by Karen Rose
He grinned and stood up, tugging Riley toward the door. “You might have a point there, Alex. You want to come with us? I think Riley wants you to.”
Riley had dropped to his belly, ears splayed straight out, nose pointed straight at Alex. Drowsily he blinked up at her and Alex had to chuckle again. “What a ham. But I think I’d need a more active dog. More of a watchdog.”
“Believe it or not, this boy can move when he wants to.”
Riley padded between them as Vartanian led them out his front door and back down to the sidewalk. “Well, he’s moving now,” Alex said. “But he’s still no watchdog.”
“No, he’s a huntin’ dog. He’s won awards.” They walked in companionable silence for a time and then Vartanian asked, “Does your niece like dogs?”
“I don’t know. I just met her two days ago and she hasn’t been very… engaged.” Alex frowned. “I don’t know if she’s scared of dogs or even if she’s allergic. I don’t have her medical history. Damn, that’s one more thing to add to the list.”
“Before you buy a dog, see how she does around Riley. If she’s afraid of him, any other dog might be too much.”
“I hope she likes dogs. I’d like to snag her interest in something.” Alex sighed. “Hell, I’d just like to see her do something besides color all day.”
“She colors?”
“She’s obsessed.” And before she knew it, Alex had spilled the whole story and they were back in his living room. “I just wish I knew what she’s seen. It terrifies me.”
Riley flopped to the floor with a dramatic sigh, and as one they crouched to scratch the dog’s floppy ears. “It doesn’t sound good,” he said. “What are you going to do when your cousin goes home tomorrow?”
“I don’t know.” Alex looked into Daniel Vartanian’s kind eyes and felt the connection once again, even though he hadn’t touched her. “I have no idea.”
“And that scares you,” he said softly.
She nodded tightly. “I seem to be scared a lot lately.”
“I’m sure our department psychologist could recommend a specialist for children.”
“Thank you,” she murmured, and as she stared at his face, something between them shifted. Settled. And Alex drew her first easy breath all day.
Vartanian swallowed, then stood, ending the moment. “Your jacket’s still too fancy for where we’re going.” He went to his coat closet and began moving hangers around with more force than he probably needed to. Finally he emerged with an old high school letter jacket. “I was skinnier then. This might actually not swallow you whole.”
He held it out and she shrugged out of her jacket and into his. It smelled like him and Alex fought the urge to sniff the sleeve with all the finesse of Riley. “Thank you.”
He nodded but said nothing, setting his alarm and locking his door behind them. When they got to his car, she looked up again and caught her breath. His eyes were piercing as always, but there was something more now, a hunger that should have scared her, but with which she found herself fascinated instead.
“You’ve been nice to me, Agent Vartanian. Nicer than you needed to be. Why?”
“I don’t know,” he said, so quietly she shivered. “I have no idea.”
“And… that scares you?” she asked, purposely repeating his line.
One side of his mouth lifted in a wry gesture she was coming to appreciate. “Let’s just say it’s… unfamiliar ground.” He opened her car door. “Let’s go to Peachtree and Pine. It’s still cold enough at night that a good number of the city’s homeless head for the shelters. The shelters are pretty well filled by six, so by the time we get there, they should be finished serving supper. Looking for Bailey will be easier that way.”
She waited until he’d slid behind the wheel. “I wish I had a current picture of her. I know they’d have one at the salon where she works-on her cosmetologist’s license. But I got so busy I forgot to call and they’re closed now.”
He pulled a folded sheet of paper from his shirt pocket. “I ran her driver’s license before I left the office. It’s not glamorous, but it’s recent.”
Alex’s throat closed. In the photo, a clear-eyed Bailey smiled. “Oh. Bailey.”
Vartanian shot her a puzzled sideways glance. “I didn’t think she looked bad.”
“No. She looks good. I’m so relieved and… sad at the same time. She was so out of her mind the last time I saw her. I kept wishing I could see her look like this again.” Alex pursed her lips. “Now she might be dead.”
Vartanian gave her shoulder a quick squeeze. “Don’t think it. Think positive.”
