Slowly, thin, wiry arms lifted and wound around Catelyn’s stronger, youthful form.
And for the first time that she could remember in a very long time, her mother hugged her.
Catelyn sobbed on her shoulder and thought she heard the words “I do love you.”
Joseph stepped back from the room. Catelyn wouldn’t appreciate it if she knew he’d followed her here.
He’d walked down to the room to find Catelyn in her mother’s arms, sobbing out enough tears to fill Lake Bowen. Heart aching for her, wanting to be a part of the solution to her problem, he turned to go back to the waiting area.
“Joseph?”
Uh-oh. Caught.
He did a one-eighty back to face the door. She stood in the doorway wiping her eyes, looking about fourteen years old.
“Hey, sorry. Look, I didn’t mean to interrupt…”
“What are you doing here?”
“I decided to come over after we finished up with Mr. Hathaway. Plus, I got the text message information from Zachary’s phone for the day of the funeral. Thought you might want to see it. And, we need to track down Billy again.”
She sniffed. “You have really rotten timing, you know that?”
“But a great sense of direction.”
A chuckle escaped her. She wasn’t mad at him. Relaxing a fraction, he opened his arms. “Need a hug?”
More tears flooded her eyes at the question, but she shook her head. “No. I need to get back to work. We need to go over those text messages.”
“You can take a few minutes.”
She sucked in a deep breath. “What else did you learn after I left?”
“Quite a bit, actually. I called to check on Zachary again, too. He’s still in a coma, although the doctors are more enthusiastic about his waking up sometime in the near future. I told them to call us as soon as he starts to stir.”
“Excellent.”
“I’ve still got a guard on his door just in case the person who shot him decides to finish the job. He says the kid has some regular visitors like Coach Dillard and some of the other players, but it’s been quiet with no problems.”
“Good.” Another deep breath and she was fairly composed.
He wished she’d taken him up on his offer of a hug. “Hungry?”
She nodded. “Starving. Have we stopped to eat today?”
“I don’t remember.”
She gave another laugh. “Then I’d say it’s time.”
“Let’s grab something while we wait on a search warrant for the Hathaway residence.”
“Tyler gave you enough for that?”
“Yep. Just waiting on the call.”
They hurried out to their cars, Catelyn following behind Joseph back into town. They decided on a pizza place that served buffet style.
Joseph settled into the booth opposite her and admired the way she could be tough and delicate all at the same time. Strong on the streets, yet ate her pizza with all the grace of a lady. He smiled. His dad was right. Catelyn was different from his mother, but a man would be blessed to be loved by her. He cleared his throat.
“Did you have a good visit with your mother?”
She paused, pizza hanging in the air in front of her mouth. Then she deliberately took a bite and chewed.
Joseph just waited.
She swallowed and looked him in the eye. “It was interesting.”
“Emotional?”
“To say the least.”
“Are you going to share it with me?”
His phone rang, interrupting her answer. He winced, but snatched it up. “Hello?”
Catelyn swallowed the last of her water and watched Joseph give her the thumbs-up. He hung up. “We’ve got our search warrant and a team’s on the way to the house. They’ll meet us there with a copy of Zachary’s text messaging log for the last week. We can see if any number stands out.”
She tossed some bills on the table. “Let’s go.”
Joseph added his money and they took off out the door.
Catelyn watched the scenery whiz by.
Soon, they pulled in behind a black-and-white cruiser. Joseph stepped out. “Anyone home?”
The uniformed officer shook his head. “Not that we can see. No one’s answering the door, anyway.”
Joseph and Catelyn approached the house. Catelyn said, “Knock it in.”
“What’s going on?”
They turned at the sound of the voice coming from the street. A gentleman in his early fifties stood at the curb, two officers blocking his approach. Catelyn strode over to him. “Who are you, sir?”
“I’m David Hathaway. This is my house.”
