The rest of the weekend went by in flurry of fun. They went to a movie on Saturday night as a group putting Sara in the middle between Lacey and Zena. Percy and Terry sat on the outside. They talked about Anya and how to keep away from her, when she turned up at Mario's after the show.

Sara's observations about the people in the restaurant had them howling. But Lacey found her skin crawling when Molly and Izzy turned up to sit down with Anya. What were they planning? She turned the flash off on her phone and snapped a quick picture. She wasn't sure why, but she wanted proof of their meeting.

By the time Lacey and Zena drove Sara back to Concord to catch her flight home, they had brainstormed about the Halloween party and decided on their costume ideas. Vowing to keep them a secret, they used their own money to order what they needed online. Sara's costume would be delivered to Pettigrew mansion. It had a heavy headpiece and mask. Percy was sure he could rig some amazing special effects to scare the skin off their classmates.

"Mom, have we found out anything about Uncle Theodore?" Something about his disappearance still bothered Lacey. She finished the pile of filing Mrs. Hall had left for her, and her mother had a worried wrinkle on her forehead.

"We traced down the results of the medical testing in the hospital where he vanished. They came in overnight. Because the FBI is involved and the US Marshals are trying to trace him, they opened up to us. We're lucky your father has so many friends in weird places."

"So, what was he in there for?"

"Violent headaches and the fight he was in. He had what looks like a terminal tumor. He must have walked out of the hospital through the other exit of the bathroom. The report shows when he came in, he was in prison orange. There were two guards on his room, which was a double, but the bathroom connected to another room on the other side, so four patients used one big bathroom with two stalls and two showers."

Her mother was reading from a PDF file she had up on her computer. Lacey followed along from where she stood behind her.

"He knocked out the guard that was on the bathroom door. He stole clothes from the other side, dressed in them, and walked out." Lacey said as she scanned the rest of the page.

"Looks like it. Finally, we know why and when. That was almost three months ago." Her mother said.

"So, where he is now is anyone's guess. The test results and prognosis, say probably cancer, and less than three months to live."

Lacey pointed to the bottom of the screen as her mother scrolled down.

"Poor man. I wouldn't wish this on my worst enemy, not even Theodore. He's probably gone now." Lacey said.

The phone rang, it's shrill tones, making them jump, it only rang once, but her mother reached for it anyway.

"Never mind, I think your Dad picked up. You'll let Zee, know?" Deanne spun her office chair to face Lacey.

"Yeah, does Dad have this report too?"

"He forwarded it to me."

"Sweetheart, we have news about what the cadaver dog found. Matt just called. There were two bodies in that grave. I'm not sure how it got dug without Papa Juan knowing about it. He has some explaining to do." James' brusque tone was at odds with his grim face.

"What?" Lacey and her mother said it together.

"The FBI have Juan in for questioning now. He says he didn't kill them, and he didn't know about the first body. But he does know who the second one was. Theodore Pettigrew is dead."

"Then who the hell shot at Lacey and Zena?" Deanne's frustrated question echoed through her office.

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

"I want to cancel that party. I want to send you back to Colorado where you're safe from this whole mess, both of you," Matt Henderson's hollow tired eyes scanned the dining room.

Lacey shook her head. "No way. We've got everything going our way at school. Anya has backed off. Cheer squad is doing great, we won the competition last weekend."

"No way, Dad," Zena agreed.

The FBI agents seated at the head of the table shook their heads too. "The best way to figure out who was behind the shots fired at your daughters is to keep things status quo," one of them said.

Lacey heard the soft growl before Deanne spoke.

"I'm not losing Elise's girls to a deranged gunman."

"We've got enough agents watching, there should be no problems. If the girls follow their normal school routines, and the party goes as planned, we figure whoever's after them will show up." Agent Carmangy said as he twirled the end of his handlebar moustache.

"We'll all be there with them," Terry added.

"Ditto," Percy sat beside Zena holding her hand.

"Any news as to who the woman in that grave was?" Deanne asked.

"Annamarie Evelyn MacAdam. Missing from New York City. Her parents and brother want to bring her remains home to bury there. She was a college student. Her family had their DNA on record with 23 and Me." Agent Carmangy explained.

"And what did Papa Juan tell you in questioning?" James Pemberton asked.

"A person in black, face covered, came up behind him in the greenhouse." Agent Greene answered.

"They threatened him and told him exactly how they would torture and kill his wife if he didn't cooperate. That person is the same one who was living in your attic. Because they told him they would be there. Juan said, 'She said. I'll be there. I'm watching. I'll know if you tell anyone. I won't be there every day, but you'll never know when, and if you betray me. I'll finish your fat slob of a wife.' He was forced to use the little skid steer tractor to dig a grave right beside the one that was there."

Agent Carmangy continued. "Juan broke down crying. He has a scar on the back of his arm where she stabbed him. Rosa cleaned and bandaged it when he was done."

"Two shots were fired at him each time he stopped the tractor. He thinks she, and he was sure it was a she, by her voice. Except he could tell she was disguising it. She slipped twice, letting a different accent slip through. We have the DNA from the brushes in your attic room. It shows our female unidentified subject is Annamarie's daughter."

Lacey's stomach clenched. Their cousin. Who the hell was she?

"That means she's Theodore's daughter." Zee's whispered.

"It would seem so. I'm sorry." Agent Greene said. "We're giving all of this to our criminal profilers. Hopefully, they can tell us more about her and what she might do next."

"The question remains, is the person who was in the attic the same one who forced him to dig the grave? And did Juan get any sense of her height or anything else?" Matt asked.

Every face watched the agents. Lacey scanned them. Zee with her hair loose around her shoulders, and her parents, sitting close together, holding hands. She felt Terry's hand creep into her lap to clasp hers, and Percy's hands were on Zee's shoulders, where he stood behind her chair.

"The probability is high the girl in the attic was the same one who scared the living daylights out of Juan. He's sure she will come back to kill his Rosa. One more thing, the autopsy on Theodore shows he had a brain tumor. However, his cause of death? A bullet to the heart. And it's the same caliber as the ones we recovered from your Jeep, Lacey."

"Shit," Lacey squeezed Terry's hand.

"She's crazy!" Zena jumped up, slamming her hand down on the table.

"We're going to catch her. But we need your help. If you disappear to Denver, which I wouldn't blame you for, it will only take longer. You might think it's safe to come back, but she's going to be waiting for you, or she'll figure out where you went, and go after you there." Agent Greene's patient explanation chilled her to the bone.

"She seems to be patient. Smart enough to plan carefully, and vindictive to the point of stalking an elderly couple and keeping them continually in fear. Juan said the only thing he did was lock the attic access so she couldn't come down into the main house. At least not from there. He doesn't know if she was able to get inside from some other access point," Agent Carmangy added.

"Then the best we can do is stick together," Percy said. "What about school?"

"You go as normal." Deanne said. "The agents are right. We need to get this over with. I wish they weren't, but they are."

"Exactly, like we said before. Status quo. We'll have people watching. And embedded. Don't be surprised if a couple of new students turn up." Agent Greene stood.

"I wish we knew who she is." Lacey knew it was a useless desire.

"We'll get her. And we'll keep you safe. It's what we do." Agent Carmangy unwound his long legs and stood. "You have my word on it."

"We think she's going to come after you at the party. It's our best shot at bringing her in. Until then keep your eyes open." Agent Greene said. "We'll let ourselves out."