by Kathi Daley
Kyle really did live in the most beautiful spot on the lake. The huge mansion was built by his great-grandfather back when lumber was considered gold in this area. Not only did he have a spectacular home but it was perched on the edge of the lake in an isolated area known as Heavenly Bay. It had managed to avoid the logging operation, so the forest was lush with huge, old-growth trees. I loved walking along the isolated beach that lined the property Kyle had inherited. I could picture us someday raising a family here, although I might be getting just a bit ahead of myself, considering Kyle and I hadn’t even slept together yet.
Once I reached the edge of the cove, I turned around and started back for the house. I picked up the pace as I began to feel guilty for daydreaming about the life I’d have with Kyle while poor Gina could be dead or dying. I was almost to the house when a text came through from my dad, letting me know the physical therapy was going well and he and Rosalie should be home by Tuesday of the following week. I texted him back to say how happy I was with his progress. Being laid up and needing others to help with the most basic of tasks hadn’t been easy for my big, strong father, who had hardly ever been sick a day in his life.
I wondered if Dad would be well enough to begin working part time at the resort again. My grandpa had founded the resort and was more than capable of running it, but I knew Dad was itching to get back into the driver’s seat. Besides, Grandpa was getting on in years, and while he was fine if he needed to fill in here and there, the daily stress of being in charge would eventually catch up with him and could affect his health.
Back at the house, I gave the dogs fresh water and then joined Kyle in his office. “Any luck with the file?”
“Not yet. The security is really advanced. I have to admit, the harder the file is to hack in to, the more interested I am about what’s inside.”
“Do you think it’s somehow related to what Gina was doing for Bristow?” I asked.
Kyle sat back in his chair and turned so he was facing me. “I don’t know. The thing that strikes me as odd is that in general, Gina’s security system is almost nonexistent. The presence of a single file that seems almost impossible to access is such an anomaly, it almost feels like someone other than Gina set up the security for it. Either that or Gina is a lot more talented than she wants anyone to believe, so she left a bunch of unimportant documents unprotected as a decoy.”
“That would be a smart strategy if you were concerned that someone might want to access your account, but if that’s what she did, why keep this file in the same online account as the other stuff? Wouldn’t it make more sense to save it in another account altogether?”
“Good point. Maybe we should try to get hold of her computer and look around.”
“Roy will be able to get it. I’ll let him know where it is when he gets here.”
Kyle returned his attention to the screen, typed in a few commands, and frowned. “What exactly do you know about Gina?”
“Not a lot. She’s a really private person, but I know she moved to Serenity a couple of years ago when there was an opening in the mathematics department at the high school. Math isn’t my strong suit, so most of the time I have no idea what she’s working on, but I know administration feels lucky to have someone with her talent and knowledge base working at our little school.”
“Do you know why she chose to work for Serenity High?”
I bit my lip and considered the question. “I’m not totally sure. Gina never really talks about her past. In fact, all I know about her is that her mother died when she was young and she was raised by her father. I thought she was an only child, but she’s mentioned aunts, uncles, and cousins she visits from time to time. She’s said she has a doctorate in applied mathematics, but I don’t remember if she ever said what college she graduated from. And prior to moving to Serenity, she worked in the private sector for a while.”
“I wonder what made her decide to teach.”
“I don’t know for sure. I know she made a lot of money in the private sector, but it seems something happened a few years ago that made her realize she needed a change. I’m not sure what was going on in her life when she applied for the job at Serenity High. She seems happy here, but I know she still does contract work from time to time. She took a month off last April to participate in some sort of top-secret project. She never did say exactly where she went or what she was working on, but I got the impression it was pretty important.”
“If she’s that bright and talented, why would she waste her time with Bristow?” Kyle asked. “It doesn’t sound like she needed the money if she supplements her teacher’s salary with private contracts.”
I shrugged. “You got me. I guess Bristow might have been paying her a lot, but, as you said, it doesn’t seem like she would be hard up for money and Bristow is such a snake. Still, I couldn’t say what her finances might look like.”
“She might have debt from her past or obligations we aren’t aware of,” Kyle offered.
“She might. But it seems to me that after everything that happened with Judge Harper, she would look elsewhere for work if she needed it.”
“She may not have all the details about what occurred with Judge Harper. Few people do. There must be a piece of the puzzle we simply don’t have yet.”
“If you ask me, there are a lot of pieces to the puzzle we don’t have.” I paused when I heard a car in the drive. “It sounds like Roy’s here. Hopefully, he’ll be bringing some answers.”
Chapter 6
Roy was born and raised in Paradise Lake, the same as me, and we had a relationship that extended beyond a law enforcement professional and the citizen he was sworn to protect. He and I were friends. We knew and trusted each other and, prior to his new partner coming to town, had worked together on several cases. Roy knew my strengths and faults and had a good track record in getting the best out of me. As I watched him get out of his car, I felt a sadness wash over me. I wondered if there would ever be a time when our relationship would again be as easy and unrestricted as it once had been.
