by Terry Keys
“Good afternoon!” I called to her.
“Hey, Dad,” she grumbled. “Mom working?”
“Yes. She’ll be home later. Dinner will be ready soon.”
“Mac and cheese again? No thanks, I’ll pass.”
She disappeared up the stairs. I didn’t know what else I needed to do to connect with my daughter. Maybe all father-daughter relationships were like this after they hit fifteen. I was unsure. I thought back to a time when Hilary was my little angel. Boy, had times changed.
.
7
I sat down to eat chicken nuggets and mac and cheese with Karen. I’d called for Hilary to come down, but I wasn’t holding my breath.
“Dad, did you hear about that little girl last night?” Karen asked.
“Well, sweetie, I may have heard a little something about it,” I said cautiously. “Not much, though.”
“Do you guys know who did it?”
I told her I didn’t have many details on the case, and we had no suspects yet. It was pretty much the truth, all in all.
“We don’t know who did this yet, Karen, but we’ll find them.”
My phone buzzed as I received a text from Miranda. Glancing up at the clock on the wall, I noted it was 5:31.
Lois Lane may need a Tarzan. Superman not adventurous enough. Can you help? lol
I laughed out loud and tried to think up a clever response for my wife.
“Daddy, I’m finished. Going up to my room to play on the computer.”
“Okay, sweetie, have fun,” I said, still distracted by Miranda’s text. “I’ll be up soon to get your bath started. We’ll call Mommy then, too.”
As Karen took off up the stairs, a witty response came to me. I texted:
21st century Tarzan here, equipped with handcuffs and nightstick. Superman’s loss, Tarzan’s gain.
I turned my attention to the kitchen and the mess I’d made. I knew Miranda would be tired, and no one liked coming home to a kitchen full of dirty dishes. I decided I might as well tackle a few loads of clothes, too.
I took the time to make a few calls on some leads I had. I’d start with Marty Filner. When I needed the best ME on a nasty crime scene, he’s the guy I wanted. I took out my phone and hit three on speed dial.
“Marty it’s Porter. Where are we on the little girl?”
“Hey, Porter. It’s early still, but we know a few things. Her name is Emily Risen. Her bruises and cuts go hand in hand with our other cases. Same blade and everything. We found some smudged fingerprints—small, possibly a female perp. She’d been there about an hour before she was found, not much longer.”
“Well, our killer didn’t try to hide her; he wanted the body to be found. Hell, I could find a million places in Houston to hide a body. We found her in an hour. That wasn’t a mistake, Marty. Keep digging. Let me know if you come up with anything else I can use.”
It was nearly 7:00 when I decided to call Miranda to see how things were going. She picked up on the second ring.
“Hey, honey,” she said.
“How’s the story coming along?”
“That’s what Cliff just asked me,” she said. “He wanted to know how much longer I’d be here.”
I’d met the security guard a couple times. I was glad someone was in the building while Miranda worked. You could never be too careful.
“You think you’ll be done soon?”
She sighed. “I’m trying to learn this new editing software and looking for some recorded footage I know is here somewhere. So all in all, it’s going slower than I hoped, honey.”
My hopes for a hookup later that night were quickly fading. I handed the phone to Karen so she could say hello. Karen and Miranda talked for a few minutes before I told Karen to say goodnight to her mommy.
“Wow, she’s a talker isn’t she?” Miranda laughed.
“She learned from the best.”
“Okay, I know I’ll be after nine now, David, but I’ll call you when I leave the office. I love you.”
“Love you, too.”
I disconnected the call and went to Karen’s room to say prayers and tuck her in. Hilary still had her music turned up way too loud, even though she knew her sister’s bedtime.
I banged lightly on the door. “Turn it down, Hil,” I said.
I waited until she did as she was told—barely—and walked back downstairs. I grabbed the TV remote and found a baseball game on ESPN2. The Yankees were playing Boston, and it was still in the second inning. Should be a good one, I thought.
