What Echoes Render

by Schultz, Tamsen

  “That anything I should know about?” Colin asked, nodding his head in Caleb’s direction. “Ian filled me in some, but he didn’t mention you having protection.”

  She shrugged it off, not wanting to make a big deal. “Ian is just cautious. So are David and Vivi, for that matter. I’d say I’m just humoring them, but truth be told, it does make me feel better, coward that I am.”

  Colin chuckled. “Smart, I’d say. Not a coward. Everyone can use someone at their back every now and then, and now seems like as good a time as any.”

  Jesse smiled, grateful he wasn’t making a bigger deal out of it all.

  “So, did you have something to talk to me about?” she asked as they passed through the hospital’s main lobby. Jesse glanced at the visitors in the waiting room and noticed that it was unusually crowded: a single woman, a couple with a fussing baby, an older couple, and a man dressed in construction gear—along with all the requisite staff. She knew Caleb was taking everyone in, assessing them as potential threats, but to her they just looked like people waiting in the lobby usually looked—equal parts anxious, worried, and annoyed.

  “We got a lead on the abandoned toddler and I wanted to fill you in,” Colin started speaking as they hit the stairs and headed down to the lower-floor café. “A woman by the name of Evelyn Jackson called. She lives in Albany and has been out of town visiting her daughter in Vermont for the past month. She didn’t get back until yesterday. She says the little girl and her grandmother, a woman named Virginia Carson, used to live across the street from her.”

  “I’d be excited about that, but I get the sense it would be premature to start thinking happy endings,” she commented.

  “You’d be right. We did learn the little girl’s name is Emma Carson and she’s about twenty months old. Virginia Carson, however, died a week before Emma was abandoned.”

  They paused the conversation as they ordered their coffee and took a seat. All the while, she was aware of Caleb standing guard, trying to look as inconspicuous as he could—which wasn’t very.

  “Then how did Emma get down here?” Jesse asked when they were settled.

  “Evelyn didn’t know. Emma was Virginia’s daughter’s baby, but other than knowing that, she said Virginia never talked about her daughter.”

  “But is it possible her daughter came back for the baby? And then changed her mind?” she posited. It seemed incomprehensible to her, but she was learning a lot lately about what people were capable of.

  “It’s possible. The court records on Emma Carson are sealed. We’re working to get them unsealed and should have some more information tomorrow or the next day. In the meantime, we’re looking for the daughter, too.”

  Jesse let out a deep breath. “What about Emma, what happens now and what can we do to help?” she asked instead.

  “For now, she stays in foster care until we can figure out what is going on with her mother. I also got the name of Virginia’s attorney from her priest and have an appointment with him tomorrow. According to the priest, Virginia left nearly everything to Emma in a trust.”

  “How would he know that? And I thought you said no one knew about Emma other than Evelyn.”

  “Virginia left the church a little something as well, so he had dealings with her attorney. Apparently the attorney let it slip about Emma, but the priest didn’t think anything of it since he figured it wasn’t too uncommon to have a grandparent leave things to a grandchild. Of course, he didn’t know that Virginia had been raising Emma.”

  She took a sip of her coffee and felt it burn its way down her throat. “Did she have much of an estate?”

  Colin shrugged. “Hard to say. The house was nice enough but not fancy.”

  “I hate to ask, but is there any chance that Virginia’s death might have been something other than old age and the daughter had something to do with it?” As the words left her mouth, Jesse realized what a dark perspective she seemed to be taking on life these days.

  “At this point, anything is possible, but I should know more tomorrow.”

  She nodded absently, then asked again if there was anything the hospital could do.

  “Actually,” Colin said. “We do want to bring Emma by for one more test. We collected some samples from Virginia’s house and ran her DNA. We want to do a blood draw on Emma so that we can run her DNA against Virginia’s and establish some familial markings. Given that it looks like we might not find Emma’s mom, we’d like to have the two sets of DNA on record as something to compare to if anyone does come forward claiming to be family.”

