by PJ Fernor
“The file says-”
“It says there was a period of inactivity and that matches with the time my credit card was used,” Steve said. “I fell asleep at my desk for thirty minutes or so. And I didn’t know my credit card was missing until everything came through my front door. And do you know how that happened?”
“How?” I asked.
“Because the cashier… this is the funny part. The one who didn’t care about who was at the counter… my credit card was left behind. And she decided to try and return it. When she exited the store and found the man who did all of this, she saw him open the back of his vehicle and she swore she saw a little girl. Her feet and hands tied. Something in the little girl’s mouth to muffle her voice. And the man… who was supposed to be me… said to the little girl that he was going to make everything right.”
All of this I already knew.
The cashier called the police and Johnny intervened since the family wanted nothing to be known. That’s what set Johnny off on Steve. The family insisted it wasn’t Steve and that it was their own extended family. Thus creating the giant mess that Johnny had been navigating through.
“Oh, and then there was the video,” Steve said. “Apparently it was me… in all black with a baseball cap pulled way down to cover my face.”
“Right,” I said.
The video never showed the full face though. But with the cashier’s story and the credit card…
“They had nothing on me,” Steve said. “Someone stole my credit card. Pretended to be me. To do this horrendous thing. That detective never gave me the chance to defend myself before it became known around here that I was the one who took Lucy. The only good thing I suppose is that her family didn’t want the publicity. But locally… everyone just blamed me. My lawyer got involved and made a move at the police department. The detective made an official statement saying that I was clear of any wrongdoing. Was that enough?”
Steve blinked hard, trying to hold back tears.
We stood in silence.
My mind processed everything.
I stepped forward, not sure what I was going to say next to Steve.
“Hey! Watch out!”
His voice echoed around the room.
I started to turn.
That’s when I heard the sound of glass shattering.
Chapter Forty-One
My gun was pointed at the broken window as I reached for Steve with my other hand. He was far out of reach and when I looked at him, he didn’t seem bothered by what had just happened.
“It’s just another rock,” he said to me. “Are you okay?”
“Me? I’m… wait. Just another rock?”
Steve moved carefully, showing me his hands. The threat of my gun being visible was a serious one to him. That made me wonder what his experience with guns had been. Was it something from a previous part of his life? Or was it what Johnny had put him through?
The front window was made up of several square panes of glass.
The bottom left one had the hole in it from the rock.
As Steve crouched down to get the rock, I tucked my gun away and jumped toward him, grabbing his shoulder.
“I can help,” I said to him.
He looked up at me with a somber look on his face. “No, you can’t.”
“Yes, I can, Steve.”
“No… think about it. You’re going to spend time and money trying to get prints off this rock, right? For what? I doubt anyone in this neighborhood is in the system. And even so, what am I going to do? Have someone defending their street end up in jail?”
“But you didn’t do anything wrong.”
Steve half grinned. “Right. But once that can is opened, you can’t close it. You ever hear the saying about the toothpaste being out of the tube?”
Steve grabbed the rock and stood up.
“How many times has this happened?” I asked him.
“Several,” he said. “I usually keep to myself on the other side of the house. I have my office on the second floor. I read and rest on the third floor. I’m lucky the kitchen is that way too. When I do need to leave, it’s from the kitchen into the garage. But that’s usually at night. I don’t want to be seen or disturb anyone. You know, one time I went to the store and a woman who lives right on this street was there with her son. Before Lucy went missing, we talked. Casually, of course. When she saw me… she grabbed her son and reached for her bag. I had no idea what she was going to take out of her bag. A phone? Pepper spray? A gun?”
“This is no way to live,” I said.
“I have no choice,” Steve said. “I’d like to think it will blow over, but how can it? Nobody has been caught. And now Lucy was found murdered.”
My eyes looked to the rock in his hand. There was a piece of paper attached with a rubber band.
“A note?” I asked.
“The rocks have notes,” Steve said. “Sometimes they just throw fake blood at my front door. Or put a banner in my yard. Or signs. It’s…”
“You don’t deserve this,” I said.
Steve laughed. Not a happy laugh. A condescending laugh.
A no shit kind of laugh.
Steve pulled the note from the rock and nodded as he read it.
“What’s it say?” I asked.
“Well, apparently I’m the murderer,” he said.
He showed me the note.
NEXT TIME IT WILL BE A BULLET
Steve swiped the note from my hand. “If you don’t mind, I have to call someone to come fix my window now.”
“Are you sure you don’t want me to do something about this?” I asked.
“Nothing to be done,” he said. “They’re scared out there. As am I. You know, just to be safe I changed all my credit card numbers. I paid someone to make sure my name and identity wasn’t fully stolen, meaning it was out on the dark web. I still pay someone to keep any eye out for that kind of thing. But for me, I just keep to myself here. The file explains everything. I’m sorry I wasn’t able to be much more help. I know you came here looking for a glaring hole in my story. Wishing you were able to pin me for what’s happened. I never met Lucy once in my life. And as far as the missing girl in your town, it’s the same.”