“We’ve been trying to get in touch with you. We have your son in custody and have a search warrant for this property.”
Outrage turned the man’s face a scary shade of purple. He exploded. “What do you mean you have my son in custody! Why wasn’t I contacted? Where is he and no, you can’t search this property!”
The two officers placed their hands on their weapons. Catelyn held up a soothing hand. “Sir, if you’ll just calm down…”
“I will not calm down. What is the meaning of this?”
Catelyn explained the situation, adding the fact that his son’s DNA had been found on the hat left in her house and they had tried to call to inform him but hadn’t been able to reach him. Then she asked, “Will you please open the door?”
By the end of her explanation, the man’s face had gone through several different shades of red to wind up a pasty white.
Without another word, he approached the house and opened the door. Stepping back, he waved them in.
Joseph asked, “Do you have any idea where Tyler might hide any stolen goods?”
“No, of course not. When can I see my son?”
“You’re welcome to go down to the jail anytime.”
A shout from the garage pulled Catelyn and Joseph in that direction. An officer led them through the garage into the backyard and over to a shed sitting on the corner of the property.
“Crammed full, Detective.”
Catelyn stuck her head in and gasped. “Wow.”
Tyler’s father had followed. “What in the world? Where did all this come from?”
Joseph looked at him. “I take it you don’t ever come out here?”
The man never took his eyes from the goods in the shed. He slowly shook his head. “Never. Once I started working so many hours, I hired a yard service that comes once a week. They have their own supplies. Tyler has some pretty bad allergies so I never asked him to do anything outside.” He took in the scene again. “I can’t believe this.”
Joseph sighed. “What you want to bet this is related to all of the break-ins we’ve been having over on the west side of town?”
“I do believe you could be right,” Catelyn agreed.
“All right, I’ll call the guys in charge of that case and we’ll let them come take a look.”
“Hey, Joseph, look over there. A flip-flop and a backpack. Looks kind of out of place in all of those stolen goods. I sure would like to know who those belong to.”
“Definitely.”
Two hours later, they had matched up the flip-flop with the one found at the crime scene. It belonged to Kelly Franklin. Surprisingly enough, the backpack was Billy’s, Kelly’s brother. Once again, they had the third-shift crime-scene guys working overtime.
Joseph turned to Catelyn. “I think we need to find Billy and see what he has to say about his backpack being in that storage shed.”
Catelyn stifled a yawn. “Sounds good to me.” She glanced at her watch and groaned. 9:00. It was going to be another late night.
Joseph was eyeing her like he wanted to say something else. Not up to a big discussion, she slid around him and out the door, calling over her shoulder. “Come on, let’s get going.”
“Catelyn…”
“Yeah?”
He shook his head. “Nothing. Let’s go find Billy.”
Catelyn crawled into the passenger seat of the car and let Joseph drive. She leaned her head against the back of the seat and sighed. Please, Lord, let us find Kelly before it’s too late.
“Hey, you okay?”
“Yeah, just tired.”
“We’ll find her.”
She gave him a weary smile. “I sure hope so.”
He cranked the car and pulled away from the curb to head for the Franklin house. They’d called ahead, but had gotten no answer. Which was really strange considering the family was desperate for news about Kelly.
Joseph let the car idle in front of the dark, empty-looking house. “Huh. Wonder where they could be?”
“Do you have cell numbers for the parents?”
“Yeah.” He pulled the mounted laptop around in front of him and typed a few keys. As he rattled off the first number, Catelyn punched it into her phone and waited. She looked at Joseph. “Voice mail.”
He frowned and gave her the next cell phone number. “That’s the dad’s number. Bryan.”
“Got it.” She waited again. “Voice mail.”
“I’m not getting a good feeling about this.”
“Do you have any next-of-kin numbers?”
“I can find out. Hold on.” He tapped a few more keys on the keyboard and gave her another number. “It’s Kelly’s aunt, her mom’s sister. She lives on the west side of town. Libby Darlington.”
