swinging and kicking Toppers. Showers pulled Toppers to one side.
“You little bitch,” Gloria screamed. “How could you do this to us? How could you do this to our son? We treated you like family. Why did you do this?”
Agent Showers said, “Samantha, was there newspaper in those bags when you brought them out of the vault?”
Looking completely defeated, she said, “Yes. I made the switch just like he said.”
Showers handcuffed her and gave Storm an appreciative smile. “Smart thinking putting a hundred and thirty-two pounds in those bags,” she said.
“Actually, there’s two hundred pounds in them. It was a trick. I have no idea how much newsprint weighs.”
Toppers face turned bright red. She burst into tears, overcome with pent-up emotions.
“Who helped you?” Windslow demanded. “Who was your partner? You may have written those notes, but you didn’t make those bombs.”
Between sobs, she stammered, “I never liked you, and your stepson didn’t like you either. You’re a bully.”
Storm removed a cell phone from his pocket and pushed the last number dialed feature. The voice of Rihanna could be heard coming from Topper’s handbag.
“This cell phone belongs to the man who tried to get into the hospital last night to see Samantha,” Storm explained. “I knocked it from his belt just before he fired a shot at me. The last number that he’d called was Samantha’s.”
He hesitated and then said in a sympathetic voice, “This phone belongs to your brother, doesn’t it, Samantha? He was coming to see you because he wanted to get the money.”
“You have a brother?” Gloria said. “I thought you were an only child.”
Between sobs, Toppers said, “His name is Jack, Jack Jacobs.”
“I’ll be goddamned,” Windslow said. “How’d our background investigators miss that?”
“The woman we all know as Samantha is actually Christina Jacobs,” Storm said. “She and her brother were born in Vermont and lived there until the courts took them away from their drug-addicted, abusive mother. I’m not sure how or why, but Christina ended up living with Charles and Margarita Toppers, a wealthy couple in Stamford, Connecticut. They had a daughter the same age whose name was Samantha.”
“You told us the Toppers were your parents,” Windslow said.
“Charles, Margarita, and the real Samantha were killed in a car accident in Spain while on vacation,” Storm explained. “Their bodies were burned beyond recognition. Christina was sick at home that night, and when the police told her that everyone was dead, she decided to assume Samantha’s identity. She told the authorities that the girl killed was a family friend named Christina Jacobs, an orphan.”
“How could she pull that off?” Windslow said.
“She never went back to Connecticut. Margarita had relatives in Spain, so all three bodies were buried there. The 'new’ Samantha contacted the bank that was the trustee of the Toppers estate and told the executor that she was distraught and wanted to live in Europe for a while. He had dealt only with Charles Toppers and had no idea what Samantha looked or sounded like. He sent her monthly checks to a bank in Paris. She stayed abroad for six years, posing as Samantha, only dealing with the Stamford bank by e-mail and letters. By the time that she returned to the U.S., she had transformed herself—adopting the same hair color, the same signature as Samantha. She fooled everyone—it seems—but her brother.”
“I never thought I’d see him again,” Samantha said. “After the accident in Spain, I sent word to him that his sister was dead. I’d heard he enlisted in the marines and had been to the Persian Gulf to fight in Iraq. He was Army Intelligence. Then out of nowhere, he showed up at my apartment on the very night that Matthew was kidnapped. I was an emotional wreck and I told him about what I’d done and how I was engaged and about how Matthew had been kidnapped. I thought
“You little bitch,” Gloria screamed. “How could you do this to us? How could you do this to our son? We treated you like family. Why did you do this?”
Agent Showers said, “Samantha, was there newspaper in those bags when you brought them out of the vault?”
Looking completely defeated, she said, “Yes. I made the switch just like he said.”
Showers handcuffed her and gave Storm an appreciative smile. “Smart thinking putting a hundred and thirty-two pounds in those bags,” she said.
“Actually, there’s two hundred pounds in them. It was a trick. I have no idea how much newsprint weighs.”
Toppers face turned bright red. She burst into tears, overcome with pent-up emotions.
“Who helped you?” Windslow demanded. “Who was your partner? You may have written those notes, but you didn’t make those bombs.”
Between sobs, she stammered, “I never liked you, and your stepson didn’t like you either. You’re a bully.”
Storm removed a cell phone from his pocket and pushed the last number dialed feature. The voice of Rihanna could be heard coming from Topper’s handbag.
“This cell phone belongs to the man who tried to get into the hospital last night to see Samantha,” Storm explained. “I knocked it from his belt just before he fired a shot at me. The last number that he’d called was Samantha’s.”
He hesitated and then said in a sympathetic voice, “This phone belongs to your brother, doesn’t it, Samantha? He was coming to see you because he wanted to get the money.”
“You have a brother?” Gloria said. “I thought you were an only child.”
Between sobs, Toppers said, “His name is Jack, Jack Jacobs.”
“I’ll be goddamned,” Windslow said. “How’d our background investigators miss that?”
“The woman we all know as Samantha is actually Christina Jacobs,” Storm said. “She and her brother were born in Vermont and lived there until the courts took them away from their drug-addicted, abusive mother. I’m not sure how or why, but Christina ended up living with Charles and Margarita Toppers, a wealthy couple in Stamford, Connecticut. They had a daughter the same age whose name was Samantha.”
“You told us the Toppers were your parents,” Windslow said.
“Charles, Margarita, and the real Samantha were killed in a car accident in Spain while on vacation,” Storm explained. “Their bodies were burned beyond recognition. Christina was sick at home that night, and when the police told her that everyone was dead, she decided to assume Samantha’s identity. She told the authorities that the girl killed was a family friend named Christina Jacobs, an orphan.”
“How could she pull that off?” Windslow said.
“She never went back to Connecticut. Margarita had relatives in Spain, so all three bodies were buried there. The 'new’ Samantha contacted the bank that was the trustee of the Toppers estate and told the executor that she was distraught and wanted to live in Europe for a while. He had dealt only with Charles Toppers and had no idea what Samantha looked or sounded like. He sent her monthly checks to a bank in Paris. She stayed abroad for six years, posing as Samantha, only dealing with the Stamford bank by e-mail and letters. By the time that she returned to the U.S., she had transformed herself—adopting the same hair color, the same signature as Samantha. She fooled everyone—it seems—but her brother.”
“I never thought I’d see him again,” Samantha said. “After the accident in Spain, I sent word to him that his sister was dead. I’d heard he enlisted in the marines and had been to the Persian Gulf to fight in Iraq. He was Army Intelligence. Then out of nowhere, he showed up at my apartment on the very night that Matthew was kidnapped. I was an emotional wreck and I told him about what I’d done and how I was engaged and about how Matthew had been kidnapped. I thought
Similar Books
