by Keene, Susan
“It might be, but it didn’t start off that way. At first, I wrote down birthdays, holidays, and travel plans. There are so many of us, and we keep growing with husbands, wives, babies, and all of their information. I just kept the calendars rather than have to transfer the data year after year.”
“Sounds reasonable. I always wondered how you knew so much.”
“After Mom and Dad died, I realized you guys were all I had. Being an only child sucks when your parents die together. You’re suddenly an orphan.”
I reached over and rubbed his arm. “I’m sorry, Ryan. Sixteen is a young age to be on your own.”
“Matt Hughes took care of me. He might have worked for Dad, but they were the best of friends. He lived on the grounds and, after a while, he moved into one of the bedrooms down the hall from me and became the uncle I needed but never had.”
“He died, right?”
“Yes, four years ago. I miss him every day. In some ways, we were closer than I was to my parents. He was there during the end of high school and through college. He taught me how to handle the enormous wealth I inherited. He was a great man.”
We drank our coffee and finished the bagels in silence--that rare quiet that doesn’t need words or understanding. It came from mutual feelings of loss and respect.
The phone rang, and we both jumped. I got up and answered it in the kitchen while I made another cup of coffee.
Amy hadn’t been able to find Stephen Fields. He wasn’t at any of his usual haunts. His wife was frantic. It took me about a half hour to fill Amy in on what happened to Andy. I hadn’t called her as I promised. I could tell she was taking notes and trying to find a correlation between Michael, Lizzy, Roomy, and Andy.
We made plans to meet at the office in an hour. The world was still turning and life kept moving. I wanted to stop it and put all my time into finding the answer to who was killing my friends. Was Lizzy a part of this or something random? When someone died, it was difficult to find fault with anything he did before. Not so, with Lizzy, I was beginning to remember some troubling incidents when we were in college and again later. One was as recent as last year. This would have to wait until I figured out what happened to Stephen Fields.
“Ryan, I need to get ready and help Amy find a missing person.”
“Not a problem. I’m going to see if I can get a tower number and location for those two calls on Lizzy’s phone. Looks like I need to dig back into my files and see when the four of them were together. It could be important, but who knows. It could involve more than just the four of them. We need to find out what happened before we lose any more of our family.”
I walked toward the bathroom. “Thanks. I’ll catch up with you after I make a little money.”
“You know, Kate, you don’t have to make money. I can take care of things, and you can put all of your efforts into finding Lizzy.”
I gave him my favorite flat-eyed stare, where I looked down but directed my eyes over and up toward him. I was sure he had no trouble deciphering its meaning.
He smiled and walked toward me. “Think I could get a hug? The way things are going, we could both use one.”
It felt good to be in his arms.
Ryan wanted me to know he took our times together seriously. I wanted him to know that I was using him when nothing but a human touch could take away my pain. I didn’t feel we needed to go over it again.
His hug was warm, sincere, and full of love. Who was I kidding? I wanted more, but I couldn’t. I couldn’t destroy Michael’s memory. I didn’t want to let go of it yet. I wasn’t to the place where I could see someone else in the role of lover.
As if he felt my thoughts, Ryan pulled back, held me at arm’s length for a long moment, and then let me go.
He didn’t say anything more. When he got to the elevator, he flashed a smile in my direction and gave a casual salute before he disappeared behind the elevator doors.
CHAPTER 8
I met Amy at the office. We sorted the mail, answered all the phone messages, and kibitzed about the events of the night before. She was visibly shaken to find out another one of my close friends was dead. We went over all I knew, one more time, as much for me as for her.
Problem was we had to find Stephen Fields. Besides, it would help take my mind off the problems at hand while I waited for Ryan to pinpoint an event putting Michael, Lizzy, Roomy, and Andy together. It would also assure we could stay in business.
Within twenty minutes, we were on the way to the Fields’ house. There had to be something more going on this time. We had picked up Stephen about a half a dozen times and, each time, the MO was the same. Stephen got involved with other people and forgot about his own family.
