by Style, Linda
“I’m sure.”
“So, why don’t I believe you?”
Laura laughed, and reaching the driveway to the shelter, she glanced at Phoebe. “Maybe because I’m still trying to convince myself. Damn. You know me too well, Pheebs.”
After she parked, they both went inside. “Well, that’s good to know…for two reasons. One, you’re finally getting some sense, and two, I won’t try for him myself.”
Laura stopped. “My interest doesn’t mean anything is going to happen.”
“Does that mean he’s fair game?” Phoebe cocked her head, interest flashing in her eyes.
Laura didn’t answer.
“Well?”
Even though she knew Phoebe was pushing her buttons, Laura felt suddenly and overwhelmingly proprietary. While Jordan wasn’t exactly a close friend, she realized just then that she wanted him to be. And she sure as hell didn’t want to see him with Phoebe…or anyone else, for that matter. “It doesn’t mean anything.”
She shook her head as she started down the hall. What a liar she was. She wasn’t only lying to Phoebe, she was lying to herself. But not very well.
She wanted Jordan. She’d wanted him from the moment she’d laid eyes on him.
“Good night, Pheebs,” she called, and, after checking on Caitlin, went into her bedroom, closed the door and flopped on the bed. She should be tired, but she wasn’t. Jordan’s face materialized in her mind and along with it, an intense ache of longing. At that moment, the dark specter of her solitary future couldn’t be denied.
The night she’d left Eddie’s and said nothing to the police about what Caitlin had seen, her fate had been sealed. She’d done it to protect her child. And to continue to protect her, she had to keep her silence. If she didn’t…
A soul-deep fear gripped her every time she thought about it. So…she wouldn’t think about it. She would keep her silence, no matter what.
She got up, undressed and went to bed. But just as she slipped under the covers, the phone rang. Her stomach lurched. Oh, God. Not again. Whoever it was wanted to terrorize her, and dammit, she wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction. Steeling her reserves, she snatched up the receiver. “If you think you’re intimidating me, you’re wrong. Whatever it is you want, you won’t get it this way.”
“You have no idea what I want.” The voice was deep, obviously disguised.
Laura’s heart stalled, but she knew she couldn’t back down. “Then you’d better tell me.”
“Stay away from the police.”
Laura couldn’t breathe. Her head started to throb. The police?
“Your daughter’s life depends on it.”
***
Mary Beth stood at Jordan’s desk, hands on her hips. “Here’s the social worker’s number on Rita Valdez’s kid. She arranged the foster care.”
“Thanks.” He’d asked her to get the information because he was pressed for time, and Mary Beth had always volunteered to do things before, but this time he got the feeling she felt put out. Her long dark bangs hung half over her eyes, eclipsing her expression. “Sorry if it was any trouble. Is something wrong?”
“No.” The young woman dropped into the chair next to him. “But I would like it if some of the extra things I do around here were appreciated more.”
He hadn’t been giving her his full attention, but he did now. Was that a reprimand?
She clasped her hands in her lap and kept twisting the ring on one finger. “What I mean is…if someone told the captain about the extra things I do, it might help.”
“Sure. I’ll be happy to let him know. What’s it supposed to help with?”
“Me—getting a raise. And a good gig once I’m through the academy.”
Jordan couldn’t disguise his surprise. “You’re going to take the test again?”
She nodded. “I’ve been working out. This time I’ll pass the physical test. It’s the only one I missed.”
“Well, I’ll be happy to let the captain know how indispensable you are.”
She rose from the chair. “Thanks. I appreciate it.”
As Mary Beth walked away, Jordan had a strange feeling something else was going on with the administrative assistant. He didn’t doubt her abilities on the clerical end of the job, but he wasn’t convinced about her emotional stability. She sure wasn’t the kind of person he’d want covering his back in a dangerous situation.
“She having more problems?” Luke asked as he passed Mary Beth on his way in. He sat at his desk. “Take my advice. Don’t get involved.”
