Lori glanced at Craig, looking like a poker player who’d just picked up a winning hand.
“Why don’t you two go into the living room while I finish dinner?” Ashlyn said. “I’ll call you in a few minutes.”
“Lori isn’t staying,” Craig said.
“You know, Craig, department policy and all that jazz. Could really hurt your career if the wrong people knew you’re involved with another officer.”
“It’s none of your business,” he told her.
“Really?”
“We aren’t partnering now, so what I’m doing in my personal or professional life has nothing to do with you.”
“I want back on the rape case.”
“You’re dreaming.”
“I don’t think so. And I think you can help me with that.”
“Lori, go home. Honestly, you aren’t even ready to be back on the job. I’d let someone take this rape case away from me before I’d be willing to work with you on it.”
She smiled and set her glass down on the counter. “If that’s the way you want it, that’s fine.” Lori held up her hand as Ashlyn started to follow her into the hallway. “I can see myself out.”
He inched the tape forward a millisecond at a time, paused it, studied the image for a moment, and then backed it up.
Perfect. The more sophisticated technology became, the easier it was for him to convert frames from tape to his computer, where he could save them as images. She’d make a nice one for his collection.
Once he’d transferred all the data, he printed the image off, studying her. An eye-catcher in her own right, vivacious, a real intelligence to her, despite the casual indifference.
Nice legs. And a real nice ass.
His smile faded as he heard footsteps coming down the hall, and he stuck the photo into his bag, glancing at the clock and cursing being held up again, on a Saturday as well. He wasn’t even supposed to be working today, but with summer vacations and staff being sick, he was on mega-overtime at the moment.
And there was a fire to night. Not as big as some, but big enough for a quickie.
She was on the wrong rotation, though. He stuffed the personal information in beside the photo and cleared his computer screen so that nobody could see what he’d really been doing.
“Anything else to go off?” Craig asked.
“A few things to chase down, but not much. You know, you’d think it would be easy to sit around a house all day and just track down info, but it’s enough to drive me crazy. What about you?”
“Remember being a cadet at the Depot?”
Ashlyn offered a sardonic smile. “Does anyone ever forget?”
“Today was like a repeat.”
“That much fun, huh?”
“I thought police officers were bad. These firefighters are pretty competitive,” Craig said, getting up to answer the door. “Did you see Tain?”
“Briefly. He was supposed to call back…”
Craig stepped back while Daly walked past him wordlessly. He followed Daly back to the living room.
“Did you know?” Daly demanded.
“About what?” Ashlyn asked, remaining curled up on the couch.
“About another possible motive for the abduction of Taylor Brennen.”
“Is this why I didn’t hear from Tain? You didn’t suspend him, did you?”
“I came pretty damn close, Ashlyn. First you and now this. Since when do you cut me out of the loop?”
She opened her mouth and then looked at Craig before turning back to Daly.
“Look, Burnaby’s bungled this from the beginning, and there was no reason to think that Taylor’s abduction wasn’t connected to the other girls. If we jumped to conclusions and let them take the case back, we wouldn’t be where we are now. What about the connection to the fires? And the rapes? Taylor’s case fits those patterns.”
“We know that now, Ashlyn.”
“Tain checked it out, quietly. We just didn’t want anyone getting excited and getting ahead of what the facts merited.”
Daly sank down on the sofa and leaned forward, looking at her. “So you’re saying Tain told you and you agreed to keep quiet.”
Craig watched her, caught the split-second hesitation.
“I’m saying that Tain did the right thing, and I supported his decision.”
“That doesn’t answer my question.”
“I’m not hanging him out to dry to cover my own ass here.”
“Ashlyn, this is the second time you’ve demonstrated to me that you can be reckless. Is this how you work on the job, or is this the influence of Tain?”
“It’s on me, Daly.”
“Then I’m pulling you out of here.”
“What? I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Craig said, moving around behind the smaller sofa to stand behind Ashlyn.
“Craig, you can stay in the department and we can get that list checked, but I’m not having an officer in an undercover role if I can’t trust her.”
“The guys at the department believe she’s my girlfriend. Pulling Ashlyn out could jeopardize my position there.
“Dad, you know damn well if Burnaby had caught on to the possibility that Taylor’s abduction wasn’t linked, they would have snatched that case back. You’d be dealing with Coquitlam families you couldn’t help.” Craig sighed. “I know Tain, and I know he’s capable of a lot of things, but not for the sake of his ego. He did this because he believed it was right.”
