THE MISSING (L.A.P.D. Special Investigations Book 4)

by Linda Style

  The surveillance cameras had arrived by special delivery at the beginning of the week and he’d set them up within a couple of hours. He’d also received more information from his partner. Rico and Jordan were putting together a location grid for all the abduction cases that had a similar M.O. A grid had been done in one of the previous investigations, but some cases were so old, they hadn’t been included. The Willis case was one of them.

  The plan was for Rico to e-mail the grid to Luke tonight. Now he just had to get Jules to pull it up on her laptop and then leave the room so he could discuss it with Rico and Jordan on the phone. Jules had always been piqued when he withheld information about his job, even though she’d known from the get-go that was how it had to be.

  Watching from the back door, Luke fidgeted as he waited for Jules to come out of the barn. She was taking longer than normal. He checked his watch. His muscles tensed. Unnecessarily so. Both he and Abe were plugged in and would hear her if she breathed a word.

  She did have her mike turned on, didn’t she? He’d told her to make sure before she left. Dammit.

  He flung open the door, heard it bang against the house as he loped across the yard. Halfway there, Jules appeared in the doorway. Feeling stupid, he slowed his pace.

  Her expression switched from surprised to puzzled as he neared. “What’s going on?”

  He peered inside the barn. “Everything okay?”

  She placed her hands on her hips. “Of course. You’d know if it wasn’t.” She zeroed in on his face. “Were you worried?”

  “I—-uh…wanted to see if the horses had enough hay or if I need to go to town in the morning.” He stepped into the barn. Yeah, like she believed that.

  A tiny smile formed as she followed him inside. “There’s enough for a couple days. But no oats. Doesn’t Abe ever work the horses?”

  Luke leaned against a bale of hay. “He used to. I think it’s too much work for him now.”

  “Then he should let them pasture more to get some exercise.”

  Jules sat on a bale across from him, legs dangling. “Have you had any luck with hiring someone?”

  “I’ve got another guy coming out in the morning. He sounds perfect. But you know how that goes.”

  “What about Abe?”

  “I talked to him, told him if he screws it up again, I’m washing my hands of it.”

  “But isn’t that what he wants?”

  He shrugged. “I can only do so much.”

  She didn’t seem interested in his response; she seemed to be studying him. “Do I have food on my face or something?”

  “No.” She laughed, almost self-consciously, looked away, then picked at the bale of hay where she sat. He liked it when she laughed. Especially when he made her laugh. It had always been good knowing he could affect her in that way. He wondered if she ever remembered things like that about him. Not that it made any difference now.

  Once, they’d promised to be there for each other no matter what. But when it came to crunch time, she’d bailed. That bitter truth tasted like bile in his throat every time he thought about it. The solution was not to think. But it was very hard to do when she was right next to him. When he could smell the sweet scent of her.

  She looked up again. “I was just thinking that the next installment of the story comes out in the next day or so. It could be out already in some areas.”

  He couldn’t blame her for being anxious. He went over and placed an arm around her shoulders. “We can call everything off the second you say so.”

  She leaned against him. “Thanks. But I have to see this through.”

  Their microphones suddenly crackled and whined. Jules winced at the screeching sound and fumbled with the switch. “What the devil?”

  “Abe,” Luke said as he bolted out the door, pulling Julianna along. They ran to the house and inside met Abe in the kitchen, sitting in a chair, his wire on the table.

  “What’s going on, Pops?” Luke panted, his heart hammering. For one brief moment, he’d thought something had happened to his dad.

  “This thing don’t work right. Can’t hear a thing.”

  Luke looked at him. “Where did you have it?”

  Abe pointed to his right ear. His deaf one.

  Luke exchanged glances with Jules, then squelched a smile. “How about trying the other side?”

  “I took it out to answer the phone, and couldn’t hear a thing there either.”

  Jules sat next to Abe and rested her elbow on the table. Her eyes suddenly dark. “Who was it?”

