Lacey studied Anya out of the corner of her eye. No, she wasn't the right shape to be the shooter. She hated how she was looking at her classmates. Wondering if one of them was the one. Terry took the seat beside her, reaching for her hand. He wasn't shy about letting everyone know their status had changed. They were a couple now.

"No more walking the halls alone."

Lacey made a face at him. "Anya is always ahead of us."

"Except when she's not. Look at what happened to Zee."

"How could they let her out of jail so quick?" Lacey scowled when Anya turned to stare at her and jabbed her middle finger into the air. She returned the gesture, and her grin was pure evil.

"Same judge who wouldn't give you a restraining order, I'll bet." Terry guessed.

"Probably. I'll find out from Dad after school."

"And there was no CCTV footage. She knows where she can get away with her outrageous behavior. But I heard she has some conditions. She can't be seen with Lizzy and Molly anymore. If you do see her with them, snap a picture. She'll have to go back to jail."

"Why hasn't Principal Dalton suspended her?" Lacey couldn't figure it out. Who was pulling strings for Anya?

"More juicy gossip. Sally overheard the discussion in the office. Her mother's a piece of work. Mrs. Carson said she'd sue Dalton and the school board for malicious treatment of her precious daughter. There's no evidence other than Zee's word. And of course, Molly and Lizzy refused to admit they were lying." Terry squeezed her hand harder as he spoke.

"So, she doesn't get to have her friends around, but she can still stalk me. Hardly fair."

"But you have me, and you have Percy. We're not going to let you out of our sight. If we aren't in class with you, wait for us. One of us will meet you to walk with you." Terry raised her hand to his lips and kissed it.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Lacey went around to the kitchen entrance at the mansion. Sometimes she still had trouble with the idea of having a twin. The whole thing seemed like a dream she couldn't wake up from. Letting herself in, she stopped at the little bathroom under the back stairs, to check the mirror. Strange, her face was still the same even though everything in her life was twisting around her. How was Andrew Mackinaw mixed up in this?

Her hair was caught in a high ponytail, and her slate gray eyes didn't show a hint of blue this afternoon. Hopefully, Zee was feeling better. She splashed a handful of cool water over her cheeks and reached into her pocket for the tube of lip gloss she stored there. Smoothing the gel over her lips she rubbed them together. Good enough. Thank God for waterproof mascara. Her crying jag driving up, didn't make a mess.

A knock on the door reminded her she was here to deliver Zee's homework. Everyone else would be coming for dinner. Mama Rosa promised to make her spicy fried chicken. She unlocked the door and found Terry there.

"You okay now?" He reached up to cup her face with both hands.

"Yeah, thanks for letting me cry. Dad can never just wait for me to get over it."

"Mom says we have to let her get over them herself. Dad usually holds her hand if he's around. He says never assume a woman's tears are for any one reason. Sometimes he'll pick her up and cuddle her, but he never tells her to stop crying. She says he's smart. Since I like to think I'm pretty savvy too, I just let you cry."

"And you held my hand. I'm so lucky Dad let me drive his car to school today. And thanks for driving us up here."

"So. can you talk about it?"

"Later. It's just everything. I feel better now. Stronger. Tears do that for me, depending. Your Mom's right. I cry for all sorts of reasons, and I always feel better after."

"Okay then. Let's go take Zee's homework to her." Terry grabbed her hand and pulled her into the kitchen.

"Lacey, Zena is upstairs. You can go up. Terry, my Juan says he needs you to help with the leaves. You go find him. He is in the stables." Mama Rosa was putting chicken in a marinating bag.

"See you when we eat?" Terry nodded as he asked.

"I'll be here. So will Mom and Dad."

Terry tugged her back toward him and ducked down to kiss her. "See how Zee is." He let her go and hurried back out into the back garden.

"Be right back, Mama Rosa. I have to get my school bag. Zee's homework is in there."

Lacey ran out the front way. Glancing over her shoulder, the white figure in the attic window watched. Shivers slid over her arms raising goosebumps. At least they knew who she was.

Annamarie, we'll figure this out. I promise.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Lacey followed Zena down the stairs into the front hall. Her twin looked like she was walking on eggs as she eased herself down the stairs.

"This cracked rib is horrible. It hurts no matter what I'm trying to do. I can't even do my own hair."

"Good thing I was here. I've had bruised ribs, but I never cracked one. Leave your hair down and brace your elbow on your vanity while you brush it. That's how I used to deal with it. And don't forget to take your pain meds." Lacey said as they made the turn back toward the kitchen. They were eating there instead of the formal dining room.

Her mother was watching the chicken in the deep fryer and her dad was sitting at the big trestle table, looking over a file full of documents.

"Hi, Tiger. How was your day?"

"Why did Anya get out of jail?"

