The Other Daughter by Lisa Gardner

and that's the way we want to keep it!”
    “Too late,” she said crisply.
    His sister stormed away from him toward David Reese. He was the older brother, dammit. He should be allowed to protect his sister if he wanted to.
And he did not want Melanie involved with Meagan
.
    “It gets worse, Brian,” his sister said. “I'm seeing Meagan Stokes, and I don't think the images are dreams.
    “I think I'm finally remembering, Brian,” she told him quietly. “And what I'm remembering is the last days of Meagan Stokes's life. When she was kept in a wood cabin. When she clutched her favorite wooden toy. When she still believed she would get to go home alive.
    “And there's only one way I could know that, Brian — if I was also there. If I was with her. If I was
Russell Lee Holmes's daughter
. I'm sorry, but I think Larry Digger just might be right.”
    Brian suddenly started to laugh.
    “Of course, of course,” he heard himself gasp. “Evil never dies. It just becomes part of the family. Welcome to the real Stokes family, Mel. Welcome
home
.”
     

EIGHT
     
    A PAGER WENT OFF. Brian returned the call, then announced he had to go to the “goddamn” hospital to see a “goddamn” patient. David took that to mean that he was still a little bit upset.
    David and Melanie walked him down to the front door. Brian was muttering that everything was screwed, Melanie was murmuring that everything would be all right, and David was wondering when Chenney was going to show up. They'd just gotten Brian out the door with promises to keep him posted and blood oaths not to mention anything to his mother, when Chenney came trotting up the stone steps, juggling four heavy evidence kits and looking wired for action.
    “You need to change,” David stated brusquely to Melanie.
    Melanie nodded, looking subdued. The exchange with her brother had obviously taken its toll, robbing her eyes of the fierce spark that had entertained David just hours before and leaving her looking bruised. Tough day for Melanie Stokes.
    “I'll grab some clothes, change in the guest room,” she murmured.
    David's voice came out gentler this time, almost soft. “Well, sure. We won't be up for a few minutes anyway. You know. Take your time.”
    He shrugged a bit, feeling awkward now for no good reason. Chenney was staring at him in disbelief, while Melanie flashed him a grateful smile that unnerved him a bit more. He wasn't that prickly, was he? He had manners. He'd even been raised to hold doors, pull out chairs, and chew with his mouth closed. He could be charming.
    He scowled. He was losing focus.
    Melanie disappeared upstairs; he turned to Chenney.
    “What am I doing?” the rookie said in a rush. “What do I say? What's my cover? Do I need a badge?”
    Christ, where did the academy get these kids?
    “Chenney, you're passing as a cop. Use your real name and, for God's sake, real procedure when bagging the crime scene. Got it?”
    Chenney nodded. “Got gloves, got bags, got fingerprinting kit, got vacuum. It'll be clean.”
    “You're golden.”
    “That's all? That's all I'm doing?”
    “I know, it's not like the full-color brochure. You'll get used to it.”
    “I don't understand what this has to do with healthcare fraud,” Chenney mumbled.
    “That's why they pay us the big bucks.”
    “Lairmore know about this?”
    David stiffened. “Not yet.”
    Chenney looked at him squarely, showing the first real spark of intelligence that David had seen. “He's not going to like this. Your position is becoming involved, now you have me running around impersonating a police officer, and none of this seems directly pertinent to the case. If this blows up…”
    “I'll be sure to say none of it was your idea.”
    “That's not what I meant,” Chenney protested, appearing honestly injured.
    “Whatever. Upstairs, Chenney. We need to finish before the parents come home.”
    “Why?”
    “Work now, debrief later. That's the drill.”
    David led the way up the