by Karen Rose
‘It’s about Mallory,’ he said, using his most serious voice. ‘I’m worried about her.’
His sister rolled her eyes and made a face in the mirror, but when she spoke, she oozed sincere concern. ‘Oh no. What’s happened?’
‘Nothing’s happened yet, but I’m worried that something will. I’m worried that she’s . . . well, that she’s gotten involved in something over her head.’
Gemma sighed. ‘A mud puddle is over her head, Brandon. I don’t know why you bother with her. She should be in juvie or a home for girls. She should be locked up.’
A valid opinion based on everything he’d told her about Mallory for the last six years. Most of it was lies, of course, but with enough of a kernel of truth so that Mallory’s behavior made sense to the people he allowed to know about her. ‘We’ve been over this before, Gemma. She’s my daughter. Just like Macy is yours. How is Macy, by the way?’
‘Oh, she’s fine. Watching TV. Educational, of course.’
Half of that was true, at least. He’d seen Macy parked in front of the television when he’d been searching for Gemma. But she was watching reruns of Family Feud, which was not educational in anyone’s book. ‘Good. Good to hear. Like I said, though, I’m worried about Mallory. I think . . . I think she might be using drugs.’
Gemma gasped. ‘No.’ She eyed her bag longingly. ‘What makes you say that?’
‘Her behavior lately. She’s moody, temperamental. Flashes of anger. Just edgy in general.’
‘Well . . . some of that could just be, y’know, monthly stuff. PMS.’
Exactly what he’d hoped she’d say. ‘I thought that as well. I was wondering if you’d have a chat with her. Maybe get a feel for her state of mind.’
In the mirror she rolled her eyes again. ‘I’d be happy to,’ she said sweetly, ‘but Nell might be a better choice. Since she’s a nurse and all.’
‘True, but she’s so much older than Mallory. You’re much closer to her age.’
It was his turn to roll his eyes, because his sister preened. So damn predictable. Appealing to her vanity had always been the key that turned her lock. ‘True. I am closer to her age. Do you want me to come over there?’
‘No, that’s not necessary. It’s so out of your way. But she’ll be at the Home Store and the Kroger on East Gate this afternoon, buying some party supplies for Macy’s birthday.’
In the mirror Gemma grimaced and mouthed fuck. She’d forgotten. He could tell. She’d forgotten her own daughter’s birthday. ‘But that’s not for a few weeks.’
‘Next week,’ he said, keeping his voice as light as hers. ‘Time flies by so fast, doesn’t it?’
‘It does,’ she agreed. ‘Sure, I’ll go to the store to check on Mallory. I need to pick up a few last-minute things for Macy anyway, so it’ll be a win-win. I’ll let you know what I find out, k-k?’
‘K-k,’ he repeated merrily, then hung up and stuck out his tongue. ‘Gag me,’ he muttered. But at least Gemma had put her drugs away. Her hands didn’t shake, so she wasn’t in deep. Yet.
He wondered where she’d gotten her product. It wasn’t going to be as good as what he sold, but it wasn’t like he was going to tell her that. He flicked off the camera to her house and stared at Mallory. Her jaw had clenched and he didn’t think she was even aware of it.
Yes, she was planning something all right. He had appointments this afternoon or he’d watch her himself. Maybe he should call in sick and have Nell cancel whatever appointments she couldn’t handle herself. None of the patients on this afternoon’s roster were potential clients, so it wasn’t like he’d lose real business.
On camera, Mallory shook herself and pushed to her feet, her expression grimly determined.
Damn. He picked up the phone and dialed his older sister. He coughed hard, making his voice momentarily hoarse. ‘Nell?’ he asked, feigning a stuffy nose while he was at it.
‘Oh Lord,’ Nell said with a sigh. ‘You’re sick? Dammit, Remy. You have to take better care of yourself.’
‘I’m sorry,’ he said forlornly. ‘I feel awful. Leaving you in the lurch, too.’
She sighed again. ‘I’ll figure it out. Just get some rest. I need you better by Monday.’
‘What happens Monday?’ he asked, manufacturing a sniffle.
‘We start interviewing receptionists. I thought about what you said and I placed an ad in today’s paper.’