“I’m not. All she wanted was a little recognition to reach the captain. She does do a lot of our research and paperwork.” Jordan felt as if someone was watching him and looked up to see Mary Beth staring his way. He turned his back.
“You got anything on the Valdez case?” Luke asked matter-of-factly while pulling out a blank report.
“Nothing except the number of the foster care agency so I can find the daughter and tell her about her mother.” Jordan swallowed a wave of regret.
Luke was quiet for a moment, his blue eyes dark like coal. Then he went back to his papers.
Luke was probably remembering when the captain had knocked on his door. Jordan didn’t know how Luke could continue to work in the field afterward. But his friend had been dogged about it, never once saying he couldn’t do the job.
“I talked to Valdez yesterday,” Jordan said. “She gave me some information that might help on the Kolnikov case.”
Luke’s head came up. “You saw her the same day she was killed?”
Jordan heard the implication in Luke’s tone, that his visit might have precipitated Rita Valdez’s murder. “Yeah. I’m wondering the same thing myself.” He shook it off. Couldn’t do his job if he was second-guessing himself. “The MO is strikingly similar to Anna Kolnikov’s murder.”
“Can I help?”
Jordan snorted a laugh. “You’ve got enough with the congressman, don’t you think? Besides, Carlyle put Ralston on it with me.”
“No shit.” Luke glanced to Ralston’s desk. The man wasn’t there. “I don’t trust him.”
“Any particular reason?”
“Just the rumor mill. You’ve heard it.”
Howie Ralston, a power-hungry snitch with an attitude, a guy who’d do anything to save his ass—even rat out his own partner. “Yeah. I heard. But I figure the captain has his reasons.”
“Uh-huh,” Luke said. “Take my advice. Watch your back.”
“I always do,” Jordan teased as his gaze slid to the DMV information on his computer.
What the…? The plate number Laura had given him was registered to a corporation. What the hell was the Belzar Corporation? Without an actual name, he couldn’t get anything from NCIC or III, the Interstate Identification Index. Damn. He did a quick Web search. Nothing. He got up and went to Mary Beth’s desk. “I’m going out, but I need a favor.”
She raised an eyebrow.
“I’d really appreciate it if you would call the Corporation Commission and get the name of the president or owner of this company for me.” He handed her the note he’d jotted down.
“I’m glad someone needs me.”
“Thanks,” he said, and headed for the door. First on his list, the social worker, then Rita Valdez’s daughter and last, he’d go to Laura’s to see if the name of the corporation was familiar to her—or her ex.
By the time he arrived at the foster care home, it was 10:00 a.m. Valdez’s child wasn’t exactly a child anymore. She was a sixteen-year-old with a grudge against the world. A girl who didn’t give a damn about her mother and couldn’t care less if she was dead or alive. He saw the attitude every day, and every day it made him wonder whether the job was worth the chunks it sliced from his soul.
But he had to hold on to his beliefs that people were intrinsically good. Victims deserved justice, and bad guys deserved to go to jail. There was a whole lot of deeper stuff in between, but that’s what it boiled down to.
Then, affir
ming his beliefs, the teen had stopped him on his way out to ask a question. As she stood there trying to get the words out, tears formed in her eyes and he realized her earlier bravado couldn’t mask real emotion. The loss of a mother was tragic. Even though he’d never known his own mother, he felt the loss. Still had the never-ending questions.
“If you call the morgue, they’ll let you see her. I can take you if you want.”
She shook her head. “I can’t.”
“Well, let me know if you need help with anything.” He handed her his card. On the way out he said, “You should be in school. Your mother would’ve wanted you to have an education.”
He’d left feeling somewhat better. Someone cared about Rita Valdez. No one should die alone and without acknowledgment.
The next stop was Laura’s. When he turned the corner and saw the van in the driveway at the shelter, his spirits lifted. He was anxious to see her…so what else was new? He’d felt that way since their second meeting.