The Fields’ tree-lined street boasted some fancy homes, mini-castles I called them. I was always surprised at how neat and tidy they kept it with four kids under the age of seven running around with what seemed like no supervision whatsoever.
Today, however, was different. The grass needed mowed. There were trikes and hot wheels in the driveway, and the front door hung open.
As we got to the door, I leaned my head in and yelled. “Diane, are you home?” I could hear her sobs as we stepped in. She sat on the couch in the family room, tears running down her cheeks. She held a baby, one played at her feet, one sat in a chair to her left. I didn’t see the other two.
“Diane, what’s wrong?”
She jumped at the sound of my voice. “I can’t do this anymore. When Stephen does this, I don’t know if he is okay or not. When we agreed to have all these children, he promised he would help. We haven’t seen him since he left for work on Monday morning.” It was Friday.
“Well, I don’t want to make things worse, but we haven’t located him. He isn’t at any area hospital, or at his usual haunts. Is there something else we should know?”
“Not that I know of. Did you check the m--”
She didn’t seem to be able to get the word out.
“No. He isn’t in the morgue. We’ll go out again. I’ll do my best to find him.”
“If you do find him, tell him this is it. I won’t be here waiting if he does it again, and I won’t be paying anyone to find him. He can stay wherever it is he thinks is more important than home with me and his children.”
“I’ll make sure he realizes the error of his ways.”
“Do you want me to write you a check?”
“No, we’ll bill you.”
She began rocking the baby in her lap and gently crying. We slipped out the front door and closed it behind us.
“Stephen Fields, you’re a rat,” I said under my breath. Amy nodded.
Strip bars never closed. I didn’t think they even had locks on the doors. We started at Stephen’s favorite. It was a moldy, dark, and dank place off Kings Highway and Euclid. When they saw two women come in dressed in business casual, they immediately tagged us for cops. The bathroom became very popular for anyone who didn’t want to be seen.
Amy and I bellied up to the bar.
“Seen Stephen Fields lately?” I asked.
“Don’t know no Stephen Fields.”
The guy behind the voice had long dirty fingernails, and I wondered if there were any cleanliness rules for titty-bars.
“Come on, Jake. We’ve been through this before, and you do know Mr. Fields. Don’t make me call downtown and get a warrant,” I said as loud as I could.
He looked around. Most of the men, who had ended up in the club when they were supposed to be out buying groceries or getting diapers, were long gone. The ones who didn’t want us to see them but were not ready to leave were still in the john.
“Your boy was in here a day or two ago. Started telling Milly, our new girl, that she shouldn’t be doing this kind of work. Milly’s boyfriend was pimpin’ her that night. Let’s just say a fight ensued. The fella you’re looking for didn’t walk outta here under his own power, if you get my drift.”
“I’m a little slow tonight. Did he leave in an am
bulance or a police cruiser?”
“I would say he needed a medic, but I didn’t need the trouble so Marty there--” He jerked his head toward the bouncer. “--he put him in his car and dropped him at Barnes Hospital.”
“Okay, Jake. Thanks. I’ll check it out. If it isn’t the truth, you can expect the health department to drop by one day soon. Did you ever think about washing your hands before you stick them in the ice?”
He looked down at his hands and back at me, but Amy was already out the door. I jogged to catch up.
We found Stephen in the trauma unit at Barnes. It would be a kindness to say he was unrecognizable. There wasn’t a part of him that didn’t support a wound dressing of some kind. His left arm and leg were in a cast.
“Well, Stephen. You really did it up right this time.”
He didn’t speak. In fact, as soon as he saw us, big tears formed in his eyes, and he turned his head toward the wall.
“Don’t you think it would have been nice to call Diane and tell her you are alive and well?”
“I couldn’t. I didn’t want her to see me like this.”
