The Truth About Rachel by Deanna Sletten (free books to read .TXT) 📗

had done it. If her father had testified about stopping Keith from choking her the night before the murder, it would have proved Keith was capable of violence.

And then there was the skin found under the little girl’s fingernails. DNA wouldn’t have been tested then, but wouldn’t they have tested for a blood match with Keith? There was nothing in the trial testimony about it having been done.

Rachel sighed. She wanted to look at the box of evidence. If they’d kept samples of the skin found under the girl’s nails, the DNA could be tested.

As she lay in bed later that night, Rachel’s mind was spinning. She couldn’t get the thoughts of the murdered women out of her head and the one bloody fingerprint found at Avery’s mom’s murder scene. Yet no one ever tried to match it. She wondered if they’d kept the print all these years for evidence. Maybe it would solve the mystery of who had killed those women. At the very least, identifying it could eliminate Keith from being suspected of those murders.

“If he is innocent,” she whispered to herself. That wasn’t something she could say she was one hundred percent certain of.

***

The next morning, Rachel went immediately to the police station and walked into Jeremy’s office. “We have to talk,” she said.

He scowled at her from behind his desk and motioned for her to close the door. “Okay. Talk.”

“I’m not going to sit around waiting for the DNA test to come back. I need to see the evidence. It’s an old case, so there’s no reason why I can’t look through it.”

He sat back in his chair and crossed his arms. “There are a lot of good reasons why you can’t look through it. We don’t let people just dig through the evidence of a murder case. It may be needed later for appeals or even parole hearings. Unless I can prove you are family, I’m not going to open it up for you.”

“Yeah, but you could pull it out, couldn’t you? You could take pictures of the evidence to show me. I need to understand why my father identified the body as mine. I also think there’s probably evidence in there that could clear Keith.”

Jeremy sat up straighter, looking interested. “What evidence?”

“I read the trial transcripts,” she told him. “There was skin found under the little girl’s fingernails. Back then, it may not have helped, but now they can test it for DNA. It could either clear Keith or prove he did it.”

Jeremy sneered at her. “I don’t need to prove he did it. He was already convicted.”

Rachel leaned toward him, her hands on her hips. “Don’t you want to learn the truth? It was all circumstantial evidence. One DNA test will prove or disprove it.”

Jeremy stood and glared at her. “I know the truth. I saw him go into the woods after that girl,” he yelled. “I don’t need any more proof than that.”

Fierce anger rose inside Rachel. “I don’t have to go through you. I can petition the courts to reopen the case. And if I do, I’m sure the press would love to hear about it. Is that what you want?”

He waved his hand in the air, unconcerned. “No court is going to reopen the case unless you can prove you really are Rachel Parnell. And they definitely wouldn’t open a case without a lawyer.”

“Then I’ll get one.”

He laughed. “I highly doubt you can afford one.”

All the fight left Rachel, and she dropped into the chair. “I thought you said you wanted to help me find the truth. Why are you fighting me on this?”

Jeremy sat down too. “I do want to help. But I have to do it legally, or no judge will look at it.”

Rachel sighed. “I didn’t want to do this, not until I could prove who I was, but I guess I’ll have to go to the source. I’ll ask my father why he thought the dead girl was me.” She stood to leave.

“Good luck with that.”

Rachel frowned. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Your father isn’t at the house. He left after the trial and never came back. No one knows where he is.”

Rachel took in a sharp breath. “What?”

“He’s been gone for years, Rachel. And if you go knocking on your mother’s door and announce you’re alive while her son is sitting in prison up at Solano, I’d hate to see what she’ll do. If you thought your mother was mean thirty-five years ago, believe me, she’s a hell of a lot meaner now that she’s alone.”

Rachel was stunned. “Why didn’t you tell me this before?”

He shrugged. “Because a part of me still wants to believe you’re not Rachel Parnell. Because if it comes out that you are, there’s going to be a whole new trial for Keith, and that’s the last thing I want. I’m the one whose testimony put him away. He’s had decades to stew about that. I’m in no hurry to see him get out.”

She shook her head. “We have to find the truth. It’s your duty as a police officer.”

“Yeah, well, I’d like to stay alive while doing my job, you know?”

Feeling defeated, Rachel turned to leave. But Jeremy wasn’t through talking.

“I saw you and Avery Turley chumming around yesterday. I’m sure he’s gotten you riled up about all this more than you already were. Take my advice—don’t let him drag you into his scheme for revenge. He’s been trying for months to start something. It’s best if some things stay buried.”

Rachel didn’t answer him. She left his office and headed out to the sidewalk. She didn’t know what more she could do. Jeremy wasn’t going to help her. He probably hadn’t even sent in the DNA test. It all seemed so useless.

“You look like you’ve lost your best friend,” a familiar voice said from behind her.

Rachel spun around and looked up into Avery’s kind face. “Hi.”

He grinned. “Hi.”

“I just had a useless encounter with Jeremy. He’s not going to