by Blake Pierce
“What are the circumstances?” Kate asked.
Duran leaned forward a bit, as if to make sure he was not forgotten. “Well,
once again we find ourselves torn over how to proceed with using you. As
you remember, it was supposed to be only on rare occasions but this latest
case—this discovery of Insbrook at work outside of Chicago—there’s no way
we’re going to be able to ignore it. The media is going to latch on to it.”
“Thanks in part,” Hilton added, “to the little stunt you pulled at the press
conference.”
“I don’t follow,” Kate said.
Duran and Hilton shared an uncomfortable glance, but Duran eventually
answered her. “The cross-checking of names is done. Each one of the names in the address book you found that had been crossed out…they’re all
homicides. Two were speculated to have been suicides but there was never
enough evidence. They had all been strangled, but only several of the more
recent ones had been strangled with what does now appear to have been
piano wire. And while there have not been conclusive tests run on all of the
hairs, there have been enough positive matches to these deceased women to
be able to finish connecting the dots.”
“Twenty-three, right?” she asked, the word seeming much larger than it
actually was.
“Yes. If we count the three victims in Frankfield, there were twenty-three
victims. And you stopped him. Twenty murders before he stepped foot in
Frankfield and he somehow went unnoticed. Chief Hilton and I will be
putting together a task force tomorrow to figure out how the hell he wasn’t
linked to these other twenty murders—murders that span back four years.”
“So yes,” Hilton said, “we acknowledge that you and Agent DeMarco
took down a man that had killed twenty-three women. And that is the part the media is going to see and no doubt be talking about. But what they won’t see or hear is how you willfully disobeyed your director’s orders and essentially
went rogue. Would you care to tell us why you thought you could just go
about and do as you pleased?”
“I knew we were getting close,” she said. “If I had left, it would have
altered the progress of the case.”
“You feel that highly about yourself?” Hilton asked.
“No, sir. But I have worked more than one hundred cases involving killers
or suspected killers. I know enough about the structure of a case to know that
once progress towards a solution begins, changing the personnel almost
always slows the progress. Had we still been at square one with no leads at
all, I would not have made that call.”
“It wasn’t your call to make, Kate,” Duran said. He then looked to Hilton
with a dash of embarrassment, realizing he had used her first name, showing
a bit of favoritism and familiarity.
“Here’s where we’re at,” Hilton said. “Director Duran and I have been
going back and forth on it all day. Given the nature of your current agreement
with the bureau, it would seem the most reasonable thing to do is call out
your fault in disobedience and terminate the agreement. About three hours
ago, we had come to that agreement. But then we saw that the news has already picked up on how a serial killer was stopped. Anna Forester gave the
bit of testimony she has, and Sheriff Bannerman is going on and on about you
and DeMarco. Throw in the fact that a few stations and websites are running
your interference at that press conference on a loop, and you’re connected to
the case and the killer.”
“But DeMarco deserves that credit. She’s the one that took him down.”
“We already spoke with her,” Hilton said. “She insists you saved her life
before she was able to shoot Insbrook. She said it was very much a team
effort. And quite honestly, she’s smart as hell; she does not want the credit or
the recognition for taking out Insbrook. That much media and publicity for an
agent so young…it could end up spoiling her career.”
Kate nodded, feeling proud that her partner had made such a smart
decision. She then looked to Duran and said: “So you two were in agreement to let me go?”
“Look,” Hilton said. “It would look completely foolish for us to do that
right now. We realize that we can’t terminate the current agreement. By this
time tomorrow, the media is going to be very interested in you and you’re
going to probably have to fight off reporters. The fact that you came out of
retirement to work and managed to bring down a serial killer makes the story
even hotter. But what we can ask of you is that you take a break for a bit. We will not call for your assistance for several weeks. And when we do, it will
likely be for something a bit more subtle.”
“I’ll take the blame for that,” Duran said. “This case came up, there were
no leads at all and I thought of you. Despite the sparse agreement we have
with you, you remain one of the better agents we have.”
“Thank you.”
“But I must stress this,” Hilton said. “In the future, any reckless
disobedience or disrespect to either your director or those above him will be
met with consequences. Perhaps even criminal charges. Am I understood,
Agent Wise?”
“Yes sir.”
Hilton nodded and got to his feet. “Now…with that out of the way…”
He extended his hand. Kate looked to Duran and only received a smile and
a shrug. Kate took the offered hand and shook it.
“Damned good work, Agent Wise. You and Agent DeMarco make an
incredible team.”