“I know I should feel sorry for you Stephen, but I don’t. Amy is calling your wife to fill her in. If she still wants your sorry ass, we will take you home.”
“Why would you do that? Call her, I mean?”
“Because she has worried enough and because she pays me.”
“With my money,” he said under his breath.
“Now, now. This is no time to be that way. I think you might have really done it this time. When we talked to her earlier today, she said she was done with you.”
He was crying openly now. Again, I tried to feel sorry for him, but I couldn’t. I was trying to choose my next words when Amy came back and called me over for a private conversation.
“Diane said she doesn’t want to see him. She said she’s going to call his mother and brother and have them deal with him. She said when he’s well, healthy, and in therapy he can call, and they’ll talk.”
I waved my hand like it burned. “Ouch.”
“Yeah, but he deserves it.”
“Yes, he does. Do you want to tell him or should I?” I offered.
“You tell him.”
We walked back and stood by his bed. I relayed Diane’s message, and he acted as if he didn’t believe it.
“She’s been mad before. She’ll get over it.”
I took a step closer to him. “No, she won’t, Stephen. You went too far this time. If you want to try to save your marriage, you had better follow the rules she gave you.”
“How’s she going to raise four babies on her own?”
Amy put her hands on her hips. “Seems like she’s been doing that all along.”
“You know, all I ever wanted to do was save those girls from a horrible life.”
“Did you ever think maybe you should stay home and raise your kids with some values so they turn out decently and leave saving others to themselves?” I asked.
“But you’re supposed to help your fellow man.” People in the wrong always tried to justify their actions.
“Stephen, you have to help yourself and your own family first.” He turned his head toward the opposite wall and didn’t say anything else. I patted his hand. “Good luck.”
I guess it was good we found him. Diane would sleep tonight, knowing he was safe and she could let her anger out.
The bad thing was, we didn’t spend the time looking for Lizzy, and we still didn’t know if the murders of Michael, Roomy, and Andy were related.
CHAPTER 9
A my and I were on the way back to the office when Ryan called.
I should have pulled over to take the call as I was supposed to, but I didn’t. I did, however, put it through the Bluetooth in my car. “Hi, Ryan. What’s up?”
“Quite a lot. Where are you?”
“Well, we found Stephen Fields, and we’re on the way back to the office.”
“Okay, I’ll meet you there.”
“See you in a few then.”
He hung up without a goodbye. Amy and I looked at one another. It was obvious he knew something we didn’t.
“Are you hungry?”
“Always,” she answered. “Let’s meet Ryan first and see what he has.”
“Okay. However, I’m in the mood for seafood, and I don’t care what it costs. I’ve been running all day on a bagel and a cup of coffee.”
Another one of my flaws was that I could eat anytime, anywhere, and stress only made me want more food. I had to thank my parents for good skinny genes. Otherwise, I could easily put on five pounds a day.
Ryan sat on the stoop. As we drove up, I saw a thick folder in his hand. I recognized it. It came from the cold case files at Central.
I all but jumped out of the car. “What do you have?”
I already had my key in the door, and Amy stood close behind, looking at the file over Ryan’s shoulder.
“It’s Roomy’s file. There was a note. They found it in the car, in the side pouch. No one connected it because the same group didn’t investigate both murders. The Illinois authorities didn’t make the note found on Michael’s body public. One of those withholding details things. The guys here logged the note but didn’t have any reason to check with Illinois because the MO was different in each murder. Roomy was drowned, Michael shot.”
I plopped down in my chair in sheer shock. How could it be? Michael, Roomy, and now Andy. And Lizzy? Who knew?
I didn’t say anything. I knew he had more to say so I tried to breathe and get more comfortable. Amy sat in a chair across the room and looked as if she were in pain.
“To top that off, Jeffery, who runs the gallery, said a blond man about fiftyish came in three times looking for Lizzy. The last time they got into a screaming match, totally out of character for Lizzy.”
