by Stacy Green
“I’m willing to bet in happened it prison.” And it might have something to do with his parole. His wouldn’t be the first case of a violent offender being paroled because he’d been injured so badly he couldn’t physically repeat his crime. Overcrowded prison hospitals were happy to outsource if a family member was willing to offer care. And all on the taxpayer’s dime.
We found no sign of Kelly in the small living room or upstairs. Both bedrooms were sparse, and only one appeared to have been used.
“No basement,” Chris said.
I’d returned to the makeshift bedroom, drawn to Jared’s hospital bed. Probably provided by the state, it was the kind designed to blend into the home. The side rails were a clean beige, and the espresso-colored frame fit nicely into any furniture set.
But the headboard was missing.
Making sure the towels still covered my hands, I examined the bed more closely. In addition to the remote control on the nightstand, it had buttons on the side. I pressed one, and the head of the bed gradually began to move up.
“Where’s the headboard?” I asked.
“Maybe it doesn’t have one,” Chris said. “If the patient had seizures, the headboard could be a hazard.”
I ignored him and looked at the carpet. It was still new enough to absorb an object’s weight, meaning that moving furniture around left indents in the carpet.
“The bed wasn’t here before.”
“What?”
I pointed to the long, parallel lines running next to the bed. “Look at the bed frame–its feet are square. But these marks are long lines. This is where the dresser was.”
“So? Whoever took care of him moved the bed, probably for a better view of the window.”
I looked at the window. Nothing special, a standard vinyl window with dirt inside its frame. No curtains on the window, but a black, roller-style blind drawn all the way up. I grabbed the dresser and started pulling it away from the window.
“Let me do that.” Chris took the opposite end of the dresser and lifted it away from the wall.
Two square indents rested beneath the window. The other two marks were probably beneath the bed’s current position.
A sound made me turn. Chris had started playing with the remote, and the headboard of the bed suddenly rose up. “That’s what I wondered,” he said. “A lot of these beds have this option. But this is a pretty nice one. I wonder if the Cook family sued the prison or something. The state usually only provides bare bones for injured felons.”
I pulled Kelly’s phone out of my pocket and brought up the picture of her trapped. She lay in a bed with white sheets and a black headboard. I’d originally thought it was some kind of wall but this time I saw the sliver of space on the left side of the headboard. Whoever had taken the picture hadn’t paid close enough attention. He hadn’t zoomed in quite enough to crop out the beige wall. Just like the beige walls of the dining room.
But what about the black above her? I’d assumed it all meant she was in a basement or dark place but now …
I reached up and pulled down the black blind.
“Holy hell.” Chris’s voice ripped through my pounding head.
My entire body seemed to bottom out, and I suddenly felt as though I were floating along in some lucid nightmare.
Wake up, wake up!
But I couldn’t.
Written in shiny, thick red marker was another message. No name attached, but clearly meant for me.
You’re all wrong.
Say hi to Mac.
21
“I still think this is a bad idea.” Chris gripped the wheel tightly as he drove. “Justin’s not going to be able to tell you a damned thing to help find Kelly.”
“I have to try.” But Chris was wrong. Justin could tell me exactly what I needed to know, even if he wasn’t aware of it. I just had to ask the right questions. And now Mac’s life might be at stake. My options were eviscerated. “You didn’t leave any fingerprints, right?”
Chris had used the Cook’s home phone when he made the anonymous call about finding the bodies. “Trust me. It’s clean.”
Part of me had wanted to leave Jared Cook to rot, but his caretaker hadn’t done anything to deserve such a brutal death. He should at least be respected in death.
The fine hair on the back of my neck rose as we neared Justin’s apartment. After Kailey Richardson’s safe return, Justin had moved out of Poplar and moved two streets down from Todd’s house.
The threat about Mac and the deliberate misleading–Kelly’s abductor never intended for me to find her. He just wanted to screw with my head, and it worked. I should have called Todd already.
“What are you thinking?” Chris’s voice bordered on pouting. It wouldn’t be easy for him, but we had bigger things to worry about.
“How I’m going to get Justin to tell me everything.” My feelings about Todd were my own.
“About that–”
“I think you should stay in the car.” Problem easily solved. “Justin’s plenty pissed off at you for shutting him out, and we don’t have time for family drama. I’ve got a better chance of getting him to talk on my own.”
“Fine with me.” Chris pulled into the apartment complex and found a spot in front of Justin’s building. I started to open the door, but he grabbed my arm. “Are you sure we’re doing the right thing?”
“I’m not going to tell him anything. I just have questions about Jared’s parole.”
“I know you’re not, and that’s what’s worrying me. I think you’re in over your head.” He released my arm, his hands falling limply into his lap. “Look, I know I gave you a hard time for letting my mother live.”
“Chris, we don’t have time for this conversation–”
He held up a hand. “Just hear me out. This comes back to Kelly. And you. Think about what happened last winter. About all of it. How badly did you want to come find me on your own? Wasn’t there some part of you that wanted to ditch the police and the FBI and do what we’ve always planned?”
“Most of me, until I found out you’d lied.”
“Not a lie,” Chris said. “Everything I told you was true. I just left out the part about Camp Hopeful.”