  Jesse frowned. “Of course we’ll do the blood draw as long as it’s properly ordered and agreed to by Emma’s advocate. But you knew that, so what is it that we can really do to help you, Colin?”

  Colin had the grace to look a little sheepish. “Well, I know you and Dr. DeMarco are friends and I was kind of hoping that you might be able to ask her if she could run the test. Like in the next day or two.”

  Her brows went down. In the grand scheme of things, this wasn’t a big favor.

  “Of course,” she agreed. “But can I ask why you just didn’t ask Ian? After all, your office and his share the same building.”

  Colin cleared his throat and his eyes darted away for a moment. “We, uh, we actually did.”

  “And?” she prompted.

  “And, uh, he reminded us that his wife was nearly eight months pregnant and then walked away.”

  Jesse’s lips twitched. That was so like Ian.

  “Of course I’ll ask her,” she reiterated as a look of relief passed over Colin’s face.

  “Thanks,” Colin said, standing. “I was hoping you’d say that. I also just wanted to let you know that we at least have a name for her now. And we know that she was taken good care of. Evelyn said that Virginia was a very doting grandmother and the two always seemed to be very close. Everyone here at the hospital was so good to Emma, I figured they would want to know how she’s doing.”

  “Thank you, yes, she endeared herself to quite a few of the nurses,” Jesse said, rising as well. “And while I’m not sure what Emma’s life will be like from this point onward, I am glad her first couple of years were good.”

  “Yeah,” Colin answered with a cop’s weariness. “You and me both.”

  When she got back to her office, Jesse picked up a message from Ian. They’d received the warrant for the information on Mark’s students that afternoon and would be executing it in the morning with Naomi’s help. Vivi’s cousin wasn’t technically law enforcement but she worked extensively with the government and Ian tended to bring her on as a consultant when he needed someone with her scary computer skills—and of course, if it meant she got to spend time with Vivi, Naomi always jumped at the opportunity. Ian also asked Jesse if she would be available the following afternoon to meet with him and review the list. He wasn’t sure she would see any names she recognized, but he wanted her to look anyway.

  The task was one she knew she needed to do but wasn’t looking forward to. Still, she pulled up her calendar for the next afternoon. She had a few meetings Kayla would need to either handle or juggle for her—she wasn’t going to look at the list while at work so she’d need to leave the office. Like Ian, she didn’t think she’d see any names she recognized, other than the two she already knew, but on the off chance she did, she didn’t want to be at work when it happened.

  Once she’d cleared her schedule, she called Ian to let him know what time she would be home the next day and that he could just stop by when he had the list. She then popped out of her office to let Kayla know about her calendar and invited Caleb back into her office to fill him in on the plan she and Ian had agreed to.

  He looked at her as if he wanted to apologize for his entire gender when she told him what she was going to have to do, but thankfully he didn’t say a thing, just nodded and said he would be wherever he was needed.

  A few e-mails had come in while she was out with Colin so she sat to read them, but after a
few minutes she realized she’d been sitting there reading the same one over and over. As sure as she was that looking at the list wouldn’t reveal anything, clearly, her subconscious was not looking forward to it.

  Letting out a big sigh, she looked at Caleb, sprawled deceptively casually in one of the chairs across from her. “I’m losing focus,” she said.

  His lips twitched into a grin. “I heard a rumor your boyfriend was cooking for you tonight. Why don’t I get you home, I’m sure he’d be glad to take your mind off things.”

  “You know,” she said, rising from her seat and grabbing her coat, “one day that snarkiness is going to bite you on the ass.”

  He chuckled. “If only my life was that exciting.”

  ***

  The next day didn’t go as planned, for her or apparently for Ian, judging by the time she finally got a hold of him. A complaint filed against the hospital took up her morning so she wasn’t able to leave as early as she would have liked. When she placed a call to Ian, she found that he was still at his office, too. Since the sheriff’s department was housed in the same building as the Riverside police department, not a mile from the hospital, she agreed to meet him there at three o’clock.