Catelyn dialed it and perked up when someone answered. She pressed speaker so Joseph could listen in. “Hello? Mrs. Darlington? This is Detective Catelyn Clark with the Spartanburg Sheriff’s Department. I need to…”
The woman interrupted. “Have you found Kelly?”
“No ma’am, we haven’t. I’m sorry, but I need to ask you if you know where Mr. and Mrs. Franklin are.”
“They’re at the hospital. We think Bryan had a heart attack.”
Catelyn gasped. “Oh, no. I’m sorry to hear that. I’ll call if I have any news on Kelly. Thank you so much.”
She hung up.
Joseph raised a brow. “To the hospital?”
“Yeah.”
ELEVEN
The first person Joseph spotted when entered the waiting room was Alan Dillard. The man saw him and Catelyn coming toward him and rose from his seat to greet them.
After handshakes all around, Joseph asked, “How’s Mr. Franklin doing?”
“We’re still waiting to hear.”
“Is Billy here? We need to talk to him.”
“No, I haven’t seen him. He’s really the one I came down to support. Mrs. Franklin called me and asked if Billy could stay with me while they were here at the hospital. I came to pick him up, but…” The man shrugged. “I haven’t seen him. Which is really strange.”
Catelyn and Joseph shared a look. “Well, if you hear from him, will you give us a call?”
“Absolutely.”
Joseph handed his card to the man then turned to Catelyn. “Why don’t we go check on Zachary while we’re here?”
Coach Dillard spoke up. “You can check on him, but I just came from there. There’s been no change. Stacy, my wife, is up there, too, with Zachary’s family.”
Joseph thought for a moment. “I guess we’ll see if we can track down Billy.”
“I’ve already been calling all his buddies and no one’s seen him. I hope he hasn’t snapped.”
“What do you mean?” Catelyn asked.
“I’ve seen some symptoms of depression. I’ve tried talking his parents into letting him talk to a counselor, but they’re not having any part of it. They’re consumed with finding Kelly. And now this…” He lifted his hands, palms up then dropped them to his side. “I don’t know. I have to say, I’m worried, though.”
Joseph shook the man’s hand again. “Thanks for your help. If we find him, we’ll let you know.”
Alan nodded and returned to his seat.
Joseph turned to go and caught sight of two familiar figures walking arm in arm toward the exit located just ahead. They’d come from a different part of the hospital that shared the exit with the heart center. It was his sister and her husband.
“Marianna? Ethan?” he called.
Ethan turned, pulling Joseph’s sister to a stop. He spotted Joseph and nudged the woman, signing Joseph’s name with a crooked pinky twisted next to his right eye. She whirled, her long black hair fanning out behind her. Excitement lit her face and she ran to throw herself into her brother’s arms. Joseph gave her a gentle squeeze. He pulled back to sign, “You’ve gained some weight, little sister.”
Marianna whacked him on the arm. “Thanks a bunch.” Then she smiled. “It’s so good to see you. What are doing here? Is everything all right?”
Joseph held up a hand. “Whoa, whoa. Yes, everything’s fine. Just a case we’re working on.”
Ethan approached with an outstretched hand. Joseph shook it while Catelyn hugged Marianna. Ethan said, “Good to see you. We just got back from our mini vacation and haven’t had a chance to let everyone know.”
“What are you doing here?” Catelyn asked, signing so Marianna could easily follow the conversation rather than have to try to read lips.
Marianna and Ethan exchanged a look. Ethan cleared his throat and shrugged. “Just paying someone a visit. Nothing major. Anyway, we’re headed over to see your parents. We both head back to work tomorrow.” His gaze sharpened as he zeroed in on Catelyn. “Anything I need to know about?”
She snorted. “Captain has work waiting for you, don’t worry. And I’ll fill you in when I can, but right now, we really need to get going. We’ve got a missing girl to find.”
