by Jaden Skye
“What do you base that on?” Wayne seemed uneasy.
“When I spoke to Victor about Raine’s disappearance in the club, he didn’t show much reaction, “said Olivia. “In fact, he actually said he didn’t care, thought Raine was playing some kind of game.”
“It’s possible he’s right, isn’t it?” Wayne’s voice got louder.
“Sure, anything’s possible.” Olivia felt strengthened. “But now Victor’s out with someone else, so quickly! Creepy to say the least.”
Wayne laughed. “Creepy doesn’t make the guy a psychopath,” he retorted. “It could just make him a guy that played around with a married woman and got in over his head. There’s no evidence yet that Victor’s done anything criminal. There’s evidence that he and Raine fought, but no other abuse of any kind has been reported. We checked his records and he’s come up clean, except for one small burglary a few years ago.”
“A burglary’s something!” Olivia was jarred to hear it, and also jarred by Wayne’s nonchalant attitude.
“A burglary’s unrelated to what’s going on now,” Wayne responded. “Though, to tell the truth, Chief Tan seems to be on your side. He’s uncomfortable with how Victor’s reacting, but we can’t do a thing about it right now.”
“Good.” Olivia felt vindicated that someone else agreed with her. “I can’t wait to hear what Edward’s private Investigators come up with,” she breathed.
“I wouldn’t count on that either.” Wayne put his hand on Olivia’s briefly, to calm her down. “I know Raine was your good friend, but at this point, really, you have to start letting go.”
“Letting go of Raine?” Olivia was horrified. “Just letting her vanish like smoke? Never knowing what happened to her?”
“That’s how most missing person’s cases turn out,” Wayne reminded her.
“No, it’s impossible! Can’t be done!” Olivia refused it.
Wayne shook his head sadly. “Then just let go of the hope that we’ll find anything much more to go on right now. If we find it, great. But don’t expect it.”
“You’re pessimistic,” Olivia replied.
“Realistic,” Wayne replied. “You know I’m a restorative justice guy. I’ve seen too many wrongful convictions. I’d rather give it a long time before I nail anyone. Someone can look as guilty as hell and come up smelling of roses. And the opposite, as well.”
“Okay, I get what you’re saying.” Olivia respected his fair-minded attitude. “It’s a good way to be. An abundance of caution.”
“Thank you.” Wayne seemed relieved. “And will you please go tell Lorna that too? She hates my attitude, considers me passive. We’re opposites on this point.”
Olivia realized that.
“In fact,” Wayne continued, “it’s getting so bad Lorna and I may have to part ways.”
Olivia was surprised to actually hear that. “Sorry,” she said. “That has to be hard.”
“Me, too,” replied Wayne, “very sorry.”
“It could actually be better for both of you in the long run, though, if there’s too much friction,” Olivia offered.
“Yeah, I guess it could.” Wayne seemed disturbed by the thought of it though.
“You care for Lorna?” Olivia asked quietly, seeing his upset.
“Of course I do,” Wayne shot back. “If you don’t care for your partner you can’t work together as a real team.”
“Of course not,” Olivia agreed as the winds blew harder and Wayne’s phone lit up with a message.
Wayne grabbed it, picked up, listened, and immediately got pale.
CHAPTER TWENTY
“What’s happening?” Olivia asked, breathless.
“Okay,” Wayne muttered. “Okay, got it.” Then he looked up at Olivia. “You were right. I was wrong.”
“Right about what?” she demanded.
“The big tip is in!” Wayne replied. “Edward’s private investigators have spread out. They’ve also been in Key Largo.”
“They found her there?” Olivia’s heart started pounding. She felt stunned and thrilled at the same time.
“Not exactly, but Raine was just spotted on surveillance cameras at the beach of a small hotel. She was swimming there the night after the party, with Victor.”
“With Victor?” Olivia was stunned.
“Victor,” Wayne replied.
Olivia felt a burst of excitement, mixed with dread. “Does it mean she’s in Key Largo now?”
