by Debra Webb
Betsy Stone had been keeping an eye on her when she awoke. Kayla just bet that Betsy had implanted the device.
Christine had been there too, when Kayla woke up. Could she have been in on it?
“ How long do you think it’ s been there?”
He thought about that a moment. “ More than a few weeks. Couple months maybe. It’ s hard to say. Your bra strap probably irritated it.”
If his guess was even close to accurate, the timing fit.
She bagged the device in a Ziploc sandwich bag. The idea that Betsy Stone had planted the device on her while she was unconscious, probably a victim of the Cipher’ s technique, made her blood simmer with rage. No wonder her shadow had been able to follow her every move. She had no doubt now that the numerous anomalies were connected. Rainy’ s death, Christine’ s shooting and Kayla’ s shadow were all related. “ I’ ll have Fred Kaiser over at the lab take a look at this to confirm our suspicions.”
“ Good idea.”
She set the bag on the counter and looked up at him. As furious as she was at the idea of Betsy Stone having done this to her— certainly no one else had had the chance— there was nothing she could do about it tonight. And she definitely didn’ t want to answer any more of Hadden’ s questions. Like him, when it came to his cases, there was only so much she was at liberty to disclose.
“ So, what now?” she asked. Her heart started to hammer as she saw desire flicker in his eyes.
“ It’ s not that late.” He was right. Just past midnight. “ I guess we could get some sleep since we both have a big day tomorrow.”
She locked her arms around his neck and tilted her mouth toward his. “ You’ re kidding, right?”
“ Right.” His mouth closed over hers and everything else drifted into insignificance.
Kayla overslept the next morning.
“ Dammit.” She snapped her utility belt into place and shoved her weapon into its holster.
What the hell had she been thinking last night? She grabbed the bag that contained the tracking device. She’ d drop it off first, then check on Christine.
Then she intended to find Betsy Stone, dead or alive.
“ The morning after is the worst part.”
Her gaze collided with Hadden’ s. He lounged against her kitchen counter, second cup of coffee in hand. She had to look away from his damaged shirt. She couldn’ t believe she’ d ripped it off him. Those desperate moments tumbled one over the other through her mind.
No matter how embarrassed a part of her was this morning, her body still hummed with lingering pleasure. Damn, the guy knew how to make love to a woman.
“ I have to go.” She couldn’ t talk about last night right now. Didn’ t even need to be thinking about it. She had to find that nurse. Alex and Justin would arrive sometime today. And she had to touch base with Sam, Darcy, Tory and Josie about Christine and Marshall. God, she still couldn’ t believe Marshall was dead. But it was true. And with his body still in Colombia, God only knew when a funeral would happen. “ Lock up for me, would you?” She had to get out of here.
Hadden stepped in her path when she would have left the room. “ I’ ll call you.”
She nodded. Didn’ t want him to make promises he might not be able to keep. Her experiences thus far with commitment had been less than reliable. That’ s why she didn’ t do long-term relationships.
He took her by the arm before she could get away. “ I will call, Kayla. Count on it. I’ ll be in the area for a day or two on another case. I hope we can have dinner.”
“ Gotta go.”
Kayla left the handsome detective from Tucson in her kitchen. She had to have been out of her mind to have allowed things to go so far with him.
She did a bone-jarring, ninety-degree turn in Reverse out of her driveway and rocketed forward in the Jeep.
She hadn’ t even been out on a date with the guy and she’ d slept with him!
Christ!
Was that stupid or what?
Blocking any further thought on the subject before she could start answering herself, she whipped out her cell phone and checked in with her partner. He needed to know where she would be this morning.
Next she called Mary’ s house, but her sister had already taken Jazz to choir practice.
Dammit. She’ d wanted to talk to her daughter this morning.
She’ d just have to make sure she picked her up at noon and that they spent some quality time together. Sorted out this mess. Maybe she’ d even call Mike and apologize. Scratch that. She wasn’ t going to surrender that easily. He had to understand that his participation in Jazz’ s life had to be a team effort. He had to work with Kayla, not against her. Let him apologize.
