Traces of Guilt

by Dee Henderson

  She smiled at the photo.

  “Will says they’ve got some painful bruises,” he said more seriously. “They’ll need a few days’ rest, but they survived the crash fine.”

  “Oh, I hope so. I totaled my car, didn’t I?”

  Gabriel considered it possible, but he only said, “I haven’t heard the official answer yet. New radiator, new windshield, some bodywork—maybe you get it back.”

  “Yeah . . .” She closed her eyes with a sigh. “You promised a shower.”

  “It’s still coming.” The bloody shirt was gone, replaced with a clean one Ann had brought in from her luggage, but Evie’s hair was matted, and he knew she wasn’t going to feel normal again until she could get that hot shower, soak out the aches. They could cover the bandage with waterproof tape. He glanced at the woman also watching Evie. “Ann, you want to get some coffee?”

  “Yes. Evie, rest for now. We’ll be just down the hall and back shortly.”

  “I didn’t get to go flying with you today,” she murmured, eyes closed.

  Ann covered Evie’s hand with hers, smiled. “Consider it rescheduled. The week will be filled with other gorgeous days.”

  “Promise?”

  “That’s an easy one. We’re going up as soon as Doc says yes.”

  “I feel like a dropped ice cream cone—splat and busted.”

  Ann chuckled. “Get some rest, Evie.”

  Gabriel handed Ann a coffee, poured one for himself. “You don’t come this way often, but when you do, it tends to be memorable. Sorry I missed your arrival. There was a note at the office that you’d been by. And Josh said you were out to visit him this morning.”

  “Evie wanted to introduce herself to you first, present the task-force mandate, ask about the cases. We were planning on treating you to dinner this evening to discuss the details.”

  “I’ve filtered pieces of it together now. But for clarity’s sake, tell me what Evie would have said had she not met that deer.”

  “Our governor-elect wants a task force to take another look at unsolved missing-persons cases across the state—not surprising given his family’s history. And Evie’s boss wants her on it next year when it officially begins work. Sharon Noble out of Riverside PD is going to lead it. Noble’s decided working county by county, looking at open cases five to fifteen years back, would be the place to begin.

  “Carin County has two cases that fit that profile—the missing six-year-old Dayton girl who was the focus of an AMBER Alert, and the Florist family disappearance. Evie planned to use her vacation to do a trial run of sorts, dig into the files, see if this approach could work. She’s rented a house here in town to avoid a poor hotel housekeeper getting startled by a wall of crime-scene photos. Evie was going to ask you for assistance, copies of your case files. I brought down duplicates of the FBI files with me, and she’s arranged for the state files to be sent over.”

  Gabriel nodded at the summary but with a frown. “I’m surprised she didn’t call weeks ago to get this request in the works.”

  “She wasn’t certain when this vacation window would open up. She’s Lieutenant Evie Blackwell, Illinois State Police, Bureau of Investigations. Her job can be as disruptive to schedules as yours. Don’t let first impressions fool you, Gabriel. She’s very good. Paul figures she’ll head up the BOI one day.”

  “I saw resolve today, courage, and stubbornness—trying to walk to town with her dogs after that kind of injury.”

  Ann smiled. “Okay, that description would be on target. Add curious and it’s a decent sketch. Evie didn’t call you in advance because she didn’t want to get a no. You might have felt obliged to let family in the area know, and they might have convinced you to rescind your cooperation and give it a thumbs down. That’s a big downside for merely saving some hours of copying time.”

  Gabriel considered that, tipped his cup slightly in Ann’s direction to acknowledge her point. “You know how significant the Florist family case is to this community, to my department. I don’t want to see the case reopened on a whim. I don’t want family members having to deal with the questions, have their hopes raised, if it doesn’t make sense—unless there’s something new to work.”

  “That’s one of the reasons why I offered to bring the FBI files down myself,” Ann replied. “To reassure the Florist family this isn’t being done for form’s sake. To reassure you and your father that this isn’t going to be an exercise repeating what has been done before, where everyone says, ‘Good investigation, sorry it’s not solved,’ and it’s all boxed away again. We’re going to rethink the case, figure out why it hasn’t been solved, and solve it, Gabe. Evie’s the right person. I’ve seen her work.”