My phone began to ring.
It wasn’t a number I recognized.
But it was enough for Steve to show me to the door.
I left his house, unsure of how I felt.
Was this guy just the unluckiest person in the world? He either lost his credit card or it was stolen on purpose to be used to drive attention to him for the disappearance of Lucy. And then Johnny walked onto the scene, demanding answers that Steve didn’t have. Because Johnny wanted to prove Lucy’s family wrong.
Just a bunch of bad things in a bigger situation.
My phone rang again with that same number.
“Detective Allie Down,” I said.
“Allie Down!” a voice said. “I know you’re very busy… but have you found Mike yet?”
Mike?
“Mike,” I said. My brain buzzed and I realized it was Miss Westchester. About her cat. “Oh… Mike. Hello there, Miss Westchester.”
I walked through the short iron gate and looked back to Steve’s house one last time.
Someone had seen me show up there and that someone waited for the right moment to rush through the front yard and throw the rock.
That’s the kind of life Steve lived. The fate chosen…
“Well? Have you found Mike?”
I walked to my car. “I’m still working on it, Miss Westchester. It’s been hectic around here.”
“Oh, I know,” Miss Westchester said. “I’ve been watching the news reports. My goodness. A missing girl. And then another missing girl found dead. How terribly sad.”
“Well, it is sad,” I said. “But we’re working on it. We’re always working on it, Miss Westchester.”
“You know, I remember the day Mike came home to me,” she said. “I knew he was a special cat. I kn
ew he was a little wild too. I told myself to be ready at all times. He’s gotten out before. But this time… to not come back… I’m beginning to think the worst…”
I looked around from inside my car, studying Steve’s house, the street, processing.
“I’m sure it’ll be fine,” I said almost robotic. I blinked fast and put my focus back to Miss Westchester. “Forgive me, Miss Westchester, but I have to keep working here. You just hold out faith for Mike. If he’s half as smart as you’ve told me, he’s out there. He’s fine. Probably missing you as much as you miss him.”
“Oh, thank you for saying that,” Miss Westchester said. “I think I’ll make some hot tea and look at pictures of him.”
“That’s a good idea. Channel the good.”
A black car turned down the street.
All black. Wheels, rims, windows tinted.
“If you’re ever in the area and want to stop in for tea…”
“Miss Westchester, I really need to get going here,” I said.
I ended the call and opened the door to my car and stood up.
My right hand reached back for my gun.
The driver’s window rolled down on the black car and Johnny stuck his head out of the window.
He chewed on a piece of gum like a cow gnawing on grass.
He wore a pair of gold framed aviators and he ripped them off his face. He pointed to me, using the glasses.
My heart raced as I told myself not to hit the detective.
But one punch… what would that hurt…
“Detective Allie Down,” he said.
“Can I help you?” I asked.
“Can I help you?” Johnny threw at me. His eyes moved to Steve’s house. Then back to me. “You know, a few phone calls and you could be writing parking tickets.”
“At least I’d do it with a sense of integrity.”
Johnny laughed. “So this is why Ben was poking at me about my case. Should have known better. Ben always falls for the wrong women.”
“Excuse me?”
“Hey, any questions you have, feel free to call me,” Johnny said. “I’m a reasonable guy. I’ll tell you like it is.”
“I want the truth,” I said. “Not your version of it. Like what you did to his life?”
I pointed to Steve’s house.
Johnny’s lip curled. “I would have loved to see what you would have done, Allie. Girl is kidnapped. Credit card has a name. Outside footage looks about right. The guy is a software developer who has some history… that part you don’t know. Your new friend Steve was dating a girl whose son went missing and was found dead. Apparently this kid got lost in the woods and died on his own. Shortly after, their relationship ended and he moved here. Single guy. Big house. Claimed to be renovating it. I wanted to end this thing quick with Lucy. For everyone’s sake.”
“And you were wrong,” I said. “He had nothing to do with it. And you ruined his life. Someone threw a rock through his window while I was there.”
“That’s your fault,” Johnny said.
“How?”
“Sticking your nose in where it doesn’t belong,” Johnny said. “I keep an eye on Steve. You have nothing to worry about there. I get it, though. You want to connect my case to your case. You want to find the crack in my case and make yourself into something. Stay in your town, Allie. Do your job. And I mean that with love.”
Johnny put his sunglasses back on his face.
He chomped on his gum and smiled.
“These cases are connected,” I said. “Ben tried selling me that maybe they weren’t. My gut says otherwise.”
“Well, then I guess we’ll meet each other again,” Johnny said. “When I find the guy who murdered Lucy you’ll find the guy who took Jessie. Just hope that girl makes it out alive.”
Johnny started to put his window up as he drove off.
I watched him leave and looked back to Steve’s house again.
Steve was in the front window but moved in a hurry when he saw me.
I got back into my car and got out of there.
Two things I knew for sure…
One was that I didn’t have the whole story from anyone, no matter what they said.
And two…
Nothing was going to get in my way of finding the truth.