Rose answered his knock but held the door only partway open. She didn’t invite him in.
“Detective.”
“Hello, Rose. Is Laura here? I’d like to talk to her.”
The woman’s dark eyes narrowed. “No, she’s not. I—I don’t know when she’ll be back, either.”
He peered inside. “Really. You mean she went away and didn’t say when she’d be back?” That was hard to believe.
“Yes. She said it would be a while.”
“What about Cait?”
“She took her along.”
“Did she say where she was going?”
“No.”
He put his hand on the door to make sure she didn’t shut it. “How about a phone number? It’s important.”
Rose shrugged. “I’m sorry. I can’t help you. I really don’t know where she went. She said she couldn’t tell me because she didn’t want any trouble for the shelter.”
Jordan’s blood ran cold. “What kind of trouble?”
“She didn’t say.”
“What about the van? Doesn’t she usually drive the van?”
As if to solidify her position, Rose squared her shoulders. “We need the van here, so she…made other arrangements.”
The woman was lying. He knew it by the way she wouldn’t look him in the eyes, the crossed arms. He clenched his jaws. He didn’t like what he was hearing. Laura wouldn’t just leave the shelter on a whim and not tell anyone where she was going or when she’d return.
Something was wrong. He felt it in his gut. “I repeat, it’s extremely important.”
“I have to respect Laura’s wishes.” And then Rose shut the door.
“Dammit.” He slammed the butt of his hand against the door frame, then stomped to his vehicle. As he reached the car he heard someone call his name. He turned to see one of the girls waving at him from the side door. It was the blonde, the fifteen-year-old who looked twenty. Alysa. He loped across the grass.
“I think I know where she went, Mr. St. James.” She bit her lower lip. “I could get in trouble for saying anything.”
“Where’d she go?” Jordan gritted his teeth. Clenched his hands.
“I don’t know, but I heard her on the phone to Amtrak. She sounded scared about something.”
“The train station? How would she get there?”
“She got a ride.”
“How long ago?”
“A half hour, maybe.”
“Can you tell me why she left?”
The girl shook her head, and Jordan didn’t have time to pry out more information. He might not know Laura very well, but he knew her enough to know she wouldn’t leave the shelter for any length of time unless it was urgent. He mumbled his thanks and took off.
On the freeway, he jammed the accelerator to the floor, considered flipping on the sirens and running hot through traffic, but decided against it. Why announce his arrival? If she didn’t want him to know where she was going, she’d try to avoid him.
A half hour later, he pulled into the parking lot at the Gateway Center, a transit hub for bus passengers and riders of Amtrak and local commuter trains. It was raining again, and he wished he’d brought an overcoat. He dashed inside, stopping in the entry to scan for Laura’s auburn hair and a seven-year-old girl with a mop of curls. Small boutiques, cafés and souvenir shops lined the perimeter. Several freestanding kiosks and generous clusters of vegetation prevented a clear view. The place was unusually crowded for a non-holiday weekend. He scanned the room several times, then glanced toward the East Portal to the railroad station, and to the elevator shaft with a waterfall twisting around it.
If she was here, she wasn’t anywhere he could see. But then she could be in a shop or café or already on a train. He started toward the station portal scanning inside each store on the way. At Starbucks he saw a woman with a child standing at the cashier, and though their backs were toward him, he recognized Laura. She’d tucked her hair under a funky black hat and wore a raincoat that looked two sizes too big for her. Cait was in a yellow rain parka, wearing her inseparable tennis shoes with their blinking lights. Laura turned, her hat pulled down so her face was half covered. What was she doing? And why the corny costume?
He waited outside the door until they came out.
They both saw him immediately.
“Jordan,” Cait said. “What’re you doing here?”
“Hey, kiddo.” He smiled. “I’m here on business. I didn’t expect to run into my two favorite people.”
A humongous smile spread across Cait’s face.
“I didn’t expect to run into anyone, either,” Laura said pointedly, anger flashing in her eyes. She glanced at Cait and back to him.