“Not necessarily,” Wayne countered immediately.
“What was she doing on the cameras?” Olivia felt breathless.
“Swimming with Victor,” Wayne repeated.
Something didn’t sit right with Olivia, but she wasn’t sure just what yet. She knew that Victor and Raine had been in a relationship. She hadn’t heard that they’d broken up yet. Olivia wracked her brain to see what was bothering her about this. Then it came to her.
“Wait a minute,” Olivia exclaimed, “Victor told me he hadn’t seen Raine after the bachelorette party. I specifically asked him twice to be sure!”
“That’s right.” Wayne confirmed it. “He said the same thing to Chief Tan when we talked to him. We have it on record.”
“Oh my God.” Olivia grew silent. “He’s lied on the record. Something’s terribly wrong.”
“Yes, it is,” Wayne conceded. “And it’s more than a lie. Now Victor’s officially the last person to see Raine before she disappeared. Finally, we have something specific.”
“What could Raine have been thinking?” Olivia breathed. “She didn’t go back up to Miami as she said, she headed down to be with Victor again that night in Key Largo.”
“That much is clear,” said Wayne.
“What did she go down there for?” Olivia began to speculate. “They were in a fight and she might have wanted to make up with him.”
“Possible,” Wayne agreed.
“More than that,” Olivia mused out loud. “Raine was attached to him, she needed him. Looks like she couldn’t stay away from him.” Olivia’s words fell all over one another.
“I wouldn’t go that far,” said Wayne.
“Does Miranda know about this?”
“That’s a good question,” Wayne responded. “I don’t have the answer. I know that Sean and Edward have been informed. They’re beside themselves, both of them.”
“I can only imagine,” breathed Olivia.
“Edward’s on the war path and Sean refuses to say a word. Anyway, Chief Tan arranged for a bunch of us to head down to Key Largo now. The beach at the hotel Raine was swimming at is near a popular underwater wreck. Tourists visit it regularly, it’s a well-known diving site.”
Olivia was terrified. “You think she and Victor dove down and he killed her and left her body there?”
“Anything is possible.” Wayne now also seemed nervous. “There are divers there now, looking for her. We also have to search the island carefully. Tan’s already sent Key Largo police out to scan the area. This is big! It will be all over the news.”
Olivia felt chills racing through her body. “Victor has to know where Raine is,” she breathed. “For all we know, maybe Miranda does too.”
“I don’t know about Miranda, but Victor definitely knows more than he’s letting on,” Wayne agreed. “Actually, the police are taking him in as we speak.”
“How long can they hold him?” Olivia wanted to speak to Victor again in jail. She wanted to stare him down and demand he tell her what happened to her friend.
“For a little while,” Wayne answered. “Victor’s definitely a person of interest now.”
“Why would he do this, though?” Olivia asked. “What could he possibly get out of it? Did Raine drive him past his limit? Was there more that went on between them than meets the eye? Or is Miranda behind this?”
“Or someone else?” Wayne added.
Olivia couldn’t think of anyone else at the moment who could be involved.
“What does any killer get out of their
crime?” Wayne continued. “A sense of power, control, a momentary thrill?”
“The belief that the crime will be hidden forever?” echoed Olivia.
“Some enjoy seeing the pain they’re causing,” Wayne added. “They live off the torment of others, like a brutal scavenger living off garbage.”
Olivia closed her eyes. For some odd reason, Victor didn’t fit that description to her. He seemed too strong and grounded in who he was, distasteful though it might be.
“Okay, you’re coming with us, of course?” Wayne added then.
“Down to Key Largo? Of course,” said Olivia quickly. “No place else I’d be. Who else is coming?”
“Sean’s coming and Raine’s father,” Wayne added.
“That sounds like a recipe for disaster,” Olivia commented. “How are they going to handle it?”
“They both want to come. There’s no way we can refuse them,” Wayne commented. “It’s Sean’s wife, and Edward’s daughter. In case Raine turns up, they need to be there.”
