by Leona Karr
For the hundredth time he cursed the lack of a phone at the houseboat. He’d been tempted several times to offer to provide her with a cell phone, but feared her pride would take it as an insult. Just what argument he could use to keep her from leaving, he wasn’t sure, but he had to try.
The late afternoon traffic was horrendous as he approached Manitou’s city limits. A dozen stoplights diabolically turned red before he could get through. His impatience grew as he rehearsed in his mind his argument for her not to leave. He knew things were not harmonious with her aunt, but she could move out and stay someplace else. Money might be a factor, but he could arrange to pick up the difference—if she’d let him. When he remembered the firm set of her chin and the dogged independence she always displayed, he feared he wouldn’t be able to change her mind.
When he reached Hidden Cove, Neil saw that Courtney’s car was there, and was relieved she hadn’t left yet. The gray van was gone.
Good, he thought. Devanna wouldn’t be around to eavesdrop on their conversation. Something about the woman grated on his nerves.
The houseboat looked shut up as he crossed the dock and knocked on the door. Impatiently, he listened for some sound inside. A heavy stillness was broken only by the quiet rippling of the water against the boat.
Damn. She must have gone somewhere with her aunt. What should he do? Leave a note? No telling when they’d be back. He decided to check in at his office and come back a little later.
As he turned away from the door, a floating piece of deck railing caught his eye. Where’d that come from? Curious, he walked around the corner of the houseboat.
“What the hell?”
The sight that met his eyes stunned him.
The railing had a gaping hole and the ladder was snagged on one of the broken boards. As he came closer, a torn scrap of a pink bathing suit spattered with blood curdled his insides.
No! His heart stopped as his terrified gaze searched the water.
“Courtney! Courtney!” He shouted her name as he began circling the houseboat. No sign of her in the water. Maybe she was inside. Hurt.
He tried the door. It was unlocked and he called her name as he hurried inside. No sign of her or the baby. The splatters of blood on the wood outside were evidence that she’d been hurt. Maybe her aunt had taken her to the hospital?
As he hurried out on the deck again, he almost missed a faint whimpering that was scarcely more than a whisper.
He froze and listened. Had his ears been playing a trick on him? Was it coming from the rowboat tied against the dock a short distance away? He ran over to it.
“Courtney! My God!”
Bruised, bloody and nearly drowned, she lay in a heap on the bottom of the boat. She was barely conscious, and whimpering as he gathered her into his arms.
NEIL FOLLOWED THE AMBULANCE to the hospital and waited anxiously in the emergency room. The smells and sounds of the hospital were painfully familiar because he’d spent many hours at Wendy’s bedside when she was dying. Despite all his vows not to let himself love anyone deeply again, it had happened. Courtney had moved into that empty place in his heart. He’d begun to let the barriers down, and hopes for a future with someone he could dearly love seemed a reality. When the doctor finally appeared, Neil prepared himself to hear the worst.
“She’s lost a lot of blood, but fortunately her wounds are not deep,” the young doctor assured him. “No broken bones, only a couple of bruised ribs. The most serious injury is a slight concussion. We’ll have to watch her closely until the swelling goes down.”
“But she’s going to be all right?” Relief rippled through him.
“If she takes care of herself. No doubt, she’s going to be uncomfortable for a while.”
“Can I see her?”
“A few minutes, but no more. She’s conscious now, but we’ll be keeping her sedated for the first twenty-four hours.”
Neil hesitated at the hospital room door for a minute as he absorbed the shock of seeing Courtney hooked up to IVs, and lying listless with bandages all over.
A nurse hovered close by as Neil approached the bed and bent over her. As he took her hand, she gingerly turned her bandaged head to look at him.
“How you doing, sweetheart?”
She gave him a weak smile.
During the torturous wait in the emergency room, he’d asked himself over and over how such a thing could have happened. He knew Courtney had been climbing up and down that ladder almost every day to sunbathe. Somehow the screws holding it must have worked loose and flung her backward.