  Gabriel sighed, sipped at the coffee. “You don’t often put yourself that far out on a limb, Ann. We seriously want this case solved, but it hasn’t cracked despite intense efforts. I don’t need expectations raised like that. I appreciate the sentiment, but I know the case.” He considered her. “You’re going to be around helping Evie if we do this?”

  “Yes. I’ll be in and out over the next two weeks—it’s a quick flight down. And with Paul providing FBI data searches, research, lab work as needed, we’ll have the tools required. We’ll also take a hard look at the Dayton girl’s disappearance. Governor Bliss wants to know if the investment of a core group of experienced, focused detectives can clear unsolved missing-persons cases, and I’m committed to showing him that it can. Carin County is a test case. I want a win here, Gabriel. For its potential and also for your sake.”

  Gabriel recognized the sales job she was doing, and Ann acknowledged this with a small smile of her own. “Seriously, Gabe, that’s why I suggested they start here. Two cases, with a lot riding on what can be done. Evie believes in this enough to give up her vacation to get a head start on the work. I believe in it enough to be down here helping. We just need you to say yes.”

  The second case Evie was interested in, the missing Dayton girl, would be easier to give her, as it didn’t have a strong local connection, at least in the known facts. A vacationing family from Florida, traveling to Chicago, had stopped at a hotel just off the Interstate for the night when their six-year-old daughter was snatched. An AMBER Alert was issued across several states on the assumption it was an abduction of opportunity by someone also traveling. Gabe and his father both had substantial time working the case, but he’d always known both the victim and her abductor were likely long gone from their county, even the state. The Florist family, however, remained an intensely local and emotional matter.

  Gabriel realized saying no wasn’t going to fly in these circumstances and so shifted to the implications of his saying yes. “I want to be in on the work. I was there at the Florist house after the disappearance. My father about put himself into an early grave working it. I want us in the middle of it, day one.”

  “We’ll need you,” Ann agreed, accepting the condition.

  The Florist case mattered for both personal and professional reasons. It wasn’t his personal white whale, didn’t keep him awake nights, but it certainly bothered him. And he knew it still haunted his father. Gabriel wouldn’t let his hopes rise. He’d concluded after the last review that it was going to take a significant break, like the discovery of bones, to solve the case. And if Evie and Ann wanted to look deeper, he’d certainly support them and be right there with them every step of the way. He’d be able to satisfy himself as well as tell the community there was nothing else that could be done unless and until new evidence turned up.

  “Evie’s probably told you she’s rented a house—47 Kearns Road,” Ann mentioned. “We can set up there. Or we can work downtown if you prefer.”

  “For this,” Gabriel decided, “the old post-office building might be best. It’s been stripped down to a large open room, and there are tables still set up from last month’s flea market. I can put a retired deputy on security while the case files are laid out. If you want to speak to deputies who’ve worked the cases, they can wa
lk over from the sheriff’s office for a conversation. You’ll be having quite a few of those, I imagine. Evie can take what she wishes back to the house—I know she’ll be working all hours on this if she wants to get through it in just sixteen days. I know the place; it’s one of Trina’s. She owns most of the block around her home, rents them out to tourists and families. Evie will be more than comfortable there.”

  Ann nodded her agreement with that plan, but then hesitated. “Gabriel, don’t miss the tree for the forest,” she advised. “Solving this case requires finding one right idea, not comprehending everything that has been done on the case to date. When Evie locates that answer, it will be on a specific hour of a specific day. Sixteen days can be enough for that to happen.”

  “Got it.” Gabriel forced a smile. “If nothing else, the next two weeks will not be boring.” He refilled his coffee. Ann declined. “What were you out talking with Josh about?” he asked. “He said something about Grace Arnett coming back to town.”

  “Grace doesn’t want it widely known, but she’ll be in the area in a few days. Josh is going to help her out with something. He’ll explain after she’s here.”

