The Forgotten

by Heather Graham

  There didn’t need to be.

  The message was clear.

  Back off—or wind up in pieces in Biscayne Bay.

  13

  They had barely parked when Jill Hudson walked out of the back of the funeral home, heading for her car, a white Toyota.

  “So much for me bitching about endless hours of surveillance,” Diego commented from behind the wheel. “How far are we going to let her get?”

  “Far enough to make sure we’re not being followed, too,” Brett said. “We’ll stop her before she gets to her house, though. I don’t know what her family situation is, and I don’t want to put her in an awkward spot.”

  Diego kept several car lengths behind Jill as she drove toward Kendall. Eventually she turned in to one of the large malls in the area. That was good, Brett thought; he could catch up with her with dozens of people around, while Diego kept watch to make sure they weren’t being watched in turn.

  He was glad to find parking just down from her, then followed her in through the food court. He turned quickly and made sure Diego was behind him, nodded and kept pace behind Jill until she entered one of the anchor stores in the center of the mall. She paused to look at a cosmetic company’s free-with-purchase advertisement, and he caught up to her there.

  “You tried to call me,” he said quietly. “You didn’t call back.”

  Jill wasn’t schooled in subterfuge; her face turned bright red immediately, and she looked around guiltily.

  “We’re good,” he told her softly. “Want to get out of the main aisle? Will you be more comfortable?”

  She nodded and headed toward the men’s department, taking shelter behind a rack of coats.

  “I think it was Geneva,” she blurted out. Then she went silent, gnawing her lip and looking around again. “I don’t know why I’m so scared. No one is after me. But that man... His body was stolen from the funeral home. I’m sure of it. I’m terrified. I won’t even go home alone anymore. I’m here because there are people all around, and my husband meets me here when he gets out of work. He’ll probably divorce me. Who wants to be married to a paranoid freak, you know?”

  “It’s all right, you’re not paranoid. I think you’re very smart to be cautious right now,” Brett said gently.

  “But what if no one figures out what’s going on? What if dead men keep getting up and killing other people?”

  Brett felt tension tighten his jaw. It was sad but true. It often took months, even years, to catch a murderer. And some murderers were never caught.

  “We’ll find out what’s going on and we’ll catch this killer, I promise,” he said, knowing even as he spoke the words that he should never make the kind of promise he couldn’t be sure of keeping.

  But it seemed to calm her. She met his eyes and began to talk. “Okay, this is what I know. There was a strange man in the office one day. Mrs. Diaz and I were the only ones there at the time. It was too early for viewing, and both Mr. Diaz and Mr. Douglas were out and Carl wasn’t in yet. I asked her about him later—just casually, you know. I asked her if he was looking to bury a loved one. She was so strange, vague. She didn’t lie, she just said he was asking questions, but she didn’t say about what. I never saw him again. And now everyone has been on edge since you and those other agents came in. And it might not mean anything. I could be maligning a good woman—she is a good woman. I like working for her better than Mr. Diaz or Mr. Douglas, because she’s so nice. But I have little kids. I’m not going to jail for something someone else did.”

  “You won’t go to jail. Not only didn’t you do anything, you’re trying to help,” Brett said. “Do you know why Geneva Diaz might have agreed to let someone take Randy Nicholson’s body?” he asked. “Is there anything else you can tell me?”

  “She was upset. I think the man threatened her,” Jill said, looking around nervously again. “I really don’t want anyone to see me talking to you. I—I think I would have called back. I just didn’t have a chance. On the phone... That would have been better.”

  “I’ll leave. Where do you meet your husband?”

  “At the food court.” She made a face. “Funeral directors might make a lot of money, but I’m not rolling in it, I promise you. He’s bringing the kids, and we’re going to have dinner before we go home. The food court is cheap, and you can choose things that are almost nutritious.”

  He smiled at that. “Go ahead. Go back to the food court. We’ll watch out for you until he comes.”

  She nodded, looked worried and then smiled. “Geneva really is a good person. I don’t know why she would have done it, but if someone arranged for those doors to be open, I think it was her.”

  He thanked her, and she turned and started walking. He gave her some space, but followed. Diego, he knew, was following him.

  A little while later Jill met up with her husband in front of a fast-food Chinese place. Brett thought they were a nice-looking young couple. The kids looked to be about five, seven and nine.

  He headed toward the exit, and once he was outside, Diego fell into step beside him. He filled his partner in on what he had learned.

  “Divide and conquer,” Diego said. “We’ll have to get Geneva away from her husband so we can question her. I’ll get with legal in the morning. I’m sure they can figure out a way to shut the place down if we don’t get some cooperation.”

  Brett glanced at him. “The media has had a field day with the place. Half of their customers want their loved ones dug up to make sure they’re still in their coffins. The place should call us and beg us to do something. At least we’ve got another lead.”

  His phone was ringing. Matt. Matt had been keeping an eye on Sea Life. Brett answered and listened, then said grimly, “We’re on our way.”

  As soon as he hung up, Diego asked, “What the hell’s going on?”

  “Someone threatened Lara,” Brett said. “We’re heading back to Sea Life.”