The drive to the lab near Casa Grande took up precious time. Kayla didn’ t hang around and chat with her pal Fred. He promised he would have a full analysis for her by lunchtime and would call her cell phone. She smiled grimly at the thought that whoever was tracking her would be on a wild goose chase until they realized the game was up. Just over half an hour later, having broken a number of traffic laws, she was back in Athens.
Athena Academy looked desolate this morning. Only a few more days from Christmas, it was most likely everyone was gone for the holidays. Rebecca Claussen wasn’ t in yet so Kayla decided to check out Betsy Stone’ s place just in case she’ d returned.
She parked her Jeep at Christine’ s bungalow and made her way on foot through and around the copse of trees that dotted the rear of the small housing area. There was still no vehicle in sight at Betsy’ s house, but it could be in the garage. If Betsy was in there, Kayla didn’ t want her to have any warning that she had company. She supposed there was some chance the woman didn’ t realize her cover had been blown. It took some courage to keep doing her job when Kayla had confronted her on two other occasions with certain facts. The seemingly unfazed woman had simply denied the accusations and gone on about her business. Or maybe the woman was just plain cocky. If Kayla’ s suspicions proved accurate, Stone had been at this for years. She’ d had plenty of time to get comfortable with lying.
When Kayla reached the rear entry door to Betsy Stone’ s bungalow a smile slid across her face, the first job-related one in several days.
Someone had been in Betsy’ s house. The tape Kayla had placed across the edge of the door beneath the locking mechanism had been pulled loose from the jamb by the opening of the door.
Kayla’ s pulse rate jumped into double time. She hoped like hell it was Betsy.
Kayla prayed the back door wouldn’ t squeak as she slowly turned the knob and ushered the wooden door inward. It obliged.
Sounds echoed from somewhere beyond the kitchen. A bedroom maybe?
Kayla moved noiselessly across the room, her weapon drawn and leveled. As she cleared the living room and started into the hall the sounds grew louder, more distinct. Whoever was in there, he or she was definitely doing some damage. The rip of fabric combined with the friction of ransacking splintered the air.
Kayla paused outside the door of the first bedroom she reached. The perp didn’ t let up, had no idea he or she was about to have company.
Tightening her grip on her weapon, Kayla swung around the doorjamb and leveled her weapon on the first thing that moved.
Betsy Stone.
Chapter 11
K ayla watched Betsy Stone from the observation booth on the other side of the mirror flanking one wall of the interrogation room. She hadn’ t admitted to anything yet other than having driven to Texas to visit her niece. Dammit. Kayla suspected it was a lie, but since she hadn’ t been able to reach the so-called niece, she couldn’ t disprove Betsy’ s statement.
“ You realize we can only hold her twenty-four hours on suspicion,” Jim said, “ then we’ ll have to charge her or let her go.”
“ I know.” Letting her go would be a huge mistake. Betsy Stone had been preparing to run when Kayla had found her. The woman’ s purse had contained her passport as well as a
couple thousand dollars cash. Kayla couldn’ t figure out what had brought her back to her place on campus unless that’ s where she’ d left the passport. Kayla hadn’ t found a thing of interest in her search. The house had been a bust, as had the woman, other than the passport. So far.
The destruction Betsy Stone had been up to in the bedroom could have been an attempt to make it look as if her home had been ransacked. With her missing and her place torn apart, anyone looking for her might tie her disappearance to Christine’ s shooting.
Kayla had proposed just such a scenario to her suspect moments ago, but Betsy had refused to respond.
“ I’ m gonna try one more thing,” Kayla said, more to herself than to her partner. She couldn’ t let Stone slip through her fingers. She knew too much.
“ Need my help?”
Kayla thought about that a moment, then said, “ Yeah, I do.”
She filled Jim in on her plan before sauntering into the interrogation room where Betsy Stone waited, her entire demeanor amazingly serene.
For almost a full minute Kayla stood there and peered down at her suspect, giving the woman ample time to grow apprehensive about what would happen next. Betsy Stone wore her usual conservative attire, slacks and a sweater. Her bottled-blond hair was secured at her neck to keep it out of her way. The only thing missing was the stethoscope she’ d accessorized with for as long as Kayla could remember.
