Before Murphy could comply, Crosland Webster diverted to his anchor in Florida. A blond-haired woman stood at her open front door facing another reporter.
“Hell.” Murphy paused. “Not her.”
“What can you tell us about your ex-husband, Mrs. Wilshire?” the woman reporter asked, her microphone stuck in the surprised Mrs. Wilshire’s face.
“Alex?” she asked, still blinking the sleep out of her eyes. “Alex Stewart? Why, umm, he’s okay. He’s—”
“But wasn’t he out of the country most of the short time you were married? Didn’t he travel a lot? Was he a mean alcoholic? Did he ever hit you?”
“Not Alex.” The blond shook her head. “Like I said, he’s o—”
“Did you know he’s been charged with the murder of his third wife?”
Mrs. Wilshire stared at the camera, her mouth opened in surprise. “Alex got married? Again?”
Ember leaned into Mother. “Ex-husband? Alex was divorced? Did you know that?”
Mother shrugged. Her manicured fingernails were cutting into her palms. Divorced and secretive or not, Crosland Webster was the one out of line, not Alex. “Alex hasn’t been charged with anything. I’m going to Alexandria,” she declared, “and Mr. Webster ain’t gonna like it when I get there.”
No one responded, everyone too focused on the nightmare unraveling on screen. Mr. Webster had done his homework, and while not accurate, he’d done it fast. Another face flashed overhead—Brady McCormack, the son of Alex’s friend and long time business associate, Jed McCormack, billionaire and steadfast Department of Defense advocate. Webster was on a roll. His camera followed him up to the door Kelsey had painted deep red for Christmas only last year. A spring wreath of silk cherry blossoms and twined laurel set the backdrop for yet another lie.
“Maybe it’s time the public demanded justice.” Webster posed. “Should the United States Marine Corps reopen their investigation into how Brady McCormack, son of billionaire Jed McCormack, was reduced to a quadriplegic under then USMC Sergeant Stewart’s flawed leadership? Our lines are open. We’d love to hear from you, our dedicated listeners.”
Mother shoved her chair away from the table, her mind made up. She was on her way to set Webster straight, once and for all. Let him film that.
“What an ass,” Junior Agent Mark Houston rasped. “Everyone with a brain knows Alex saved Brady’s life.”
“Jed sure does,” Roy agreed. “Hold on, Mother. I’m going with you. You might need a witness.”
She’d barely stood when the door burst open. In walked a very focused Alex Stewart. Murphy snapped the television off. Alex acknowledged his second in command as well as his self-proclaimed gal Friday with a curt nod before he strode to his usual position at the front of the room.
He looked awful, his face haggard and gray from the sleepless night. Dressed in his gray business suit now, there was only one reason he was there. Without Kelsey, he had no place else to go. The TEAM was his family. Channel 16’s finest might be out to create a media frenzy, but Mother knew better. No man loved his wife the way Alex loved Kelsey.
“Boss.” She didn’t know what she wanted to say other than, “I’m so sorry.”
He spared another quick nod and turned to Murphy. “We assigned the FBI contract to Roy and Connor, correct?”
“What are you doing here, son?” Murphy gripped his younger boss’s shoulder. “You need to be talking to your lawyer or the police, not worrying about what’s going on here. I got it covered.”
“The police have nothing. They know it and I know it.” Alex rolled his shoulder in the way that told Mother he was carrying the weight of the world. “But I’m still required to show for questioning.”
She couldn’t believe her ears. “Questioning? Boss, you’re not guilty.”
Instead of answering, he stared at his team. “I don’t have a lot of time. You’ve seen the news. What else can I tell you? Ask.”
“What really happened?” Murphy spoke for everyone. “We’ve heard the news report. Now we want the real story.”
Alex sat at the head of the oblong conference table. “Kelsey and I went for a late run with the dogs last night. We don’t see each other enough. You know how it is. When I’m home early, we take the boys for a walk or we run together. There was an old blue Ford pickup parked in Spencer’s driveway across the street when we got back. No big deal. They’ve got a teenage grandson staying with them. I didn’t think twice.”
