by M. Z. Kelly
“Yeah, well, I have my dorky side, as well. There are days when I can’t chew gum and walk at the same time. Then there’s my family situation.”
He smiled. “You’re going to have to explain that one.”
I spent a few minutes, hitting the highlights, or maybe the lowlights of my family, touching on what had happened to my adoptive dad and the biological father I’d never met.
“And you have no idea who your bio-dad is?” Grant said.
I shook my heard. “I have a friend named Pearl, a retired detective. He’s been trying to find out about him, but he’s gone missing.” I took a breath, then sipped my wine. “Sorry, it’s probably more than you needed to know.”
“Not at all. And, just so you know, I’ve got my share of family drama, including a twin brother no one has seen in a couple years.”
“Why is that?”
“He got gold fever and went mining in the Klondike. He went missing while working a claim.” His blue eyes turned glassy. “I took some time off and went searching for him this past summer, but came up empty.”
“I’m sorry. You must have been close.”
He nodded. “Yeah, it’s been difficult.” He took a sip of his wine, and changed the subject. “So, tell me about your work. Natalie and Mo said you’ve chased a lot of bad people.”
I gave him a brief overview of my job, purposely leaving out any specifics about the cases I worked. “The best part of my job is that I get to work with Bernie and Olivia, my other partner. We’re a good match.”
“It sounds a lot more interesting than what I do. I spend most of my time trying to hack into my client’s computer systems to see where they’re vulnerable and developing software fixes.”
I chuckled, thinking about the government computer systems that had recently been hacked. “The NSA could probably use your help.”
“Probably, but I did a tour in Afghanistan about five years ago. I had my fill of government work.”
“You just lost your claim to being a nerd. Tell me about your tour.”
He took some time, telling me about his tour of duty in the southwestern province of Afghanistan where our government had recently announced they were sending more troops.
“It feels a little like déjà vu all over again,” he said, “A war without end. I’m happy to be home and working as a computer geek.”
His work in computer forensics triggered thoughts about the case I was leaving behind. “I’m working a case where some text messages were sent in Russian, along with some video of a victim. We had our computer experts take a look at a phone that was used. They restored some deleted messages, but said there could be other messages they couldn’t access. Do you think it’s possible to find those other messages?”
“Do you think there’s a Russian connection to what’s happened?”
“Possibly, but I can’t go into specifics.”
He nodded. “As you probably know from some recent election issues, the Russians have a lot of experts in computer hacking. I can’t say for sure, but I’ve found that nothing that has ever been on a phone or computer permanently goes away. It’s just a matter of knowing where and how to access the information. Do you want me to take a look at the phone?”
I sighed, knowing that was impossible, given my current status. “Maybe, at some point. I’ll let you know.”
Grant and I spent a couple of hours, enjoying the music and one another’s company. I learned that his divorce was the result of his wife hooking up with his best friend. We found some common ground when I shared the sorry story of my ex having an affair with his secretary. I found Grant charming and surprisingly well-grounded. Even so, I was wary of getting too close too quick, since I had priors for that.
As he walked me to my car after leaving the lounge, Grant said, “I know a place in Malibu that has great seafood. I was thinking maybe we could have dinner next weekend.”
We stopped at my car. “I’d love that, but I’m working out of the area for a couple weeks. Can I text you when I’m back in town?”
“Of course, just let me know what works.”
He leaned in and kissed me. It wasn’t a long kiss, but it stirred something inside me that I hadn’t felt in a long time. I liked Grant, maybe more than I wanted to admit to myself.
As I drove home, I hoped the case I was being sent away to work wound be over quickly. I would miss by job, my co-workers, and Grant Addison.
TWENTY-SEVEN
I spent my Sunday, flying into Oakland, before renting a car and making the one-hour drive north to the City of Napa. From what I knew from googling the area, Napa was the largest city in the county, with a population of about 80,000. The area was renown for its nearby vineyards, tourism industry, and luxurious, upscale resorts. As I drove into the city, I passed by beautiful rolling hills covered with vineyards that were ablaze with fall colors of red and gold.
Despite leaving behind Hollywood and a case that still needed a lot of work, I felt sense of relief and maybe renewal. I knew I had a lot of work ahead of me, but I was looking forward to new surroundings and maybe exploring the area in my free time.
After checking into a hotel, I had dinner, and then went for a walk along the Napa River. The evening was cool and beautiful. I was sitting on a bench, feeling the tension of the past few days beginning to ease when I got a FaceTme call from Natalie and Mo. My anxiety immediately returned.
“We need your help, Kate,” Natalie said. “We’re both going mental, ‘bout ready to lose it with me auntie.”
“What’s going on?”
Mo answered, her big head pushing Natalie out of the screen. “That woman not only snores like a banshee, she sleeps in the nude. I haven’t slept in three days, and, even though I’m beautiful, I gotta have my beauty sleep.”
I rubbed my temples as I said, “What have you tried to keep her from snoring?”
“Pillows, gags, blankets, a bag, and a brick.”
“A brick?”
