Free Fatal Exposure by Gail Barrett

roll of antacids and popped several into his mouth. An eternity later, he sighed. “Sit down, Detective.”
    Expecting another lashing, Parker lowered himself into a chair. The Colonel continued to watch him, as if debating what to say. Then he reached down and pulled a folded newspaper from his desk drawer.
    “Since you seem to have time on your hands, I’ve got a project for you. A favor, if you will.” Shifting his big body forward, he held the paper out.
    Curious, and relieved that the Colonel’s temper had run its course, Parker took the paper and opened it to the front page.
    On it was the photo of Brynn. Parker forced himself to breathe.
    “The woman in that picture,” the Colonel continued. “She goes by a pseudonym, B. K. Elliot. But her real name is Hoffman.”
    Parker jerked his gaze to his. “You’re related?”
    “She’s my stepdaughter.”
    Parker’s jaw dropped. He stared at the C.I.D. chief, too stunned to speak.
    Hoffman folded his hands, his eyes turning pensive now. “You’ve probably heard the stories. She ran away from home when she was twelve. She was a troubled kid, to say the least. We tried everything—tough love, counseling...but nothing we did seemed to help. God knows we tried. She snuck out at night and lied, accused us of all sorts of terrible things. The situation got ugly, I’m afraid.”
    He let out a heartfelt sigh, as if the memories still caused him pain. “She directed most of her anger at me. That was normal enough, I suppose. I was her stepfather—I’d taken her father’s place when he died.
    “She’s the reason I started that camp. I was determined to help these kids, even though I’d failed with her.”
    Feeling completely staggered, Parker tried to process this news. Everyone knew the C.I.D. chief’s story. Hoffman’s walls were covered with the awards he’d won for his work with troubled teens. But to think Brynn was that runaway stepdaughter...
    “She’s a photographer now,” the Colonel said, nodding toward the newspaper in Parker’s hand. “Quite a good one from what I’ve read. But she’s still unstable. A mental illness like that doesn’t go away on its own. And that’s where you come in.”
    “Me?”
    “I’m worried about her, Parker. She’s a very troubled young woman. And she needs help—counseling, medication... Now that she’s finally surfaced, I want you to bring her in. Quietly, of course. I don’t want to scare her off. And none of us needs the publicity right now. But it would mean the world to her mother and me.”
    Parker grappled with what to say. The Colonel wanted him to find Brynn. He obviously didn’t realize that Parker had already contacted her. But if Brynn was his missing stepdaughter...
    Still unable to believe it, he gave his head a shake. “She’s the girl in my brother’s photo. The one we found in his shoe a few years after his death. You saw it. You reopened the case and searched for her. You never mentioned the relationship then.”
    Hoffman winced. “I figured you’d make the connection.” He heaved himself from his desk chair and went to the window again. Twisting the wand on the miniblinds, he adjusted the slats to maximize the dwindling light.
    “You’re right, of course. I knew who she was at once. But you have to understand how desperate I was. She was sick and needed help. And I didn’t believe for a minute that she’d killed your brother. At least I hoped not. She manipulated people and lied, but stooping as low as murder...”
    He turned around with a sigh. “I didn’t want to think she’d sunk that far. It would have killed her mother if she had. I figured I’d bring her in, then turn the case over to someone else on the off chance that her testimony could help. I doubted it would do any good, though. She never told the truth, even when she wasn’t high on drugs.
    “But when we couldn’t find her...well, it didn’t seem important to mention it then.”
    He retook his seat, his