A chill crept up his spine as he realized how easily she could have drowned. It was a miracle she had made it to the safety of the boat. She’d never have had the strength to climb up on the dock.
“You’re going to be fine,” he assured her, even as her pale face and glazed eyes wrenched his heart. “The doctor just wants you to rest.”
“Jamie?” she whispered in a cracked voice.
“I’ll make sure he’s all right.”
“Maribeth?”
“Sure, my sister will look after him if that’s what you want.”
She moistened her lips. “Devanna…won’t…like…it.”
“Don’t worry, I’ll handle her.”
The nurse nodded at him.
He kissed Courtney lightly on the forehead. “Don’t worry, darling. I’ll make sure everything is all right. You just sleep and get well.”
His promise seemed to satisfy her. A kind of peace settled on her drawn face. The nurse stepped forward to give her a sedative.
Neil waited until Courtney’s eyes closed and long eyelashes fringed her pale cheeks before he turned and left the room. As he drove back to the houseboat, he began to make plans.
He’d pick up Jamie and take him to Maribeth so she could care for him while Courtney was in the hospital. No doubt Devanna would vigorously object. Even though Courtney had told Neil how devoted Devanna was to the baby, he knew her aunt’s unpredictable behavior had been a worry to her. Neil was determined to put Courtney’s mind at ease about Jamie’s care, and steeled himself for an unpleasant scene with her aunt.
Night had settled on the mountain valley, and five hours had passed since he’d rushed Courtney to the hospital. When he arrived at the houseboat, he was surprised when Courtney’s car was still the only one in the parking area. Either Devanna hadn’t returned, or she’d come and gone.
He couldn’t see any sign of a light as he descended the stairs and crossed the dock. The houseboat looked dark and deserted. He knocked on the door and called out Devanna’s name, but there was no response.
The door was still unlocked. He turned on a light, and this time the condition of the houseboat hit him. When he’d raced through it earlier, he’d been so intent on finding Courtney that he’d been oblivious to everything else. Now he was aware that signs of hasty packing were everywhere. He knew that Courtney had been packing up to leave, but why would the whole houseboat be in such shambles? Cupboard doors in the galley were ajar. The food shelves looked strangely empty.
His chest began to tighten as he looked in Devanna’s compartment and saw the nearly empty clothes closet. When he looked around for the baby’s belongings and didn’t see any, the truth hit him with the force of a blow to the stomach.
Devanna had moved out! With the baby!
He dialed McGrady’s office on his cell phone, and fortunately the detective was still there.
Neil poured out his mounting anxiety. “Courtney had an accident this afternoon. She’s in the hospital, and wanted me to check on the baby. I found the place deserted. Nobody here.” Neil’s voice rose to angry pitch. “Her aunt’s moved out. I don’t know where in the hell she’s gone, but she’s got the baby with her.”
“Hey, slow down. I’ll be there in a few minutes.”
When McGrady arrived, he wandered through the houseboat with his usual slow, measured pace as Neil pointed out the moving mess. “It’s damn clear! She’s taken food
, her clothes, and everything of Jamie’s.”
“You may be jumping to conclusions, Neil,” McGrady cautioned. “Maybe the two women agreed to move out of the houseboat while you were out of town.”
“My sister told me Courtney was planning on leaving Manitou in a few days.”
“Isn’t it possible she’d been helping her aunt move to another place, and wasn’t able to think clearly enough in the hospital to tell you?”
Neil began to relax a little. Maybe he was jumping to conclusions too damn fast, but something didn’t add up. “Where was Devanna when Courtney got hurt this afternoon?”
“Tell me more about this accident of hers,” McGrady said. “When did it happen?”
“I don’t know for sure,” Neil admitted. “Sometime before late afternoon when I got here. Her doctor could probably give you a better estimate.”