“ Ms. Stone,” she said finally, using the formal address to set the necessary tone, “ I’ ve just come from another interview room where we’ re holding a material witness.”
Betsy looked up at her and shrugged. “ I have no idea what you mean, Kayla.” She rearranged her face into a frown. “ Why did you bring me here? You surely know I didn’ t have anything to do with Christine’ s shooting. I wasn’ t even home. I only just returned from Texas.”
Kayla kept the smirk off her face. She had one ace up her sleeve and it was now or never. “ The witness I was referring to is Cleo Patra. She’ s from Vegas. Sound familiar?”
Giving Stone credit, she didn’ t even flinch. “ I’ m afraid I have no idea who you’ re talking about. Does she claim to know me?”
Kayla pulled out the adjacent chair and sat down. “ Actually she does. About twenty years ago you worked with a Dr. Henry Reagan in providing prenatal care for the child she surrogated.”
Stone blinked her blue eyes a couple of times in bewilderment. “ I’ ve already told you I worked with many women during my time with Doctor Reagan. I don’ t remember a Cleo Patra— one surely wouldn’ t forget that name. But I saw so many people, it’ s entirely possible that I did work with her.”
“ Really.” Kayla pushed back her chair, allowing the legs to scrape across the tile floor. She stood, folded her arms over her chest and walked around the room, pretending to mull over the nurse’ s comment. She took her time, didn’ t rush, let the woman stew.
Eventually Kayla stopped, leveled her gaze back on Stone’ s. “ You don’ t know anything about Cleo Patra or Kelly Cohen receiving fifty-thousand dollars to become surrogate mothers.”
Stone moved her head adamantly from side to side. “ I have no idea what this woman is talking about.” Disgust glinted in her eyes. “ How could you believe anything a slut like that would say?”
Kayla quirked one eyebrow. “ Slut? I’ m not sure what you mean.”
Stone averted her eyes. “ I do remember her coming into Dr. Reagan’ s office,” she admitted. “ She was nothing but trash. She’ s probably making up her testimony just to get the attention.” She smirked. “ Cleo Patra, please. She’ s likely as unreliable now as she was then.”
Kayla braced her hands on the table and leaned toward the nurse, who’ d finally started to get a little nervous. “ Actually, her testimony isn’ t all we’ ve got to go on, Ms. Stone. Christine Evans gave a statement before the shooting indicating that she’ d caught Dr. Carl Bradford going through student files around the same time Rainy’ s emergency surgery took place. And she caught Bradford cheating on her— with you.” Kayla smiled at the slight telling flare of the woman’ s pupils. “ It doesn’ t take much of a leap to put together the error in Rainy’ s medical files along with the damage to her ovaries from the egg harvesting to a surrogate named Cleo Patra under the care of Dr. Reagan— who, conveniently enough, performed Rainy’ s supposed appendectomy. Hmm. Now, why would a gynecologist be the physician of record for an appendectomy?”
Stone shook her head again. “ I don’ t know what you’ re talking about. I didn’ t— ”
Kayla put her face in the nurse’ s. “ Yes, you did. You and Bradford selected the best candidate. Reagan took care of the rest. I know that’ s how it happened. Don’ t lie to me. It’ s over, Betsy, we’ ve got you.”
“ No jury is going to take that whore Cleo Patra’ s word over mine,” Stone argued, though her voice lacked conviction. The slightest hint of panic had niggled its way into her expression.
Kayla straightened. “ You could be right. So, let’ s make this easy. Cleo has already agreed to a polygraph, we’ ll want the same from you. That should tell us what we need to know.”
Stone’ s eyes rounded. “ You know those things aren’ t always accurate.”
Kayla turned her palms upward in a gesture of indifference. “ If you’ re telling the truth you have nothing to worry about.”
Stone’ s hands shook before she clasped them together in front of her. “ I… want a lawyer.”