As I sat watching the game, I grew tired and dozed off. I woke up around 9:15 to the sounds of rain and a baseball game now in the eighth inning. I checked my cell phone to see if I had any messages from Miranda, but there were none. She’d told me she would probably be later than nine, and it appeared she was right.
I rose from my chair and went upstairs to see if Hilary was still awake. I opened her door and peeked in to find her asleep. I turned off her radio and adjusted her blanket. She looked so peaceful when she slept. I knelt beside her bed and said a quick prayer. After I left Hilary’s room, I walked down the hall and peeked in on Karen. She was out cold. I decided to finish watching the ballgame in my bedroom. Just as I lay down, at 9:30 sharp, my cell phone buzzed with a text from Miranda.
Leaving now, Tarzan. I hope you’re still awake!
I smiled and responded.
Barely awake. Fell asleep watching baseball game—girls asleep too. Cya soon.
8
I rolled over and sat up quickly in bed. I had a gut feeling I’d overslept my alarm, that sick feeling you get in your stomach when you know you’re late for something important. I looked over at the television, still tuned to ESPN2 but no baseball game. It was a rebroadcast of an earlier recap show. I looked at the alarm clock on my dresser: 1:15 a.m. I had fallen asleep on Miranda. I hoped she wasn’t too upset with me.
Then I realized Miranda was not in bed beside me. I got up, put on my robe, and headed for the living room, thinking Miranda might have gone to sleep on the couch so she wouldn’t wake me. Or maybe she was mad at me for sleeping through our scheduled romp. I was going to have to do something really nice to make up for this one. When I reached the living room, there was no sign of her. I frowned, my heart racing. I took a quick glance outside and didn’t see her car in the driveway either. I ran back upstairs to our bedroom and grabbed my cell phone. No missed calls. No missed text messages. I had just begun to punch in Miranda’s number when my phone rang.
“Hello?” I said in a panic.
“David, it’s Wilcrest. We just found Miranda’s car crashed into the barricades by the Ship Channel, but there’s no sign of Miranda.” He paused. “We found another note, written in blood and left on the driver’s seat. This one reads, ‘More blood on your hands, Porter, this time your own.’”
Before I could respond, I heard someone pounding on the door downstairs. I disconnected from Wilcrest and hurried toward the stairs. Karen stood in the hallway, wide-eyed and disheveled. I guess the banging woke her; I didn’t take time to ask. I took the stairs two at a time, Karen in close pursuit.
“Daddy, what’s going on? I want Mommy!”
I didn’t answer but quickly opened the door. Two officers from the station stood there.
“David, we’re looking,” one of them said. “But we haven’t found anything, and with this rain . . .”
“Save it!” I snapped, my voice high pitched and quivering. “Find her!”
I heard a noise and glanced around. Hilary and Karen stood behind me.
“Dad, what’s going on?” Hilary asked, her voice tinged with alarm. “And don’t lie to us. What’s happening? Where’s Mom?”
I squeezed my eyes shut, praying the terror I felt inside wasn’t showing on my face. I had to be strong in front of my girls and my men, but the emotions threatening to overwhelm me left me stunned.
“Dad!” Hilary screamed at me again.
I pulled myself together as best I c
ould and turned to my girls. “It looks like Mommy had an accident,” I told them. “Her car ran into a barricade, but she’s not in her car. They’re looking for her now.”
“Dad, what do you mean?” Hilary frowned, her voice rising. “Where is she?”
“Your mother sent me a text earlier tonight, saying she was on her way home . . .”
“It’s after one o’clock in the morning! Why are you just now looking for her?”
“I was watching a game on TV when I got your mother’s text,” I explained. “I must have . . . I don’t know. I guess I fell asleep.” I felt the guilt and also saw it in Hilary’s eyes as she glared at me.
“So you fell asleep, knowing Mom was out there and on her way home? Maybe if you’d gotten worried sooner, we would know where Mom is!” Hilary spun around and dashed up the stairs.