“But they hate each other like poison,” Olivia added.
“They’ll keep it together now. They have to,” Wayne added. “We have no time to be sidetracked. And besides, now they each have Victor to blame.”
*
Wayne, Olivia, Sean, and Edward piled into a Jeep along with two other officers and as the light started to fade headed down the beautiful highway near the ocean to Key Largo. The open sky and rippling waters were an odd accompaniment to the frenzy in the car.
“It’s just like her, it’s just like her,” Edward kept muttering in the back seat.
Sean, pale and agitated, sat near the opposite car window, his hands completely clenched.
“Drive faster,” Edward yelled. “She could run away if she gets wind that we’re coming.”
Sean began tapping the windowpane. “She’s not running anywhere, Ed,” he muttered glumly, startling both Edward and Olivia.
“You don’t know that, creep!” Edward lashed back at him.
“What do you mean?” Olivia asked Sean.
“I meant Raine will be glad when we get there,” said Sean. “Why would she run away? For all we know Victor’s got her holed up somewhere, has been blackmailing her for all she’s worth.”
“She ran from you before, didn’t she?” Edward snapped back. “She ran to the bachelorette party and then she came down here with that lousy guy. Some women go from bad to worse, like Raine’s mother. I never thought Raine would too.”
Olivia looked through the mirror at Sean in the back seat. He was doing his absolute best not to take the bait.
“Ed’s tremendously upset.” Olivia turned to Sean, trying to soothe him.
“He’s always upset.” Sean’s eyes were glassy. “And I always take the brunt of it.”
“Quiet down, guys,” one of the officers in the rear interrupted. “This is rough for everyone. We’ll all be better off if we quiet down.”
Sean nodded and Edward mumbled something Olivia couldn’t make out. She decided to engage Sean in conversation anyway, take his attention away from Edward.
“Does Miranda know Raine and Victor were seen on the video swimming together?” she asked Sean.
“How do I know?” he snapped back. “I have no idea. I can ask Sloane if you want me to. Why?”
“That’s a good idea,” Olivia continued. “It seems Miranda and Victor are dating. I wonder how Miranda would take to the news about Raine being sighted swimming with Victor at the hotel that night.”
“I’ve given up wondering how Raine’s friends would react to things,” Sean promptly replied. “Sloane is the most stable. The rest of them go hot and cold depending on what’s happening.”
“Including Raine?” Wayne chimed in.
“Why should she be any different?” Sean said between clenched teeth.
Sean’s comment surprised Olivia. This was the first time he’d ever said anything disparaging about Raine.
“You do whatever you can for a woman,” Sean went on, “then you have to let the chips fall where they may.”
“If you’re doing all you can for a woman,” Edward interjected, “the chips stay right at home. She doesn’t run off with scum and go for a late-night swim at a sleazy hotel. Raine deserves better than that.”
Sean had enough. In a flash he spun around and turned to Edward. “Maybe Raine didn’t feel she deserved better than that, though,” he said. “Maybe a person gets just what they deserve.”
“Exactly what do you mean by that?” Edward’s eyes were fluttering with pain. “You’re saying my daughter deserved to go missing, to be out there somewhere alone in the night, terrified?”
Sean shut up quickly then and wouldn’t say another word as the Jeep suddenly veered off the highway onto the first exit to Key Largo.
CHAPTER TWENTY ONE
As the Jeep drove further off the exit, Key Largo spread out before them. The island was home to tropical hardwoods, winding creeks, state parks, and a marine sanctuary, and visitors flocked here naturally. A famous underwater wreck was close to the beach Raine had been swimming at and also a coral reef park and a botanical park. There were plenty of places that she could be hiding. Olivia wracked her brain, trying to think of the most outlandish possibilities.
Could Raine be alive right now, wandering around with tourists? Did something happen to her, and she forgot who she was? Olivia suddenly remembered a time in college when Raine drank so much, she hit her head and couldn’t remember who she was for two days. The memory chilled Olivia. My God, had that happened again? Olivia paused and immediately realized it was unlikely. Raine’s photo had been plastered all over the place. If she was right out there in public, someone would recognize her.