‘Good idea. I like it.’ And he had several candidates in mind, specifically nurses who needed the extra cash. Better a devil he knew behind the office desk than an angel he didn’t. ‘Maybe consider another nurse so you have backup?’
‘I thought about that, too. If we hire another nurse we can take more patients. That’ll help us defray the cost of her salary, plus pay our fixed costs like the utility bill.’
‘Whatever you think is best,’ he said, then coughed.
‘Go to bed, Remy. We can talk more over the weekend when you feel better.’
‘Okay.’ He hung up, cleared his throat. Now that that was done, he could tackle the next item on his list – how to handle the prison guard Rawlings via his kid. He didn’t want to hurt the kid, and he certainly didn’t want to kill him. But he did want to send a message to the kid’s dad: Don’t fuck with me. Do not think about threatening me with your little list of favors. My reach is longer than yours and I’ll hurt the things you love the most.
Cincinnati, Ohio,
Friday 14 August, 9.45 A.M.
The group pushed away from the table, a flurry of side conversations immediately upping the volume, but Decker ignored them, his eyes on Kate, who also remained seated. Next to me.
But not looking at me. Her gaze was fixed on the little animals she’d folded out of paper, her mouth turned down in a troubled frown.
Decker leaned in close to her, propping his elbow on the wheelchair’s armrest, drawing in the scent of her hair, once again in its tidy twist. But he’d seen it long, had stroked it, had felt it glide over his bare skin. He shifted in the wheelchair, covering his lap with his notepad. ‘I like the origami,’ he murmured in her ear.
She drew a breath. ‘Thank you.’
‘But?’
Her shrug was oddly childish and endearing. And vulnerable. ‘I hate that I’ve become dependent on it.’ She dropped her eyes to fiddle with the paper figures. ‘Makes me look crazy.’
‘No,’ he said softly. ‘It makes you look intense.’ And hot. ‘I’ve seen crazy. You ain’t that, trust me.’
She looked up, brows crunched. ‘I do. And that bothers me, too.’
He leaned in until their heads were nearly touching. ‘What, that you trust me so quickly?’ he murmured, and she nodded. ‘I’m the same, but it doesn’t bother me. Trusting someone quickly isn’t necessarily a bad thing. I won’t hurt you, Kate.’
‘I know that. Not on purpose, anyway.’
He was about to reassure her when a dark duffle bag was dropped on the table in front of them, making both of them jump. Novak was looking down at him with a now-familiar scowl.
‘The CCTV and neighborhood surveillance video,’ Novak said, his bi-colored gaze darting a worried glance toward Kate before returning to meet Decker’s eyes squarely.
‘Thank you,’ Decker said formally. ‘Are these copies or will we be returning them?’
‘They’re yours.’ One white brow lifted. ‘Knock yourself out. I gotta go to jail.’
Kate looked up at Novak, her mouth curving upward, although the smile didn’t reach her eyes. ‘I am editing myself so much right now,’ she said lightly.
‘Don’t on my behalf,’ Novak told her. ‘Hit me with your best shot.’
She shook her head. ‘I don’t even know where to start.’
‘Maybe here.’ Novak slid a business card under one of her origami an
imals. ‘Just give it a chance,’ he said quietly, then walked away as she pushed the folded paper aside.
She stared at the card with a weary sigh. ‘Goddammit, Novak,’ she whispered.
‘What is it?’ Decker asked.
‘A PTSD specialist.’
Decker looked across the conference room at Novak with a new respect. The guy really cared for Kate, that was clear. Novak was on his way out the door, but he paused to give Decker a nod, his white head tilting almost quizzically as he did so. Then he was gone.
Decker turned back to Kate, who was frowning at the card. ‘You said the dreams started again after you fired those shots last week,’ he said. ‘Novak could be right. It could be that PTSD is exacerbating your existing ADHD.’
Kate’s eyes widened. ‘Wait. Are you agreeing with Deacon Novak?’
Decker’s lips twitched. ‘Just this once. Maybe. But don’t tell him.’
She tucked the card in her pocket. ‘Your secret’s safe with me.’ She gave him a meaningful look. ‘All of them.’
‘I know. Same goes.’ Even though he hadn’t even scratched the surface of her secrets.
