Nora grabbed her phone and headed to her bedroom for her purse and a jacket. Before she could get out the door, Trevor called her into his room.
She found him at his computer. “I have to go, Trevor. What’s going on?”
“I’ve been wanting to show you this all day. It won’t take long. Five minutes.”
Trevor proceeded to tell her all about facial recognition and how it was a biometric software that matched faces in images to existing databases of images. He showed her how it worked and what he’d already done using videos and photos of Jane Bell.
Nora leaned in closer and recognized her backyard in Sacramento. “You took videos of Jane at the barbecue?”
“Only when she was playing games with the kids at the party. It’s not illegal to take a video. She didn’t ask me to stop recording.”
Nora recalled Trevor eagerly joining Jane and the kids on the day of the barbecue. She’d thought he was being sweet. Now she knew otherwise. He had been motivated by his desire to find out more about Jane, convinced she was not a good person. “Go on.”
Hunched forward, Trevor clicked away at his keyboard and then finally leaned back to give Nora a clear view of the two items that his search revealed: a slightly blurry image of a yearbook photo, definitely Jane Bell, but the picture had been cut in such a way that there was no name to the side or below it. The second picture was of Jane when she was fourteen or fifteen. She was standing next to an elderly couple. The caption read: Every year, Mr. and Mrs. Lewitt of Auburn donate their first check of the year to a charity, volunteer at a local nursing home, give blood, and, in so doing, teach their daughter, Jane Lewitt, the importance of making a positive impact in the world.
“Jane Lewitt,” she said under her breath. If her aunt and uncle were neglectful, would they have bothered to adopt her as their own? Or maybe Jane’s uncle was the brother of her biological father.
“I can show you more later, Mom, but here’s the Lewitts’ address in case you ever decide to talk to them.”
“How did you get the address?”
“Easy.”
She made a face.
“Don’t worry,” Trevor said. “They obviously purchased a home or used their address on Instagram or Facebook before. All I did was type in their names along with ‘Auburn, California,’ and the address popped right up.” He looked at her. “So are you going to talk to them?”
“I don’t think so. I wouldn’t know what to say.”
“How else are you going to find out more about Jane Bell’s past and figure out why she chose you?”
Nora’s ego was stung. “You don’t think your mother has what it takes to be a top salesperson in the software industry?”
Trevor smiled. “I think you could run your own company if you wanted to. It’s not about why she wanted you, I guess, but more about how she even knew about you. You had never met or heard of her before, either. So how did she find you? How did she know you existed at all?”
Nora knew he had a point. She’d asked David the same question. She vaguely remembered asking Jane about it, too, and Jane had said someone recommended Nora. But who exactly? As she stood there watching Trevor upload another picture of Jane, she thought about telling him not to continue with the search. But something stopped her. “I better get going. I’ll see you tonight at dinner.”
“Mom?”
She looked at Trevor and saw worry in his eyes. “What is it?”
“Do you think I’m crazy?”
“Of course not. Why in the world would you even ask such a question?”
“It’s just that I’m scared, Mom. Of everything. Not just of the dark, and weird noises, and the water, but of Jane and strangers in random cars.”
Nora’s insides fluttered. “Strangers in random cars?”
“I should have told you before, but I didn’t want you to think I was a lost cause. After school, I kept seeing the same car. I swear the driver seemed to be watching me, but he never got out of his car or tried to talk to me, so I started to think I’d imagined him. You know . . . because of what happened in Hawaii. I read that some people who nearly drowned sometimes hallucinate.”
Nora’s adrenaline spiked, but she didn’t want to frighten Trevor more than he already was. Her voice steady and calm, she asked, “Any idea what he looked like?”
“His hair was wheat-colored, and he had a square jaw and blue eyes.”
Afraid he might freak out if she told him she’d seen the man, too, she rested a hand on her son’s shoulder. “I’ll talk to Dad when I get back, and we’ll figure out what to do, okay?”
“Okay, Mom. See you tonight.”
On her way out, Nora found David in his office. She shut the door behind her and said, “Trevor told me that he saw the same man, more than once, sitting in a dark car after school. He felt as if he were being watched.”
David leaned back in his chair. “Probably just someone’s dad waiting for their kid to get out of school.”
“I would have thought so, too, but the way he described him sounded like the same guy I saw in our hotel lobby in Maui. And then again at the airport.”
“Do you know how many people fly from Sacramento to Hawaii? Lots. The chance of seeing someone—”
“And then I saw him sitting in his car a few blocks from our Sacramento house.”
David grew quiet. “If you have a license plate number, I can call my good friend on the police force.”
She shook her head. “The plate had a six and a B. That’s all I got.”
“You didn’t recognize him from Trevor’s school?”
“No.”
“There’s not a whole lot we can do without more information. But I’ll talk to Trevor, okay?”
Nora thanked him before heading out, and yet she worried they weren’t doing enough. They needed to think about installing cameras . . . and maybe buying a gun. How many times did horrible things happen to people after they failed to listen to their gut instincts?
She didn’t want to know the answer. Even one was too many.
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
Traffic was light, and Nora made good time from Whispering Pines to Sacramento. She was frustrated that it had slipped her mind to leave a key with Karen. Her phone started buzzing the minute she pulled into the driveway and parked behind Karen Jorgenson’s Tesla. Caller ID said it was Karen Jorgenson. Ignoring the call, she walked up the path to the front entry and found herself reminiscing about all the wonderful memories she and her family had shared at the house. She pushed any pangs of melancholy aside. It was time for a change. It was time to say goodbye to this old house that had served them well and time to enjoy whatever came next.
Karen opened the door before Nora had a chance to reach inside her purse for her keys.
“How did you get inside?”
“I found a key in the planter box. I tried calling you to let you know in case you hadn’t left yet.”
Nora tried to squeeze past Karen, but she blocked her entry. “Your house has been vandalized.”
“What?”
“I just wanted you to know before you go inside. I am glad you’re here, though, so you can decide whether or not to call the police.”