I furrowed my brow. “No. Is she that person?”
“Yep. One and the same. We later found out she operated throughout the eastern seaboard for decades.”
“What did she do?” I asked.
“Well, as the moniker indicates, she was a nanny.”
I stared at Trevor for a long moment. “And being a nanny led her to going to prison… how? I’m not sure I want to know, especially if she was doing something to the kids.”
“No, no,” Trevor assured me. “Nothing like that.”
Relief washed through me. At least my mother wasn’t a pedophile. “Then what did she do?”
“After leaving here, she was in and out of jail around the west coast for about a decade. Stupid stuff like petty theft. Then, she went east. Somewhere along the way, she changed her name to Trinity Roberts, concocted a very detailed resume of her previous nanny jobs on the west coast, and began applying for jobs.”
Trinity Roberts, aka, Brandy Dunner, worked for one influential New York family for almost a decade caring for the couple’s two children.
“When the daughter turned fifteen and the boy was thirteen, the parents decided to send their kids to a European boarding school,” Trevor continued. “And the children were not happy about it, which upset Trinity. She had grown very attached to her charges, and to make things worse, she was going to be out of a job, one she liked very much and had given her stability for years.”
The time came to ship the kids off, and Trinity was let go. She may have been able to walk away, but they withheld her last paycheck, saying the kids were old enough and didn’t need her anyway.
“So she was out of a place to live and had been shorted money,” I said, now thoroughly enthralled with the story of the woman who raised other people’s kids. “What happened then?”
Trevor shrugged. “She got her revenge. Police believe that was her first big job.”
“What did she do?”
“Apparently, no one expected their long-term employee they’d shafted to rob them. They didn’t change the alarm code and your mom was intimately familiar with their daily schedules. Every Sunday night, they’d open a safe in their library and pull out pocket-cash for the week. She’d been with them long enough to know that sometimes, the safe was locked after the money grab. Sometimes it wasn’t. She sauntered into the house one Wednesday afternoon—the day she knew housekeeping was off—deactivated the alarm and walked into the library. The owner swore they’d locked the safe, but who knows? She made off with twenty-thousand dollars.”
I almost choked on my wine. “Wow. That’s… that’s crazy. How come they never arrested her?”
“The cops were never sure it was her. In fact, they spent months trying to pin it on housekeeping. It wasn’t until years later when they saw a pattern emerging from the heists that they realized this may have been her first.”
“How many were there?” I asked.
“When she was finally caught, there were dozens that they could trace back to her, but between you and me, I think there were more. She only admitted to the ones where they had hard evidence.”
“And how do you know all this about her?” I asked. “I thought you were just doing a bit of a background check.”
“I did, and it led to some amazing rabbit holes. I was able to watch police interviews with her after they finally arrested her, read police reports and watch the trial. It was all pretty fascinating, so I spent my free time on it.”
How many hours had he spent figuring out my mother’s history? It sounded like far too many.
I shook my head. “How did she get away with that for so long?”
“She’s resourceful,” Trevor said. “After each job, she’d change her name and appearance, then move into a different area. I’m not sure how she managed all the reference and referrals she provided her employers, but she did.”
Did I note a little admiration in his voice? “You’re impressed with her.”
“A bit,” he replied. “She fooled a lot of people for a long time.”
“She stole from people, Trevor,” I reminded him.
“But see, that’s the thing,” he said. “Not everyone.”
“What does that mean?”
“In the interview tapes I watched, she said she only stole from those who were mean to their kids.”
“Mean to the kids?” I asked.
“She told the cops that a lot of her clientele were often too busy for their children, and your mom often took on the role of a mother figure for the kids. They confided in her, told her things they couldn’t tell their parents, mainly because they were never around.”
“That doesn’t give her the right to steal, though.”
He shrugged. “When her time with a family was over, she’d take from them. She said it was her way of getting back at them for the way they’d neglected their kids. She said she always tried to stay with a family as long as possible in order to offer the children stability. Unfortunately, according to Brandy, parents don’t like it when the kids become too close to the help. Many times, that’s when the nanny is cut loose.”
“I don’t see how robbing anyone changes anything,” I muttered. “It doesn’t make sense.”
“We don’t need to understand it, Gina,” he said. “She felt they were awful parents, so she robbed them.” He shrugged. “I guess she thought she’d hurt them in a very important place.”
“Did she always steal cash?”
“Oh, no,” he said. “Jewelry, paintings, bonds… you name it, she took it.”
“I assume she fenced all of it?”
“Yes.”
“What was the estimated total of her jobs?”