Kyle invited Roy in and offered him coffee. The minute we were settled around the kitchen table, I asked him what he’d found out.
“After speaking to Kate, I had the feeling this was going to be a difficult case,” Roy began. “She’d have a fit if she knew I was speaking to you, so it goes without saying that everything we discuss is to remain between us.”
“Of course,” Kyle and I both agreed.
“Do you have any idea who shot Bristow? Or where he was shot?” I asked.
“We don’t have a lot of details yet, but based on the forensic evidence and the preliminary report from the coroner, it appears Bristow was shot before he entered the car,” Roy answered.
“So he could have been in his home or his office?” I suggested.
“Perhaps. We haven’t yet verified the location of the shooting, but Kate has searched both his office and his home, and she hasn’t found any evidence that the murder occurred in either place. And she doesn’t believe the shooting occurred at Gina’s house either.”
“It’s all so strange. I can’t begin to imagine where they might have been or how Bristow ended up dead, but you can’t believe there’s any way Gina did it.”
“I don’t believe that, and neither does Kate,” Roy assured me. “Right now, we’re operating under the assumption that the person driving the vehicle was trying to help Bristow and wasn’t the one who shot him.”
“Have you found any proof Gina was the driver?” I asked.
“We suspect she was, but we haven’t found evidence that empirically supports that suspicion. We aren’t certain why the vehicle ran off the road, but it appears Bristow died from the shotgun wound, not any injuries sustained in the accident.”
“Was he even still alive when the accident occurred?” Kyle asked.
“We aren’t sure, but the theory at this po
int is that he was already dead before the car hit the tree. We’ll know more when we get the full autopsy back.”
“What about Gina? Was she injured in the crash?” I wondered.
Roy leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms over his chest. “Based on the blood on the driver’s seat I’d say it was likely. However, it does look as if the driver managed to leave the vehicle under their own power, so perhaps the injuries sustained by the driver were minor.”
I let out a sigh of relief. Although I had no way to know if Gina was still alive and uninjured, at least I knew now she hadn’t been gravely injured in the crash. “I found Gina’s bracelet in the woods when Kyle and I took Echo out to look for her,” I informed Roy. “There was a trail through the woods that ended at the road that feeds onto the highway on the other side of the forest. It looks like there was a struggle. Kyle and I think she was forced into a vehicle.”
“It appears that’s exactly what happened,” Roy confirmed. “Although at this point we still can’t know for certain.”
“If we don’t know who took her, how do we find her?” I asked.
“Kate has an all-points bulletin out on Gina and every available deputy is out looking for her. If she’s still in the area, we’ll find her.”
“And if she isn’t?”
“We’re doing everything we can,” Roy said. “Do you know anything at all that might help us narrow this down?”
I glanced at Kyle. I wanted to answer, but suddenly I was too scared to speak.
Kyle began, “It appears Gina was working for Bristow as some sort of a financial consultant. Bristow was a confident, arrogant businessman who got things done, but he wasn’t popular. He had developments all over the world, and while I’m sure he had enemies right here at Paradise Lake, I’m equally certain he made enemies in other towns where he developed property. I’m not surprised he ended up dead. I think Gina may have simply become involved in something she wasn’t prepared for.”
“Have you come up with any leads at all?” Roy asked.
“If we tell you, will you feel obligated to tell Kate what we know?” I asked.
Roy hesitated.
“Look, I know you’re in a tough spot,” I added. “We want to find Gina and are happy to share what we know if it will help us find her faster. It’s just that there are some things we want to get a look at first before Kate confiscates them and we’re left out of the loop.”
“Such as?” Roy asked.
I glanced at Kyle. He shrugged.
“For one thing, I know where Gina’s computer is. I’ll tell you if you can promise us that you’ll let Kyle look at it before you show it to Kate.”
Roy hesitated. “Yeah. Okay. Where’s the computer?”
“She took it to the repair shop in town yesterday morning.”
“The one next to the dress shop?”
I nodded.
“Okay. I’ll go get it and bring it back here. But if you find anything Kate and I should know about, I’m counting on you to tell us.”
“We’ll tell you everything we find. You can decide what to share with Kate,” I offered.
“That sounds fair.”
“There’s one other thing,” Kyle added.
“I’m listening.”
Kyle explained about accessing Gina’s online account and the locked file he’d found. Roy asked Kyle to let him know if he found anything relevant to the investigation in Gina’s files and Kyle agreed. Roy needed to get back to the station, and Kyle walked him to the door while I stared blankly into space.
“Are you okay?” he asked after returning to the kitchen.
“Not at all. The more we talk about this, the more frightened I become that Gina really is gone.” I felt a tear slide down my cheek. “What are we going to do?”
Kyle sat down next to me and took my hand in his. “We’re going to do everything we can think of to do.”
“What if it’s not enough?”