A little nod. ‘I need to go. I still have to get a work address for Mr Corey Addison. Kendra said he works downtown. I hope it’s somewhere very public. I want as many people as possible to see him utterly and completely humiliated.’ She stood up and gathered her folded paper animals. ‘Where’s the trashcan?’
‘Wait!’ Meredith Fallon hurried over to them. ‘Don’t throw them away. Can I have them?’
Kate blinked. ‘Why does everyone want my folded paper?’
‘’Cause they’re cool,’ Decker said.
‘They are,’ Meredith agreed. ‘Do you have the pattern?’
‘No, I just . . . do it.’
‘Ah.’ Meredith smiled. ‘One of those artistic types. I do play and art therapy with kids. This kind of thing is perfect for them. I’ll take them apart and figure it out. Maybe you can make me more?’
Kate looked bemused. ‘Sure?’ she said slowly.
Meredith took the little paper animals, then hesitated. ‘I have to confess. I do want these, but that’s not why I came over here. It’s about Kendra Cullen. Thank you for including her in this arrest. This case . . . it means something to her.’
Kate tilted her head much like Novak had just done. ‘Because of her sister. Her sister endured the same kind of abuse.’
‘Yes. But.’ Meredith bit her lower lip. ‘Just . . . keep an eye out for her, okay?’
Kate’s brows scrunched and Decker could practically hear the wheels turning in her brain. ‘Oh,’ she said softly, her expression changing from confusion to realization and compassion. ‘She had the addresses and she came to you. She’s pissed off, isn’t she?’
Meredith lifted her eyes to the ceiling. ‘Just . . . keep an eye out for her, okay?’ she repeated.
‘Should I not ask her to join me?’ Kate asked, and Meredith shook her head.
‘No. It’ll be good for her to go. This will be one of her first big arrests. It’s important to her.’
‘Got it. I’ll watch out for her, and if she starts to get too angry, I’ll have her take a powder. How’s that?’
‘Perfect. Thank you for understanding. And for the origami, too. Corinne – that’s my intern – will love these. She’s always looking for new art projects to do with the kids. I’m going to suggest fiber crafts to her as well. Our youngest kids don’t have the dexterity for knitting yet, but the older ones will enjoy the challenge. Or maybe crocheting would be better,’ she added to herself. ‘They’ll have sword fights with knitting needles. They might even stab each other.’
‘They make blunter, shorter needles for kids to avoid the bloodshed,’ Kate said, then pulled the PTSD specialist’s card from her pocket and gave it a sniff. ‘You gave this to Deacon?’
Meredith winced a little. ‘Busted. Yes. He wanted to help. Don’t be too mad at him.’
‘Oh, I’m not mad,’ Kate assured her. ‘I was just curious. I figured Deacon had gotten the card from Faith, but it smells like your perfume.’
‘I keep forgetting I’m working with detectives,’ Meredith said lightly, but her expression was serious. ‘Dr Lane is good. She’s got lots of experience and she’s very discreet. For what it’s worth, she’ll probably tell you that your knitting and paper-folding are good coping mechanisms. There’s nothing wrong with it.’
‘Except everyone knows I’m about to lose my mind.’
Decker grabbed her hand and squeezed it hard, but let it go before anyone other than Meredith noticed. ‘You do what you need to do, Kate. Because it’s working. You’re productive. Nobody here gives a rat’s ass if you knit or fold or whatever.’
‘Listen to the man,’ Meredith said quietly. ‘Dr Lane may have a few other suggestions that are less noticeable. Give her a try. Worst that can happen is you waste an hour or two.’
Kate studied the card for a long moment. ‘I’ll think about it. Thank you. Now I’m going to find out where Corey Addison works.’
Once again Meredith hesitated, then leaned in close. ‘He’s in advertising,’ she whispered. ‘Smith, Addison, and Nagel, Main and Sixth. If you’re lucky, you might catch him giving a presentation. He’ll take a long lunch, so get there before noon.’
Kate’s brows lifted. ‘Wow. Kendra really did her homework.’
Meredith shrugged. ‘I hear stuff from all over the place. I keep my sources very secret.’
‘Speaking of sources,’ Decker said thoughtfully. ‘I bet you that Marcus O’Bannion would send someone with a camera to film Addison’s arrest if he were given an anonymous tip.’