“Mo didn’t use it,” Natalie said, her facing appearing back on the screen as she moved the phone back. “She thought it might scare Mattie outta snoring. It didn’t work.”
“I think you need medical help. Why don’t you take her to the doctor tomorrow?”
Mo scratched her green, shoulder-length wig. “I think she’s beyond medical help. She’s also got narcolepsy. Yesterday she fell asleep in a trolley car, started snoring like an angry bull, and the conductor threatened to throw her into the bay.”
I continued to suggest medical intervention was in order, before Mo came up with another plan. “Baby sis and me thought we could come up there and stay with you for a few days. Maybe with a change of scenery, Mattie will get herself back under control.”
I didn’t mince words. “I have to work and I need my sleep. I can’t have you coming here until you take care of Mattie’s problem.”
“We’ll fix things and see you tomorrow,” Mo said.
“What...you can’t just...” I realized the line had gone dead. “Why me?” I fumed, then realized a couple was standing nearby and heard me.
“Anything we can do to help?” the woman asked.
I put my phone away. “Not unless you’ve got a cure for snoring and meddling.”
***
The Napa Police Department was located a couple of miles from my hotel. I arrived there at eight the next morning and asked to speak with my contact, Lieutenant Jerry Sutton. After a ten-minute wait, Sutton greeted me and we made our way through the modern station to his office.
“We just had shift change,” Sutton said after we settled into his office. “As you’ve probably heard, we’ve got a bit of a manpower issue here.”
Sutton was in his fifties, a bit on the heavy side, with short gray hair. His calm, even demeanor reminded me of Leo, and I had a thought that he might be a grandfather.
“Why the shortage of staff?” I asked.
“We’ve had a lot of baby boomer retirements and a few transfers to other departme
nts. We’re hiring additional staff, but it takes time to get them through the background process and the academy.” He excused himself and used his phone to call someone. When he finished the call, he offered me coffee from a pot he had brewing in the corner of the office.
He poured us each a cup and he went on. “You’re going to be working with...” He looked up as a man appeared in the doorway. “Speak of the devil. Come in and have a seat, Wade. This is Detective Kate Sexton.”
I stood and shook hands with Detective Wade Moore who I learned was my temporary partner. Moore was probably in his early thirties, a couple inches taller than me, with hazel eyes, short hair and nice features.
“I’ve heard a lot about you,” Moore said, smiling. “I’m interested in hearing your take on our case.”
“I’ll do what I can to help,” I said.
After we all took seats, Sutton said to Moore, “I’ll let you give Kate an overview of where we are on everything. When we’re finished, you two can decide on how you want to proceed.”
Moore set a folder he’d brought with him on the lieutenant’s desk. “Our case involves the disappearance of Faith Winslow.” He handed over a photograph of an attractive woman, with short blonde hair and blue eyes. “She’s twenty-nine, married, and went missing almost a week ago. Her husband Jack is a bit of a celebrity around here. He owns Hank’s Place. It’s an upscale restaurant that’s won a lot of awards.”
Moore gave me a local magazine that had Jack Winslow on its cover. He was standing on the sidewalk in front of his restaurant. Winslow looked older than his wife, with dark hair fading to gray. I had the impression that he was one of those men that got better looking with age.
“How did our victim go missing?” I asked.
“The day it happened, Faith had spent the morning at a local fitness center where she taught classes. Her husband got a call from her at two twenty-seven that same afternoon, but the line went dead when he answered. We pinged the call to a road outside of town near the national forest. There’s been no sign of her since.”
Sutton spoke up. “We’ve done a thorough background on both Faith and Jack. There’s no criminal record on either of them. Faith had some police contact about a decade ago when she was in college and her boyfriend battered her. The guy’s name is Darren Larsen. We checked him out. He’s now a big deal in the real estate game over in the bay area. We have no reason to believe that he’s has any connection to what happened.”
“How was their marriage?” I asked, seeing there was a family portrait in Moore’s folder. The couple had two children, a boy and a girl.
Moore answered. “Everyone we talk to says it was good. No sign of affairs or other problems.”
We spent another twenty minutes, discussing the Winslows before Lieutenant Sutton summed things up. “This case has gotten a lot of press. Faith was...is young and attractive. Her husband is very successful. The TV crime program Forensic Nation is in town, stirring things up and planning to do a story.”
“That’s pretty much what we have, so far,” Moore. He put the photos back in his folder and rose. “I guess we’d better get at it.”
I stood and shook hands with Lieutenant Sutton. “We’ll be in touch.”
He smiled. “Good luck. You’re going to need it.”
“Where would you like to start?” Moore asked as we left the lieutenant’s office.
“Let’s take a look at where our victim disappeared,” I said. “We can then have lunch at a little place called Hank’s.”
TWENTY-EIGHT
“Have you had other detectives working the Winslow disappearance?” I asked Wade, as he asked me to call him. We were on the highway, headed out of town.
“Initially there were four of us, but, with your arrival...” He took a breath, “...the others have all been reassigned. I’ve only got a year on the job as a detective. I think the lieutenant thinks I might learn a few things from you, so here I am.” He glanced at me as he drove. “And, just between us, I’m glad you’re here.”