“Whatever. I don’t have time for this.”
“My point is that you let the authorities do their thing because they were better equipped to find me. Because you needed their help. And let’s be honest. Without their help, Mary and I would still be on the run.”
“What’s your point?”
“The point is you need the police on this,” Chris said. “I’m afraid it’s bigger than you realize, and you don’t have enough time. First Tesla, and now Cook. You’re running around in circles, and time is slipping away.”
“You’ve changed your tune,” I snapped. “Just a few month ago, you were still angry at me for letting Mary live. And now you’re telling me to risk Kelly’s life?”
“The situation is different now. And I was wrong.” He looked embarrassed. “You have to understand how screwed up in the head I was. All that time with her, it messed me up. But I’ve been going to therapy, and things are better.”
“Good for you. And you’re right, it is different. I can’t take the risk of Kelly’s kidnapper finding out I’ve involved the police.”
“You’ve got options,” he said. “You don’t think Todd Beckett would help, especially since his precious little brother is dating her?”
I wouldn’t take the bait in Chris’s tone. As much as I wanted Todd to be here, if only to have the calming influence of his presence, I’d already made up my mind. It was too late to go back. “I called you because I thought you’d be on my side.”
“I am,” he said. “Always. Even if you don’t realize what’s best for you.”
“Don’t worry about me,” I said. “As long as Kelly comes home alive, no one else matters.”
I had other reasons for not wanting Chris to come with me. Specifically, I didn’t want him to know my plans af
ter this. He wasn’t wrong about my being in over my head. I was in way too deep, and I might have cost Kelly her life. Continuing to risk Chris’s was too selfish. And once I made the call, I’d have to bare everything. I didn’t want Chris anywhere near that for fear he’d implicate himself.
Justin opened the door with bleary, nervous eyes. The dark shadows beneath them made it clear he hadn’t slept much. I probably didn’t look much better, especially since I was hiding a bullet wound under my shirtsleeve and I still had dried mud on my shorts. He made a lame attempt to block me from entering. “What are you doing here?”
I shoved my way past him. “I need information from you. No more bullshitting me. Do you understand?”
He glared at me, looking far from threatening with his too-long dark hair sticking up everywhere. He must have sensed this because he tried to stand up straighter, drawing his shoulders back to make his lanky chest seem wider. “You going to threaten to shoot me again?”
“I didn’t exactly threaten to shoot you. I let you know I had a gun. But don’t worry. It’s in the car.”
Justin shut the door, still trying to look tough. The flash of anger in his eyes reminded me of his mother. “Why don’t you talk to Todd? Or are you going to keep blowing him off?”
“I don’t have time to talk to Todd right now. I need information from you.”
“Not until I get to talk to Kelly.”
I gritted my teeth. “You can’t. I told you the facility has a no contact rule.”
“I don’t believe that. Give me the name of the facility.”
I wanted to slap him. “You’re not in the position to give me orders. I promised Kelly I wouldn’t give out the information, and I’m not breaking that.”
“Yeah, well I told you stuff I wasn’t supposed to, either. But I trusted you. Maybe you should think about returning the favor.”
His attempt at a guilt trip failed. I’d gone past the point of giving a damn about anyone else. “It’s not a matter of trust. This is about finding a killer. And I don’t think you told me everything Kelly shared with you.” She had less than a day left now.
“Why does it matter? Do you think she’s in danger?” His eyes searched mine, their sincerity almost cracking my resolve.
“Not while she’s safe in the hospital, but when she’s released? Who knows? That’s why I want to find out who did this.”
“I told you everything,” Justin said.
“What about Kelly’s stepfather?”
He paled and then swallowed hard. I shook my head. “You didn’t think the fact that he was paroled wasn’t important?”
Justin flinched. He crossed his arms over his chest. “Kelly didn’t know that.”
“Stop lying to me!” I didn’t care how loud my voice got. “She’s his victim–she’s notified of his parole by law. She would have also been given the chance to speak at the hearing. Did she omit that from me too?”
Justin’s shoulder’s fell. “The hearing was right after you left for Alexandria. I didn’t know her then. She didn’t go. She spoke to the parole board over the phone, and by then it was all just a formality. Once she understood the situation, I think she made peace with it.”
I thought of Cook’s smile in the cell picture and knew I’d been right. “What was the situation?”
“He was severely beaten in prison about a year ago. Multiple head injuries that left him mentally handicapped. Couldn’t say more than a few words, and it took him weeks to recognize faces. Couldn’t feed himself, couldn’t go to the bathroom. He didn’t get better, and the prison hospital wanted him moved to a state ward. I guess his cousin volunteered to take care of him with state aid. He didn’t want him wasting away in a home, even if the guy was a child molester.”
“And there was no chance he’d recover?”
“‘Severely mentally handicapped’ were the words Kelly used. The guy didn’t even know his own name. So she didn’t fight it. I kind of thought it was karma.” Justin shrugged.
I couldn’t muster any remorse for Jared Cook. Every so often, karma was a beautiful bitch. “What about his cousin, Charles Cook? The state would have done a full background check on him. And so would Kelly. What did she find out?”
