“Lauren’s husband died, the doctor who helped her get Mindy died, my wife died, and the detective who was investigating all these years also died. That’s a heck of a trail of bodies.”
She looks suddenly horrified. “What are you saying?”
“Whoa, whoa. I’m not saying anything. I was just ruminating about how many leads we can’t follow. Why? What did you think I was saying?”
She glances away. “I thought you were blaming Lauren somehow. For Vivian.”
He reaches out a hand, and Juliet takes it. “Listen to me. Your sister gave my daughter a life. She and Jasper have been incredible parents to her. I wasn’t implying anything, outside of the fact that the cops have their work cut out for them.”
“Okay. I’m sorry for overreacting. I guess I’m as tired as everyone else.”
“You have every right to be. I think I’m ready to sit up. Why don’t we go grab some coffee or something? I could use some energy.”
“Are you allowed to drink caffeine? Does it affect your treatment?”
“They didn’t tell me I couldn’t. But I’ll get decaf, just in case. Fair enough?”
She helps him sit up. She smells good, something he can’t identify, roses maybe. It isn’t intense, just a gentle scent. But he likes it, and then he berates himself silently. He is not allowed to find other women attractive. He hasn’t allowed that over the years. He has fulfilled his basic needs, but that is it. He isn’t ever attracted. Because attracted means involved, and he is an avowed bachelor. The last woman he loved was killed because of him, and he isn’t about to put another woman in that kind of danger.
Juliet knows all the shortcuts to the cafeteria. Zack and Kat follow slowly; he is already feeling a little odd from the medicine. Inside, she pays for their coffees and leads him to a seat by the window. A light snow is beginning to fall, and he looks at it with the wonder of a southerner. Kat watches intently too; she loves snow.
Juliet hasn’t even noticed it until she sees him staring outside.
“What are you looking at?”
“The snow. It’s pretty.”
“Pretty? It’s cold and wet and is going to mean a ton of accidents at the tunnel. Hopefully Parks and Woody won’t be too delayed.”
“I get it. You lack a sense of wonder about something you see practically daily five months out of the year. For us southerners, this is magic.”
She sips her coffee and looks out the window. She leans closer to the glass, suddenly on alert. “Is that Lauren out there? What in the world is she doing?”
It is Lauren. He recognizes the fluffy blond ponytail. “I don’t know. She was supposed to be going home to take a nap. It looks like she’s messing—”
“With my truck. What the hell?”
“Does she have keys?”
“No, but I keep a spare set under the wheel well, and she knows that. I better go see what she’s looking for, she must have lost something from her purse. We went to lunch the other day. She could have just texted, for heaven’s sake. I’ll be right back.”
He watches her go, then retrains his sight on Lauren, who is definitely searching for something. A few minutes later, Juliet appears. Lauren jumps away from the car, looking incredibly guilty. The two exchange words, which quickly becomes a heated argument. Lauren turns away first, and he watches Juliet get into the car, head disappearing as she looks for something. She holds it up, and Lauren scurries away.
What in the world just happened?
He finishes his coffee, gets up and grabs a Milky Way. He needs the sugar rush; he is starting to feel a little woozy.
He sits down, and Juliet comes in, clearly in a huff. She throws herself in the seat.
“What was all that about?”
“She lost a glove.”
“Big fight for a lost glove.”
“The lack of sleep has gone to her head. She’s worried that whoever killed Vivian will come back to finish the job on Mindy. Like we’re in Breaking Bad, or you’re mobbed up. I think she’s delusional. I told her so, and she blew up at me. She’s really in a mood today. I don’t remember the last time I saw her yell at Jasper. Me, well, we yell at each other all the time, always have. What in the world is going on with her?”
He steeples his hands. “You know what I used to do, right?”
“You were military intelligence.”