Chapter Forty-Two
I was late.
Again.
Scrambling to get back to the apartment to see Lo, to do my best to paint the picture of normalcy for us. But what did that look like? Living in an apartment that cost money while I had a house that was paid for and full of Lo’s stuff - and life. Having Miss Kesslier greet me at the door like a doting animal or husband, eager to grab my hand and pull me to the dining room table, insisting I have a cup of coffee with her and tell her about my day.
This was normal?
Then again it was better than living in the city.
Where Lo would huddle up in my bed and watch TV and just stare off into the distance at nothing. I had no idea how to approach her about the changes in her life. That her mother was dead. That I wasn’t even able to process my own grief that my sister was gone. The detective inside me wanted the case open to find who the hell hit Alex’s car and left her there to die.
So as messy as our lives were, they were better than living in the city.
“I’m going to check on Lo,” I said as I stood up from the table.
Miss Kesslier pointed. “Sit. Take a minute, Allie. Lo is fine. She arrived home, on time, driven by a friend. Cassie? Cathy? Katie? But they weren’t speeding. They didn’t smell like cigarette smoke. And she went right into her room to complete her homework.”
I sighed. “You don’t have to do all of that, Miss Kesslier.”
I don’t even know your first name and you do so much for us.
I wasn’t sure what kind of person that made me out to be.
Probably a struggling single mother figure grasping at any strings I could to keep from falling for good.
“I don’t mind,” Miss Kesslier said. “It keeps me busy. Keeps me looking at the clock.”
“Which I need to do more of,” I said. “I don’t like coming home like this. I want Lo to know I’m okay. That I’m here. Not just floating around.”
“Stop that talk,” Miss Kesslier said. She put two coffee mugs on the table and sat across from me. “You’re a detective. There are no hours. You have to work until the case is solved. I’m sure Lo understands that.” Miss Kesslier looked around. “Forgive me for asking but what did Lo’s mother do for a living?”
“Alex?” I asked. I smiled. “She was smart. She was good with money. She knew how to invest it and make money. Everything was in place for her life. Now, getting pregnant and abandoned wasn’t… but she went with it. She never missed a moment in Lo’s life. That’s for sure.”
“And that’s what you feel you need to do.”
“Of course. She lost her mother.”
“That’s change,” Miss Kesslier said. “I’m not discounting the impact and the emotion. But that’s change. Everything changes. But you know what? The sun still comes up.”
“Oh, don’t say that stuff to me,” I said. “The sun comes up. The sun goes down. The ocean waves crash to the shore. I get it. All of it.”
“Then trust yourself a little,” Miss Kesslier said. “Lo is fine. You brought her back to her home. Her town. Where she’s comfortable going to school and has friends.”
“I just want to be here in case she gets scared,” I said. “Or she needs to cry. Or has a question about… anything.”
“And she will always be able to reach you,” Miss Kesslier said. “I can’t imagine what you’re going through right now. All the changes in your own life. And now this stuff happening here with those two girls. I have to ask though, have you done anything for yourself?”
“Meaning?”
“Yourself, Allie. Have you reached out to old friends? Met someone for a coffee? Anything for you?”
I shook my
head. “There’s way too much going on here.”
“See, that’s the problem. That makes you look foolish. You have every right to call a friend. Laugh. Do something for yourself. It’ll clear your head. Your heart. It’ll make you a better person. And you’ll work better too.”
I couldn’t believe I was having such a deep conversation with a woman who was a stranger to me not that long ago.
Miss Kesslier barely drank any coffee before she stood up and said it was time for her to leave. She usually stayed until I told her to leave.
“Remember what I said,” she said to me. “Even a simple hello to an old friend could change everything.”
“You know, I never got your first name, Miss Kesslier,” I said. “It feels a little strange to talk to you this way and call you Miss Kesslier.”
She smiled at me. “Allison.”
“Excuse me?”
“That’s my name. Allison. Allison Kesslier.”
I laughed. “Are you serious?”
“That’s right.”
“Well it’s nice to meet you, Allie,” I said with a big smile.
“See? Look at that smile on your face. Whatever is happening outside in the world, you can only take on so much. Have a good night, Allie.”
Allison… Miss Kesslier left the apartment.
I checked on Lo and she was busy at her desk, earbuds in her ears. She looked at me and smiled. She gave a quick wave.
That was more than I expected.
I shut the door and wondered if maybe she was okay. At least for now. She was finding her own sense of happiness.
My mind flashed to the images of me waiting for her to get dressed for Alex’s funeral. The quiet and empty look on her face. The way I held her hand so tight the entire time, wishing she would just once squeeze my hand back so I knew she knew I was there.
And it wasn’t until almost midnight that night before Lo broke down into screaming tears and I held her for an hour.
Since then, she had never shown emotion to me about her mother’s death.
Those were my thoughts as I threw together a quick spaghetti and meatball dinner and Lo and I both ate in our bedrooms.
My appetite wasn’t much of anything.
I was too busy thinking about Jessie. Lucy. Steve. Johnny.