  She wasn’t crazy about the idea of David being with her, but he’d convinced her the night before that he should be. So, after calling David to fill him in on the new plan, she popped her head out to let Caleb know as well. She thought he probably liked this plan better as it would mean she was in an area surrounded by law enforcement, but all he did was nod and say he’d drive. Which was an unnecessary statement, since he’d been driving her everywhere for the past two days anyway.

  Somehow she managed to focus and finish her work. She spent the last hour running through the afternoon’s meetings with Kayla, who would sit in for her. It was a big step for the young woman, and Jesse was a bit nervous about it, but she wanted to give Kayla this opportunity so they plunged ahead. By the time they were done briefing, she felt more confident. Until she saw the look on Caleb’s face when he finished a call on his cell at the same time. She felt the blood drain from her face.

  “What?” she asked.

  Sensing something, Kayla came to stand beside her.

  “Caleb?” Kayla said. Distantly, Jesse noted this was the first time she’d heard her assistant call Caleb by his name.

  Caleb’s eyes went between the two women before finally settling on Jesse.

  “We need to talk,” he said. Without waiting for an answer, he ushered her into her office.

  “Caleb?” Jesse asked, echoing Kayla’s question.

  Before answering, he went around her desk and sat down in her chair.

  “Do you have access to everyone’s schedules?” he asked.

  She frowned. “Yes, I have access to department schedules through a single program, but the other schedules, schedules of the support staff, are in several other programs depending on whether they are hospital employees or contractors,” she answered. “Why?” she pressed. “Does this have to do with Dr. Bennet?” she asked.

  Caleb glanced up, then motioned her over. Rising from her chair, he all but pushed her into the spot he’d just vacated.

  “Ian is still looking into Dr. Bennet. Did you know he was married before coming to Riverside?”

  She glanced up at him and shook her head.

  “Turns out his wife’s death was ruled suspect, but there was never enough proof to build a case.”

  She blinked and took in the information. She wasn’t even sure she knew what he meant, but it was clear that Caleb thought Ken had a past worth looking into. She turned back to the keyboard and started to pull up the program that held the doctors’ schedules. But Caleb’s hand came down on hers, stopping her progress.

  She looked at his large hand, resting on hers then slowly, confused, she raised her gaze to his.

  “I need you to look up the schedule of the food service people.”

  “The food service people?” she repeated, then frowned. “They’re contractors. Why would we need to see that?”

  Caleb took a deep breath. “Because Rosy McIntire now works for the company that manages the service here at Riverside.”

  “And Rosy McIntire is?” she pressed, not altogether sure she really wanted to know the answer.

  “Rosy McIntire is the woman who was obsessed with David back in California. The one who started the fire. The one who nearly killed herself to get his attention.”

  Jesse stared at Caleb for a good, long moment. She might have even opened and closed her mouth a few times in an effort to say something, only she never managed to figure out what that something might be.

  Finally, she seemed to pull it together. “The woman who was obsessed with David now works here?” she repeated, almost unable to comprehend the coincidence.

  Caleb nodded.

  “For how long?” she demanded. Though why the information was relevant wasn’t very clear in her mind, it was just something she needed to ask.

  “About a year,” Caleb answered.

  “A year,” Jesse repeated, mostly to herself. After a pause, she closed down the program with the doctors’ schedules and started to open the one that would show her what Caleb was obviously looking for. As that program began to boot up, her mind seemed to do the same.

  “So if it is a coincidence that she’s here, since obviously she came here before David did, what does it mean?” she asked.

  Caleb lifted a shoulder. “It could mean a lot of things. Maybe she heard him talking about Miranda coming east and his plan to join her and she came first. Maybe it’s actually a coincidence that she ended up here, and then, when she saw you with him, it triggered something. At this point, I don’t know what it means, only that it’s a coincidence I don’t like.”