“Yes. Which means I was trained to be a paranoid motherfucker. Lauren just found out her daughter was stolen in the commission of a murder, and for all intents and purposes, that it was designed to send me a message. And now I’m here, and Lauren feels like she can’t protect Mindy anymore, from anything. If she thinks she’s in danger, in her mind, it’s because of me. It stands to reason she might be a little freaked out. Considering that, maybe we cut her some slack. She’s a civilian, through and through. She doesn’t think logically about crime like you and me.”
“You know her awfully well for someone who just met her.”
“I’m an observer. She’s completely freaked out, her husband is furious with her, her daughter is sick and bewildered, her sister is bringing down law enforcement and the media, and then there’s me. Her whole world just blew up. I’m willing to see things from her side.”
“I am too, don’t worry. She’s a basket case right now, I know. I’m curious why you aren’t.”
“Because I’ve been living with the reality of Mindy’s disappearance and Vivian’s loss for a long time. I’ve had seventeen years to wrap my head around this moment. She’s had seventeen hours.”
Juliet rubs her chin. “Well, if we’re going to split hairs, she’s known all along that Mindy wasn’t her child.”
“I think we don’t split hairs, okay?” He covers her hand with his. “How was she supposed to know about this? The doctor deceived her. She’s a grieving mother. And she’s petrified she might lose Mindy. I think it’s clouded her judgment all of Mindy’s life, but it’s especially bad now since Mindy is afflicted with something Lauren can’t control.”
“Are you sure you’re an English teacher?” she asks, eyes narrowed. “You seem awful Dr. Phil-ish to me.”
He laughs, he can’t help it, a great boom that makes the people around them start and turn, and she smiles, trying hard not to join him, but finally starts giggling. Kat watches them like they’re insane.
When they settle down, he answers, “Yes, I’m an English teacher. But I was a great many things before I chose that profession, so yes, I might be looking for insights to understand her motives and actions. Maybe I’m just trying to understand why she lied for so long.”
Juliet stares out at the snow. “I’d like to know that myself.”
60
Juliet’s phone dings, and she glances at it, then stands up. “Woody is here, with Parks and Starr. They’re probably done moving Mindy to the clean room by now. You want to hang out with her while I go do cop things?”
“I’d love to, and yes, I will, but can I do cop things with you for a little while? I’d like to talk to them, just so we’re all on the same page.”
“Hold our table, then. I’ll go get them.”
“Why don’t I get a round of coffee for everyone?”
“Good idea. And water. Lots of water. We don’t want anyone dropping out of the chase because the altitude gets to them.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
* * *
The cops are in the lobby looking totally conspicuous, as cops are wont to do, even without their guns on display. Juliet waves to them as she approaches.
“I see you made it in one piece.” She shakes hands with Parks and Starr, gives her boss a punch on the shoulder. “Woody treating you all right? I know he drives like a bat out of hell over the pass.”
Starr nods, and Juliet has to stifle a laugh—Parks looks positively green.
“This is a
fine mess you’ve dragged us into, Ryder. Watch it.” But Woody grins at her. He is in his forties, clean-cut, with light blond hair swept back from his forehead and a faint tan line from ski goggles on his cheeks. A Colorado native, he is a snowboarder in the winter, and a good one, sneaking to the mountains every day off he has, and in the summer, spends a lot of time biking the mountain trails. He is also a shrewd investigator, not prone to excitement, but steady and true, and Juliet trusts him implicitly.
“I’ve got us a spot in the cafeteria. Who wants coffee?”
Hands raise all around. She leads them down the hall, following the arrows to the cafeteria. Zack has moved to a larger table, but one still by the windows. Two carafes of coffee and several bottles of water sit on the table. He must have charmed the cashiers into giving him the carafes because she hasn’t seen any floating around except for on the staff tables, when they are having meetings.
He is a charming man, Zack Armstrong. Unfailingly kind, polite, a true gentleman. She wonders what will happen when that solidly controlled veneer cracks. She imagines it will be pretty messy. She assumes that’s what Kat is for, the moments when he lets the control slip and allows himself to fall apart. God knows he has every right to.
