“Each of us can look back upon someone who made a great difference in our lives,
Someone whose wisdom and simple acts of caring made an impression upon us.
In all likelihood it was someone who sought no recognition for their deed
Other than the joy of knowing that, by their hand, another’s life had been made better.”
Marilyn raised her eyes. “That was Gail.”
While the hundreds of mourners contemplated her words as she walked back to her seat, the church was completely silent.
Chapter Thirty-Four
Kate felt unsettled during the dinner that followed the funeral. After the scene Sarah Snow stirred up, the peace usually found there was diminished. Saying her goodbyes early, Kate left. Putting the key in the ignition, she stared out the windshield. Facing an empty hotel room was not doing it for her. Pounding the steering wheel with her fist she yelled, “Murderer! You’re such a monster!” She thought for a minute. “And I’m a coward for letting you banish me to a hotel room. That’s it. No more.” She went to the Marriott to collect her things and then moved back into her condo. She sat and contemplated her walls for a few minutes and then got back in her car and drove to the hospital to see Lucy.
When Kate walked in, Sabrina and Luke were both standing next to Lucy. Sabrina’s face was wet. “Are you two okay?”
Luke glanced at his wife and then back at Kate. “We’re just tired.”
“What do the doctors say?”
“Same thing.”
Kate hugged both of them and stepped back. “I wish I could wave my magic wand and make Lucy better. But the best I can do is to pray for you.”
“I know.” Sabrina blew her nose and looked at Luke. “I’m going for a walk to get a little fresh air. I need a break from these medical fumes.”
Luke kissed his wife, watched her walk out the door. He turned to Kate. “We’re having a bad day.”
They both gazed at Lucy and after a few moments Luke cleared his throat. “So, I have a question for you.”
Kate raised her eyebrows with curiosity.
“How do you pray?” He shook a finger at her. “Tell me without one of your long lectures.”
Kate smiled at Luke. “You just have a conversation with God.”
Luke snorted. “How do you have a conversation with someone who doesn’t talk back?”
Kate laughed. “He does talk back, but he whispers. You don’t listen with your ears, you listen with your heart.”
Luke’s eyebrows drew together. “How?”
“Try telling him one thing you thought you did well today and one thing that you could have done better. Then you ask for his help on the things that you could have done better.”
Luke considered. “Sounds easy enough.”
“It is. And while you’re at it, you could thank him for your beautiful family.” Kate poked him in the chest. “See? It’s easy.”
The corners of Luke’s mouth turned up a bit.
“Just nurture your relationship with God. Think about a plant. To get it started and keep it going, you have to water it. If you stop watering it and ignore it, it will die. Your relationship with God is the same. Just keep watering it. It works.”
“Hmmm.” Luke turned back to gaze at his daughter. Kate watched him out of the corner of her eye as he folded his hands and looked down.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
After getting stitches, Don was on his way home when he decided to swing by The Children’s Hospital. He stood at the door to Lucy’s room for a second. Luke and Sabrina sat near Lucy’s bed, staring at her and holding hands. Kate stood on the other side of the bed with her back to the door.
“Hi,” Don said as he entered. He nodded to the others and walked over to Lucy. “Hi Lucy, it’s Uncle Don. I didn’t want to go home without coming to visit you.” He gently stroked her cheek and held her hand as he murmured to her. Then he walked over to his partner, squeezed his shoulder, and handed him a laptop. “I brought one from the department like you asked.”
Luke rubbed his head. “Hey, Cheeto. Thanks.” He leaned his head from side to side, stretching his neck. “I feel like I’m in some kind of a trance or something.” He gazed at the computer, blinking.
“Come on pal, can I buy you a cup of coffee? Do you want to talk about the case at all? You don’t have to.” Don shrugged. “Whatever you want to do is fine with me.”
Slowly, Luke nodded. “Yeah, I’ll drink some coffee and talk about the case.” He turned towards Sabrina and rubbed her shoulder. “Okay with you?”
The corners of her mouth moved up ever so slightly as she leaned her head on his hand. “Sure. Maybe Kate should go too?”
Luke leaned over to give his wife a kiss and followed Don and Kate out of the room.
In the cafeteria, Kate, Don, and Luke sat around a table, each holding a cup of steaming hot coffee in white Styrofoam cups.
Don brought them up to speed. “So, he basically had no parents, got bullied in high school, and he invented a popular app but someone stole the idea. He sued her and lost. Then the Great Recession hit and his business eventually failed. And after all of that, he was sitting at a bar having a drink and was once again ignored by a former employee who he felt he owned when she worked for him,” Don summarized. “It’s like everything built up.”
“Plus, now he’s all over the news,” Luke noted. “For the first time in his life he’s actually getting some attention.”
“Yup,” Don agreed. “The other thing is that he’s really into blades. He’s definitely got my attention. However, I just can’t make a connection to the case.”
Luke patted his partner on the back. “Cheeto, when we get stuck, what do we always do?” He stood up and pantomimed digging a hole. “We keep digging man, we keep digging.” He pointed at Don. “Sounds to me like you need to keep digging for more information on Barry Witt.”