“We’re going straight to the hotel Raine was spotted at,” Wayne announced as they drove closer. “Investigators have been there all afternoon speaking to people both at the hotel and around the area.”
“Good work,” said Olivia, relieved at least to be near the place where Raine was last seen alive.
“We have rooms waiting for us at the hotel,” Wayne continued. “After we check in we can scan the place, talk to local police and private investigators. The news has hit all over TV. Posters are being handed out and the locals are on high alert.”
“Something will turn up soon, I’m positive,” Edward exclaimed. “It’s just like Raine to leave something behind to tell us where she is.”
Sean shuddered. “I’ve called the pastor of our church for prayers,” he reported. “By now everyone in the world knows about Raine and Victor. It’s humiliating, to say the least.”
“It’s going to be okay, Sean,” Wayne tried to soothe him.
“No, it won’t,” Sean responded. “Nothing will ever be okay again.”
The Jeep drove up to a low, sprawling hotel beside a small beach then and pulled into the driveway. One after another they got out. Edward stumbled out of the car last, looking lost and forlorn.
*
After they checked into their rooms they all met outside on the small veranda of the hotel, overlooking the beach. It was dark out now, just as it had been when Raine was last seen on it. A few stars had appeared in the sky and you could hear the sound of the waves gently lapping against the shore. They looked at each other silently, taking it in. Was this what Raine saw in her last moments on earth? Was she still somewhere, alive, waiting to be rescued?
The police officers who had traveled with them spoke first. “We’re heading over to the station to get briefed now,” one of them said. “Then we’ll join the search and report whatever we hear back to Officer Tan immediately.”
“Good,” Wayne said approvingly. “Olivia and I are going to speak to other investigators on the case now. We’ll see what they’ve found and what next steps are needed.”
Sean and Edward cast a disheartening glance at one another.
“I’m catching up with the head of my team now,” Edward reported. “He asked me to meet him privately at Sh
ore Drive as soon as I got here.”
Olivia wondered if there might be more information that hadn’t come out. “Will you let us know what he says immediately?” she asked Edward.
Edward looked at Olivia strangely. “Maybe I will and maybe not. Depends what he tells me. There’s no promises here.”
Olivia didn’t like that, and was about to reply when Sean tugged her hand. He was trying to tell Olivia to leave it alone, let Edward do what he had to.
“I guess that leaves you, Sean.” Wayne turned to him.
“I’ll just stay here at the hotel in the lobby and pick up whatever I can,” Sean said disconsolately.
Olivia felt uneasy about that. Sean would probably end up talking to guests who might have seen Raine and Victor here together. It would rough for him to hear. No telling how he’d react.
“Are you up for that, Sean?” Olivia asked, concerned. “Who knows what people will say?”
“I’m up for anything at this point,” Sean replied. “What’s worse than what’s happened by now?”
Olivia felt uneasy leaving Sean behind. Underneath his calm exterior, she could feel him smoldering.
Each of them turned to go in their separate directions then. “Maybe we should take Sean with us?” Olivia suggested to Wayne.
“We can’t,” replied Wayne. “This is strictly professional. The detectives won’t talk to us if Sean is around.”
Olivia and Wayne walked around to the back of the hotel, where the police and assorted investigators had set up headquarters in a small room.
Wayne knocked at the door briskly and then turned the knob. Fortunately, the door was open. He and Olivia walked in.
The room was small, airless, and musty with a large clock on the wall. Two men sat at a small round table, drinking coffee, and looked up slowly as Wayne and Olivia walked in.
“We’ve been expecting you,” one of them said. “Detective Ben Parrish here, and this is my buddy Dan.”
“Thanks for waiting for us,” Wayne said immediately as he pulled up two small folding chairs that stood on the side and placed them around the table. “Okay, fill us in.”