“We really do. And I appreciate it, sir.”
She paused a beat, giving them one more chance to say any last words that
were on their mind. There was still tension in the air, weighed by unspoken
words. After a few more seconds, Kate took her leave. She supposed there
was always meant to be some sort of tension among her and Duran in this
new agreement she’d signed up for. But now that Section Chief Hilton was
also making himself more prominently involved, it opened up a whole new
level of awareness for her.
But that was okay. She’d be fifty-six in a few weeks. How long did she
really think she could keep up with this pace anyway?
She smiled as she stepped back onto the elevators, fully prepared to just
get a nice hotel room somewhere in the city and sleep in tomorrow before
heading back home.
How long can I keep up with this pace? she wondered.
Despite the soreness in her head and the memory of DeMarco taking down
Insbrook as he towered above her, she was surprised to find that the answer
came easily.
She’d stick with it for as long as she could.
CHAPTER TWENTY SEVEN
Kate tried to tell herself that it was silly to be so nervous about having
lunch with her daughter, but the nerves remained. She checked her watch and
saw that it was 12:05, an entire five minutes past the time they were supposed
to meet. Kate did her best to remind herself that Melissa was perpetually late
and the five minutes meant nothing.
She supposed she was so nervous because the talk she planned to have
with Melissa was one she should have had years ago—probably before
&n
bsp; Melissa had been married. But Kate knew she had never been the most
insightful parent. Hell, she’d put off the birds and the bees speech so long
that Michael, her late husband, had ended up having it with her…and that had
been only after they’d discovered Melissa had been having sex at the age of
fifteen.
Sometimes it was hard to even imagine Melissa as a fifteen-year-old. It
felt like looking through some dark glass at a scene on the other side. The
shapes were certainly there but they were murky and far away.
It was 12:07 when Melissa finally came through the door of the little
delicatessen Kate had chosen. There weren’t many tables in the place, so
Melissa spotted her right away and joined her. It was the first time Melissa
had seen her mother since Kate had gotten back to Richmond from the
Frankfield case. Spotting the bruise on the side of her mother’s face, Melissa
cringed.
“Some warning might have been due here,” Melissa said. “Jesus, Mom,
what happened?”
“What happened is that I stopped a serial killer.”
“Just how serial are we talking?”
Part of her wanted to give the number—to show her daughter that the
bruise on the side of her head and the shitty attitude she’d had last week had
all been for a purpose. But she did not want to flaunt her success, nor did she
want to make light of the twenty-three women who had lost their lives to
Darby Insbrook.
“It was pretty bad,” she said. “And while I know it’s no excuse, it was the
case that made me so distant and cold when you were trying to reach out.”
“Mom…if you just wanted to have lunch to apologize…”
“No, it’s more than that. It’s…you know what? Let’s go order our
sandwiches and revisit this, okay?”
Melissa nodded, already seeming flustered. They ordered their food
without speaking to one another, going through the deli line as if they were
complete strangers. Even when they were back at their seats with their food,
it took two or three minutes before either of them could summon the courage
to speak again.
“So how’d you get the bruise?” Melissa asked.
“Because I’m fifty-five and trying to act like I’m still thirty.”
Melissa touched her nose and smiled, a that’s on the nose signal with a bit too much sass for Kate’s liking. But she also knew Melissa was right.
“Believe it or not, no, I did not ask you to come here so I could
apologize,” Kate said. “I came here to check in on you. When I got called
away on the case—”
“—and left my baby with your boyfriend,” Melissa pointed out.
Kate nodded and carried on as best as she could without showing her
emotion. “You told me that you and Terry were having problems. And I
waved it off. At the time, I was thinking: Yeah, well, welcome to marriage.
We’ve all had issues. But that’s not how I should have reacted. I should have been supportive and asked questions. I should have made you a priority.”
“I don’t need to be your number one priority,” Melissa said. “I’m not a
child. But I do need to rely on you as a grandmother. You and I…we don’t
exactly have any extended family. And with my marriage on the ropes,
you’re the only other person Michelle and I can really rely on. You get that,
right?”
“I do. And I love being a grandmother. It’s just…I don’t know. I got the
opportunity to kind of resurrect my career at the same time you were
pregnant. I had these two worlds colliding and, if I’m being honest, I was
selfish. Hell, I’m still being selfish.”
“You are. And that’s okay. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: I love
the fact that you’re still an agent. And still a badass. My daughter is going to
have this super-strong woman in her life and I love that.”
