. That’s why he had his hand over her mouth.” She looked down at the little boy. “Tell her. Tell her what she said. You two have to tell the truth. We can help you.”

Xavier stared at her with angry eyes as his little chest quickly rose and fell in rapid succession. The little girl, who Rowan had just discovered was named Ava, was a mess of tears and deep sobs.

“You need to leave before I decide to press charges,” said Ms. Opal, who clearly didn’t want to hear anything coming out of her mouth. “And you are not welcome in this house again.”

Rowan glanced over to see that Logan was watching from the hall. He was red faced and disheveled from the tussle with Tyler, and he wore a look of confusion.

“I have a recording,” she said, taking the phone from the floor. “Listen to it first. Please.”

“I will not listen to you anymore. Get out!” Ms. Opal’s tone told her that she was done. And no amount of arguing was going to change that.

She was just about to get the recording to play when Tyler dragged her to the door. “Let’s go before I’m forced to arrest you,” he muttered in her ear. “Please.”

She went along with him, giving him a pleading look as they followed Logan back downstairs. Tyler didn’t stop until he had removed her from the house.

“Surely, you heard it,” she said once they hit the front yard. “You saw the little boy. He will not let her talk. You have to get them separated. There has to be something that will convince the girl to speak.”

“What happened?” asked Logan. “She really knew Jessica?”

He seemed to be the only one who was going to believe her, so she turned her attention to him. “Yes. She did. She took one look at the photo, said ‘mama,’ and the little boy screamed at her for speaking up. He covered her mouth. But she said it, listen.”

“Maybe because it wasn’t their mother,” said Tyler. “And he knew it wasn’t.”

“No. I saw the recognition in her eyes. She knows Jess. I could tell.” She fumbled with the phone but was shaking so badly that she couldn’t get anything to work right.

“I believe you,” said Logan. “But what do we do now?”

“The investigation can be reopened, right?” She looked at Tyler for him to agree. This was big evidence. Bigger than anything they had gotten before. This was what they had been waiting for. Now was the time to act.

Tyler let out a sigh and shook his head. “All I know is, you took things way too far in there. And my father is going to want more than a complaint from Ms. Opal and a voice recording that he will believe you’re taking out of context to reopen anything.”

Was he saying that what she had learned was no good? How could that be? “But they know her. There’s so much proof.”

“It’s not good enough. It’s not solid. No judge is going to see it that way.”

She turned to Logan. “You have to believe me. This is what I went in there for.”

Tyler shot Logan a pointed look. “He needs to get back to work, and you need to go, Rowan. Now.” Tyler was done asking. “Come on. I’ll drive you to your car. I’ve got to get myself cleaned up.” He glanced at Logan. “You’re lucky I don’t arrest you for assaulting a cop.”

“I only did it to give her a distraction, you dick. You know you’re just pissed you didn’t think about it first. That and because I kicked your ass.” Logan wasn’t backing down from Tyler.

“You need to walk away while you can,” Tyler said to his former best friend. “I took it easy on you only because I knew it was a ruse. But next time, I won’t be so considerate. Next time, I’ll throw you in a cell.”

“That’s enough,” said Rowan. “Will someone listen to me? I feel like I’m talking to myself. Do you hear what I said? That little girl is Jessica’s daughter. Her fucking daughter. I knew it the moment I saw her. The anklet, the dimples, it’s her. It’s proof she didn’t die the way your father believes she did. It’s proof she may still be out there.”

Logan looked like he didn’t know what to do. “Just do what he says, Rowan. I’ll get with you later. But for now, I’ve got to get back to work before she calls my uncle and I get shit-canned over this.”

She didn’t want to get anyone in trouble, and while she felt like she had proved something, no one else was as enthused about the earth-shattering news. “I have the recording,” she said. “Don’t you want to hear it?”

Logan gave her an apologetic look. “I’ll call you later.” He suddenly looked tired of the whole situation.

Tyler shook his head as if he didn’t like that idea. “No need to call her. She can play it for me while I drive her back to her car. You can stay out of it.”