“I appreciate that. I imagine there’s some unhappiness about an outsider coming in and working your case.”
He nodded. “More than a little. I think it’s a territorial thing with some of the guys, along with a lot of unhappiness about the press being involved.”
“I understand.” I smiled. “I promise to keep a low profile, be on my best behavior.”
He rubbed his jaw and smiled. “I’m not worried about that.”
As we drove, I learned that Wade Moore was married and had a two-year-old daughter. He and his family lived on his father’s ranch a few miles from the city. He told me he’d been with the police department for almost a decade.
“How did you end up in Napa?” I asked.
He shrugged. I grew up in Sacramento, then went to college in Fresno. When I decided to go into law enforcement, I looked around and decided Napa would be a pretty nice place to work.”
I took in the rolling vineyard covered hills. “I’d say you made a great choice.”
“And you?” He smiled. “Don’t tell me you went to Hollywood because you wanted to be an actress.”
I laughed. “That’s the last thing I ever thought about. I’m a rare bird. I grew up in the city. My dad was also an officer there.”
“He must be proud of you.”
I met his brown eyes. “He was. He’s dead now.”
“I’m sorry.”
We were near the national forest when Wade pulled over to the side of the road. The area was deserted, with no nearby homes. The isolation of the hills receding into the dense forest left me with a forbidding feeling.
After we got out of the car, Wade said, “Faith’s last call came from right here.”
The morning was breezy. I brushed my hair out of my eyes and said, “And the call was cut off before she said a word?”
He nodded. “Her husband said he tried calling her back, but she didn’t answer. Even if the phone was off, we could have pinged the location if she left here. It means somebody must have taken the battery out or destroyed it.”
I took a walk over to a brushy area, scanning the horizon. I was again struck by the desolation of the area. Maybe our victim had pulled over because of car trouble. Wade came over and I asked him about that.
“Faith’s car was gone when our officers got here. There were tire marks in the dirt indicating it was likely pulled back at the road heading east. We had our forensic people and officers comb through the surrounding area, and even had some scouts take a look. They didn’t find anything.”
I shaded my eyes, looking back at him. “Do you think somebody took her?”
“That’s my best guess. She was a fine-looking woman. It might be that someone was stalking her.”
“If that’s the case, she could still be alive.”
He was now scanning the road as it receded into the hills. “I hope so. I’m concerned because she’s been gone almost a week.”
As we left the area, my earlier thoughts about quickly solving the case evaporated. If our victim was still alive, it could be that she was being held prisoner miles from our location, maybe even in another city. And, if that was the case, we could spend weeks chasing down leads that went nowhere.
***
The restaurant that Jack Winslow owned was smaller and less formal than I expected. Wade asked our waitress if Winslow was available as we settled in at a table for lunch.
“For you, I’ll go find him,” the waitress said with a smile.
After she was gone, I looked at Wade. “An admirer?”
His face reddened. “It’s not the first time I’ve been in here. Guess she remembered me.”
After we placed our orders, I looked up seeing a man I recognized as Winslow heading our way. The handsome restaurant owner was dressed in jeans and a t-shirt, with a carpenter’s smock, making me think he might have been making some repairs.
After introductions, Jack Winslow settled in at our table, asking Wade. “Is there anyt
hing new?”
“Sorry, no.” He looked at me. “Kate is here on special assignment from LAPD to help out.”
Winslow fixed his large blue eyes on me. “LA? Is your specialty finding missing persons?”
I hesitated, knowing I had to stretch the truth. “I’m a detective there, so I sometimes deal with those kind of cases.”
He nodded. “I see. So, what are your plans?”
“I’m still getting my feet wet here. Can you tell me about your wife, what you think might have happened to her?”
He rubbed his forehead, taking some time before answering. “Faith is the most beautiful, intelligent woman I’ve ever known. The kids and I are going crazy.” He glanced at Wade. “You probably told her that she worked at the club the day she went missing.” A nod. Winslow looked back at me. “As for what happened, I have no idea. None of this makes any sense.”
He broke eye contact with me, his eyes misting over. I gave him a moment, then asked, “When did you last talk to her?”
“You probably know that she called me before...before she went missing. The line went dead.”
“What about before that?”
“We had breakfast together that morning before I came here about nine. She called me later in the day when she was on the way to the club to remind me that we had a conference with Owen’s teacher that evening.”
“Owen’s your son?”
A nod. “Our youngest, he’s seven. Jenna, our daughter, is nine.” He took out his phone and showed me pictures of the children and Faith.
After complementing him on them, I said, “Is there anyone you can think of that might have taken an interest in your wife?”
He looked back at me. “You mean, like a stalker?”
I nodded. “Or, a friend. Maybe even an acquaintance, someone who was attracted to Faith and maybe acted out of impulse and took her.”
“You think she’s been kidnapped?”
“We can’t rule anything out.”
He shook his head, his gaze drifting off again. “Nobody comes to mind. Like I said before, Faith is a beautiful woman, so I thought about what you’re suggesting. There’s nobody I can think of who said or did anything that seemed out of the ordinary.”