  “I couldn’t hear very well, but it was a man, I know that much.”

  “What did he say?” Luke leaned forward, both hands on the table.

  “He said he’d be here soon.”

  “Did he give a name? Or say anything about why he was coming?”

  “No. That was it.”

  Luke’s nerves crackled. The caller was either the guy he was going to meet with tomorrow…or the sicko bastard who was threatening Jules.

  Jules shoved her chair back and stood. Her hands were trembling. “I’m going to bed.”

  “What about dinner?” Abe said.

  “I’m not hungry.”

  Luke watched her walk from the room, her body stiff, her movements jerky. She was terrified. But if she wanted to continue what she’d started, she had to stay alert. Be on guard.

  Later, he took her a sandwich and a Coke. Knocking on the door, he said, “Jules, are you awake?” When she didn’t answer, he opened the door.

  She lay on the bed staring at the ceiling.

  “I brought you something to eat.”

  She kept staring at the ceiling.

  “It could’ve been the guy I’m expecting tomorrow,” Luke said as he set the tray on the night table.

  “And it could’ve been someone else.”

  “Maybe. I was serious about calling everything off if you want to. I think we can get the guy without using you as bait. I never wanted to do this from the beginning.”

  She sat up, took half a sandwich. “Thanks for the snack.”

  He dropped onto the edge of the bed next to her. “I mean it, Jules. Don’t ignore me.”

  After she finished chewing, she set the rest of the sandwich back on the plate, took a sip of Coke and blotted her lips with the napkin. She looked into his eyes. “I can’t give it up, Luke. I have to go through with this.”

  He took her hand intending to comfort her. “Why? Why, if we can do the same thing without putting you in danger? I don’t understand.”

  She pulled her hand away and rested her head against the headboard. Sighing, she said, “I know you don’t. You can’t.”

  Luke launched to his feet. “What the hell is that supposed to mean? I’m looking out for you. I don’t want anything to happen to you. How the hell does that translate into not understanding?” Dammit. She was the one who didn’t understand. She had no real clue what she was getting into and he wanted to shake some sense in her.

  Instead, he stood there clenching his hands into fists. “Don’t make this about us, Jules. It’s about taking a killer off the streets. If you pull out, the result will still be the same. I’ll still be doing my job and we’ll get this guy.”

  She looked down, rubbed her arms as if suddenly cold. “I know what it’s about. It’s about making some psycho pay for the pain he’s inflicted on his victims and their families.” She moistened her lips. “Us included.”

  “You don’t know that he’s—”

  “No,” she interrupted. “And you don’t know that he isn’t. With all the similarities, my instincts say he is, and that’s good enough for me. I’ll risk my life to get this guy if that’s what it comes to. And you’re not going to convince me otherwise.”

  “You don’t trust that I can handle it, do you?”

  “That has nothing to do with it.”

  It did. Her trust meant everything to him. Only this wasn’t about him. God knew he’d give his own life to get Michael’s kille
r. But he wasn’t going to sacrifice Jules. No way.

  She turned to sit on the edge of the bed, her feet dangling, her hands clutching the quilt at her sides. “I want your word, Luke. If anything happens to me, if the plan backfires somehow, I want your word that you’ll get him.”

  If anything happens to me. Luke just stood there. If anything happened to her there’d be nothing to live for.

  “Please promise me that.”

  “Nothing is going to happen to you. That’s the only thing I’ll promise.”

  “But if it does, please swear that you’ll do whatever you can to continue this investigation. Not for me, for Michael.”

  Luke’s body went cold, as if all the blood had suddenly drained from his body. He dropped onto the bed next to her again. “You know I’d do anything for Michael.”

  “And if anything happens to me, promise you won’t blame yourself.”

