Twisted Paths by Terri Reid Page B

Hope at the time?” Mary asked.
    “Oh, yes,” Gloria paused, searching her memory. “He was a strange young man; not at all someone Faith would be interested in.  It was obviously a one-sided attraction. He liked computer games and role-playing. Always talking about swords and knives.”
    She shuddered. “I always wondered if he had talked her into killing herself. He seemed to be the type that would find glory in death.”
    “Did you mention that to the police?” Mary asked.
    Shaking her head, Gloria said, “Oh, no, her death was obviously a suicide. Why would I implicate someone else?”
    “Do you remember his name?” Ian asked.
    “It was…something…foreign sounding,” she said slowly, trying to remember. “Nickolas. That was it…Nickolas.”
    “Do you recall his last name?” Mary asked.
    She shook her head and appeared to be a little confused for a moment. “No, just Nickolas. It’s been such a long time and after she died, well, I lost track of a lot of things.”
    “How did Faith react to her sister’s death?” Mary asked.
    Turning away from both of them, she stared out the window for a few minutes. She dabbed the handkerchief against the corners of her eyes and finally took a deep trembling breath. “Faith died that day,” Gloria said, and then she shook her head. “It was so awful. So we had to send her away.”
    She looked back at them, her eyes filled with remorse. “We had to do it,” she tried to explain. “No one would believe that Faith…”
    Pausing for a moment, she seemed to be concentrating on something in the back of her mind. “No one will believe us,” she said softly, not seeming to be aware of Mary and Ian any longer. “They will think she murdered her sister.  We have to send her away where she will be safe.”
    She looked up at them. “I didn’t want her to go,” she confessed. “He did, my husband, the lawyer. He said people would talk.  They would always blame her.  There was no reason she would have killed herself. She had so much to live for.”
    “He thought people would blame Faith?” Mary asked. “So he sent her away?”
    Gloria turned to Mary and shook her head. “He sent her away and she came back a different person,” she said, and then her eyes filled with tears, “I lost both of my daughters that day.”
     

Chapter Twenty-three
    Clarissa and Maggie skipped hand in hand from the school into the playground for recess. A few other girls joined them, girls that remembered Clarissa from her early days in Freeport. “We’re the ‘doption girls again,” Maggie said. “And we’re always going to be best friends.”
    Clarissa thought about it for a moment. “But, I’m not ‘dopted anymore,” she said. “Daddy Bradley is my real daddy.”
    Maggie stopped skipping and let go of Clarissa’s hand. Ever since she saw Clarissa with Mike, she had felt a little left-out. Mike had been her friend. He had watched over her when she stayed with Mary.  And now Mary was going to be Clarissa’s mommy.  She probably wouldn’t have time to do things together, like they used to do.  It wasn’t fair. Clarissa was ruining everything.
    “No he’s not,” Maggie said angrily. “He’s not your real dad.”
    “Yes he is,” Clarissa said. “He told me.”
    Maggie shook her head. “No. No, you’re still just ‘dopted,” she said. “Bradley and Mary are just being nice ‘cause they feel sorry for you and don’t have their own kids.”
    Clarissa’s heart was pounding and she was getting frightened. Could Maggie be telling the truth?  Were the others just lying?
    She looked around for Mike and saw him standing next to the door.  He would know, he would tell her the truth. Angels couldn’t lie.
    Maggie turned to see where Clarissa was looking.  She was a little ashamed of her behavior, and she didn’t want Mike to know she’d been bad. “Mike can’t say anything,” Maggie said. “They all lied to you because they want you to feel