Reunited with the P.I.

by Anna J. Stewart

  “Because he has freedoms you don’t and he doesn’t want you getting caught in the legal backlash. You ask me, you should turn the case over to him and stay out of it. That way you can claim ignorance and distance yourself if it goes really bad.”

  Simone smiled. “You’re too young to be this savvy.”

  “I learn from the best.” Kyla hopped off the stool and retrieved her laptop from her bag. “I found this awesome new computer program—”

  The patio door slid open.

  Vince’s expression was stoic, his jaw tense. “We’ve got the warrant. They have a last location for Mara’s car.”

  “Where?” Simone untangled her legs and gripped the edge of the sofa. “Vince?”

  “Off Highway 160 near the Antioch Bridge.”

  “The Delta,” she whispered. As she stood up, her knees wobbled. “Okay, so maybe her car broke down and she had to go find help. Do they know—?”

  “We need to go, Simone.” Vince took her by the shoulders and stared into her eyes. “We need to go now.”

  Chapter 11

  The pressure built inside of Simone the longer they drove Highway 160, and deeper into the Sacramento Delta region they went. Neither she nor Vince had said a word since leaving her apartment. Part of her didn’t want to know where they were going. Or why. She didn’t want to speculate, didn’t want to hope...

  A helicopter circled overhead, the buzzing and constant hum thundering in her ears.

  Inside, she willed Vince to drive faster. The strong sun sat above the horizon. Red and white with a dash of yellow for added impact. As they neared the scene, he pulled onto the gravel-strewn shoulder. He parked. Turned off the engine. Waited.

  “It’s such a beautiful place,” Simone said. “I’ve always loved this part of the valley, the river. Peaceful. Do you know how many different bird species migrate through here?” Maybe if she kept talking, maybe if she didn’t get out of the car...maybe. Maybe...

  “I do not.” He sat back, rested his arms on the steering wheel and followed her gaze over the bank of the sun-kissed river.

  Shrubs and brush and thick, wet grass mingled and meandered for endless miles, hypnotizing even the most troubled of minds. The eleven-hundred-mile stretch of oak woodlands was a welcome and more scenic means to connect the central valley to Stockton and surrounding cities.

  “I remember learning about it in school. I feel like I should know. One of those factoids that should have stuck in my head.” Why couldn’t she remember?

  “I can go talk to Jack if you want,” he offered. “You can stay here.”

  “No.” She shifted her attention to the trio of deputies who had joined the detective. At least one EMT vehicle had wedged itself into the narrow space between the road and the river, light spinning against all the solitude. Another patrol car pulled up, stopped briefly before moving on down the road. In the distance, she saw the telltale silhouette of a tow truck approaching the scene. Mara was her responsibility. Always had been. Always would be. No matter what they found in the river. “This is my job, my case. I need to do it.” She opened the door, braced one foot on the ground, then stopped. “Thank you. For being here. For doing this. I know it wasn’t easy for you.”

  “Simone—”

  She got out of the car and slammed the door, heading across the street before she could stop herself. When she felt his hand brush against the small of her back, she didn’t want it to matter, but it did. That he was here mattered very much.

  Engines rumbled, an odd cacophony against the quiet air. The acrid stench of gas and diesel permeated her nose, poisoned her thoughts. She stopped and stared at a pair of black skid marks arcing from the highway and followed their path to the deep trenches in the mud and grass. Trenches that didn’t stop until the river’s edge.

  “Jack?” Vince guided her away from the investigators who were cordoning off the area with neon yellow tape, a slash against the lush, shaded beauty of billowing oaks and the occasional, drooping willow.

  The detective acknowledged them, saying, “Heck of a way to start a Sunday.”

  “Heck of a way to start any day,” Vince replied.

  “True enough.” Jack nodded. “Look, Simone, I told Vince on the phone there wasn’t any need for you two to come down. We’ve got hours of work—”

  “Is she in there?” Her question sounded clipped, irritated, even to her own ears, but she couldn’t apologize for something she couldn’t control. Jack looked to Vince, and Simone’s temper rose. “He works for me, remember? Talk to me, Jack. Is Mara in there?”

