Free Fatal Exposure by Gail Barrett Page A

expression pained. “In hindsight, it was a mistake, one of my many regrets. I should have revealed who she was. It wasn’t fair to you to keep a secret like that. If I could do things over...” He spread his beefy hands.
    Parker dropped his gaze to the photo, not knowing what to think. He could hardly criticize Hoffman for making a mistake. He’d made plenty of errors of his own. But deliberately concealing that Brynn was his stepdaughter... It wasn’t a minor detail. Parker couldn’t help but feel betrayed.
    And why hadn’t Brynn told him who Hoffman was? She knew he ran that camp. What kind of game was she trying to play?
    Hoffman opened his desk drawer again. He pulled out a bulging accordion folder and slid it across the desk. “I’d like you to help me find her. Quietly, off the record. We’ll ask her about your brother when we bring her in, but, frankly, you shouldn’t get your hopes up about that. Even if she remembers, she’ll probably lie.”
    “Right.” Aware that the Colonel was waiting for an answer, Parker managed a nod. “I’ll do my best.”
    “I know you will. I respect that about you, Parker. I took a chance on you back when you were a rookie, and you haven’t let me down so far.”
    “I appreciate that.” Hoffman had been one of the few officers willing to go out on a limb and vouch for Parker when his father’s criminal activities had threatened to sink his budding career. And he hadn’t stopped there. He’d helped Parker make detective, followed his progress through the force. And when Parker had applied to join the homicide cold case squad, he’d made sure that he got in.
    The Colonel cleared his throat. “I’ve done some preliminary research and found out that she has an agent, Joan Kellogg. The agent lives in Old Town Alexandria. You might start your inquiries there.”
    “I will.”
    “Report your progress directly to me. I don’t want any risk of this leaking to the press. Those damned hyenas are already out for blood. And with her high profile, we’d have reporters hounding us from around the globe. We’ll release a public statement after we bring her in. Now you’re dismissed.”
    “Yes, sir.” Parker stuck the newspaper into the file and rose. Still dumbfounded by the bombshell, he crossed the office, the industrial carpet absorbing his steps.
    “Oh, and Detective?”
    Parker turned around.
    “I mean what I said. Leave that other case alone. If word gets out...”
    Parker would lose his job. “I understand.”
    “Good. Now get to work.”
    Parker exited the C.I.D. chief’s office. Ignoring the curious gazes of his fellow officers, he made his way back to the older section of the building and his cubicle on the sixth floor.
    Brynn Elliot was Hoffman’s stepdaughter.
    What the hell was going on?
    Feeling completely off-kilter, he tossed the file onto his desk and slumped into his chair. He stared at the stains on the ceiling, the Colonel’s words still spinning through his mind. Then, determined to get some answers, he opened the accordion folder, pulled out the contents and began to read.
    The file chronicled Brynn’s childhood from kindergarten on, which was when her father had died. It contained elementary school report cards, notes from parent–teacher conferences and psychologists’ reports. By middle school it included records of truancy and repeated attempts to run away.
    And every report stated the same thing. Around age seven, when her widowed mother had remarried, Brynn had become angry, unstable. A liar, but stated in more socially acceptable terms. She disrupted class, picked fights with her classmates and refused to do her work. And her problems worsened as she aged—stealing, skipping school, running away from home. The documents didn’t leave room for doubt. The Colonel’s stepdaughter, Brynn Katherine Hoffman, had been a severely troubled child.
    Was she any more trustworthy as an adult?
    Parker’s doubts increasing, he worked his way