  “It will be good to see her, Ann. She’s been missed.”

  Ann looked troubled. “I’ve got some serious reservations about her coming back, but I haven’t been able to talk her out of doing so.” She glanced over, caught his gaze. “We’ll need to discuss those concerns, Gabriel, probably fairly soon.”

  He lifted an eyebrow. “Something else to fit into our otherwise normal, uneventful day?”

  She chuckled. “If I didn’t show up and create a commotion occasionally, you’d become a bored small-town sheriff,” she joked. “When are you getting married anyway? I heard via Iris you were out on a date with Joanne Liffe last night.”

  He winced. “Please protect me from gossiping staff. Joanne’s a lawyer in Decatur, nice enough woman, works in Springfield when the legislature is in session. I have a feeling I’m a little too rough-and-tumble for her taste. She thought ‘sheriff’ meant some glamour to go along with the authority. The date ended when I got a call to take care of a bar fight. I’m not brokenhearted about it, though. This date was mostly to quiet down Mom, who’s been asking me if I’ve been on one lately. I’m not looking to catch someone.”

  “Hmm,” Ann murmured. “Marie’s got three sons, none of whom have found ‘the one’ yet. That has to be a trial for her.”

  “So she tells us. Rather often, I might add.”

  Ann chuckled, offered an apology that he waved off.

  Gabriel understood his mother’s point of view—she wanted to know each of her sons had found someone to love, and she wanted grandchildren. That he’d found someone years ago, loved her only to lose her, underlined his mom’s concern that he wouldn’t try again. He accepted the fact he wasn’t in a hurry to do so.

  But it wasn’t just his mom interested in the subject. He happened to be the sole remaining bachelor in the Carin County sheriff’s office now that Henry Gonzales had remarried his ex-wife. Law-enforcement jobs were notoriously hard on relationships. Being the only single guy around the office was a rare happenstance—a divorce or death of a spouse was inevitable, but for now he was the center of some unwelcome attention. Knowing they were well-intentioned, he tried to be polite with the “helpful” introductions coming his way. He knew he would choose a lady one day. He considered himself marriage-minded, just not in a hurry. The job and its demands, the time and energy a good marriage required, took some finessing. He wasn’t sure he wanted to take on that complicated equation right now.

  He’d been surprised, in fact, when Ann had married Paul. She’d always had similar reservations about how to make a marriage work when one was a cop. She’d ended up marrying a cop and immediately retiring, so they didn’t have quite so many competing pressures on the marriage. It seemed to be working for them. Ann and Paul were in the marriage-success column of friends he knew well. But he didn’t think that step was for him, at least for now.

  “I’m thinking Will and Karen might be the first to tie the knot,” he mentioned to Ann. “My brother is smitten.” He smiled as he said it, liking the word. It did a nice job of describing his otherwise rather quiet brother. Karen had arrived in town just over a year ago, taken a job as a cook at the Fast Café, rented half a house, and become part of the community. His brother had spotted her early and staked a claim, much to the frustration of other single guys who would have liked a chance.

  “That’s another conversation we should have, Gabriel,” Ann said quietly, and the way she said it had him snapping a hard glance her way.

  “Karen? What’s the story there?”

  She glanced around. “A long one, and not for public ears.”

  “Now I’m just going to worry myself into knots until we have the conversation.”

  “Once Evie is settled for the night, I’ll come find you for some ice cream, fill you in. Karen’s got history Will is going to need to know—you as well—if the relationship is going somewhere. It’s another reason I’m here. Karen wants to discuss how and what to tell Will, or if I think it best she say nothing, which has been my advice up until now.”

  “Come on over tonight. You’ve got my number and address. I’ll pick up the ice cream, we’ll talk.”

  “Deal.” She rested a hand lightly on his arm. “We’ll talk about Karen, about Grace. I’ll dump those problems off my plate onto yours, then I’ll help Evie start to dig into the two cases. It will be a typical week for us.”