  Jack grimaced. “Can’t say for sure until we get divers in.”

  “When will that be? Where are they?” She scanned the area, didn’t see a sign of any water rescue team. “How long has it been? Shouldn’t they already be in the water?”

  “We’re doing what we can, Simone. We’ve got two missing rafters down at the American River. The teams are stretched pretty thin, so they could only spare one diver. Rescue has to take priority over recovery.”

  “She must be so cold.” Simone hugged her bare arms around herself and shivered. “I can’t stand thinking of her—” She turned away, unable to decide what emotion to surrender to. Or if she should just turn off.

  “I keep a suit in my car,” Vince said. “If your guy has extra equipment, I can dive.”

  She spun, hand clutching her throat as she stared at him. “You’d do that?”

  “Unless there’s some regulation against a civilian aiding the police in a case like this? Jack? You told me you read my file,” Vince said. “If that’s true, you know I was a combatant diver in the Corps.”

  “Yeah.” Jack nodded and pulled out his phone. “This is good, but give me a second to call it in.” He disappeared around the other side of the EMT vehicle.

  “You’re really willing to go down there?” Simone asked.

  “You hired me to do a job.” Vince headed to his car, opened his trunk and rummaged around in the back. “I don’t get to choose where that takes me.” He dragged out a black dive suit, shook it out, draped it over the car and shrugged out of his jacket, which he handed to her. “Put this on before you rattle the teeth out of your head.”

  She tugged the jacket on and buried her nose in the soft lining. Vince’s soothing scent of citrus and spice was everywhere. And Vince. “How long has it been since you’ve been diving?”

  He shot her one of those “don’t ask” looks as he ditched his shoes and socks, stripped off his shirt. When he unsnapped his jeans, she turned away, the flush on her cheeks filtering through to the rest of her. “Nothing you haven’t seen before, honey.”

  She didn’t want to smile. Hadn’t she thought the same the other night when she’d found him at her door? Her knuckles whitened as she gripped the edges of his jacket tighter.

  “Nothing you didn’t want to see last night.”

  “You’re trying to distract me again.” If only she could articulate how much she appreciated it.

  “Maybe. Now we just have to hope this thing still fits.”

  She shouldn’t have been as entertained as she was by the sound of him struggling into the wet suit. Jack reappeared, a young, redheaded woman in her own curve-hugging suit trailing close behind as they came toward Vince’s car.

  “Simone, Darcy. Darcy, Assistant DA Simone Armstrong,” Jack introduced them. “And that back there is Vince Sutton.”

  “Nice to meet you, sir, ma’am.” Darcy offered a firm hand and a friendly but tempered smile. “I’m sorry we’re meeting under these circumstances.”

  “Me, too.” Simone figured the young woman was about Kyla’s age. Bright-eyed, energetic, but there was a caution about her that told Simone she wasn’t someone who jumped into things without thinking them through.

  “Darcy has over three years
with the local volunteer rescue group,” Jack said. “She’ll give you a quick run-through before you head under.”

  “Sounds good,” Vince called. “And while I’m sure Simone doesn’t mind being ma’am’ed, please drop the sir. It’s Vince.” He moved from behind the car and joined them, torso still bare as he held out his hand.

  “Follow me, Vince. Sooner we get in, sooner we get out.”

  “Lead the way.” Before Vince followed, he took hold of Simone’s hand and pressed a soft kiss on her lips. “Whatever we find down there, this isn’t over. If anything, it’s just begun.”

  He moved off, leaving Simone to wonder if he meant the Denton case or whatever hadn’t happened between the two of them last night.

  “I really don’t want to like that guy,” Jack said, his back to Simone. “But he doesn’t make it easy.”

  “Tell me about it.” Heart in her throat, Simone watched Vince strap on his tanks, nod to his diving partner and head toward the water.