“There was a time you weren’t so quick to trust him.”
“But I’ve always trusted Ashlyn, and so have you.”
Daly stared back at Craig for a moment before he shifted his gaze down to Ashlyn.
“My question here is whether Ashlyn and Tain trust me. You both could have come to me and I would have supported you. I can protect you if I know what the hell you’re doing.”
“I…I’m sorry. There’s been so much stress you’ve been under, and I’m not just saying that to try to brush this off. You know the hours Tain and I were putting in. Stuff came in, and we just had to roll with it and sort it out as best we could. There were times I was looking for you and you were caught up with Craig or Hawkins or at a rape scene. Tain wanted more information before he put it forward because we were still actively working with Burnaby, and then once he’d tracked it down, I was pulled off for this.”
“When did he tell you?” Daly asked.
“Everything? This morning.”
“But you knew about it before.”
“I knew he was holding something back, and he told me enough for me to support his decision.”
“Did Hawkins flip out?” Craig asked.
“Hawkins already cut the team from Burnaby out of it, so Tain’s on his own, except for what ever help you can give him. But Hawkins did call to tell me he expected me in early tomorrow morning for a meeting.”
Craig saw Ashlyn look up at him.
“When did he call?”
“Twenty, thirty minutes ago. Just as I was driving over.”
This time, Craig’s gaze met Ashlyn’s before he moved around the sofa and sat down beside her.
“Then it might not have anything to do with Tain. Lori showed up here. And she thinks she can use my alleged relationship with Ashlyn to get back on the rape case.”
Ashlyn had gone upstairs before Daly left. Craig found her already in her pajamas, in the spare bedroom. “Thinking of exchanging vehicles?”
“Very funny.”
Craig picked up the photo, resting a hand on the back of the chair she was sitting on. “What’s the significance?”
“Taylor Brennen’s brother remembered seeing a car like that around their house before she went missing.” She leaned back and looked up at him. “The kid’s a car fanatic. He noticed it. Tain asked Lindsay Eckert’s brother and sister. They remembered a similar car in the area.”
“Hardly conclusive. There are a lot of ’78 Corvettes around.”
“Still, easier to tra
ck down than red Honda Civics.”
“Isn’t anything?”
She smiled. “We’re grasping at straws, but you know how it is. We have to check out everything.”
“Well, if you’re thinking your abductor used this vehicle, you’ve got a little glitch to consider.”
The smile vanished. “What’s that?”
“No standard trunk. Storage is behind the seats. There are three compartments, one with the battery, one for general storage and one for the jack.”
“You’re telling me with a backend like that there’s no room for a kid to be stashed?”
“Well, you could put stuff on top of the compartments and use one of those screens that pull up, the kind people have in station wagons to conceal anything that might be interesting to car thieves. I’m just not sure that it would be the most practical. Whoever grabbed these girls had to pull the seats forward, stuff them in there, and the slightest bump or wiggle could reveal their presence to anyone looking. It would be risky.” He set the photo down. “But he could have scouted out the area in this car and had another vehicle he used when he grabbed them.”
“I don’t know. It seems to me he was opportunistic. He grabbed Isabella when she went into the woods for a ball. You couldn’t know beforehand that was going to happen and plan to take your car with the trunk instead.”
“Unless this guy is a fortune teller.” Craig started walking down the hall to the bedroom. “Do you need the bathroom?”
“No, already done.” She followed him. “If he is, then he knows we’re coming after him. Wouldn’t he change his methods or move?”
“I guess that depends on whether the future is fixed and unalterable and we’re all just pawns on somebody’s chess board, or whether we have freedom to make our own choices.”
The light from the bathroom reduced to a trickle, and she climbed into bed. Within minutes he was lying beside her.
“We are not having this debate,” she told him.
“You’re no fun.”
“Maybe the guru with the chess set made me an unhappy pawn.”
“Thought we weren’t having this discussion.”
She grabbed the extra pillow between them and hit him over the head. “Not my fault. I’m just a puppet with somebody else pulling the strings.”
Ashlyn started to turn over and felt the pillow land against the side of her face.
“I take it you don’t believe in a higher power controlling your destiny.”
She tossed the extra pillow on the floor. “If we’re all just pieces in some cosmic game, then what’s the point of what we do? It isn’t anybody’s fault that they’re a rapist or a child murderer or an arsonist. It’s that cosmic being that’s responsible.”
“So we should arrest God?”