He raked a hand through his short-cropped dark hair. “Kelsey went inside while I kenneled the dogs and refreshed their water. When I went in, she was in the kitchen working on some kind of clay recipe for her kindergarten class. The dogs started yapping. I went to the door and told ’em to shut it. They quit, but started in again while I was in the shower. I couldn’t figure why Kelsey let them carry on like they did. When I got outside...” He gripped his chin, rubbing his jaw as he struggled to speak. “She was gone. The back gate was open. I turned the boys loose, but they lost her at the front walk.”
“Where was the truck?” Murphy asked.
“Gone.” Alex raked his hand over his head again, his jaw clenched tight and his voice strained. “I’ve been up all night, Murph. I’ve called everyone, even her sister in Oregon. I’ve gone to every gas station within driving distance asking if anyone saw the truck, if it filled up or drove by. Anything. I can’t... find her.”
Mother’s heart plummeted. Whisper and Smoke were the best tracking dogs on the east coast, and Alex by far the absolute best covert operator in the world. If they couldn’t locate Kelsey— She shook the hopeless thought out of her head. This can’t be happening.
Alex glanced at his watch, composed and all business again. “Roy. Connor. This op will be tough. Don’t let the Bureau run you around. You have a problem, take it to Murphy. Understood?”
“Sure, Boss,” Roy answered, “but wouldn’t you rather we help find Kelsey? Seems to me that’s a helluva lot more important.”
“We’d rather be helping you.” Junior Agent Connor Maher spoke up.
“No.” Alex’s voice tightened. “Stay focused. Do what we do best. Find and neutralize the sniper. That’s your only job right now.” He was almost out the door before he turned back to his team. “Where’s Harley?”
“Not in yet, Boss,” Mother promptly offered. “He probably stopped for coffee. You know how he is.”
Alex looked like he might say something else, but then he was gone.
Murphy stepped to the front of the room. “The way I see it, only two agents are assigned to the D.C. sniper op. That’s all the FBI requested, and that’s all they’re going to get.”
Senior Agent David Tao pointed across the table to Junior Agent Rory Dennison. “Rory and I will check traffic cameras. Maybe we’ll spot the Ford, or someone who’s seen it.”
Mark nodded at Junior Agent Zack Lennox. “Zack and I will canvass the neighborhood. Fresh eyes might catch something the police missed.”
“Me and Ember were already checking satellite feeds on the sniper business,” Mother said. “We’ll pull more data from other systems. We’ll find her.”
Murphy raised his hands for silence. “I don’t have to tell you the first forty-eight hours are the most critical. Alex can’t be out searching for Kelsey, but he’ll be back. Let’s have something to tell him.”
Three
“Move your fat head.”
“Huh?” Raymond awoke to the old woman pushing him out of her way to make room for her wide backside. She was half in the truck, her keys jangling in her hand, and shoving him out of her way.
“Move!”
“Kin I come?” He unfolded his cramped legs while he opened the door and dropped both feet to the ground.
“No. Get out.” She rammed the key into the ignition. Her jaw worked as if she’d been chewing.
His nose twitched. “You gots a hamburger?” he asked softly, still rubbing the sleep out of his swollen eye.
“You can’t
remember anything, can you dummy?” Her face didn’t look scary in the morning light, but her disposition was as ugly as ever. “What’d I tell you last night?”
He scratched his itchy head. “Umm, I think maybe you—”
“I’m done feeding you.” Her jowls wiggled under her chin. “Shut the door. I got places to go.”
“But I is hungry.”
“Shut the door, Raymond!” she barked, but before he could she turned to him and stabbed him with those mean eyes.
He gulped, scared what she was going to do to him next.
“Stay away from that hole,” she commanded. “You hear me?”
Raymond bobbed his head as fast as he could.
“I’ll hurt you if you don’t, boy.” Those eyes kept digging into his. There wasn’t a doubt in his mind. She meant what she said.
“’Kay,” he whispered. His stomach gurgled. When she revved the engine, he stepped farther back hoping she’d notice he was being a good boy. She didn’t. Worry escalated into panic. Didn’t she remember that he saw a bear?