  He grasped her hand. “How could I not? I’m here to protect you. If I can’t do that then I’m even more of a failure than I thought.” His voice cracked as he tried to finish. “I failed before. If that happened again—”

  Her hand came up to press against his mouth. “You weren’t allowed to be on the case. You did all you could. You had rules to follow.” She turned away again, thrust a hand through her hair and shoved it back. “I’m the one to blame. If it weren’t for me…not watching…not paying attention—” She leaned forward, her face in her hands. Her shoulders started to shake. “Please forgive me, Luke.”

  The words were muffled, but he heard the pain. He leaned over her, his body a protective cover. “There’s nothing to forgive, Jules.”

  Rising up, she waved him away, silent tears rolling down her cheeks. “It was my fault. I lost Michael. I lost our son. It will always be my fault and there’s nothing you or I or anyone in the world or even God can do to change that. I will live with that knowledge every day for the rest of my life.”

  She curled over again, rocking back and forth.

  He kept soothing her, rubbing her back, saying, “It’s not, Jules. It’s not your fault. Believe me, I know. I’ve seen it happen before Michael and after. It’s not you.”

  A few moments later, he felt her go still. Then she abruptly stood, eyes red and puffy, her face drawn. “I’m tired, Luke,” she choked out. “I need to be alone.”

  CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE

  LUKE STALKED BACK to the den, his heart aching for Jules and for him and for what they could’ve had together.. Dammit! No matter what he said, he couldn’t get through to her.

  He thought back to other cases he’d worked on. In almost every abduction, the mothers blamed themselves. If only they’d kept better watch, if only they’d not done this or if they’d done that. And he’d always assured them it wasn’t their fault. Just like he’d told Jules.

  What an idiot he was. All his comforting words had been like wisps in the wind. Words weren’t enough. They could never be enough. Jules had never believed him. And how could anyone in that situation?

  God knew, he recognized his own perceived failures where Michael’s investigation was concerned. And it hadn’t even been his case. Jules may not have been paying attention when Michael went missing, but that didn’t mean it was her fault. If he’d been more understanding, more supportive, maybe he could’ve made her see that. Instead he’d drowned his sorrows in a bottle.

  Either way, Michael was gone. He was never going to come back. Instead of realizing that and being there for each other, they’d let the tragedy tear them apart.

  In the den, he closed the door and sagged against it. He couldn’t change the past, but the least he could do was honor her wishes. Though he knew without a doubt, whatever happened to her, happened to him.

  He went over to Jules’s laptop on the table next to his father’s chair. Normally he wouldn’t use her computer without permission, but now was not the time to have her looking at anything concerning Michael’s abduction. Sitting, he opened the PC and pressed the ON button. He clicked on e-mail and five messages popped up. He was torn between respecting Jules’s privacy and seeing if the stalker had contacted her again.

  Seeing Rico’s name on one message, he opened it. Rico had attached a chart and the message read, “I think we’re onto something here. Let me know what you think.”

  Luke quickly opened the attached file and an L.A. city map popped onto the screen. Holy moly. His eyes darted from one pinpoint to another. The lines connecting them made the shape of a five-pointed star. And Southern Cal University was dead center.

  All the profiles he’d read of serial killers indicated most committed their crimes either in or near their own neighborhoods. Most took souvenirs, and many left clues of some kind to show how smart they were. The star had been this creep’s e-mail signature. Yes, they were definitely onto something. Now he had to find out what.

  He punched in Rico’s number.

  “Yo.”

  “It’s Luke. I got your message. Any ideas?”

  “No, but I’m doing another comparison of the evidence, the suspects and persons of interest in all the cases to see if there’s anything that could possibly connect them with the chart. Did you show it to Julianna?”

  “No. Why?”

  “Since she’s the one getting the messages, she might see something we don’t. Something specific to her.”

  “Okay. I’ll ask her in the morning. She’s…asleep.”

  Luke was glad Rico didn’t pursue it. “You get any other messages?”

  “She has a couple right now on the new e-mail address.”

  “Better check them out.”