  * * *

  Lara was surprised to realize that she felt angry rather than frightened. She was supposed to be terrified, she knew. It was clearly a threat. She would be killed because she and Cocoa had found the body parts the killer had thought were gone forever. Well, too bad. She had no intention of letting this sick-minded individual get under her skin.

  She told Grady as much when he came in to see how the search had gone. She’d asked Meg and Matt, who’d hurried back as soon as Meg called him, not to tell anyone about the dismembered doll, but they had told her that was impossible. They had to let their fellow agents and the police know, the scene had to be documented and the doll tested for fingerprints and other trace evidence.

  Lara insisted that she didn’t want her coworkers to know, and she was even more vehement about not telling the press.

  They agreed, but because they couldn’t disturb the evidence, there was no way to keep it from Grady when he came by. And once he saw it, of course he was worried sick. His first question after ascertaining that she was physically unhurt was to ask if she wanted to take a leave of absence or even—and he stressed that it was the last thing he wanted—resign.

  She assured him that she had no intention of leaving, that she loved her job and everything Sea Life did.

  Her heart seemed to leap when Brett returned, along with Diego, but she hid her feelings and made a point of staying across the room from him. She wasn’t into pretending, but she didn’t think this was the time to go flying across the room and into his arms. It was also important to her for him to realize that while she might not be Meg—trained in the law and with the skills to enforce it—she also wasn’t a hothouse flower. She was smart and strong, and she could hold her own, even in this company. She intended to be so. Not stupid—but strong. Eventually, after the agents had studied the scenario and pictures had been taken—dozens of them—Diego bagged up the doll and the paper wav
es, then left to take them to the crime lab.

  “Are you sure you’re all right, Lara?” Matt asked her.

  “Actually, I’m starving,” she said. “How about dinner? We can take the bridge and go to Bayside. There are a ton of great restaurants at the mall.”

  They were all silent for a long moment, staring at her.

  “I think we all thought you might just want to get home,” Meg finally said.

  “Hell, no. I’m surrounded by FBI agents. I’d like to sit down at a nice restaurant and have dinner,” Lara said.

  “If that’s what you want,” Brett said.

  “It’s exactly what I want. Whoever threatened me is a coward who slinks around. They knew that no one would be in my office. A blind man would have known that the Coast Guard was here and we were going out with them. I think this means your conspiracy theory is right. Someone was bribed—or threatened—to put that display in my office. And if we find out who that was—just like if you find out who let someone into the mortuary—we’ll be that much closer to finding whoever’s behind this.”

  Matt said, “In fact, we believe we know who we’re looking for there.”

  “Two people, one man and one woman,” Brett said. “We’ve had a report that Geneva Diaz met with someone and then began behaving very strangely. We’ll be talking to her tomorrow.”

  “Good. Then, let’s eat,” Lara said.

  She saw Brett lower his head to hide a smile. She grabbed her bag, and he smiled openly at her as he swept out his arm toward the door and said, “As you say, let’s go.”

  As she started past him, he bent down and whispered, “And here I thought you’d be in a hurry to get back to your house.”

  His whisper alone sent heat shooting through her veins.

  Matt and Meg were right behind her, and she wondered if they’d heard, not that it really mattered. If they hadn’t figured things out this morning, they were bound to when Brett stayed over tonight and—she hoped—every night from now on.

  They had three cars for the four of them, so Matt and Brett took their own vehicles, and Meg drove with Lara. To Lara’s surprise, her friend said nothing about Brett. Finally she looked at Meg and asked, “Warnings? Anything?”

  “About life? It’s brutal out there,” Meg said.

  “About Brett.”

  “Well, I knew how you felt about him.”

  “What? I didn’t know how I felt about him!”

  “You forget how well I know you. Better than you know yourself, sometimes. And I can’t think of anyone better for you.”

  “You just met him,” Lara said.

  Meg nodded. “Yes, but Matt’s known him for years and says he’s one of the best. And if Matt said it, it’s true.”

  Lara loved her friend’s confidence, but still she hesitated before asking, “Do you think...do you think it’s just that I’m afraid, and because I’m afraid, I’m looking for a protector and mistaking that for something else?”

  “You have Matt and me here. You’d be protected without him. Look, for the moment you’re both getting something you need. And I’m not just referring to sex. It’s just a bonus that you’re sleeping with a guy who has a Glock by his side and knows how to use it. I don’t like that doll. I really don’t like that doll.”

  Lara didn’t like it, either, but she decided to focus on anger, not fear. “My best friend and her significant other are FBI agents, and—as you pointed out—I’m sleeping with another. Let the bastards try something. If they do, you’ll get them.”

  “We always get them in the end,” Meg said.

  They chose a restaurant, and Lara suggested that they eat outside, by the water. They agreed, and she noticed that Brett hurried to claim the seat nearest the water. She realized it was actually the most vulnerable side, the easiest route for someone to slip up and surprise them. She noticed, too, even as they discussed the menu, that the others were studying the water. It was a beautiful night, with lights glistening on the water, boats off in the distance, music playing softly and a benign moon smiling down. But even in such a perfect setting, there was an elephant in the room that couldn’t be ignored.