Once they are all assembled, Woody introduces himself to Zack, then invites Parks to start.
“To begin with, I appreciate you letting us join you here. This is a big cold case for our city, one of the legends, and it’s wonderful to get a close, at least on one part.”
“Hopefully, we can help you solve part two,” Juliet says.
“Yes, well...I’ve learned a few things since we talked last, but nothing that speaks to the kidnapping. We’re all ears about this Dr. Castillo. We’re hoping we can work our way backward from Lauren to the doctor to the people who stole Mindy in the first place. We have to assume that person killed Vivian as well, though of course there could have been two players involved. Zack told you how the focus has always been on someone hell-bent for revenge against him, but the more I dive into this, the more it seems something else was at play.”
“We agree,” Woody says. “We are looking into Dr. Castillo right now. We’ve subpoenaed Swedish for all her records, and of course, we want to have a sit-down with her sidekick and see if he knows anything. Fuentes is a white-collar criminal, but he used to be a gangbanger, so he certainly knows the caliber of criminal who could murder a woman and steal her child. One thing we need to look at is whether Vivian was a target, or wrong place, wrong time, and the goal was simply to steal the child. If these people were in the business of stealing newborns, the murder might be incidental.”
Zack makes a noise deep in the back of his throat at that, and Woody holds up his hands, palms out. “Hey, I know. But this is information about Castillo, no one’s had it before now, so we need to look at all the angles. If your wife was killed in the commission of a kidnapping, it does change our focus slightly.”
“Go on. I’m sorry to interrupt.”
Woody nods. “Because the child crossed state lines, obviously the FBI will be joining us for this investigation, and since there are so many organizations involved, a task force is inevitable. For now, we’re the leads. We’ve been looking at all the cases of infant snatching, and there are only a few outstanding that match this scenario. Usually, the kidnapper is caught quickly. Could be this was a one-time thing, and then again, could be you and your wife were targeted, Mr. Armstrong. It’s just too early to tell.”
Zack is shaking his head. “So you’re working under the assumption that we’ve been wrong all these years, that I wasn’t the target at all?”
“Like I said, too early to tell, but yes, it’s entirely possible that Mindy herself was the target, and everything that happened to you and Vivian was simply coincidence. Thank you for your service, by the way.”
Zack nods. “Sure. I did my part. Like you do yours.”
“Right. Until we’re able to dig up Dr. Castillo’s records, we aren’t going to be able to pin this down either way, so trust me when I say my mind is completely open.”
“Fresh eyes on this will be good,” Parks says, and Starr nods her agreement.
“I’ve updated the forensics from our end, too, just in case,” she says. “Mr. Armstrong’s DNA wasn’t in the system for some reason. I’ve also brought all of our files, and all our documented evidence. I assumed you’d need to see all of it, so I made copies.”
Woody casts a brief glance at Juliet. He knows, she thinks. He knows I had Cam upload the DNA before it was officially our case. Crap.
He calmly refills his coffee cup. “Juliet has recused herself from the investigation, which is unfortunate but necessary. I’ll handle the new files, make sure they’re disseminated among our people, and Juliet’s second-in-command, Dr. Bai Ford, will go through all the DNA and run it again, just in case something was missed.”
“Got it. Good idea. We were using the state lab for our DNA analysis when this case was going on. Now we have our own, in-house, and the evidentiary protocols are a bit tighter than they used to be. The backlog at TBI was insane back then.” Starr hands over two manila folders, one thick, one thin. She looks over at Zack. “Sir, this is the time when you might want to stretch your legs. We need to discuss some details that might be disturbing.”
“I’m staying, if you don’t mind.”