After turning on the deck lights, he showed McGrady the fallen ladder and broken railing. “Courtney liked to climb up on the roof and sunbathe. When the ladder pulled away, she was flung overboard. Thank God she managed to stay afloat and reach the rowboat, even with her injuries.”
She could have just as easily drowned.
“The aunt must have been gone, or the ladder falling and breaking the deck railing would have alerted her,” McGrady speculated.
“You would think so,” Neil agreed but without conviction. He’d witnessed Devanna’s self-absorbed and self-centered personality.
McGrady stared up at the place where the ladder screws had come out of the wall. “Maybe I’ll have someone take a closer look tomorrow.”
“Why? You don’t think—?”
“I try not to think anything until I have some concrete evidence in my hands. Saves a lot of time going down the wrong road.” There was a warning in his tone that indicated Neil ought to do likewise. “I would like to have a chat with the aunt, though. I’ll put out an APB on her van. When we locate her, we’ll probably be able to clear up a lot of this in short order.”
“We’d better! They’re going to keep Courtney sedated for a while. I need to have some reassurances for her about the baby when she comes out of it.”
“You and that lady friend of yours have had more than your share of trauma and drama, recently.” He gave Neil a reassuring pat on the shoulder. “Hang in there. I’ll call you as soon as I have something. Manitou isn’t that big. We should be able to locate the aunt within twenty-four hours.”
The relief that McGrady promised was not forthcoming in the next twenty-four hours—nor the day after that. The local APB brought no results, and McGrady called Neil with even more devastating information.
“I’m afraid I have some disturbing news about Courtney’s accident. Our experts have verified that the screws holding the ladder had been loosened so that her weight would pull it away from the wall. Her fall was no accident, Neil. It was deliberate.”
COURTNEY FLOATED to the surface of consciousness repeatedly only to sink again into sedated nothingness. As the gray fog began to lift, she became aware of hushed sounds, vague movements around her and the sure touch of hands upon her body. As her heavy eyelids fluttered upward, she struggled to bring images of light and dark into focus.
“She’s coming out of it.”
“Notify the doctor.”
“Take it easy, honey.” A comforting hand patted her arm. “You’re in good hands. Don’t you worry about anything,” the motherly voice advised. “We’ll take good care of you.”
Courtney didn’t have the strength to voice the questions that plagued her. Closing her heavy eyelids, she kept floating away into a blessed state of renewing sleep.
The next time she awoke, her vision was clearer, and she turned her head toward a figure sitting by her bed. Neil’s face came into focus, and a quiver of unbelievable relief rippled through her.
“Hi.” Bending over her, he smoothed back lank hair from her forehead. “How are you feeling?”
“Better now.” Her lips were stiff. She tried to draw on memories that evaded her. She looked at Neil with questioning eyes. “I’m in the hospital?”
“Yes, you had an—accident.”
“Accident?” she echoed.
As evenly as he could, he said, “The ladder on the houseboat gave way. You broke the deck railing and fell into the water.”
Pieces of her memory suddenly whirled like a maelstrom. His words ignited the fear, the struggle, the pain as she’d fought to stay afloat.
Her eyes deepened in remembered fright, and he leaned forward and kissed her wan cheek. “You’re safe now, darling. You just need to rest.”
“How long have I been here?”
“Three days.”
Her eyes rounded. “Jamie? He’s with Maribeth?”
Neil had been dreading that question. The doctor had warned him that even a simple concussion could be exacerbated by continued emotional stress, and any sudden trauma might affect her recovery. Neil had decided it would be better to lie to her until she had left the hospital, but would she ever forgive him for not being completely honest with her?
“Yes,” he answered, evading the horrid truth that Devanna had moved out, taking the baby with her. The callous deceit of the woman sickened and frightened Neil. How could he possibly tell Courtney that Jamie was in the hands of such a deranged person?
“The doctor expects you to be released in the next day or two, so try not to worry.” I’m doing enough of that for both of us.