“I’ve found out about as much info online as there is.” Don sat back and folded his arms. “I’ve been trying to track down this Rosalyn Walker. I guess she was the only one who paid any attention to him while he was growing up. But I haven’t been able to get through. That woman has a fortress around her.”
Eyes wide, Kate leaned forward. “I almost spaced. Don, after you and I spoke at the Marriott the other night I left a message for my BSU friend about getting tickets for Monday evening. She called me back this morning. She can leave me two tickets at will call if I still want them. Do you still happen to have that brochure I gave you by any chance?”
Don looked at his phone. “Yeah, I took a picture of it.” He frowned as he scrolled. “Huh. Turns out they’re highlighting a chef from Paris. He’s the brother of one of their new dancers. He’ll be the one cooking the dinner.”
Luke frowned. “Ballet is where they dance around the stage on their toes. What does dinner have to do with it?”
“It’s a fundraiser. All of the rich folks that help keep the Colorado Ballet afloat will be there. It’ll be perfect! Good opportunity to find Rosalyn and maybe even Barry.” She patted her phone. “I’ll call my friend and make sure about the tickets.”
Luke leaned toward Kate so that his face was very close to hers. He pressed his lips in a straight line as he stared at her for a minute. “Calm down Miss I-want-to-catch-a-bad-guy-but-am-completely-clueless.” Luke leaned back and folded his arms. “What’s the goal?”
Kate twirled her hair around a finger. “To find information on Barry Witt.”
“How are you going to do that?”
“We’re going to ask questions.”
“What questions are you gonna ask? Who are you gonna ask? How will you approach them? What if you do see Barry there? Do you know enough about the law to keep from making a mistake that could get him off down the road? How are you going to be b
elievable as a couple at the ballet?”
Kate blinked. “Well…”
“Yeah, that’s what I thought.”
Kate studied at her hands then smacked Luke lightly on the shoulder. “You make me so mad sometimes.”
“You need to remember that you don’t have a corner on the intersection of ‘I’m Always Right’ and ‘I Know All.’ You need to remember you have some things to learn.” Luke’s words were a little too clipped.
Kate folded her hands in her lap. “Okay, I hear you,” she whispered. “I just really want to get this guy.”
“Catching a murderer has to be approached carefully.” Don squinted. “When you’re putting your budgets together, what do you do?”
“I look at our history, our trends, the marketplace, the projections for the upcoming year, and then I map everything out on spreadsheets and…”
“Exactly,” Don interrupted. “You take a methodical approach to get to the right outcome. We have to do the same thing here.” He gazed at Kate for a few seconds. “Only here, the stakes are a lot higher if you make a mistake.” He took a sip of coffee. “Let’s put our heads together. Come up with a plan.”
An hour later they all got up to leave. As Kate buttoned her coat she said, “I’m heading home for a good night’s sleep so I can be ready.”
Don looked at his phone. “It’s pretty sad that you are calling the Marriott home.”
Once again, Kate examined her hands. “Actually, I moved back into my condo.”
Don nearly dropped his phone. “What?” He started waving his arms. “You kidding me? What are you thinking?” He put his phone in his pocket and grabbed her by the shoulders. “Why would you do that?”
Kate raised her chin along with her voice. “Because I’m not a coward, he is. I’m not going to let him make me live in a hotel room.”
Don dropped his hands to his sides and clenched his fists. “Kate this guy wants to kill you. Don’t you see that? Your dead friends set an example anybody with any brains wouldn’t want to follow.”
“I’m tougher than they were. He’s not going to get me. I have a gun and I can defend myself. I’ll see you at my place tomorrow night.” With that, she marched out the door.
“How can such a bright woman be such an idiot?” Don spun around and glared at Luke.
“I dunno, Cheeto.” Luke shook his head and pointed at the coffee. “Looks like you better invest in some more. I have a feeling I know where you’re going to be spending the night. You have a blanket in the Crown Vic?”
Chapter Thirty-Five
Belinda reached for her remote and turned off the TV. She felt the anger boiling inside of her after watching Sarah Snow on the early morning news. Sarah Snot would be a better name for her. And where the hell did she get that information? She reached for her phone and dialed.
“Don Layden, what the hell have you told Sarah Snow?” She paused. “All right, if you haven’t spoken to her since Gail’s scene then how does she know how many men I’ve assigned to the case? How does she know the number of interviews you were supposed to have? How does she have all of this information?” She listened again. “Sounds like she’s too good at snooping and she’s made this case even worse now. So, solve it and make sure you get that in the news!”
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Across town, the mayor’s PR manager leaned back in his recliner after watching Sarah Snow’s news clip. Sipping his coffee, he stared at the TV screen without listening and then picked up his phone.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
At Denver International Airport, the killer’s flight touched down and taxied to the gate. As soon as the tires hit the tarmac, he had the phone to his ear. “Yes David, I think our investments in Brazil are set, but we are going to want to keep those funds there for a while so they have time to grow. Let’s diversify by putting additional funds into some other investments.” He listened. “Yes, just like you studied in school. We should branch out to other churches. Can you look into that for me?” A smile. “Great. Thanks.”