  * * *

  “How long have they been down there?” Simone sipped toxic coffee from a paper cup that had been pushed into her hands by an eager rookie.

  “Not long.” Jack glanced across the water. “I know it feels like forever.”

  “No.” She slipped her sunglasses on. “Forever is what it must have felt like to Mara.” The crime scene unit was getting a jump start on the tread marks, while patrol officers controlled the traffic issues that cropped up with a closed section of the highway. She’d never seen Jack in action. Watching him interact with his fellow officers, observing how he commanded a situation without being controlling or combative, she was impressed. No wonder he and Cole made such a good team. They had the same temperament, the same attention to detail. Most important, they shared the same dedication to finding out the truth.

  “Hard to believe it was only a few weeks ago Cole brought us down this river in his boat.” Jack’s wistful disbelief aligned with her own. “Really could have done without this image in my head.”

  “It seems every place I’ve considered beautiful has been marred in some way.” Simone’s throat thickened with emotion. “Never thought I’d be adding the Delta to my list.”

  The tow truck’s engine continued to idle as it hugged the side of the road, hovering like some giant metal grim reaper.

  “If this turns into a murder investigation...” Simone found herself stumbling over the words. “When this turns into one, I’d appreciate you giving Vince as much access as you can.”

  “I thought you’d hired him to find her.” Jack tapped away on his cell phone, glanced up every few seconds to keep track of all the goings-on.

  “He won’t let this go.” Simone refused to tread lightly any longer. “And I don’t want him to.” One of the things they had in common.

  “It would make it easier on me if you made him official through the DA’s office. You know how tricky things got with Eden and the Batsakis twins. Consultants are one thing. Independent contractors are another.”

  Considering she had no idea what she’d be walking into when she went into the office tomorrow, she couldn’t promise anything. “I’ll do what I can,” she said. “Fair warning, though. Vince isn’t an easy man to say no to.” She looked at him. “And he loathes red tape.”

  “Noted.” Jack’s expression had her wishing her feelings for him were different. He was a great guy, but he wasn’t Vince.

  She wandered away, looking for something, anything to distract her as the seconds ticked by. An outcropping of rocks decorated by bright wildflowers called to her. As she approached, something on the ground glinted against the sun. A flash. Bright. Blinding. She stooped down and stared at the knotted gold chain with a tiny cross.

  The tears she’d been holding in check dropped onto her cheeks. She dipped her fingers into the gravelly dirt, started to lift the necklace free, but stopped herself. She’d be breaking procedure, contaminating evidence. She could see part of the chain had been coated red, no doubt with blood. She didn’t want it to matter, but it did. It took every ounce of control she had to look over her shoulder and gesture to one of the evidence techs. “This is Mara’s,” she whispered and pointed to the cross lying on the ground as if it were a gravestone.

  “Detective!” A shout from the bank’s edge had her jumping to her feet and scurrying over to Jack. The river rippled. A few seconds later Darcy and Vince broke the surface.

  Darcy held up her thumb. Then turned it down.

  “They found her.” Simone’s whisper barely broke through the noise as deputies, technicians and EMTs scrambled to organize. The tow truck rumbled to life, moving out to adjust position and back down to the edge of the river.

  Simone couldn’t tell if her heart was beating so fast she couldn’t feel it or if it had stopped altogether. Darcy and Vince swam toward shore, gear still in place as they grabbed hold of the tow rope and dived back in. Time stopped. Or did it speed up? One minute the bank was filled with people issuing orders and making space and the next, a small blue hybrid vehicle emerged from the water’s depths.

  Simone set her coffee on the ground, took determined steps to where they stopped the car. She could see Vince and Darcy walk out, snapping off masks and unlocking their tank straps.

  Every promise she’d ever made to Mara echoed in her ears. Every conversation they’d had, every joke they’d shared. Crime scene investigators snapped pictures, nodding and motioning their okay to open the door. There was a brief discussion where it was noted the window had to be broken to gain access as this particular model of car didn’t allow for slim jim access.