"Sorry, sweetie." Her mother apologized. "Tell her what happened James."

"First offense. Even though she's got a dozen arrests from her juvenile record, this judge is inclined to be sympathetic with first offenders. She's the same one who forced us to go up a level on the restraining order. And we're still waiting for the hearing there."

Terry walked in with Papa Juan as her father spoke.

"See, I told you. I figured it was something like that." Terry sounded a little smug.

"There's more." Zee's Dad said from where he sat across the table from James.

Deanne nodded from the stove, as she scooped golden brown fried chicken pieces out of hot oil. "We heard from Carmangy. Things are starting to make sense." She brought the basket of chicken over to the table and put it beside a stack of fluffy buttermilk biscuits. "Let's eat."

"So, what's the connection? Zee told me about Andrew Mackinaw." Percy came out of the powder room to sit beside Zena.

"He's Mrs. Carson's brother. And get this, we were able to track down more. Agent Greene, Carmangy's partner, found tax records from almost twenty years ago. Mrs. Carson, Anya's mother, claimed common law status with guess who?" James paused for effect.

A light bulb went on in Lacey's brain. "Theodore Pettigrew. Is Anya our cousin?"

"We don't know for sure. She might be. But we don't think so. Her birth certificate says Darren Carson was her father. Her mother divorced him two years after she was born. Considering Annamarie's diary though, her birthday is suspicious. She was born in January of 2006. It could be coincidence, but I don't like them."

"Neither do I, James." Matt Henderson drew his eyebrows together. "Neither do I."

Deanne pulled in a deep breath. "What we need now is a DNA sample from Anya. But that won't happen without more evidence against her for more than a simple assault. I think her mother is in trouble with the IRS now, not only for skimming all those tips for years, and not declaring them, but also for a bigamous declaration of common law marriage. She wasn't divorced from Darren Carson the first year she claimed benefits. It's very messy."

"And I just received this," Matt pulled a a UPS envelope off the counter behind him as he spoke. He pulled a type written letter out of it.

"What is it, Dad?"

"Your Uncle Stanley is challenging your mother's will. I don't know how he found out about Lacey, but he's claiming you have no right to the mansion because you aren't Stella's biological child. He doesn't have a leg to stand on. But we're going to have explain this whole mess to a judge in Denver. Our court date is November 10th. That means you two are going to get your DNA tests. They will prove your relationship to Theodore Pettigrew. We'll have to exhume your real mother's body for DNA as well. I can't even begin to figure out what else we will need because Stella's brother is a greedy ass."

"I don't think it was Uncle Stanley who is behind this. It's Aunt Priscilla. She's always been mean. I remember Mom talking about her."

"You might be right Zee, but it's your Uncle Stanley's lawyer who sent us the letter of intent. The probate court sent us confirmation of the court date as well." Matt Henderson reached into the big envelope and pulled out a smaller standard white one.

"I'll come with you Matt. I'm an estate lawyer, and I was in on the original court arrangements to protect the twins. Stanley is out of line." Deanne's expression was fierce. "We tied up the loose ends. He won't be able to do a thing."

"Take a picture of the portraits in the upper hall," Mama Rosa suggested. "You two have your grandfather's hair and your grandmother's face. It will help. Elise painted them the summer before she went away to university."

"Maybe we'll take the actual paintings. Those and the one of Elise. Her grandmother painted from memory before she passed away." Matt said. "I've been studying the signatures. They are similar, and both of them put the dates on their work too."

I wonder if I would have figured this out if I had full run of the mansion from the time I first started working in the garden? Now I know why they never let me go past the little powder room down from the kitchen.

"As long as we're tying up loose ends, can I ask a personal question?" Zee pointed at Lacey and continued. "Why does your dad call you Tiger?"

"OMG. I've almost forgotten how that got started," Deanne exclaimed.

"Well, spill," Zee insisted.

"I kept asking for Frosted Flakes™ when I was little." Lacey took a sip of sweet tea, and continued, "I just loved Tony the Tiger in the ads. Now he's one of the longest lasting commercial characters ever. Dad started calling me Tiger because I said if I could eat that cereal, then I would be able to do cartwheels. Mom enrolled me in my first gymnastic classes not long after. Dad still insists I can do anything I want to because I go after my goals like a tiger stalks their kill."

Lacey got up and went around the table to give her dad a hug and kiss him on the cheek. "Thanks for believing in me."

"Always, Tiger. I haven't thought about how the nickname started since before you turned six. It just stuck," James patted Lacey on the back when she turned to go back to her chair.

"Neat," Zee said.

"I'm going to have to think of a pet name for you too," her father said. "And Princess isn't right anymore. You're changing, turning into a young woman I very proud to call my daughter."

"Thanks, Dad."

I wish we could have grown up together.

Lacey swiped at her eyes. Tears came to easy these days.