When she turned to look at him, she was surprised to find his face only a few inches away. It was becoming so normal to touch him in public, she’d found her hand going to his arm or his waist automatically when they were together, but lying there, virtually nose to nose, his presence wasn’t just another part of the routine.
“Have you never felt like blaming God for all the suffering you see?” She shrugged. “Even for the things you’ve had to deal with in your life?”
“So that I could avoid taking responsibility myself?”
“You know what I mean, Craig. Life isn’t fair. Some people start with harder lives than others ever live to experience.”
He was quiet for a moment. “I know. I don’t have all the answers.”
“Yet at quarter to eleven on a Saturday night, when you have to get up and go to work tomorrow, you want to debate about free choice?”
“I was curious to know if what I thought you believed was correct.”
“Can I ask you something?” When he nodded she took the plunge. “Why don’t you go by Daly?”
For a moment there was silence. “Nolan’s my middle name,” was all he said.
She felt as though a dozen butterflies had just fluttered into her chest as he rolled over, little more than a dark shadow beside her as she lay staring at his back. After what felt like hours, wondering if she’d hurt him, Ashlyn propped herself up and saw that he was already breathing deeply. She collapsed back against the pillow, staring wide-eyed at the ceiling for the third night in a row.
SUNDAY
Ashlyn was sitting with Tain at the dining-room table, catching up on the meeting with Burnaby that she’d missed the day before. “You’re kidding me.”
“Nope.” Tain grinned. “I’ve never seen a chick look so pissed.”
“Not even one you were hitting on at the bar?” She smiled. “Is Daly getting you some help on this?”
“Sims is now my loyal servant.”
“What did he do to piss off the powers that be?”
“Your guess is as good as mine, but I’m not complaining. He’s thorough. Although he’ll be disappointed when he finds out about you and Craig.”
She groaned. “Is it something in the water these days, or what? Never mind,” she said when she saw his eyes pinch together questioningly. She told him about the rear design of the ’78 Corvette. “I checked. Craig was right.”
“Damn him.”
“Still, we should check them out. Even if someone was around the area, you never know if they saw something.”
“True. It just feels like one step forward, three back on this.”
“What else is still pending? It seems like every time we have a plan, something sidetracks us and we’re chasing down new leads. What have we forgotten?”
“A big, fat circle around the name Doug Fisher, who did some on-call desk work at Southside Recreation and Fitness Center.”
Ashlyn nodded. “He was the only staff person who wasn’t working a normal schedule during the week before Lindsay’s abduction.”
“Hardly conclusive.”
“And I know his name from somewhere.”
“Okay, I’ll run that down. I also have a lead on our clown and jewelry vendor. They’re at the Pacific National Exhibition today.”
“You’re going to the PNE? Lucky you.”
“I won’t be riding the rides, Ashlyn, or taking in a concert. Just going to track these two down. Imagine if we found witnesses to Taylor’s abduction.”
“I’d be wondering why they hadn’t come forward.”
“They could also be suspects.”
“Hey, that would be a first on this case. Did you ever find out why Alex Wilson stopped working as a photographer?”
“I’m just one person, not Superman, you know.”
“And your friend from morality crimes?”
“He’ll call you, but it sounds like it’s hours of tedious screening and a lot of luck.”
“Wonderful.”
“We also need to go through the runaway and missing-persons reports for July eighteenth.”
“I’ll add that to my list.”
Tain leaned back in his chair, scratched his head. “So what else will you be doing?”
“There’s a guy who has a contract to do repairs for the fire halls. I’m going to track him down and see about getting him to fix Craig’s dishwasher.”
Tain’s eyebrows rose. “How…domestic of you.”
“Actually, I thought anything mechanical was men’s work.”
He whistled. “Don’t let Hawkins hear you discriminating against the better half of the department.”
“I’m not discriminating against the better half.”
“You’re in a mood.”
“Ever try sleeping with Craig?” She groaned as soon as she realized what she’d said. “Never mind.”
After she gave him a rundown of the other things she planned to cover, he left. She started a load of laundry, grabbed a glass of juice and returned to the computer, prepared to devote one more hour to scanning vile websites for photos of Nicky Brennen.
Hawkins let out a long, slow breath as he sank into the chair across from Daly. For a moment, Daly kept his eye
s focused on the desk while he rubbed the stubble on his chin. Then he looked up.
He looked almost as bad as Lori. Daly felt his stomach plummet and twist.
“There’s no easy way to put this. Lori knows that Ashlyn is staying at Craig’s.”
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