“You’re strong, too, Melissa.”
“Oh, really? Look at me, Mom. Shitty job, sloppy husband…and I run to
my mommy when things get hard.”
Kate knew what else she wanted to say but swallowed it back for now.
Something else came to her then, something that seemed much more
pressing. “This case…I had to speak to husbands who had just lost their
wives. And for the most part, they were very negligent. They did not pay
their wives any attention. I think deep down, they did love their wives, but
they were terrible at showing it. They were too obsessed with work and too
busy providing for their wives to show them, on occasion, how much they
loved them. It made me think of you and the issues you were trying to tell me
about before I left for the case. And I just want so more for you than that. I
started seeing you in place of those women and it…”
She trailed off here, realizing that she was about to cry. Melissa moved her
hand as if she might reach out, but she stopped herself.
“I know how important your work is,” she said. “I’ve always known. And
it’s okay…”
“I feel like I have to evolve or something,” Kate said. “I’ll be fifty-six
soon and I still need to mature.”
“What the hell are you talking about?”
“I…Melissa, I hate to say it, but I can’t solve all of your problems. Even if
I wanted to, I can’t. Of course, I’ll always be there for you and your family.
When we had the health scare two months back…it opened my eyes to how
much you and Michelle mean to me. But when it comes to everyday things…
I still have a hard time with it. This whole second career thing has made me
realize that I won’t be around forever, even though I know I live as if I will.
And if you rely too heavily on me, I fear that you might become like one of
those women from the case—far too reliant on someone and not knowing
what it was to be loved. Where I am in life right now, I just can’t be your go-
to problem solver. Does that make sense?”
“It does. And I get it. I just…I want Michelle to have a grandmother she
loves and respects. And I have to know you’re there for her. I have to know
you care for her—and for me—just as much as you care for Agent DeMarco
and the people you try to save on these cases.”
It hurt to hear those words from Melissa’s mouth, but she understood. She
nodded and, carefully measuring each word, said, “I do. I love you both more
than I can explain. And maybe that’s why I create that distance. The things I
see with work…and after your father being killed…it’s almost like I’m afraid
to really go deep. Even with you…”
This time the tears did come and when they did, Melissa came over to her side of the booth and placed an arm around her. “I love you, Mom.”
“I know. And I love you, too. And when we’re done here I think I’d like to
go somewhere with you and Michelle.”
“Where?”
“I don’t care. Anywhere. Where would you like to go?”
“A beach. Somewhere where the surf is loud and there aren’t many
tourists.”
“We can do that. I’ll start making the plans this evening.”
Melissa smiled and looked at her mother as if she had gone crazy. “Are
you sure?”
“Yes.”
; “Great. Just…can you do one thing for me before you start planning?”
“Anything. What?”
“Plan your trip with Alan first. He mentioned that you guys were going
away to wine country or something. A weekend getaway, right?”
“Right.”
“Give him a call. If you’re going to evolve, as you put it, I think he’s part of it. And between you and me, if you keep pushing him away, I don’t know
how much longer he’ll keep coming back. I’ll always be here. But with
him…who knows?”
Kate sighed. She was fine with Melissa being right about most things, but
this one…well, this one hurt. Not only because it was true, but because it
showed that Melissa was more in tune with her life than Kate realized.
It made Kate realize, with great embarrassment, that maybe her daughter
was the more mature grown-up between the two of them.
***
The reunion with Alan went just about the way she figured it would. He
took one look at the bruise on the side of her head and instantly went into
caretaker mode. Even when she insisted she had been medically cleared and
that the bruise was actually fading, he did not relent. After asking a barrage of
questions about how it had happened and what the doctors had said, he
finally eased down.
They were sitting on the couch, holding hands but with some distance
between them, when Kate did her best to venture into what could be troubled waters.
“I can’t tell you how much I appreciate what you did for me…keeping
Michelle while I had to leave.”
“It’s okay. I just need to know…disappointing me and letting Melissa
down….was it worth it?”
“I hate to say it, but yes. I’m going to tell you something that I did not tell
Melissa, so I’d appreciate it if you wouldn’t tell her. This stays between the
two of us, okay?”
“Sure.”
She told him about the case in fine detail—about how the man she and
DeMarco had brought down was responsible for twenty-three murders over
the course of a little less than three years and how until they finally tracked
him down, the killer had somehow gone undetected by law enforcement or
the FBI.
He looked awed when she was done. He wore the expression of someone