Justin didn’t seem surprised I knew the name. “He was a CNA at a nursing home for a long time. No record, good job history, religious. He spoke at Jared’s original sentencing and apologized for not being as much of a part of his cousin’s life as he should have been. He claimed if he’d been around, he might have known what was going on.”
That’s why the name had sounded familiar. Charles had cried when he spoke, his sincerity obvious. So he’d probably taken in Jared as a way to alleviate the guilt he’d taken on.
Charles had zero reason for attacking Kelly.
Jared couldn’t have.
But Kelly had been there. Her kidnapper had taken a picture with Jared to mislead me. And then he’d killed both Jared and Charles.
And Kelly? Had he killed her and dumped her somewhere for me to find? My fear threatened to devour me, but I dredged up the next question.
“How long has he been out?”
“Just a couple of months,” Justin said. “I didn’t meet her until after he’d been released, and like I said, she seemed all right. The whole thing with Tesla’s picture showing up in the investigation is what she focused on.” Justin narrowed his eyes and stepped closer. “But I don’t understand why any of this matters. I get that you’re trying to figure out who killed Shannon, but I don’t see how it’s related to Kelly’s investigation. You said Shannon was killed as some kind of revenge against you.”
“And Tesla made it look like his son was the one trying to buy kids from Jake Meyer–or so Kelly believed. Either way, it’s my involvement that brings his possible involvement to light.” Except Tesla had nothing to do with what had happened to Kelly. This was someone else altogether, someone who wanted to strike out at me for whatever I’d done to him.
“That doesn’t mean Tesla’s the one who killed Shannon or that he had her killed.” Justin looked sheepish. “You have a lot of enemies.”
More than you know, and more than I want to admit. But I have no choice now. Neither does Kelly.
“Thanks for the reminder. Is there anything else you haven’t told me?” I searched his eyes, feeling a wave of guilt. But if he knew the truth, he’d want to help. And I’d put someone else at risk. If I hadn’t already done that by coming here.
“No,” Justin said. “If I think of anything else, I’ll call you.”
“Thank you.” I turned to go, but Justin cleared his throat. “What?”
“You know I really care about Kelly. I never meant for anything like this to happen.”
The small piece of humanity I hadn’t permanently scrubbed away longed to hug him and tell him it would all be fine. Instead, I jerked around and headed for the door. “I know you didn’t.”
22
My feet dragged on the gray carpet as I made my way toward the building exit. Chris waited outside, and I had to make my decision before I went back to the car. If he sensed weakness, he’d never leave me alone. And then he’d keep talking until I broke, and he’d never let me make the call.
I knew the ramifications. But my own life didn’t matter. I’d been screwing it up for so long I didn’t deserve more chances.
A few feet from the car, I stopped cold.
Your penance is that you’ve convinced yourself your own life isn’t worth much because you didn’t save Lily.
Mac was right.
Kelly had replaced my sister. All the love I would have showered on Lily had been given to the abused girl from the rotten basement. All of my decisions were emotionally driven because I couldn’t fathom the idea of failing both of them, especially when I seemingly had all of the pieces to find Kelly. I just couldn’t figure out how to put them together.
I wasn’t compartmentalizing a damned thing. Kelly and Lily and my anger and need for revenge were all t
wisted together in big knot of misery. If I couldn’t separate one situation from the other, how could I possibly know what to do about Kelly now?
God, Mac. If this bastard went after him … After all this running in circles trying to convince myself I could handle anything, I had to throw away whatever hope I had left of forging a future. I had to give Kelly a chance.
Resigned, I reached for my phone. My stomach bottomed out. I’d left the phone in the car. I couldn’t call until I got rid of Chris.
He got out of the Audi, shading his eyes. “What’s wrong?”
“I don’t know what I’m doing.”
“We never do,” he said. “But we’ll make it up as we go along.”
“That’s just the thing. I can’t involve you anymore. Or Mac. Or Justin. I can’t pick one life over the other, and I’m clearly not capable of finding Kelly.”
He leaned against the car. “So you’re calling the police?”
“I am. Todd, specifically. I just hope he can fix this before it’s too late.”
Chris opened the door and grabbed the phone I’d left lying in the console. “For what it’s worth, I think you’re doing the right thing.” His lack of argument surprised me. No doubt it was coming.
“Thanks.” I took the phone and raced through the contacts, hoping Chris remained near the car so he couldn’t read the screen. Todd would be hurt that I didn’t call him, but I needed someone who could move quickly. And I wasn’t ready to face Todd just yet. As soon as the line began to ring, I stepped back, pretending to walk and think. I just didn’t want him to be able to hear the person answering.
“Agent Andre Lennox.”
Something like hope flashed through me. “Hi, it’s Lucy. I should have called you earlier, but I thought I could handle this on my own.”
“What’s going on?”
Like a pent up kid with a confession, the truth burst out “I came back to Philadelphia to see Kelly. She’s been kidnapped, and the person left a message for me. I was supposed to find her on my own, with no help from police. He said I had 48 hours before he killed her. And I tried to follow the clues, but I screwed up and am now down to less than 20 hours. I need your help now, and I need it in secret.”