  Jesse bit her lip in thought as the program came to life. Keying in her password, she brought up the main home page, then looked at Caleb for guidance. She could pull up schedules by employee or she could look by date.

  “Pull up Rosy McIntire’s file,” he directed with a nod to the screen.

  Dutifully, she typed in the name. A few seconds passed, then Rosy McIntire’s hospital badge photo popped up. Below it was her schedule for the week. To search for past weeks, she would need to key in a few more dates, but for a moment, her eyes rested on the photo.

  “Do you recognize her?” Caleb asked. He must have seen something in her expression because his voice had gotten quiet.

  Jesse tilted her head and studied the picture again. Rosy McIntire did look familiar.

  And then it clicked.

  “Yes,” she said, dread thick in her voice. “I was walking with David one day and we ran into Dr. Bennet. As Ken turned to leave, he bumped into her. By the time I turned to make apologies for Ken’s rude behavior, she was already halfway down the hall.”

  “And is that the only time you remember seeing her when you were with David?” Caleb asked, pulling his phone back out of his pocket.

  Jesse wagged her head in indecision. “There are always food delivery carts being pushed around. I see them all the time, but I don’t always remember the face of the person pushing them. And I may not know all of them since that service is provided by a contractor. So if you’re asking if I specifically remember seeing her,” she gestured to the picture on the computer screen, “any other time, then, no, I don’t. But chances are high we’ve crossed paths many times between the time David first came to Riverside and now.”

  Caleb nodded, then turned and placed a call. She could hear him talking to Ian, giving the sheriff Rosy’s name. She glanced at the computer again and noted that Rosy wasn’t currently on duty. She gave Caleb this information and he repeated it to Ian. After another minute or so of conversation, Caleb hung up and refocused on her.

  “How did you find out about Rosy if not from Ian?” she asked. He gave her an enigmatic look, which had her shaking her head. “Never mind,” she said. “So what now?”

  Regret flashed through
his eyes before he spoke, but then he answered. “Ian will look into Rosy McIntire, but in the meantime, I believe you have an appointment at the sheriff’s office.”

  Jesse’s stomach sank at the stark reminder of what lay ahead of her. For a moment, she’d been distracted by the thought, by the possibilities, of Rosy McIntire. She glanced at the clock and noted they’d be late for her three o’clock appointment. As she silently gathered her belongings, she recognized how out of sorts her world had become when thinking about David having a stalker constituted a reprieve.

  As she walked toward the door, Caleb put a hand on her arm, halting her.

  “I’m sorry,” he said. And for the first time, he allowed real emotion to show on his face. She’d seen glimpses of it before, but this time, his open sincerity and sympathy nearly brought her to tears.

  She managed to clear her throat before answering. “Thank you, Caleb. For that and for everything else you’re doing.”

  He looked about to say something else, then his lips thinned and he gave a simple nod.

  Fifteen silent minutes later, they were pulling up to Ian’s office.

  David was waiting for her outside, and without a word, he took her hand and walked beside her into the lion’s den.

  Vivi, Ian, and Naomi were in Ian’s office when they entered. Naomi, whom Jesse hadn’t seen in a few weeks, stood and gave her a hug. Jesse tried to tell herself that it was a nice-to-see-you hug but suspected it was more likely an I’m-sorry-you-have-to-do-this hug. She gave Naomi a smile, then sat.

  She looked to Caleb to see if Caleb and Ian were ready to share the information they’d just learned yet, but he gave a sharp shake of his head. “After,” he seemed to be saying. Her gaze lingered on his for a moment, then she nodded and turned back to Ian.

  “Okay, lay it on me,” Jesse said as she held out her hand for the list.

  Ian looked to Vivi. When she nodded back to her husband, he handed Jesse a sheet of paper.

  “These are the names of female students who took a class with Mark over the three semesters before his death. None of these women were Economics majors,” Ian said.