“Suit yourself,” Starr says, flipping open the thick file. “The autopsy shows Vivian Armstrong was stabbed twice, one a slice across the neck, the other a penetrating wound to her stomach. There were no prints on the murder weapon outside of her own, and the blood pool indicated she died where and when she was stabbed. The ME put her time of death at approximately thirty hours before she was found. Whoever did this had a big jump as far as getting away with the kid. Also—” she glances at Zack for a second, then back to the page “—Vivian was being treated for depression.”
“Depression?” Zack jerks upright in his seat. “What are you talking about? She wasn’t depressed. She was about to have her first baby. She was overjoyed.”
“She had high levels of an antidepressant in her system, sir. It was in the autopsy report.” She looks over to Parks again, who nods his go-ahead. “You weren’t aware your wife was being treated?”
“No. Not at all. I was with her all the time the last few weeks. I didn’t see her take any drugs. I certainly didn’t find any. Did you?” He asks Parks, who shakes his head.
“The evidence list doesn’t have any nortriptyline on it, no. No one asked you about it when you were...”
Zack almost laughs. Parks is trying to be delicate. “When I was considered the prime and only suspect? No, no one asked me about antidepressants. I’d remember.”
“Well, this was an addendum to the original autopsy report. The tissue tox screens take a long time, and like I said, we didn’t have our own lab then. It came back months later. Do you know if your wife was seeing a psychiatrist before her death?”
“No. She was working with University’s midwife program, saw their doc when she had to. But that’s it. She never mentioned she wasn’t feeling well or that there might be a problem. But I wasn’t there the whole time.” There is a mournful note to his voice and Juliet has to stop herself from reaching for his hand.
“We talked to the midwife program, and she didn’t disclose it on her record. But we dug further. Mr. Armstrong, were you aware your wife spent time in a mental hospital when she was a teenager?”
61
“Excuse me?” Zack realizes his mouth is open, closes it. “A mental hospital?”
“That’s right. From June 1993 to January 1998, Vivian was in and out of the inpatient program at University Hospital. We have a subpoena being served for the records today.”
“I didn’t know. She never told me. But why wouldn’t Gorman tell me? Or ask me? Or investigate it?”
Juliet catches a glimmer
of fury coming off of him. Either he really hasn’t been told, or he is a fantastic actor.
Starr shakes her head. “We don’t know. And we’ll never know, as he’s gone now, too.”
“Which is another thread that we need to pull,” Parks says. “I don’t want to send anyone off on a wild goose chase, but it feels wrong to me that Gorman died a day after meeting Mindy. He’d been researching her for a very long time and finding the note that said Colorado in his files tells me he was of a mind that Mindy was the Armstrongs’ lost child. He came to meet her—I think to see her in person to prove it to himself, maybe see if he could grab some DNA somehow. There was only a cursory autopsy done, his family requested no autopsy, and since he died of blunt force trauma from hitting the rocks as he went off the cliff and witnesses saw him falling, the ME agreed.”
“It’s something that happens out here a lot more than you’d realize,” Woody interjects. “People go off-piste and run afoul of the mountains. Unfortunately, it happens several times every winter.”
“Off-piste?” Parks asks.
“Off the approved trails.”
“Gotcha. I’m sure it does happen. But I’m a cop, which means I have a suspicious mind. Everyone attached to this case is dead. The mother, the doctor, the investigator. I think it’s all related.”
Silence sets over the table and everyone takes that in. Juliet glances at Zack.
“Zack said the same thing,” Juliet says finally. “He’s right. Do you think this person is watching us? I mean, my sister freaked out a little while ago, convinced we were being tracked somehow. I think she sees this connection, too, and she is scared to death.”
“We’ll need to speak with her next, obviously,” Woody says.
“Woody, I’ve interrogated her ten ways from Sunday, and she’s at a loss. She doesn’t know anything.”
“Thing is, Juliet, she might know something but not know she knows it. You know?” Starr says. “Sorry to sound like Dr. Seuss there, but we’d definitely like to sit down with her and have a chat.”
Tear Me Apart Page 27