  Luke knew if he did, Jules would be furious. She protected her privacy like the CIA protected the President. “They don’t look like anything. Spam maybe.”

  “Okay. Let me know if you get any information from Jules. Tomorrow, Jordan and I are going to the university.”

  “You got a lead there?”

  “No, but since it’s the center of the star, maybe it’s symbolic in some way.”

  After he hung up, Luke glanced at the list of Jules’s messages again. He shouldn’t read them. But what if one was from the stalker? Jules wouldn’t read it until morning and time was of the essence in any investigation.

  He clicked on the first message. Spam. Someone selling Viagra. Another had a similar title. He clicked on the third message that was blank in the subject line. The message opened and he read, “I miss you. When are you coming back? Love, M.”

  Luke’s breath caught. I miss you? She’d lied when she said she wasn’t involved. She had someone. Someone who missed her. For five years he’d wondered whether she’d found a new love. But it had always been in the abstract because they hadn’t seen each other.

  But this was here and now. He’d spent almost two weeks with her and he’d been encouraged because he… His heart skipped a beat. Because he loved her. He’d never stopped.

  “What’s going on in here?” Abe’s gravelly voice came from behind Luke.

  He turned to see his dad standing in the doorway.

  “You need my help?” Abe said.

  Luke smiled. He needed more help than anyone could give him. “Thanks, Pops. Not right now. In fact, the best help you can give is getting enough rest so you’re alert in the morning.”

  “How long do you think this is going to go on?”

  He shook his head. “I wish I knew. If this creep follows his pattern, I think we can expect to hear something within a few days.”

  Abe sat in the chair across from Luke. “I wasn’t talking about that. I was talking about you and Julianna.”

  Luke frowned and scratched his head. “What about me and Julianna?”

  “I always hoped I hadn’t raised a stupid son, but lately I’m beginning to wonder.”

  “Lately?”

  “Lately since you’ve been here with Julianna. She loves you, you know.”

  Luke stared. Finally he said, “No, she doesn’t. We have a history together. She care
s about me like I care about her. I want the best for her and I hope she wants the same for me. But that’s it. There’s no more.”

  His dad rubbed his chin in an exaggerated gesture. “That’s the trouble with kids these days. Always looking for the logical thing. Always being realistic. Wouldn’t know the truth if it gob-smacked you in the face.”

  “I’m no kid, Dad. And being realistic is important in my job. People could die if I looked at the world through fantasy glasses. I know what Jules and I are to each other and I know what we aren’t. No matter what you’ve imagined in your old age.”

  Abe simply smiled. “Love is there for the taking. You throw it away and you might never have it again.”

  Luke exhaled loudly. He heard wistfulness in his father’s voice. Pain. Regret. “I know you loved Mom, even though—”

  “Even though what?” Abe’s voice resonated with incredulity. “I loved your mother no matter what. That doesn’t mean I never loved anyone else. It doesn’t mean I always did the right thing. Mark my words, son, you may fall in love with someone else, but it’ll never be the same. That first love will always be the love of your life.”

  Luke closed his eyes. He’d never heard his father talk like this before. Not about love. Not from the heart. Maybe now was the time for honesty. “So, why did you screw it up by seeing another woman?”

  Abe’s eyes clouded over. “Because I was an idiot. Because I loved her first. And I never stopped.”

  Luke lifted his head. “What?”

  “We were high school sweethearts. We were going to be married when I came back from Vietnam. But she stopped writing and was gone when I returned. I was angry and instead of finding out what happened, I went on a binge. I let my stupid pride get in the way. Your mother and Stella were best friends back then, so finally Lizzie told me why Stella moved away…which is her secret to keep. But by that time Stella had married. I ended up marrying your mother and when the Hancocks moved back here, we all became friends.” He sighed.

  “ Living so close, being together so much, especially when your mother was sick…we…leaned on each other.” He closed his eyes. “We made a mistake. But that doesn’t mean I didn’t love your mother.”