“At least we’ll know we tried. I’m going to keep digging into the emails and files in Gina’s Cybersecurity account, and try to create a timeline using them, along with texts, phone calls, anything I can get my hands on. Maybe if we can track her movements for the past few days, we’ll come up with a clue as to who might have shot Bristow. If we can figure that out, we might be able to figure out where Gina is.”
“What if whoever took her already killed her?”
Kyle paused and then answered slowly. “If whoever shot Bristow was going to kill Gina they most likely would have done it at the accident scene. Not finding her body then was good news. Chances are whoever took her is just holding her somewhere.”
I took a deep breath. “Yeah. Okay. You’re right. Sitting here being terrified isn’t going to help us find Gina. She volunteered at the wakeboarding competition yesterday. That seems as good a place as any to start. Maybe we’ll find her if we can map her movements leading up to Bristow’s death.”
“Do you want me to come with you?”
I glanced at the clock. It was almost ten thirty. “No. You stay here and work on the files. You picked me up yesterday, so I don’t have my car. Can I borrow your truck?”
“Absolutely.”
“I’ll see if I can figure out her movements leading up to her meeting with Bristow and you do the cyber thing. We’ll meet up later and compare notes.”
“Make sure your cell is on at all times,” Kyle instructed. “And check in when you change location.”
“I will. And I won’t be long. Maybe a couple of hours.”
I jogged up the stairs, splashed cold water on my face to wash away the tears I’d shed, combed my hair, and then called Grandpa to make sure he had things under control at the resort. He’d confirmed he didn’t need me today, so I went out to Kyle’s truck, then drove toward Thunder Bay. Whatever had gone down would most likely have occurred after Gina left the competition, but someone might have seen or overheard something that might lead to a viable clue as to the events leading up to the accident.
I paused as I neared the beach, where spectators were watching the competitors. They really were good. I’d entered the regional competition when I was nineteen, and while I hadn’t won, I’d made the finals. I still remembered the thrill of landing the perfect jump or executing the perfect flip. While I still liked to wakeboard, I wasn’t as daring as I once had been. Still, the energy created by the crowd was enough to provide me with the second wind I needed.
“Oh good, we have a new recruit.” Polly Long, an English teacher at the high school, greeted me when I approached the judges’ tent.
“I’m so sorry, I’m not going to be able to volunteer today. I’m here to ask anyone who volunteered yesterday about Gina.”
Polly frowned. “Is she still missing?”
“I’m afraid so. I know you were at the bonfire last night. I noticed Deputy Baldwin spoke to the group before she left. What did she tell you?”
“Not a lot. After she spoke to you and Kyle last night, she stopped by the larger group to ask us if we’d seen Gina. The deputy said she needed to speak to her regarding an investigation she was working on and wondered if any of us knew where she was. I told her I’d seen her here at the wakeboarding competition in the morning. She left at about one to have lunch with a friend and never came back. Do you know what’s going on?”
I wasn’t sure if I should tell Polly about the shooting and the accident and I didn’t want to risk sharing information Kate wouldn’t want me to, so I decided on a true but incomplete reply. “I’m not privy to all the details surrounding the investigation Deputy Baldwin is conducting, but I know she wants to speak to Gina and I’ve agreed to help track her down. The problem is, no one I’ve spoken to has seen Gina since before the bonfire yesterday.”
“Do you think something happened to her?”
“I don’t know, but
Gina and I are friends and I’m worried about her. Did she say who she was meeting for lunch or where they planned to eat?”
“She didn’t say who she was meeting, but she did mention wanting to try that new salad and deli place that just opened up on the wharf.”
“Freshies?” I asked.
“Yeah, that’s the place.”
“Did she say anything more about her plans for the day or even what she was up to last week?”
Polly glanced at the water and marked her score sheet before she replied. I hated to divert her attention, but the contestants were currently engaged in test runs, which wouldn’t count anyway.
“Gina didn’t say where she was going after lunch, but I noticed she seemed fatigued. You know how energetic Gina usually is, but yesterday she looked rundown. I asked her if she thought she might be coming down with something and she said she wasn’t sick, just worried. It seems an old friend was in town and his presence was creating all sorts of confused emotions she didn’t have time to deal with.”
“Did she give you any idea who this friend was?”
“No, but I’d say it was probably an ex-lover. People don’t lose as much sleep as it appeared Gina had over a casual acquaintance.”
Unless it was a long-lost brother, I thought to myself. “Are you sure Gina didn’t mention a name?”
Polly shook her head. “No, sorry. You know, before you go, you might stop off at the snack bar and speak to Sheila. Gina worked the registration desk with her yesterday. They probably had more of a chance to chat.”
“Thanks. I’ll do that.”
I headed to the rented food truck that served as the snack bar for the four-day event. Sheila Remington wasn’t only the guidance counselor at the high school—she was Principal Greg Remington’s wife. Luckily, the snack bar wasn’t busy yet—it was early for lunch—so I was able to walk right up to the window Sheila was manning.