Chapter 28
Nico stared at her, completely stunned. “Your brother had a birthmark like the one I saw on Dawson?”
She nodded. “In the same place. Such a weird coincidence.”
All his senses alert, Nico brushed his fingers over the gun on his ankle. “I’m not a big believer in coincidences,” he said, his voice low. Flat.
“Jeff’s dead,” Julia said. “He died in the explosion.”
“Are you sure, Jules?” Nico asked.
“Of course I’m sure,” she began. The swinging door opened, and she clamped her mouth shut. Spun around to face it.
“We’re off,” Riley said with a wave as she headed for the back door with several other servers.
Julia’s smile was forced. “Have a good evening. See you tomorrow.”
Nico saw the strain on her face. Heard it in her voice.
The rest of the staff drifted out after them, until the back door finally closed behind the last server. He and Julia were alone in the restaurant.
As soon as the last straggler was out the door, Julia shoved away from the pizza counter and locked the door. Began to pace. “The firefighters found three bodies. Two men and a woman. My mother, father and brother. Why would you think Jeff had survived?”
“There are ways to fake your death,” Nico said. “With money and some research, a person can vanish, leaving behind proof that he or she is dead.”
“Then why didn’t he come after me before this?” Julia asked.
“Maybe he read the early reports, heard that the whole family had been killed, and assumed you were dead, too. Maybe he had no idea you’d survived until you started that blog,” Nico said, scenarios scrolling through his brain. “If he is your brother, he’d have a Google alert on all your family’s names. So he would have seen the blog. Your picture. He’d know you wanted to go to culinary school, so when it talked about your restaurant, he would’ve realized you’d survived.”
It sounded far-fetched, but Nico had seen stranger things. Dawson having the same birthmark as Julia’s brother was curious at the very least. It also could explain the confusing aspects of the puzzle. All the mismatched pieces began dropping into place.
“He probably assumed that you’d died, too,” Nico said slowly. “That’s what the initial news stories said.”
“Until that blog,” she said quietly. “I started it to give Madeline’s more exposure.” She sucked in a breath. “I mentioned how my family had died when I was young. It wouldn’t be hard to put two and two together and figure out that his sister had survived and owned a restaurant in Ballard.”
“But why try to kill you?” Nico frowned, studying her. “You didn’t recognize Dawson when you saw him. How does he benefit if you’re dead?”
“He never needed a reason to torment me,” Julia said in a low voice. “Maybe he figures he left the job undone. Maybe he’s just that twisted.”
Still pacing, she glanced over at Nico, her face pinched and her expression devastated. Maybe she was beginning to accept that Kent Dawson was her brother Jeff. “Maybe he hated me that much.”
Nico wanted to wrap his arms around her. Comfort her. But they didn’t have time for that. They needed to finish up here. Go home.
She stopped in front of Nico. “What do we do now?”
Nico drew in a breath. Grabbed her hand so she didn’t keep moving. “We call Detective Gorowski. Tell her about the birthmark. The coincidence that your brother had a very similar one. She can bring him to the station and get his fingerprints. Although I’m not sure what good that would do.”
“Jeff was arrested once when he was sixteen or seventeen,” she said. “At a party where there was underage drinking. They probably fingerprinted him.”
“Okay.” He jerked his head toward her office. “I put his iced tea glass in your office. But he was using a straw. I’m sure he didn’t touch the glass.
“Plus, he used his pocket knife to open the receipt folder and put in cash. Didn’t touch that, either.”
“I’m not surprised,” Julia said. “He was so careful at Zoey’s party.”
She swallowed again, and Nico watched her throat ripple. He wished there was a way he could make this easier for her. But right now, all he could do was protect her.
“I’ll clean the bar while you finish up in the kitchen. As soon as Flynn shows up, we’re out the door.”