He understood…not in front of the child.
“I need to talk to you,” he said, anyway.
She pursed her lips, then looked at Cait. “Sweetie, can you sit on the bench over there for a couple of minutes? Jordan and I have something private to discuss.”
The child frowned and crossed her arms.
“For just a minute. Please.”
Cait stomped off, sitting where they could see her but not close enough to hear.
Laura’s eyes narrowed. “What are you doing here?” she spat out.
“I was worried about you.”
“Well, there’s nothing to worry about.”
“I don’t believe you.”
She crossed her arms just like her daughter.
“I can’t help what you believe or don’t believe. I wish to be left alone, and I’d appreciate it if you’d respect my wishes.” She turned, started to walk toward Cait.
He pulled her back by the shoulder. “I don’t think it’s wise. If something is so wrong that you need to run away and hide, then you’re making the wrong choice.”
“We’re taking a vacation, going to my father’s. That’s all.”
Dammit. She was stubborn. “If I found you this easily, so can someone else. Think about it. A ticket is easily traceable, especially if you’re going to a relative’s.”
Laura looked at Cait, chewed on her bottom lip.
“What are you afraid of? Is it the stalker?” He was only guessing, proposing scenarios to see if she reacted. All he really knew is that she was leaving town and it wasn’t to visit relatives.
Indecision warred in her eyes. Finally she let out a long breath. “All I want is to keep Caitlin out of harm’s way.”
“Is she in danger?”
Her eyes darkened and she didn’t have to say a word for him to know the answer. Obviously she believed even telling him might make it worse. “It’s okay,” he said softly, gently taking her hand. “I can help. If you’ll let me.”
She stared at him. “How? How can you help?”
“I know a place where you’ll be safe.”
Her jaw tensed. “Eddie was supposed to be safe.”
“This is different. It’s not a department operation. This is personal. No one will know. I promise.”
She looked
at Cait again before she said, “Okay. What should we do?”
He drew her to the side of the nearby kiosk where they were partially hidden but could still see Caitlin. “Have you bought a ticket yet?”
She shook her head.
“I want you to buy a ticket to someplace far from here. Then go to the ladies’ room down the hall from the ticket counter. But instead of going inside, go a few steps farther and take a quick left. The hallway leads to an exit, a loading zone. Go outside immediately and I’ll be there to pick you up.”
She looked hesitant. “Do you think I’m being followed?”
“It’s a precaution. If anyone is watching, they won’t follow close enough to know you didn’t go into the bathroom. Don’t worry.”
He could tell from her pinched expression she wasn’t used to someone else making the decisions, but finally she agreed.
Ten minutes later he was drumming his fingers on his steering wheel, waiting in the loading zone. No sign of Laura. Where the frigging hell was she?
Another ten minutes and she still hadn’t shown. He couldn’t sit still. He should go look for her, but he couldn’t get back inside from here, and if she was on her way, or coming from a different direction, he’d miss her—and then what?
Another thought smacked him between the eyes. Had she ditched him? Had she only agreed to do as he said to appease him—when she’d had no intention of doing what he wanted? He banged the steering wheel. No, she wouldn’t. She wouldn’t lie and send him on a wild-goose chase. He trusted her enough to know she wouldn’t do that.
He trusted her. The thought came as a surprise…and made him realize what he’d said to her was true. This was personal. He wasn’t there because he was on a case, he was there because he cared about her. And Cait.
And the longer he waited the worse he felt. He pulled at the collar of his shirt. His nerves felt like ants under his skin. Damn. He should’ve stayed with her. Should’ve made her come with him instead of this stupid decoy maneuver. If something happened…he’d never forgive himself.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Laura jerked Cait to the side, pressed the child flat against the wall.
They’d just turned the corner after passing the restroom and she thought she saw a man’s shadow loom from behind. That man in the ticket line had looked strangely at her…out of curiosity or was it something else?