“Hilary!” I called after her, but she didn’t stop. A moment later, I heard her bedroom door slam behind her.
The mood was somber as I stood holding Karen, wondering where my wife was and if she was even alive. I couldn’t help but wonder if the same maniac from the previous days had struck again. This time he had made it personal. I should have seen this coming. Somehow I should have known. The killer had been taunting me, but I hadn’t put two and two together.
As the officers moved toward the door, I set Karen down and stepped onto the porch with them.
“Is there anything we can do, David?” one of them asked.
I stood in shock as the officers looked at me, expecting an answer. They didn’t get one. I stood there for a minute until their taillights disappeared. I was soaked from the rain, which still had not let up. Suddenly, Karen stepped onto the porch and hugged my leg.
“It’s okay, Daddy,” she said. “It’s not your fault. We’re going to find Mommy, and everything will be okay.”
My daughter’s comforting words were pleasing to my ears. I was hopeful, but I knew if my wife wasn’t found soon, there was only a slim chance I’d ever see her alive again. I was also burdened with a massive amount of guilt. Hilary was right. If only I’d stayed awake. Maybe I could have started looking sooner. This was my fault. It had to be. Even the killer blamed me. Now the game had been taken to another level, a personal one.
I looked down into my daughter’s big blue eyes. She stood looking at me with a sorrowful expression that stabbed deep into my heart. She too was soaked from the rain, which seemed to be coming down harder now. I picked her up and carried her inside. I called for Hilary to come down, but she was either ignoring me or had her radio blaring too loudly to hear me. I slowly walked up the stairs to her room.
Still holding Karen, I opened the door to Hilary’s room and sat down next to her on the bed. I explained that it was okay if she was mad at me, as I was mad at myself. But I also told her it was not my fault. I promised to do everything in my power to find their mother.
“Stay here with your sister,” I said. “You’re in charge. I’m going out to look for your mom. I promise, Hil, I’m coming back with her.”
9
After I finished talking to Hilary, I carried Karen to her room and set her on the bed. “Karen, honey, I’m going to find your mother, don’t you worry. I’ll find her if it’s the last thing I do.” I paused and hugged my daughter tightly. “Hilary will be here with you.”
“No, Daddy, don’t leave,” she pleaded.
“It’s all right,” I assured her. “Hilary will be here, and there are a couple officers from the station outside. I have to help look for Mommy, Karen.”
Karen didn’t want to let me go, but she understood why I had to leave. She told me to be extra careful and to come back with her mother. As I left the room, I took one slow look back at my daughter.
“I promise,” I whispered as I disappeared from the doorway.
As I stepped outside my front door, I saw Wilcrest and a few others waiting outside. I told him to leave the suits behind to stay with my girls and then requested that he ride with me down to the channel. He held out his hand for the car keys, and I gave them to him, realizing I was too shaken to drive myself.
Being a fifteen-year-veteran officer, I had worked hundreds of accidents, but I’d never approached one knowing it involved one of my loved ones. It gave me an odd, eerie feeling that made me sick to my stomach.
“Are you sure you can handle this, David?”
“Just drive,” I snapped back. “I don’t have a choice.”
The uneasiness in my stomach grew more intense. My head rang and hundreds of thoughts clouded my mind. As we approached the crashed vehicle, I held my emotions in check. I couldn’t fall prey to my fear or I’d be useless. It took me a second to get out of the vehicle, and when I finally did, I had to force down the trembling that sought to overcome me. Wilcrest stood by my side, but I remained stoic, tough as it was. I wanted to wail in anguish, to shout my fury into the night, but I couldn’t. When the officers and emergency crew noticed my presence, a somber mood fell over the rain-soaked group. No one spoke.
Captain Wilcrest had never had a reason to think I might do something irrational, but he watched me cautiously. I knew what he was thinking. I had never been in this position before. He knew stress affected people differently, and I had to be emotionally drained; he was right. Usually, I was the one assessing people in this manner.
Captain Wilcrest spoke to me. “David, we’re doing everything we can and then some.”