Meredith punched a few buttons on her phone. ‘Done and done.’
‘Meredith,’ Adam called from the door. ‘We need to roll. The social worker’s at the hospital with Eileen Wilkins’s son. I’ll meet you at Children’s in the front lobby.’
‘I’ve been summoned.’ Meredith dropped the origami animals in her purse. ‘They’ll get squished, but Corinne will be able to figure it out. Gotta fly. Bye.’ She started to turn, but stopped herself. ‘It was nice to meet you, Agent Davenport. And Kate, I run every day at five a.m. I’ll send you my address. Good way to work off some of the tension.’
‘Meredith!’ Adam called impatiently. ‘I’m leaving now.’
Meredith rolled her eyes, then spun around and walk-ran to the door in heels so high they made Decker’s feet hurt just looking at them. ‘I’m coming!’ she called back. ‘Jeez.’
‘I think she’s always late,’ Kate said. ‘Just a hunch.’
Decker laughed. ‘I think you’re right.’ He squeezed her hand once more, quickly, happy when she squeezed back. ‘Text me when you’ve picked up the fucking turd, okay? I need to know you’re okay.’
‘Will do. Have fun searching for Alice.’
Seventeen
Cincinnati, Ohio,
Friday 14 August, 11.30 A.M.
‘Posh,’ Kate murmured as she walked into the building that housed the ad firm where Mr Corey Addison was a junior vice president. ‘I guess these folks don’t observe casual Fridays.’
Kendra Cullen snorted softly. ‘This is casual, Agent Coppola,’ she said, sounding a little nervous now that they were here and actually getting ready to arrest the sonofabitch who thought it was funny to harass a young woman who’d already been victimized.
‘Head up, Officer,’ Kate said softly. ‘You did a damn good thing for that girl. Now you’re gonna do one better by taking out one of the reasons slimebags keep making kiddie porn.’
‘He’s one man,’ Kendra said. ‘There are so many more.’
‘I know. And we won’t stop them all. But we’ll stop this one and it might give some others pause.’ Kate looked over her shoulder to where Marcus stood ou
tside the building, a video camera on his shoulder and Scarlett at his side. ‘Looks like we’ve got media support from the Ledger’s big cheese himself.’
Kendra smiled, relaxing a tiny bit. ‘Marcus covered the McCord arrest too. This kind of thing, exposing the bad guys, is important to him. Scarlett says it’s part of why she fell for him. That, and he’s really easy on the eye.’
A young man wearing a pair of white coveralls with FBI printed on the back approached them from across the lobby. ‘Agent Coppola? I’m Agent Quincy Taylor.’
‘Nice to meet you, Quincy. I’m Kate, and this is Kendra Cullen. She did the legwork.’
Quincy gave Kendra a nod of respect. ‘I heard. Nicely done.’
‘Quincy’s here to search Addison’s office,’ Kate told Kendra, ‘and to take his computer. It’s covered in the warrant, but I’m not expecting cooperation.’
Quincy’s brows waggled a little. ‘That’ll make it more exciting. So, we ready?’
Kendra straightened her spine. ‘Yes,’ she said resolutely. ‘Let’s do this thing.’
Kate grinned. ‘Absolutely.’ She and Kendra started walking, Quincy Taylor bringing up the rear. ‘And it starts . . . now.’
A security guard approached, looking none too pleased. ‘Can I help you?’
‘Yes.’ Kate showed him her badge. ‘Special Agent Coppola, FBI, along with Special Agent Taylor and Officer Cullen, CPD. I have an arrest warrant for one of the occupants of this building. Please stand aside, sir.’
An ugly expression darkened the man’s face, but he stepped back to allow the three of them to pass. Then he walked behind them, following them into the elevator. Kendra went to press the button for Addison’s floor, but Kate shook her head slightly and Kendra dropped her hand.
‘Well?’ the guard asked belligerently. ‘If you’re in such a hurry, press the button already.’
Kate pressed a button, but it was the one to hold the doors open. She looked into the lobby and caught the eye of one of the two detectives sent by Lieutenant Isenberg. The lieutenant had also assigned officers to cover the exits. It was largely for effect, as no one believed Addison would jump out a window or take the fire escape down, but when the arrest was made, it would make a great show of strength on camera.