  Simone jumped when the driver’s window exploded. The door was unlocked and opened.

  Mara Orlov’s body spilled out onto the muddied bank.

  A sob caught in Simone’s throat. Tears blurred her eyes as she moved in.

  “Simone—” Jack moved toward her, but out of the corner of her eye, she saw Vince catch hold of Jack’s shoulder and pull him back.

  New orders were shouted. The clang of metal doors and squishing shoes scraped against her senses. She could smell putrid water and as she looked down at the young woman’s body; scraggly brown hair; vacant, translucent eyes, rage took refuge in her heart.

  Simone stood over Mara, remembering the wonder-filled eyes, the dazzling smile, but all she saw now was the pale face and a thin red welt around her throat.

  “Simone.” Vince came up behind her, his hands falling on her shoulders in a gentle embrace. “They need to do their work. Come on. They’ll take care of her. Come with me.”

  She let him lead her away, only because she didn’t know what else to do. He brought her back to his car, left her leaning against the hood as he changed out of his wet suit and into his clothes.

  She looked up into the sky, rocking back and forth. Where had the morning gone? Heat had descended but was tempered by the cool Delta breeze. The sigh she released left her sapped of air, as if she hadn’t breathed in hours. It hurt. Every inhale, every exhale, made her feel like she was going to shatter into a million pieces.

  She looked down when he joined her, noticed the layers of mud caked on her shoes and white slacks. Her feet felt heavy, like anchors pulling her into her worst nightmare. Again.

  “I was wearing white the day they found Chloe.” She surprised herself by speaking. “A white sundress with lace edging. Hand-done. One of those imported fabrics my mother was obsessed with. Funny what sticks in your mind. I can remember the colors so vividly. That thick green grass, the deep purple of the wild violets in the field. Chloe’s red hair.” And with those words, she was over the mental mountain she’d imagined. “Every color you can think of was somewhere right in front of me. It hurt. Sensory overload, you know?”

  “You were nine years old,” he said. “I imagine more than your senses were overloaded.”

  “
I knew,” she continued as if he hadn’t spoken. “I knew she was dead before they told us. There were these expressions on the cops’ faces, the lead detective. I saw that same determined anger on Jack’s face before they opened that car door.” She shivered. “It was so quiet that day. It seemed so strange, all those people, everyone waiting for news, you could hear the wind brushing through the trees. Rustling the leaves. Like now.” She closed her eyes and focused on that one soul-saving sound. “Do you hear it? Even with the engines and the voices, you can hear the silence. Like the entire Delta is pressing in on us.”

  “Like it’s trying to protect itself from the outside world.”

  “Or protecting itself from us.” She drew his jacket around her and rested her head against his arm. “I wear white so I don’t forget. Every day I get dressed, everything I wear, it’s so I remember that there’s always someone, something to fight for. It’s the promise of everything that died that day. Not only Chloe, but for us, too. I’ve never been able to explain it, not until I heard Eden talking to Cole a few weeks ago. Whoever we were meant to be died in that field with her. Every time I step into a courtroom, every time I face down a crook and do everything I can to make them pay for their actions, I’m doing it for Chloe. Because maybe if I make enough of them pay, she can finally rest in peace.” Before now, she had never been able to put it into words. It was as if Mara’s death had unlocked something inside her. Broke something inside her.

  She loathed the gratitude she felt as he slipped his arm around her and drew her in, needing it more than she could say. “She is at peace, Simone.” He didn’t sound condescending or apologetic. He sounded like the Vince she knew, the Vince she’d loved: strong, dedicated and solid. “How could she not be with the way the three of you have lived your lives?”

  “We promised each other we’d live not only for ourselves but for her.” A solitary tear escaped her control, but instead of wiping it away, she let it fall.

  “For the record, I don’t think she’d mind if you added a bit of color to your world.”