He placed a hand on my shoulder in assurance, but I didn’t respond. I just looked at the railing, bent and battered where Miranda’s car had crashed into it. Then I started diagnosing the scene as a police officer rather than a husband.
“We’ll probably be able to get a clearer picture of what happened when we get some daylight behind us,” the captain continued. “You know how these things work, David.”
As calmly as I could, I spoke. “I know who’s behind this. He would do anything to protect his reputation. My initial hunch back at the house had been to pin this on our child killer. But he’d have no reason to kidnap Miranda, other than to terrorize me. Carter, on the other hand . . . . If he’d found out about Miranda’s report, he had every reason to want—to need—her gone.”
“Everyone loves her; you know that,” the captain said. “Use your head. We’re proceeding to process the scene, but it may take some time.”
I just stared at him. “Captain, do we have divers in the channel?” My voice sounded wooden, even to me. I could tell Captain Wilcrest didn’t want to say anything to upset me any further. He thought long and hard before he responded.
“David, as your boss, I can’t let you do anything that would put your life or the lives of other officers in jeopardy. As your friend, I understand your wanting to dive right in with a flashlight and begin looking around. But I think deep down we both know there’s not much we can do down there right now.”
“There is plenty I can do right now,” I disagreed. “I’m going to find that asshole Carter and put two in his head.”
“Carter? The mayor?” Wilcrest said in surprise. “David, be reasonable. I know you two have your differences, but to suggest that he’d murder . . . I don’t like the man either, but I doubt he’s capable—”
“Miranda was doing a special. This stays between me and you. She was almost done with it, and she said heads would roll. Guess whose name was at the top of the list?”
“What kind of investigation? I mean, on what grounds? What do you know?”
“Nothing. I don’t know anything specific. She wanted it to be a surprise to me and everyone else, but I know he was the head honcho. I also know she was finishing it up tonight, and it was due to air tomorrow.”
“David, don’t hold out on me here. If you know something, spill it!” He frowned. "If Carter was behind this, how do you explain the note?”
“Like I said, Cap, I don’t have anything concrete, but she’d spent a year on this and said jobs would be lost and jail time might be issued. Other than that, I don’t kno
w. I asked her several times for a hint, but she wouldn’t budge. Carter is smart. He watches the news; he hears the chatter. This would be a perfect chance to get rid of her and make it look like this child killer is behind it. Remember our serial has been targeting kids.”
The other officers were diagnosing the scene as we talked, measuring the length of the skid marks leading toward the railing. I glared at those telltale black marks. What had made Miranda lose control? They had already searched her car, looking for anything that might have fallen from her hands and caused her to take her eyes off the road. They’d found nothing.
As I turned my attention back to the captain, an officer approached us.
“David, we have reason to believe there may have been another car here. We’ve spotted a second set of fresh skid marks about twenty feet down the road. Maybe somebody stopped to help and then left. Maybe they took Miranda to a hospital or something. So far, we’ve not located any Jane Does at nearby hospitals, but we’re still checking.”
“Cap, you know what I need right now,” I said. “Get these guys back so I can work.”
A few minutes later, Wilcrest and I stood alone on the scene, just as I liked and needed. I turned to the captain. “Let’s do it.”
“David, are you sure?”
Without validating his question, I began. “Tire skids indicate the vehicle came in fast after the crash. Anticipatory. Small car, probably a four-door. The rain has washed away the tire tracks, or I’d be able to tell you what kind. I don’t know how this asshole planned it so perfectly, but the rain has effectively obliterated most of the evidence.”
Minutes turned into hours. With each second, I grew increasingly impatient and less hopeful of finding Miranda alive somewhere below the crash site. People had survived this kind of thing before, but the condition of Miranda’s car meant she had been traveling at a high rate of speed. Probably hurrying home to see me after the late night at work. I’d made her feel guilty by saying I might fall asleep waiting for her. Now, as fate would have it, I was wide awake, still waiting for her arrival.