“You’ll make sure Jamie’s all right?”
“Sweetheart, I’ll do anything I can to make sure you and Jamie are safe.” He hoped she wouldn’t notice that he sidestepped a direct answer. “As soon as you’re better, we have to talk about us.”
“Us?”
“Yes, us. Like you and me and Jamie.”
She couldn’t help but smile at the fantasy even if it proved to be short-lived. Neil was obviously shaken by what had happened, and emotions that ran high during a crisis usually returned to normal when it was over. There would be time enough to face reality when she was well enough to take charge of the baby, and leave Manitou as she’d planned.
“How’s my aunt taking all of this?”
“Just as you might expect,” he answered, praying they’d find the blasted woman and have the baby back before Courtney knew he was missing.
After leaving the hospital, Neil went directly to the police station. When he walked into McGrady’s office, he knew the situation hadn’t changed.
“Every lead we’ve had on a gray van has been a dead end,” the detective told him. “Our earlier assumption that Devanna moved out of the houseboat to a different location in town hasn’t borne fruit. I’ve had an officer posted in case she came back to the houseboat, but we’re pretty certain she left for good. We’ve extended our APB nationwide.”
Neil’s heart sank. In three days the woman could be halfway across the country, or across the Canadian border, only a short day’s drive from Manitou.
“How’s Courtney doing?”
“She’s out of the induced coma now.”
“Good. Maybe she’ll be able to give us some information that will help.”
Neil said quickly, “I didn’t tell her about the baby being gone. I just couldn’t. If you hit her with that now, no telling how she’ll react.”
“She’ll have to know sometime,” McGrady said gently.
“I was hoping we’d find Devanna before Courtney had to face the truth.”
“I’m sorry but it doesn’t look as if that’s going to happen. If we don’t hit pay dirt in the first thirty-six hours, we usually have to settle for a slow, piece-by-piece resolution of a case. Kidnapping is the worst torture for everyone.”
“At least we know who has the baby,” Neil said. “It’s not some stranger but his own flesh and blood. You know, Devanna didn’t strike me as smart enough to pull off something like this.”
“We’re going over the houseboat with everything forensics can offer.”
Eve
n as he spoke, his secretary came in with a computer printout. “It’s the fingerprint confirmation you’ve been waiting for.”
She glanced at Neil as she handed it to McGrady and then left the office. McGrady leaned forward in his chair, holding the report in his large hands. As he read, his jaw hardened and his eyes narrowed. When he had finished, he laid the papers down and leaned toward Neil.
“The fingerprint check came up with some surprising and disturbing evidence.”
“What do you mean?”
“We were able to obtain Devanna Davenport’s fingerprints from a legal report she made a few years back. We used it to compare with the ones we found in the houseboat.”
“And?” Neil prodded, trying to hurry up the man’s slow, methodical way of speaking.
“Funny thing,” he mused. “They don’t match any we found in the houseboat.”
“What? How is that possible?”
“Courtney’s aunt Devanna was never in that houseboat. Or if she was, it wasn’t for very long. The fingerprints belong to a Billie Mae Kessel, a wanted fugitive who has already served time for robbery early in her lawless career. Her accomplice was killed during a thwarted robbery attempt several months ago. She successfully evaded the police and, obviously, has been in hiding since then.”
For a choked minute, Neil just stared at the detective. When he found his voice, he stammered, “You mean—you mean this woman, Kessel, has been pretending to be Courtney’s aunt?”
“Looks that way.”
“And the real Devanna Davenport?”
McGrady just shook his head. The obvious, ugly answer was like a foul miasma filling the room, making Neil sick to his stomach.
Chapter Ten
McGrady’s brow furrowed as he looked across his desk at Neil. “We’ve got to put a different frame around everything that’s happened.”
Neil’s mind was in a tailspin. He wanted to protest that surely there’d been a mistake. This couldn’t be true.