Logan walked away, shaking his head.

She hit the play button on the recording, but Logan was already too far away to hear. “Listen to that. You can hear it plain as day.”

“Car. Now.” Tyler took her by the arm and led her around to the passenger’s side as Logan disappeared around the house to the backyard.

She got into the truck and buckled up.

When Tyler was settled next to her, his nostrils still flaring from all the excitement, she hit the play button again.

“Do you hear that?” It was a clear recording but Tyler seemed like he was lost in his thoughts.

She hit rewind and played it again. “There,” she said as the little girl spoke.

“Yeah, I hear it. But it’s not enough, Rowan. What don’t you get about that?”

“Isn’t my word enough for you? Why send me in to talk to them alone if you knew that no one was going to believe me?”

“I believe you. Will you be quiet for five seconds while I think? You’re giving me a fucking headache.”

“Fine.” She buttoned her lip and let out a ragged breath.

“You do realize that woman is probably already on the phone with my father. So can you think of someone other than yourself and Jessica? Forgive me if your little stunt didn’t impress me. Now, I get it as to why it’s so important to you, Rowan. I really do, and that’s why I came to help, but other people have lives too. Did you even think about those other kids? Or what you put them through? The sooner you get that this isn’t all about you, the better.”

She had thought that he was finally on the same page as her. “I’m sorry. You’re right. I know you care, and I appreciate your help. But it can’t be for nothing. I didn’t go through all of that so we could just forget about it.” She needed the investigation reopened or at least for someone to take action. “Isn’t it at least enough for DNA testing? Doesn’t it at least raise some questions that you need to follow up on?”

“For me, yes. I have to admit that it’s giving me a lot to think about. But my father is going to want more.”

“But you said you believe it, right? So, you’ll request that you need to test them?”

He seemed sick of her begging tone. “I don’t know what to believe right now, honestly. I know I can’t believe you tried to pull that stunt on your own. I know you’re acting on impulse, and it’s scaring me. I know I tried to protect you from yourself. But some people don’t want to be saved, I guess. I just don’t want you to be that person.”

“I don’t need you to save me from myself. I don’t need saving at all, thank you very much.” He had no idea how insulting he could be.

“You need something,” he mumbled. “I’m not sure if it’s saving.”

“What is that supposed to mean?” she asked him. He thought she was slipping back into her dark place just like the others. “You know what? Forget it. Just take me home, and I’ll deal with this myself.”

“No. You’re not going to do anything. You’re going to leave this alone. You’re going to leave the police work and investigating to me. It’s my job. Not yours. It’s my responsibility and not yours. So just stop.”

“I can’t just forget it. I didn’t come this far to back down now.” She had quit enough in her life because of what happened. So, a part of her felt like she couldn’t quit again. Finding out the truth about Jessica was the only way to get her life back to what it was and hopefully what it could have been already.

“Yeah, well, I’m not giving you a choice. You back down and leave it alone. That’s not a request. It’s an order.”

She was sure he had forgotten who he was talking to. “When have I ever taken orders from you?” She sure didn’t when they were dating.

“Never, and that’s the trouble with you. You don’t listen. Stop this before you get hurt. Trust me for a change.” His tone had gotten so harsh that his voice cracked.

And in that break, she could tell just how frustrated he was by the subject. How tired he was of dealing with her.

He pulled up to her car and stopped the truck. “I’ll call you later when I let this sink in. Just don’t do anything stupid, okay? I need you to behave.”

“Fine,” she said, wanting to tell him to go to hell. She got out of the truck and went to unlock her car.

Why did it have to be so hard? Just when she thought someone was finally on her side, he ripped the rug out from under her.

At least she had Logan. He had work to do and a life she didn’t want to upset, but he had spoken up for her and done what he could to help. At least he was willing to reach out and hear her side of things.

Who would have thought that the two of them would be the only rational ones?

But no matter what, she wasn’t going to stop until she found out what happened to Jessica.