Web of Secrets

Some family history is too dangerous to be revealed. Sarah Baker's search for the truth about her adoption uncovered a tangled web of deadly secrets...

A phone call from a blackmailer turned Sarah's life upside down. The man claimed to know the circumstances of her illegal adoption thirty years ago. He also revealed some shocking facts about her real parents.

Rather than have the blackmailer go public with the information and risk her husband's career, she agreed to a one-time payoff. Their situation was far from resolved, and doubts about her heritage put a strain on their once ideal marriage.

Sarah still didn't have verification of the truth. She needed more details. Were there any brothers or sisters, or other family members nearby? Had the same blackmailer approached them too?

Hiring a Private Investigator seemed the only option, but it meant opening a Pandora's box. Sarah needed confirmation and closure, and was willing to take the risk. Ex FBI investigator turned P.I. Joe Coopersmith was up to the task, but working on a thirty-year-old mystery wouldn't be easy.

Joe didn't realize it might also turn deadly...

First Chapter

Miami, 1965

Ellen had a feeling Rebecca’s fourth baby would be born in the middle of the night. Her last two—a girl and a boy—arrived well beyond midnight. When the phone rang just after one in the morning, she picked up the receiver and recognized Rebecca’s shrill, twangy voice.

“My water broke, Miss Ellen and I’m feeling a little dizzy. Please hurry, Miss Ellen. I don’t want to be alone when it comes.”

“Now take it easy, girl. You’ve gone through this before. There’s nothing to worry about. Just lie down and don’t get yourself overexcited. We’ll be there in a few minutes.” She hung up the phone and nudged her husband lying next to her. “Doc, wake up. Wake up. Rebecca’s water broke. Doc, did you hear me?”

“I heard you.” He rolled over and tried to go back to sleep.

Ellen shook him again and Doc finally sat up and stumbled out of bed.

When they arrived at Rebecca’s two-room shack on the edge of the Everglades west of Miami, they found Rebecca lying on the floor. She moaned as she slipped in and out of consciousness. Doc knelt and took her pulse, then looked into her eyes, which rolled back into her head.

“I’ll call an ambulance,” Ellen said. “She’s never done this before.”

"Don't!" Doc yelled. "You know we can't take her to no hospital. Let me work with her and see if I can get some response." He opened his bag, pulled out a capsule of smelling salts and waved it beneath her nose.  A few seconds later, Rebecca responded, and took a couple of deep breaths. She looked up at Doc and Ellen.

“Am I going to be okay?” Her frightened blue eyes seemed a little more focused.

“Of course you are,” Doc said. “You just had a dizzy spell is all. Can you feel the contractions?”

“They started right after my water broke and then I don’t know what happened. I felt weak and I had this terrible pain in my head. I must have blacked out or something.” Suddenly, she gave out a yelp. “I’m getting a strong one. It’s gonna come soon. I can tell.”

“Here, let’s take her to the bedroom,” Doc said. They eased her up, walked her to the bed, and made her comfortable.

Rebecca cried out and clutched her stomach as another strong contraction struck. “I can feel it coming, Doc. Can’t you give me something for the pain?”

“Not just yet. Let’s see how far along you are.” He pulled her dress above her knees and examined her. “You’re right, this baby will come any moment, Rebecca. Just try to concentrate and give out two short puffs and then a long one.” He watched her as she breathed as he instructed. “That’s it. Keep on doing it.”

A half hour later, the baby’s head showed. Doc shouted, “Push. Keep it up. Don’t stop.”

"You're doing fine girl," Ellen said as she wiped Rebecca's forehead with a damp cloth."Just keep pushing."

Finally, Doc took the head and gently pulled on it until the entire baby was out. "It's a girl," he said, giving the baby a quick slap on its bottom.  The infant shrieked, and Doc looked at Ellen."We're going to fetch a good price for this one. Strong lungs, she's got." He grabbed a pair of scissors and cut the umbilical cord, then handed the crying baby to Ellen.

Rebecca let out a scream. "My head. It's hurting something awful. Do something, Doc. Everything's going dark. I'm scared. Please do something..." She lapsed into unconsciousness and stopped breathing.

Doc checked her vital signs and frantically  attempted to revive her. No use. After a few seconds, he backed away from the bed and said in numb disbelief, "She's gone. I don't know what happened. Could've been a blood clot that went to the brain."

"We should have taken her to the hospital, Doc." Ellen's eyes welled up with tears. "We should've..."

“Damn it. There’s no point going on about what we should’ve done. The girl is dead and there’s nothing we can do. We gotta figure something out.”

“Well, we can’t just leave her here.” Ellen rubbed her hands together. “When they find her, there’s going to be a lot of questions.”

Doc hesitated for a moment, then walked into the other room. He picked up the phone and dialed a number. “Amos, listen to me. We’re over at Rebecca’s. I need you to do something. Get over to our place and I’ll meet you there. Hurry now. This is important. Do you understand?”

“I understand, Doc, I’m on my way,” Amos said, in his peculiar Florida drawl.

His dark, coppery face barely visible in the moonlight, Amos was already there when they returned. He stood by his beat-up red pickup. He could tell by Doc’s somber expression that something bad had happened. They stood outside and talked for a few minutes while Ellen took the baby inside and placed it in a crib next to the bureau on which she kept some old pictures. With tears streaming down her face, she paused to look at a small photograph of Rebecca holding her first baby.

“I’m sorry girl. It shouldn’t have turned out this way. Doc did his best. You gotta believe that.”

A few minutes later Doc came into the house.  He poured himself a shot of whiskey, downed it, and poured himself another.

Amos had been to Rebecca's shack many times before, usually to deliver something from Doc and Ellen or to make sure she was doing okay. He knew where everything was and went straight to the cupboard in the kitchen, removed a large container of lard and set it on the counter. He cut a dishcloth into strips and shoved them in the lard to coat the pieces thoroughly. Next, he took the strips and placed them throughout the entire shack. Holding the last one in his hand, he walked up to where Rebecca lay, dropped it on top of her mattress, and lit it with the flick of his lighter. He worked quickly, moving through the entire shack and lighting all the lard-covered strips.

By the time he slipped into his truck, the fire had spread. He didn’t want to look back at what he had done. Rebecca had always been good to him, but Doc was his friend and the closest thing he had to a daddy. He would do anything Doc asked. Not until a mile away did he glance into his rearview mirror. Golden flames reached into the sky. He quickly turned his eyes back onto the road and drove even faster to get away from a scene he knew he’d never forget.