  Gabriel had to laugh. “Been there, done that, haven’t we? Just don’t give me another dead body, Ann, like the last time you dropped by. It’s been quiet—I’d really like it to stay that way.”

  “I’m retired.”

  “Sure you are,” he said with a wry smile. “The governor-elect merely has your phone number, and anytime the FBI has something sensitive, Paul sends you out in advance to give us a heads up. You’re retired only in the sense you now pick and choose what you want to do.”

  Her eyes glinted with humor. “The perfect definition.”

  They saw Evie’s doctor coming down the hall, and their conversation shifted.

  “Do you want to drive Evie over to the house or have me do it?” Gabriel asked Ann.

  “Why don’t you drive her and I’ll follow you. I’ve got her things your father brought in my rental, along with the FBI case files I brought down. I’ll take the files by the old post office after she’s settled, if you can arrange for me to have keys.”

  “I’ll do that. Just to satisfy my curiosity, where are the state files?”

  “Still loaded in a van over in Springfield, I think. She was going to call once she was at the house and have them delivered. I’ll get that done for her, have them brought to the post-office building.”

  “I’ll get our case files copied tonight. The staff will appreciate the overtime.”

  “Thanks, Gabriel.”

  “If we’re going to do this, let’s do it right.”

  “We’re in agreement there.” Ann headed toward ER, slot sixteen, Gabriel following. Evie was going through the coordination tests with the doctor again. They seemed simple—he’d hold up a finger and ask her to touch it with hers, instruct her to hold out her arms and bring her index fingers together, drop a rubber ball from one hand and catch it in the other. She hadn’t been able to do the exercises when she first arrived. She was anticipating each one now and cruising through them. The vision tests and memory tests were not as easy for her, but she mostly passed the questions. She was still struggling to hold on to a set of three words at the beginning of a conversation and repeat them back when asked.

  “I can go?” Evie asked the doctor.

  “You’re going to need to be cautious about that headache for a couple days. Don’t drive until it eases up, alternate ice and heat for the stiff muscles, and come see me if your vision or balance changes at all. But otherwise, you’re sprung.”

  The doctor swep
t aside the curtain as Evie said, “Oh, I could hug you, but I’ll settle for saying a big thanks. Can you do the paperwork fast?” She swung her feet around to sit up on the side of the bed. Gabriel saw her clench her teeth for an instant at the movement, but he could tell she was determined to leave.

  The doctor signed off on the electronic chart. “I’ll have the nurse bring in the discharge paperwork and get you prescription samples for the pain-killers so you don’t have to find a pharmacy tonight.”

  “Great. Thanks. Ann, do you remember where they put my jacket, my shoes?”

  Gabriel caught Ann’s attention, held up his keys, and pointed to the lobby. He’d bring his truck to the pickup lane for Evie. Ann nodded, and he headed out. One problem in this day was nearly resolved.

  He had the impression Evie Blackwell would be an interesting woman to get to know. Probably not as interesting as Ann had been in those early days when first making her acquaintance, but worth considering. He wanted to see Evie without that headache scrambling her thinking. Curious. That was the word Ann had used to describe Evie. He’d add pretty. She was easy to look at, mostly those green eyes and that smile he’d caught only a glimmer of so far. It was not going to be a dull few weeks, and that was fine with him.

  He started the truck and moved it into place, let it idle. He figured he had a couple of minutes. He picked up his phone and found a number, made a call. “Sheriff Gabriel Thane for Paul Falcon, please.”

  “One moment, Sheriff.” Paul’s longtime secretary must have his name on a short list—he always got through immediately.

  “Yes, Gabe.”

  “Ann is safely here in Carin, which I’m sure you already know. I need a read on an Evie Blackwell. A guy’s read. I’m told you know her.”

  “I do. Solid cop, good investigator. Cracks me up with her jokes. Left a shamrock glacier behind in the freezer when she last stayed over as our guest—a painted rock with frozen layers of water coating it. You probably had to be here to appreciate its humor. It was St. Patrick’s Day, the Chicago River was green.”