Jim walked in just then. “ Let’ s go, Ryan,” he said to Kayla. “ Christine Evans just regained consciousness. She wants to give a statement about the identity of her assailant.” He flicked a suspicious glance in Betsy’ s direction. “ She apparently knew the perp.”
Kayla headed for the door. “ Think about what I said, Ms. Stone.”
“ Wait.”
Kayla stilled, turned slowly so as not to act too enthusiastic. “ I really have to go. We can finish this later.”
Betsy exhaled a shaky breath. “ I’ ll tell you what I can.” Her gaze fastened on Kayla’ s. “ But you’ ll have to promise me protection. They’ ll kill me if they find out I talked.”
Kayla looked to Jim and smiled. “ You go ahead without me.”
Jim closed the door and headed for his real destination, lunch. Christine Evans hadn’ t regained consciousness, unfortunately. But Kayla had suspected that Betsy wouldn’ t want to risk that whoever had shot Christine might have revealed something that would incriminate her. Or that the shooter’ s identity could be tied to her in any way.
“ He made me do it,” she said right off the bat but Kayla didn’ t believe her for a second. “ Carl Bradford told me that I’ d lose my job if I didn’ t help him. He’ d already pitted Christine and me against each other. I just didn’ t know it.” Her shoulders slumped. “ I didn’ t do anything wrong. All I did was help him review the files so he could select the best candidate. Dr. Reagan took over from there. That’ s all I know. I was told nothing more.” She looked up at Kayla, a plea in her eyes. “ I was just a pawn. They used me.”
Kayla had to suppress the urge to punch the woman. She’ d helped do this to Rainy.
“ Why?” Kayla asked, her tone lethal.
“ I… I don’ t know what you mean.” Stone looked scared now. Really scared.
“ Why did Reagan and Bradford do this? Who backed their work… commissioned it? Why Athena Academy?” She moved in close to the woman again. “ I need to know.”
“ I don’ t know why,” she trilled. “ I just did what he made me do… that’ s all… ” She dropped her head into her hands. “ That’ s all I’ m guilty of.”
Kayla sensed she was lying. But she couldn’ t make her confess to anything else just yet. “ And what about the tracking device? I know you did that.”
Betsy’ s head shot up, her expression startled. “ You just don’ t understand, if I had refused I’ d be dead now. I couldn’ t say no… not to him.”
“ To the Ciphe
r, Lee Craig?”
Stone’ s surprise morphed into shock. “ How did you know… ?” She blinked, glanced around the room like a caged animal. “ You have to protect me.”
Kayla ignored her plea. “ I’ m going to have you transferred to county lockup. It’ s the only way I can protect you.”
To her surprise Stone nodded in agreement.
Kayla moved toward the door without saying anything more. She wanted to shake the woman, somehow make her understand that what she’ d done had culminated in Rainy’ s death. But she had to tread carefully. Alienating Betsy at this juncture would be a mistake. She knew far more than she was telling.
“ Kayla.”
The woman’ s voice sounded small and uncharacteristically fearful. Kayla hesitated at the door and turned back to her. “ Yeah.”
“ They’ ll kill me if they get to me, just like they tried to kill Christine. You have to believe that, if you believe nothing else I say.”
Kayla felt certain she would never forget the look in Betsy Stone’ s eyes when she said those words. She was terrified. Whatever else she knew, she understood that her life was in jeopardy because of it.
With orders in place to relocate her to county lockup, Kayla intended to check on Christine, then pick up Jazz for lunch. After she’ d had her talk with Jazz, she’ d pay another visit to the nurse and see if she had suddenly remembered something more. At the last minute, she’ d confessed to having risked returning to the bungalow for her passport. As Kayla had suspected, she’ d hoped that ransacking the place would make it appear she’ d gone missing, throwing both the cops and her former colleagues off her trail.
Sitting in county lockup was no walk in the park. Kayla imagined that environment would have the woman ready to make any kind of deal she could.
Kayla didn’ t want to make any deals, she just wanted the truth. She wanted to bring down whoever had done this to Rainy. She wanted to clear Athena Academy, ensure that the school was safe again.