Alex took a deep breath, her shoulder tingling from his touch. This was something to think about that was positive. “All right. I’ll try.”
Atlanta , Monday, January 29, 7:30 p.m.
She was married now, to some rich stockbroker she’d met in college. She’d gone to college, while he’d… While I rotted in a cell. His payback list had become quite long during his unfortunate incarceration. She was right up there near the top.
Her heels clacked on the concrete floor as she came out of the elevator to the parking garage. She was dressed to the nines tonight. She wore mink and some perfume that probably cost four hundred dollars an ounce. The pearls at her neck gleamed in the dome light as she settled herself behind the wheel.
He waited patiently for her to shut her door and start the engine. Then quick as a whisper he slipped the knife to her throat and shoved a handkerchief in her mouth.
“Drive,” he murmured, and he chuckled when, wide-eyed, she obeyed. He told her where to go, where to turn, enjoying the terror in her eyes every time she looked up into her rearview mirror. She didn’t recognize him, and while this was advantageous in the everyday, he wanted her to know exactly who now controlled her life. And death.
“Don’t tell me you don’t know me, Claudia. Think back to the night of your senior prom. It wasn’t so long ago.” Her eyes flared wide and he knew the reality of her fate had fully sunk in. He laughed quietly. “You know that I can’t let you live. But if it’s any consolation, I wouldn’t have anyway.”
Monday, January 29, 7:45 p.m.
Bailey blinked, slowly coming awake. The floor was cold against her cheek. She heard footsteps out in the hall. He was coming. Not again.
She braced herself for the light. For the pain. But the door never opened. Instead, she heard another door open and the sick thud of dead weight as someone was thrown into the cell next to her. A voice moaned in pain. It sounded like a man.
Then from the hall he spoke, his voice shaking with rage. “I’ll be back in a few hours. Think about what I said. What I did. How much you hurt right now. And think about the right way to answer my questions the next time.”
She clenched her jaw, so afraid she’d cry out, that she’d call attention to herself in some way. But the door in the next cell swung shut and there was only silence.
She’d been spared, for now. For now, there would be no beating, no punishment for her insolent refusal to tell him what he wanted to hear. The voice next door moaned again, so pitifully. It would appear he’d caught another fly in his web.
No one was coming for her. Nobody was even looking for her. I’ll never see my baby again. Tears squeezed from her eyes and ran down her cheek. It was no use to even scream. Anyone who could hear her was locked inside, too.
Atlanta , Monday, January 29, 9:15 p.m.
“Bailey Crighton?” The woman who’d introduced herself as Sister Anne put a tray full of dirty dishes on the kitchen counter. “What about her?”
In front of him Alex Fallon stood clutching Bailey’s driver’s license picture that she’d already shown at four other shelters. “I’m looking for her. Have you seen her?”
“Depends. You a cop?”
Alex shook her head. “No,” she said and Daniel noticed she said nothing about him.
Watching Alex Fallon in action had been an educational experience. She’d never outright lied a
nywhere they’d gone, but was quite adept at telling only as much as she needed to tell and letting people believe what they would. But she was tired and discouraged and now he could hear a tremble in her voice that made him want to make it better somehow. Any way he could.
“I’m a nurse. Bailey’s my stepsister and she’s missing. Have you seen her?”
Sister Anne cast a suspicious glance at Daniel.
“Please,” he mouthed silently and her eyes softened.
“She comes here every Sunday. Yesterday was the first day she’d missed in years. I’ve been worried.”
It was the first time anyone had admitted to having seen Bailey, although Daniel could tell a few of them had seen her and had been too skittish to admit it.
“She comes here on Sundays?” Alex asked. “Why?”
Sister Anne smiled. “Her pancakes are the best around.”
“She makes happy-face pancakes for the kids,” another woman said as she brought in another tray of dirty dishes. “What’s wrong with Bailey?”
“She’s missing,” Sister Anne said.
“She volunteers here, then?” Daniel asked, and Sister Anne bobbed her head.
“For five years now, ever since she’s been sober. How long has she been missing?”