  Brett seemed bothered by something more than the overall situation, Lara thought. She looked at him, a question in her eyes. “What are you thinking?”

  He sighed. “It still bothers me that anyone can get to Sea Life by boat.”

  “I don’t think anyone is after the dolphins,” Lara said.

  “Someone threatened you because of your role in finding those body parts, so why wouldn’t they threaten Cocoa for the same reason?” Meg said.

  That thought disturbed Lara. “Do you really think someone would try to hurt Cocoa?”

  “Maybe,” Brett said.

  “We need security there, then,” Lara said determinedly.

  “How would just anyone know which dolphin is Cocoa? I know that everyone who works with them can tell them apart. They have scars, they’re different sizes, whatever,” Meg said. “But how would a stranger know which dolphin was Cocoa?”

  “They could show up during the day and find out what she looks like and which enclosure she’s in,” Brett pointed out.

  “I wonder if we need to move Cocoa to another facility, just for a while,” Lara said. She bit her lip. “From what I’ve heard, it’s a tricky thing to do, moving a dolphin. But Grady must know somewhere she could be taken until this is over.” She hesitated, looking at the three of them. “I’m going to stay at the facility tonight.”

  She knew, of course, that they wouldn’t let her stay there alone.

  In fact, she was counting on it, since she didn’t have a gun or the faintest idea how to use one. Point and shoot, of course, but beyond that...

  “You know I’ll stay wherever you stay,” Brett said quietly.

  Meg laughed softly at that. “Yes, and we know you’ll keep a very close eye on Lara, too.”

  “I’m wondering if we should all stay there,” Matt said thoughtfully. “Until now I didn’t really see the facility as being in danger, but the threat to Lara puts a new spin on things. We’ll all stay.”

  “Slumber party?” Meg said drily.

  “I wasn’t planning on getting that close and cuddly,” Brett said, grinning. “But here’s the thing. The offices aren’t that close to the lagoons. If one of us is guarding the dolphins, someone else will have to be on guard duty in the offices.”

  Matt nodded. “Shifts down by the lagoon.”

  Lara felt uneasy. “I wonder if we should have left at all. Rick and Adrianna are in for the night, so if something happened down by the water, they wouldn’t even know.”

  Brett reached across the table, his fingers curling around hers. “Don’t panic. I can fix that with a phone call. You guys order—I’ll have the roast beef—and I’ll be right back.”

  She looked at him curiously.

  “World’s greatest partner,” he said, then stood and walked away to make his call. When he returned, just as their waiter was leaving, he told Lara, “Call Rick and Adrianna, tell them Diego will be there in ten minutes. They need to meet him at the parking gate and let him in.”

  She called Rick’s cell. He seemed surprised by the change in plans, but pleased, as well.

  “Never hurts to have some big guns around when the world goes crazy, huh?” he said.

  “Never,” she agreed.

  She hung up and smiled at Brett. “Thank you—and Diego, too.”

  “We might be taking things a step too far, you know,” Matt said. “There’s a good possibility that it hasn’t even occurred to our killer that snuffing out a dolphin would help him in the least.”

  Lara nodded, knowing he was trying to reassure her. “But maybe the killer is vindictive, too. He obviously knows I’m involved, so he probably also knows
it’s through Cocoa.”

  No one argued that. Just as their food arrived, Brett’s phone rang. He answered, listened briefly, then said, “Thanks” and hung up. “We’re good. Diego is on the job.”

  They didn’t linger, but they did enjoy their dinner. As soon as they were done, they drove straight back to Sea Life.

  Diego’s car was there in the lot.

  Lara used her key to enter, then reset the alarm once they were inside.

  Brett called Diego as she closed the gates. “I told him we’re here. He’s going to keep first watch by the water.”

  “That’s the kind of partner you keep,” Matt said.

  Brett nodded. “Seems as if you did okay, too.”

  “He did extremely well—and so did I,” Meg said, smiling. “What watch? We can divide things up however you want.”

  “I’ll take the second water shift,” Brett said. “That means you guys can get at least six hours sleep up in the office, so you can take care of that end. After that point, your choice whether you take guard duty alone or together. You’ll hold down the fort in the morning until the gates open to the public.”

  Lara had moved ahead to unlock the doors to the office. Now she stepped aside and asked Brett, “Mind if I head down and thank Diego?”

  “No. But I’ll watch you from here, and I’m not going in till you’re back.”

  She hesitated. “Don’t you need as much sleep as you can get before your shift? And really, I know you’re all just humoring me on this.”

  “The more I think about it, the more I think there could be a real threat to Cocoa as well as you,” he said, his tone serious.

  She nodded and turned away, feeling suddenly awkward.

  As she got closer to the water, she saw Diego. He was seated on the platform in the lagoon beyond the dock, looking out at the water. He stood and turned the minute she got within a hundred feet, his hand on his gun, though he didn’t pull it.

  “Hey,” she said, going out to join him.

  “Hey. How was dinner?”

  “Really nice. And thank you so much for coming right out here. Without you, we would have had to settle for takeout. You and the others are putting in an awful lot of hours.”