“Don’t go!” His heart thumped like crazy in his throat. “I be good. I won’t even look at the hole. I promise.”
With his shirtsleeves flapping at his side and his belly exposed, he reached for the door handle. The truck wheels rolled, fishtailing over the damp forest grass. The handle, wet with morning dew, slipped from his grasp. Even the truck seemed mad at him, spewing black fumes as it disappeared around a stand of pines.
Raymond stood there for a long time, watching and listening. She might be playing one of her sneaky games. He never knew what to expect. Sometimes, the old woman walked into camp instead of driving. Sometimes, she’d reappear out of nowhere. She said she never met a man she could trust, and that included him. It didn’t make sense, but then, he didn’t understand a lot of things she said. Still—she might come back. She might bring a hamburger. It could happen.
The sunrise spilled through the dark forest around him, its branches full of extra noisy birds and shadows. Raymond lowered to the ground, crossed his ankles and dropped to his butt. He tried not to shiver, but sitting so close to the scary woods didn’t help. Besides, the birds were talking and squawking about him. They kept calling him ‘dummy’ like everyone else in the city did. He ducked his neck into his shoulders as an extra big one floated right over his head. At the very last minute, it pulled up. Whew. That was close. He almost pecked my eyes out.
His gaze drifted to the hole. He used to like it, but it was scarier than the woods. A tarp stretched over it, held in place with rocks along the edge. Didn’t matter. Raymond knew better. A sheet of thin blue plastic couldn’t stop a hungry zombie from getting out. ’Sides, the old woman told him to stay away and that’s what he was gonna do.
“Ouch.” He fingered his sore eye very carefully, but then he remembered. He didn’t need to be quiet. “Ouch,” he declared loudly to the trees and those mean birds that were calling him—
“Hello. Is anyone out there?”
He scrambled to his feet. The zombie lady was talking.
“Hello?” she called again. “Can you help me?”
She was talking to him. Ewww. Raymond backed away. He wasn’t supposed to go over to the hole, but should he talk to her? But he’d never seen anyone talk to a zombie before. Usually they just shot ’em in the head with a big gun. Goosebumps lifted up the back of his neck and into his scalp. Last night was bad enough.
She’d scared the heebie-jeebies out of him when he’d grabbed her. The old woman said it would be easy, but it wasn’t. Uh huh. Not at all. The zombie lady was a lot like one of them cute baby kitties living with their mama behind the diner. During the incredibly long half-second that he had hold of one of them one day, the darn thing turned into a baby buzz saw that liked ta took his whole hand off. Same with her. She didn’t quit kicking and scratching ’til the old woman whopped her one with the shovel.
Fortunately, the pretty gal who was now a zombie kinda mewed like one of them baby kitties when he put her in the back of the truck. He was pretty sure she was alive. Then. But what if she’d been dead all along? More shivers rattled over his shoulders and wiggled down his spine. Ewww! Zombie! Right here!
“Please help me.”
He stopped moving. Shouldn’t she be all growly and gurgling cuz maybe half of her chin was missing, and she was hungry to munch on his brains? And they didn’t get sad like real people, did they? He tiptoed to the edge. The old woman was gone. She’d never know. Leaning back as far as he could, he lifted one corner of the tarp very, very carefully—just to make sure.
ARGH! There she was! Right at his end of the hole. She looked straight up at him. Her eyes got wide. She stepped back. He kinda screamed like a little girl and dropped the tarp. In one fraction of a split second, he was behind the tent shaking in his tennis shoes. The worst thing on the whole planet had just happened. Now she knew what he looked like.
“Don’t leave. Please come back.”
“Nah ah.” He mumbled past the terror stuck in his throat. “You is scary and I ain’t supposed to look at you.”
“I’m sorry. I won’t do it again. I promise.”
That was kinda funny. The zombie was talking like a regular person. And she had a face. A whole face. Like him. Hmm.
His heart stopped pounding. Curiosity got the best of him. Raymond circled around the tent to the edge of the hole. With just the very tips of his index finger and thumb, he lifted the corner of the tarp again, extra careful so he could see the zombie.