“No one had a really clear number because we don’t know the extent of it all, but someone estimated in the hundreds of thousands based on the crimes they could directly pin on her,” he said.
“That’s a lot of money. She must’ve been living large.”
“Not really,” he replied. “When they finally caught up with her and arrested her in North Carolina, she was living in a small home. In the interviews, she said she donated most of the money to children’s charities and only kept what she needed to survive.”
“How strange.”
“Yes, your mother is definitely an interesting character.”
I couldn’t help but wonder if her work with children and her donations to charities was her way of trying to erase guilt for leaving her own kids.
“Brandy has a special set of skills,” Trevor continued. “She’s an expert lockpicker. At one house, she scaled the side of a building to the upstairs balcony and let herself in while the parents were downstairs entertaining. She’d admitted to learning how to crack safes. She’s strong, athletic and smart.” He chuckled and shook his head. “I guess I do respect her.”
I stared at him, almost disgusted that a cop would find a criminal so admirable.
“Don’t look at me like that,” he said, smiling. “I know what she did was wrong. I’ve just spent a lot of time watching video footage of interviews with her, and I was impressed.” He placed his arm over my shoulder and pulled me close. “You come from some interesting people, Gina.”
“I know,” I said. With a sigh, I laid my head on him. “Master criminals, every single one of them. Hopefully, none of it rubs off on Jacob and he doesn’t become the next prolific serial killer.”
“Nah, he’s a good kid with a great mom. No chance of that.” We sat in silence for a long while.
“It’s fascinating,” he continued. “You have your father, who used to be a drug dealer, and your mother, a master burglar. Your brother has also been in trouble with the law but seems to have straightened himself out. Then there’s you—someone who is hot on the trail of a murderer. Someone who has brought people to justice, time and time again. I guess in this case, two wrongs do make a right.”
I never saw myself as a caped crusader. Instead, there had always been a reason for me to get involved in solving killings. Either there was someone who I cared deeply for accused, or Mallory was just being her usual idiot self and I needed to prove her wrong. The halo he’d placed on me wasn’t deserved. My actions had always been self-serving.
“As long as Jacob doesn’t get the urge to start dealing drugs or burglarizing rich people, I’ll be happy.”
“Do you want to tell me where he’s at?”
I sighed and shut my eyes for a long moment. “Trevor, even if I knew, I wouldn’t tell you. I’m sorry, but even though you’re sitting here with me sharing my bottle of wine, you are still on the ‘other’ side.”
“Fair enough,” he said. “But at some point, you’ll have to understand I’m on your side. That’s the only side I want to be on, Gina.”
I sat up and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek just as Daisy walked in. “Whew, I’m super tired,” she said, jumping up on the couch and curling up next to me. “Watching a puppy is hard work.”
Glancing down the hall, I wondered where Mustard had gone. “I hope the puppy is okay,” I said, nudging her. With Trevor present, I couldn’t ask her outright.
“Mustard’s asleep,” she replied. “I’m so tired, Gina. I think I may retire from my position.”
Smiling, I stroked her head as her eyes closed. Seconds later, she was snoring softly.
I better get going,” Trevor said. He leaned over and kissed me. “I’ve got an early morning, and then we’ll head over and talk to Ava’s boyfriend, Oliver.”
“Sounds good,” I said. “I’m looking forward to getting some sleep.” The phone my father had given me also seemed to burn in my pocket. Once Trevor had left, I’d place a call to Jacob.
After locking the door behind him, I watched out the front window until he’d pulled out onto the street and rounded the corner. Only then did I fish the phone out.
There was one number programmed in the contacts. I dialed it and Vic answered.
“Everything okay?” he asked.
“Yes. I just met Brandy.”
“I met her as well. Kind of a trip, huh?”
“Yes.” I sighed and turned off the lights, then sat down next to Daisy in the dark. “I can’t think about her right now, though. I’d like to talk to Jacob.”
“Hang on.”
I waited a long moment, then my son came on the phone. “Hey, Mom.”
Tears welled in my eyes as I smiled. “Are you okay?”
“I’m good. My headache’s gone.”
“Great. I’m so happy to hear that. I’m going to find out who did this, Jacob.”
“I know you will.”
My son was safe. Nothing else mattered. If I was going to be effective in finding the killer, I needed some sleep. “I’ll call you tomorrow and let you know where we are with the investigation, okay?”
“Sounds good.”
“In the meantime, you lay low, Jacob. If Mallory catches you, there’s nothing I can do to help you.”
“I will, Mom. Right now, Vic and I are eating chili. He’s stinking up the place, so I wish he would’ve skipped the beans, but everything is good. I promise, she’ll never find me.”
I prayed he was right.