He said the man--she called him Spencer--wanted her to paint a portrait of a woman. He wanted her to go to his place and paint it from a snapshot. Lizzy told him no but he insisted, as if she owed it to him. Jeffrey thought Lizzy became frightened because she walked out of the room she and this Spencer were talking in and went to where Jeffrey could see and hear them. He said as soon as this guy realized they were not alone, he left. Jeffrey said that, when the man got to the front door, he turned around and gave Lizzy a hateful look. ‘You haven’t seen the end of me.’”
“Wow.” It was all I could think of to say. “Looks like you’ve learned more in a morning than Amy and I have in three days. Thank you.”
“Remember the man at the coffee shop. It might be the same person. Jeffrey will pull up the tape so we can compare it to the police sketch when we get it. I haven’t looked though the calendars yet.”
“Ryan, you’ve done a lot. We’re grateful, and hungry,” Amy agreed.
“Well, by all means, let me treat you ladies to dinner. What are you hungry for?”
“Seafood, but I hate to ask for that if you’re buying.”
“Let’s go to Hooked. We can take care of two things at once.”
Hooked Seafood Bar was, by far, some of the best seafood I had ever eaten. “Sounds good. We need about an hour to put this office in order.”
“Okay, I’ll meet you at the café at seven-fifteen. Do me a favor and be careful. We don’t know if it was only Michael, Roomy, Andy, and Lizzy who got into something bad. I’m going to call the others and put them on alert. A third of us are gone in three short years. We need to figure this out.”
My phone rang. I held up my finger, looked at the caller ID, and gave Amy and Ryan a signal to wait. It was a short call.
“It was Roger. Lizzy has been officially declared missing. They want us to drop back and let them handle it. They also want to see the rest of us at the station around noon tomorrow.”
“The rest of us, as in me and you, or- meaning, the Group? Why?” Ryan asked.
“I think we should try to reach the Group. We don’t know how many of us are involved. Is everybody in town?�
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Ryan took his phone out and brought up the calendar app. “Sarah is due back today. She’s at a medical convention in Seattle. I’ll call her and tell her to be there. Danny and Tim will be at their nine-to-fives. I’ll let them know. On second thought, you two wait here until I get back. I would feel better if we stayed together. I expect everyone here by tomorrow morning in time for the funeral.”
Amy shook her head. “I’m not a part of this. I think I’m safe, but all of this talk of murder and mayhem, I want to go home to my sweetie. I’ll see you two tomorrow.”
“Let me walk you to your car.” Ryan walked to the door and Amy followed him. “I’ll be right back to help you close up,” he said to me.
Seemed like forever before Ryan reappeared.
“I took the liberty of calling some of the men I have for security around the city and sent two of them to your apartment building. I have someone meeting each plane to keep an eye on the others while they’re in town. I’ll sleep better tonight.”
“Ryan, I am highly trained and completely capable of taking care of myself.”
He walked toward me with a smile I couldn’t read. “I don’t doubt it for a moment. I’m doing this for me. I don’t have any family but you guys. The losses are mounting, and I can’t stand to lose any more of you.”
“I’ve lost my appetite.” I felt like I was wilting.
“You, not hungry? I can’t believe it. Let’s lock up and get Chinese on the way to my place. I could use some help going through eleven years of calendars to see if we can pinpoint a time when all of this might have started.”
“I don’t want to leave my car. Besides, I’d like to see the security tapes from the gallery. I’m concerned about this Spencer. I want to see what he looks like.”
“I told Jeffrey I wouldn’t need the tape until morning. He’s in the middle of fending off people wanting to know when Lizzy’s showing will begin. Most of them look around the gallery, notice nothing seems wrong, and want to get on with it. About your car?”
“It’s the first new car I’ve ever had and I love it. It’s very dependable. When I had it restored, they even put Bluetooth in it. I don’t think there is a new car on the road that can top it. And it’s a classic.”