“Since Thursday night.” Alex straightened her spine. “Do you know Hope?”
“Of course. That doll-baby can talk a blue streak and I love hearing every word.” She frowned abruptly, glancing at them through narrowed eyes. “Is Hope missing, too?”
“No, she’s been staying with me and my cousin,” Alex said quickly. “But she’s not well. She hasn’t said a word since I got here on Saturday.”
Sister Anne looked perplexed. “That’s very wrong. Tell me what happened.”
Alex did and Sister Anne started shaking her head. “There is no way that Bailey would ever abandon that child. Hope was her life.” She sighed. “Hope saved her life.”
“So Bailey was a regular here before she got sober?” Daniel asked.
“Oh, yeah. Here and at the methadone clinic up the street. But that was then. I’ve seen junkies come and go for thirty years. I can tell who’s gonna make it and who’s not. Bailey was gonna make it. Coming here every week was her way of keeping her head straight, of making her remember what she was so she wouldn’t go back. She was making a life for herself and that baby of hers. There is no way she gave up on Hope.” She bit at her lip, hesitating. “Did you talk to her daddy?”
“Hope’s daddy?” Alex asked tentatively.
“No.” Sister Anne looked at Alex shrewdly. “Bailey’s daddy.”
Alex stiffened and Daniel sensed what had been discouragement was now fear.
“Alex?” he murmured behind her. “Are you okay?”
She jerked a nod. “No, I haven’t talked to her father.” Her voice was cool, careful, and Daniel knew by now that meant she was scared. “Do you know where he is?”
Sister Anne heaved a giant sigh. “Out there somewhere. Bailey never gave up hope that he’d turn from the life and come home. I know she spent hours pokin’ her head in every godforsaken corner of this town, lookin’ for him.” She gave Alex a sideways look. “She still lives in that old house in Dutton, hoping he’ll come back.”
Alex grew even stiffer, more afraid. Daniel gave in to the urge to touch her that he’d been fighting since she’d met his eyes back in his living room. He needed to connect with her again, needed her to know he was there, that she wasn’t alone and didn’t need to be afraid. So he covered her shoulders with his hands and pulled gently until she leaned against him.
“I hate that house,” she whispered.
“I know,” he whispered back. And he did. He knew what she meant by “that house” and what had happened there. Daniel had read the articles Luke had downloaded and now he knew about Alex’s mother, how she’d put a.38 to her head to end her life, how Alex had found her body. All on the same day Alicia’s body had been found.
Sister Anne was studying Alex intently. “Bailey hates that place, too, honey. But she stays, hopin’ her daddy will come home.”
Alex was trembling and Daniel tightened his hold. “Did he come home?” he asked.
“No. Leastways she never told me.”
Alex straightened her shoulders and pulled far enough away that she no longer leaned against him. “Thank you, Sister. If you hear anything, will you call me?” She tore a corner from the copy of Bailey’s driver’s license photo and wrote her name and cell phone number. “And could you talk to Hope? We haven’t been able to get through.”
Sister Anne’s smile was sympathetic and sad. “You couldn’t stop me. I don’t drive anymore, though, so it’d be hard for me to get down to Dutton.”
“We’ll bring her to you,” Daniel said, and Alex twisted back to look at him, surprised gratitude on her face. “If it wasn’t safe for you,” he murmured, “it’s certainly not safe for you and Hope.”
“It was safe for Bailey and Hope,” she protested.
“Bailey knew her way around. You don’t. When’s a good time, Sister?”
“Pick any time. I’m always here.”
“It’ll be tomorrow night then.” Daniel squeezed Alex’s shoulders lightly. “Let’s go.”
They’d gotten to the door when a young woman stopped them. She couldn’t have been more than twenty, but like all the other women there, her eyes were far older. “Excuse me,” she said. “Somebody heard you in the kitchen. Are you a nurse?”
Daniel felt her change. She’d put her fear aside and was instantly focused on the woman who stood before her. She nodded, her eyes assessing. “Yes. Are you sick?”