Once again, she came into view. The zombie looked awful little in the nice big hole he digged. She was looking at him again even though she said she wouldn’t, but she didn’t look mean or nothing. Whew. She was just a regular person only smaller. A lot smaller. He didn’t remember zombies looking so little.
He had to say something. She’d seen him. “Umm, hi.”
“Hi,” she said very quietly, squinting up at him. Her jaw was still intact, always a good sign when a guy’s alone in the forest. “My name is Kelsey. What’s yours?”
“Umm, Raymond. Ah, yep. Everyone calls me Raymond cuz, umm, that’s my name.”
“Hello, Raymond.”
Wow. She didn’t call him dummy or stupid or big ox. “You want a hamburger or something?”
“Yes, please.”
“Well, sorry, but, umm, I kinda ate all of them last night, and so I don’t have one right now.” Heat flamed his face. Was she gonna laugh at him for being stupid?
“That’s okay. It was nice of you to ask anyway.” Her voice sounded like sad music instead of mean and nasty croaking. She hadn’t moved an inch, only rocked back and forth like he’d been doing. His body automatically followed suit.
“The next time I get me some hamburgers, I is gonna share with you. Would that be okay if I shared my hamburgers with you? And maybe my fries too?”
“Yes, that would be very kind.”
Wow. Not only did she say he was nice, he was very kind too. No one ever told him that before. It was like getting two compliments in a row.
“I sorry.” He scratched his big square head. “But is you a scared of something?”
“Yes.” She blinked harder.
“Did you see a bear too?” He settled himself to the ground so he could see her better.
“No. I’m scared because you took me away from my home, and I don’t know where I am. So why did you kidnap me and put me in this hole?”
He answered as quickly as the reasons came to him. “I... I... Umm, she made me do it, ya know. She did it, and she is very mean to me if I don’t do what she wants, and so I had to do it right, cuz then she might give me a hamburger only now....” Guilt shuddered over his shoulders. He wasn’t supposed to be looking at the hole. Oh, oh.
“Who is she?”
“She’s the old woman, and you is the pretty woman on account of there is two of you, and so she is the old woman, only I thought maybe you turned into a zombie only you isn’t.” He took a deep breat
h, his guilt forgotten in the need for Kelsey’s approval. “I’m kinda smart for a big dummy.”
The pretty lady who was really not a zombie had her hands on her hips, but she didn’t holler at him or say nothing mean, so Raymond kept sharing. “I don’t like being called dummy and stupid and big freak, so I’m gonna keep calling you Kelsey.” He rocked faster, pleased with himself. Talking with her made him feel warm all over.
“That’s a great idea.”
Wow. He almost didn’t have enough fingers to count how many nice things she’d said.
“Are you the man who grabbed me last night?”
“Ah, huh, but I didn’t hurt you, and I wouldn’t never hurt no one. Not ever cuz I don’t like it when people hurt me so’s I don’t hurt no one.”
“But you did. See?” She pointed to the bloody bump on the side of her head. It was real easy to see with her hair pulled back in one of them ponytail things, but still. He didn’t do it.
“Nah ah. Did not. The old woman hit you. Not me. She mean.”
“What old woman?”
“That one.” Raymond pointed to where the blue truck had left a trail through the grass. “She went to git me a hamburger and maybe some fries. She’s coming back.”
“What’s her name?”
Hmm. He’d been calling her the old woman for so long, her name eluded him. Embarrassment crept up his neck. “I dunno.”
“Is there anyone else here besides you and her?”
“Nah ah. There’s just me and you and her and she might bring me another hamburger if I’m real good only now....” He paused. “I been bad. She told me not to be looking at the hole.”
“It’s okay, Raymond,” Kelsey said. “I won’t tell anyone that we’ve been talking.”
Despite the swollen eyeball, his face crunched into a big smile. Kelsey was fast becoming his best friend.
“How long have you been living out here?”
He lifted one hand and began counting his fingers. “One. Two. Umm, three. Hmm.” This was where it got tricky. He peered at her from beneath his bushy brows for any indication he might be getting the next number right. “F-f-f-o-ou-ive.”
Harley (In the Company of Snipers Book 4) Page 3