All the Hidden Sins

by Marian Lanouette

  “You found Nadia? Is she okay? Where has she been?” Hope lived in her eyes.

  “Mrs. Carren, is your husband home?” Jake asked.

  “Yes, come in.” She stepped back. Once they were inside, she turned and showed them into the living room. “I’ll get him.” She ran up the stairs outside the living room.

  Mr. Carren walked into the room, followed by his wife and a young woman who resembled her sister. The man towered over his family. Shoulders squared, his face an emotionless mask, the man’s body language told Jake he expected the worst.

  “Officers, my wife said you have news of Nadia.”

  “Mr. and Mrs. Carren, I’m sorry to inform you that Nadia’s body was discovered this morning in Wilkesbury.”

  Mrs. Carren let out a scream and collapsed into her husband’s arms. Their daughter sank into the nearest chair, tears streaming down her face.

  “Are you sure it’s Nadia?” the daughter asked.

  “Yes, I’m sorry for your loss.”

  Useless words, but he had no others. The family’s grief coated him like motor oil coated an engine. It reminded him of his own family’s grief when it had been his younger sister. The bastards of the world preyed on the young and innocent.

  “Can I get you anything?” Louie asked.

  “No, we need time to process this. We prayed—we hoped—we’d find her alive. I knew this was a possibility, but still…we need to process this,” Mr. Carren said, never letting go of his wife.

  “Mr. Carren, I know this is a difficult time, but we have a few questions we need to ask you to help us find her killer.”

  Weeping louder, Mrs. Carren curled into her husband. The daughter walked over to her and put an arm around her mother’s shoulders and patted her father’s back with the other. It hit him. A unit, united in grief.

  “Ask, I’ll answer what I can,” the daughter said.

  “I’m sorry, are you Nadia’s sister?” Jake asked.

  “Yes, I’m Rori.”

  The girl wiped tears from her face while she tried to gather her composure.

  * * * *

  They asked their questions, but got nothing new from the family. Everything they supplied was already in the Missing Persons’ file. Rori offered to fax over a list of phone numbers and addresses of Nadia’s friends. Jake and Louie left the family to their grief. Outside at the car, Jake looked around then climbed into the driver’s seat. Louie in the passenger’s.

  “So how’s Brigh?” Louie asked. A change of subject won’t clear my head today.

  “Good. She still shakes and loses it when strangers come to the door. I hope in time it stops.”

  “She and Mia are getting along?”

  “Yep. Want to grab lunch before I drop you back at your car?”

  “That sounds good. Where do you want to eat?”

  “You pick it.”

  “Okay then, let’s go to the chicken place on West Main Street.”

  “You have such childish tastes,” Jake said, as he drove into the place.

  “Sophia doesn’t allow fried foods at home. I eat what I want at lunch and this way she’s none the wiser.”

  “If Sophia was cooking for me every day, I’d brown bag it.”

  “You’d get tired of good food all the time. Hey, how are things going with Mia?”

  “Good.”

  “No deets?” Louie looked over at him.

  “There are none. We’re going slow, kind of walking on eggshells right now until we sort everything out.”

  “What’s to sort out? Didn’t you guys talk and settle it while you were dating Kyra?”

  “We did…it’s freaking complicated. I don’t want to talk about it.”

  “Okay. Sophia’s gone from being sorry to being pissed at Mia now, because she hasn’t returned any of her calls. Can you ask Mia to phone Sophia for my sake?” Louie looked hopefully at Jake.

  “I can try, though I’m not promising anything.”

  “Great.”

  After lunch, Jake dropped Louie at his car. “I’ll see you back at the station. I want to interview the fiancé next.”

  “I have one stop to make then I’ll be back,” Louie said, frowning as he looked down at his cell phone.

  “Something wrong?”

  Odd, Louie had walked away without responding.