“No, it’s my little girl.” The young woman pointed to a cot in the middle of a sea of cots where a child lay, curled in a ball. “She’s got some kind of rash on her foot and it’s hurting her. I was at the clinic all day, but if you don’t get here by six all the beds get filled.”
Alex put her hand on the woman’s back. “Let’s take a look.” Daniel followed, curious to see her in action. “What’s your name?” she asked the mother.
“Sarah. Sarah Jenkins. This is Tamara.”
Alex smiled at the girl, who looked about four or five. “Hi there, Tamara. Can I look at your foot?” She was efficient but gentle as she examined the child. “It’s not serious,” she said, and the mother relaxed. “It’s impetigo. Looks like it might have started with a cut, though. Has she had a tetanus S-H-O-T recently?”
Tamara’s eyes widened with fear. “I have to get a shot?”
Alex blinked. “You’re pretty smart, Tamara. Well, Mom, has she had one?”
Sarah nodded. “Right before Christmas.”
“Then you don’t need one,” she said to Tamara, who looked relieved. Alex looked up at Sister Anne. “Do you keep any ointments here?”
“Only Neosporin.”
“This is pretty inflamed. Neosporin won’t do too much. When I come back I’ll bring something stronger. Until then, wash it and keep it covered. You have gauze?”
The nun nodded. “A little.”
“Then use it and I’ll bring you some more of that, too. And no scratching, Tamara,”
Tamara’s lip pushed out in a pout. “It itches.”
“I know,” she said softly. “You’re just going to have to tell yourself it doesn’t.”
“You mean lie?” Tamara asked, and Alex made a face.
“Well… more like a trick. You ever see a magician put someone in a closet and make them disappear?”
Tamara nodded. “On a cartoon.”
“That’s what you have to do. You have to imagine all your itchiness going in a closet and you pushhh the door cloooosed.” She pushed with her hands, demonstrating. “Then your itch is trapped in the closet and not on you anymore. A girl smart enough to spell ‘shot’ should be able to trick the itch into the closet.”
“I’ll try.”
“You might have to try a few times. The itch won’t want to go in the closet.
You have to concentrate.” She sounded as if she spoke from experience. “And keep your fingers out of your eyes. That’s important, too.”
“Thank you,” the mother said when Alex stood up.
“It was nothing. She’s a smart girl.” But she’d eased the mother’s mind, and Daniel thought that was a great deal more than nothing. Plus, in helping the woman she’d put her own fear aside. “Sister, I’ll see you tomorrow.”
Sister Anne nodded. “I’ll be here. I’m always here.”
Dutton, Monday, January 29, 10:00 p.m.
The carousel horses were beautiful in the moonlight. He’d always enjoyed this park as a child. But he was no longer a child and the innocence of the park now mocked him as he sat on the bench, reeling from the twisted direction his life had taken.
The bench on which he sat jiggled, then settled with the weight of another. “You’re a fool,” he whispered, keeping his eyes fixed on the carousel horses. “It was one thing to call me this morning, but meeting here like this. If somebody sees us…”
“Dammit.” It was a frightened hiss. “I got a key.”
He sat up straighter. “A real one?”
“No. A drawing. But it looks like it could match.”
It did. He’d laid his key on the drawing. It matched perfectly. “So someone knows.”
“We’ll be ruined.” His whisper was shrill. “We’ll go to prison. I can’t go to prison.”
Like any of them could? I’ll die first. But he injected calm certainty into his voice. “Nobody’s going to prison. We’ll be fine. He probably just wants money.”
“We need to talk to the others. Come up with a plan.”
“No. Say nothing to the others. Keep your head down and your mouth shut and we’ll get through this.” Talking was unhealthy. One of them had talked and that one had been stopped. Permanently. It could and would be done again. “For now, stay calm, stay quiet, and stay away from me. If you freak out, we’re all dead.”
Chapter Six
Atlanta , Monday, January 29, 10:15 p.m.
Vartanian brought his car to a stop in his driveway. “Are you all right?” His voice was deep and calm in the darkness of his car. “You’ve been very quiet.”