As he walked to his car, he noticed the last traces of the night sky chased away by the sun as it rose up over the mountains and etched pink in the clouds. He got to his car and started it up, rubbing his hands together for warmth as he watched people carrying gifts wrapped in bright red, green, and gold Christmas paper.
He growled under his breath and glanced at his phone. Touching the stuffed dog in his pocket he said “Buddy, taking a picture of that list was smart, wasn’t it?” Scrolling through his contact list, he stopped when he came to Kate’s name and address. He pulled out of the parking lot.
As the dawn aged, the city came alive and its symphony of sounds strummed as buses braked, garbage trucks groaned, and cars cruised by. Still in the Crown Vic, Don watched the sky and his mind drifted to thoughts of Uelle. He shook himself and noticed a security guard walk into the lobby of Kate’s building. He got out of the car and stretched. “Man, that was one long, cold night.”
A jogger glanced over his shoulder as he ran by Don.
Don touched his head in a little salute to the retreating jogger. “You spend winter nights in a car waiting for a murderer to show up and you’ll talk to yourself too, pal,” he muttered to himself.
Don hastened to catch up with the security guard. “Hey, can I speak with you for a minute?” Don showed the guard his badge, and a picture of Barry Witt on his phone. After their conversation, Don handed the guard his card and took off.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
As the killer drove into the city from the airport, he listened to some classical music while a spooky smile played on his lips. Buddy was on the front seat. “So, Kate thinks she can just ignore me like she used to when she was mine at work. Well guess what, Buddy? Something tells me she’s not going to ignore me today.” As the anger coursed through his veins, he stepped on the accelerator.
Before he knew what was happening, his car spun out of control on the icy streets. Crunch! The sound of metal hitting metal caused his stomach to flip. He gasped but couldn’t catch a breath because his face was covered. “Are you kidding me?” He escaped from the safety device and pounded the dashboard. “I was two blocks away!”
He heard a man knock on his window. He opened the door and the man asked, “You okay?”
Barry nodded.
The man pointed to his crunched Ford. “You have insurance? I just called the cops. I think we should get a police report.”
Barry closed his eyes in frustration.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Soon after he arrived for the work day at City Hall, the mayor’s PR manager, Ethan Hamilton, strode into a conference room and placed a pen and a legal pad on a beautiful walnut table. He flicked a piece of lint off his charcoal gray suit, straightened his navy blue tie, and smoothed his ash-blonde hair. Then he walked out to greet the visitor in the reception area and introduce himself.
As Sarah Snow stood up to shake his hand, he bent down. At six foot two, he towered over her, but wanted her to feel comfortable. He hoped to get through this thing without using any strong-arm tactics.
Ethan led Sarah into the elegant conference room and motioned to a chair for her to sit. “Would you like any water or a soda?” She shook her head. Ethan sat down and folded his hands on the legal pad. “I saw your story on the manpower issue at the police department this morning. It was very interesting.”
“Thank you.” Sarah smiled her practiced smile and waited.
“How did you get that information, may I ask?”
Sarah raised her eyebrows slightly. “I’m sorry sir, but I cannot reveal my sources.”
“I see.” Ethan picked up the black pen and tapped it on the yellow legal pad. “So according to your sources, the entire police department is undermanned and overworked?”
“It’s not the entire department yet, but that see
ms to be the trend. It started under the watch of Belinda Mann in the Homicide Department. She’s received several awards and much recognition for reducing the staffing and maintaining crime levels. Because of that her staffing model is spreading to other departments.” Sarah tapped a pink manicured nail on the table for a moment. “It sounds to me as though Belinda Mann was just lucky before now. Now she has a case that is a real problem and she doesn’t have the manpower to solve it.” Sarah leaned forward. “Mr. Hamilton, the treatment of the officers is an embarrassment. As I worked on this, I saw men that didn’t even have time to take a thirty-minute break on a ten-hour shift. I’m appalled that our police force is treated like dogs.”
“That’s a little harsh, don’t you think?”
“I call it the way I see it.”
Ethan clicked his pen and held it over the paper. “Is there any information you can give me so I can make contact with some of the people you spoke with on this?”
“No.” Sarah tossed her head and stood up. “Will that be all?”
Blinking, Ethan hastened to his feet. “Uh… yes, I suppose so.” He straightened his tie. “Let me show you out.”
Sarah waved a hand. “Don’t bother, I can find my way.” She marched out of the room, her blonde curls bouncing against her flashy pink suit.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Don hung up his jump rope and wiped off the sweat after his morning workout. He glanced at his watch. “It’s time to pay Treavor’s lawyer a personal visit,” Don muttered to himself. “Sounds to me like someone is just putting me off. If I can’t get to him through the phone maybe I can break his door down or something, eh?” Don grabbed a shower and then headed out.
As he neared his destination, he noticed the buildings were weathered and in need of a coat of paint. He parked and walked into an office, moving slowly as he observed the dirty, worn carpet and rickety furniture. A heavy woman wearing bright red lipstick that clashed with her neon green dress looked up without saying a word.
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