Marianna frowned. “When can we get together?”
Joseph rubbed her back with one hand, signing with the other. “After this case is finished, I promise, we’ll all go out for some fun. Maybe dinner and a movie, okay?”
Marianna, used to Joseph’s and Ethan’s workaholic ways simply rolled her eyes and linked her arm back through her husband’s. With her right hand she signed, “Come on, you’re not going back to work until you have to. And that’s an order.”
Ethan looked torn, but finally succumbed to the soulful, dark brown eyes peering up him. He shrugged. “Catch you later.”
Joseph and Catelyn said their goodbyes and left the hospital to climb back into the car. Two hours later, Joseph slapped the wheel.
“It’s almost midnight. He’s not at any of his friends’ houses. Where could he be?”
“I don’t know.” She rubbed a hand across weary features. “He’s got that big game coming up. Surely he wouldn’t do anything to jeopardize the team’s chances for winning the tournament.”
Joseph shrugged, thinking she might be right, then said, “If he is depressed, he might not be thinking clearly.”
“True.”
“Okay, so I’m going to call in a BOLO for Billy and then I’m going to take you back to your car. There’s really nothing more we can do tonight.”
“Right, let’s grab a few hours of sleep and meet back in the morning.”
He drove in the direction of the station. Pulling a water bottle from the cup holder, he uncapped it and asked, “Are we going to finish our conversation?”
“What do you mean?”
“At the restaurant before we were interrupted. You were telling me about your parents.”
Catelyn drew in a deep breath and Joseph held his. Had he stepped over the line in asking? He took another swig of the water as he waited to see what she would say.
“My father killed himself when I was seventeen.”
Joseph choked, spewing the small sip of water he’d just taken. Catelyn didn’t look in his direction, just stared out the window. He said, “I never knew that. I just thought it was an accident with his gun.”
“That’s what everyone believed. But the official report was he ate his gun. I’ve hated him ever since. I think I’ve had a lot of suppressed anger, too.” She spoke in a calm, deliberate way, almost as though talking about someone e
lse. “But now that I’ve figured that out, I’m going to be able to deal with it. I’m going to have to deal with it.”
“Catie…” he whispered.
“Don’t.” She held up a hand. “I don’t want your sympathy right now. I’ll start blubbering.”
“You never told me.”
“I…couldn’t. Until today. Because of my mother.” She shook her head. “Amazing.”
The numbness faded leaving a gaping wound in her heart. She felt the tears surface again. “Anyway, after he…died…my mother…she, um, she just…she kind of withered away. Quit the force, quit life, quit…me.”
He reached across to take her hand. “I don’t know what to say.”
Catelyn pulled away. “There’s nothing you can say. Your home became my haven. My escape. If your family hadn’t treated me as one of your own, I don’t know where I’d be today.” She gave a short laugh. “The only reason I never tried alcohol or took anyone up on those many offers of drugs was because of your parents. I…didn’t want to blow a good thing. I knew if I got caught up in that kind of stuff, your parents wouldn’t let me back in their home.”
“That’s not true. They loved you and would’ve helped you, would have still treated you like one of their own kids and gotten you any help you might have needed.”
She gave a small laugh and brushed at nonexistent lint on her khakis. Then she nodded. “You’re probably right.” Her eyes finally lifted to his. “I do believe you’re right.”
“See, God was looking out for you after all…in spite of the parents you were born to.”
Tears flooded her eyes again and she sniffed, desperate to turn them off, but not quite succeeding. He changed the subject and she gave a grateful sigh.
“But why become a cop?” He turned into the parking lot and pulled the unmarked cruiser to a stop beside her car. “Why this profession when it seems to be the reason your parents messed up so completely.”
This time the laughter that escaped her had a harsh ring to it. “Because I thought it would help me understand. I thought if I became them, if I walked in their shoes, I could somehow find some answers.”
A Silent Fury Page 12