by Wanda Dyson
Zoe ran over and jumped in. “The park near the college.”
JJ nodded and backed out of the driveway. Zoe took a deep breath, letting her head drop back against the headrest. “Where’s your regular car?”
“This is mine. The department car is in for maintenance. I didn’t feel like taking time to check out a loaner.”
She nodded as she noted the CDs scattered on the floor at her feet. Reaching down, she picked them up. Garth Brooks, Mark Chestnut, Reba, Tim McGraw. “You’re into country music.”
“Yeah.”
Zoe noticed it then, the cool distance, the icy remoteness. “Is something wrong?”
“I’m a cop. Something is always wrong.”
“I see.” Zoe turned and stared out the window.
“I doubt it,” he muttered softly.
Zoe whirled her head and stared hard at him. “What’s going on? This isn’t just about you and me this time, is it?”
“Let’s just do this. We can talk later.”
“You have something specific you want to talk to me about?”
Ignoring her, he slowed down and made a sharp right into the park. “Now where?”
Zoe closed her eyes. “Go left. All the way around to the backside of the park. Where it meets the college property. There’s a stone wall there.”
“I know the place.”
When they reached the stone wall, JJ pulled up on the grass and parked. Zoe climbed out, dreading what she knew was coming. With reluctance, she began to walk along the wall, her eyes barely noting how the ivy draped or the way birds sprung up from the grass, disturbed that she was interrupting their dinner.
She stopped midway along the length of the wall and walked over to it. She placed her hands on top of the wall. Then she pushed up and scrambled over it.
“Where are you. . .”
Zoe tossed a hand up in the air, silencing him as she closed her eyes again. She waited a few seconds and then opened her eyes and began to move again. A few feet to the left. Stop. Close her eyes. Another few feet. Stop again. Another few feet.
She turned and looked at JJ who had climbed over the wall and was following her quietly. “She’s here.”
JJ nodded and pulled the radio off his belt. “This is two-four-seven. Code Two. I have a 10-55. Going to need CSI and backup at. . .”
Zoe tuned him out, kneeling down and running her hands over the rough ivy ground cover. A few minutes of digging and she uncovered the hand of a little girl. Bowing her head, she let the tears flow for a little girl who would never cry again.
#
Karen stumbled blindly into the house, dropping her keys on the small cherry table near the door. Her nose picked up the scent of savory beef and something else a little subtler. Bread?
“Ray?”
“In the kitchen.”
She walked into the room and stopped short in the doorway. Counters gleamed, the floor sparkled. A pot on the stove bubbled softly, filling the room with aromas that made her think of her mother. But what surprised her even more was the sight of her brother sprawled in a kitchen chair. His stocking feet were propped up on the table and crossed at the ankle. He wore a kitchen apron around his waist, and his fingers were busily snapping beans. He grinned up at her as he tossed bean ends into the trash can.
“Ray?”
“What?”
“You cooked?”
“Sure. You have enough on your mind. It’s the least I could do to help out.”
“You cooked,” she repeated softly as she pulled out a chair and dropped into it, slipping out of her shoes.
“Don’t look so shocked. I know how to cook.” He pitched a snip of green bean at her.
She ducked, smiling. “Obviously. I just. . . Thanks, Ray. I really appreciate it. It smells divine.” And it was turning her stomach in knots. No, her stomach was already in knots and had been for days. The smell of food was just making it worse.
“How did it go?”
The smile fled quickly as she sighed heavily, every trace of delight that someone had done something for her vanishing like the steam rising from the stew. “The police are convinced I killed him, but they don’t have enough evidence to arrest me. Yet. My attorney thinks Ted took the money and ran to avoid the police, which would imply that he knew what happened to Jess, and I can’t believe that.”
“Wouldn’t surprise me,” Ray muttered darkly. “Now you understand why I couldn’t let Ted control your trust fund.”
“Don’t, Ray.” Her stomach twisted tighter. “We don’t know what happened. Maybe Jessica’s kidnappers did call Friday and he took them the money.”
Ray swung his feet off the table, his feet hitting the floor with a thud as he stood up. He snatched the bowl of green beans. “Right.”
She watched him cross over to the sink, frustration shimmering around him. “Ted is a good husband, Ray. Why can’t you see that?”
He spun around, his face tight. “Good husband? Are you nuts? The man talked to you like you were a dog! He spoke and you jumped. He put you down, he ridiculed you, he ignored you. You call that a good husband?”
The knot in her stomach jumped from uncomfortable to painful. “I have a good life, Ray. Can’t you see that? He gives me a nice home; he takes good care of me.”
“And there were men who took good care of their slaves, so what’s your point?”
Karen twisted her hands in her lap. Why did everything always have to end in a fight? Why couldn’t the men in her life get along with each other? “Ray, you don’t know him. You never gave him a chance.”
“That’s where you’re wrong, my dear sister. I did know him and give him a chance. Before you married him. He and I had a nice long chat, and I got his number real quick.” Ray turned his back to her, rinsing the beans with quick, jerking movements.
“He’s my husband, Ray.”
Ray turned around slowly, the fierce expression on his face in direct contrast with the frilly apron around his waist and the dishtowel he tossed over his shoulder. “And where is your beloved husband, Karen? Where is he?”
#
JJ moved closer, the radio in his hand. “You gonna pass out now?”
“I don’t think so,” she replied with a sniffle.
Reaching into his pocket, JJ pulled out a handkerchief and handed it to her. “It should be clean.”
“Thanks.” She sniffed back another rush of tears. “You never fail to surprise me.”
“Oh, I bet I could,” he whispered cryptically.
She stared hard at him, trying to get some feel for his mood. It eluded her as deftly as peace of mind always had. “You going to tell me what’s on your mind?”
“I have a lot on my mind, Miss Shefford, not the least of which is finding the sicko who is hurting these little girls. And when I get my hands on him, he’s going to wish his mother had been sterile.”
The harshness in his tone slapped at her. She’d never seen him speak so emotionally. React so harshly. “What happened, JJ? Is another girl missing?”
“No,” he said abruptly. “I’m sure you’d tell me if one was.”
His terse answer confused her. He was making no sense at all. “I’ve never seen you act like this.”
“You don’t know me.”
“True.” Zoe climbed to her feet and handed JJ his handkerchief. Enough was enough. If the man wanted to be a jerk again, let him. Heaven knows he’s had enough practice at it.
#
When backup arrived, JJ walked Zoe over to his Cherokee and gave her the keys. “Stay here. As soon as we get some extra help out here, I’ll have someone drive you home.”
Zoe nodded.
Turning, JJ tried to push the image of her big green eyes, full of tears, out of his mind. He had a job to do, and this was no time to be getting tangled up with a woman who mourned a child she didn’t even know. And who didn’t run at death threats. Or perhaps didn’t have any reason to take them seriously.
The cop in him knew that Keyes
Shefford wasn’t a suspect. But the man in him dearly wanted Keyes to be guilty so that he could justify all that Zoe had seen and done. It couldn’t be supernatural. He longed for an explanation that suited him.
The simple fact was that Zoe Shefford was getting to him and he didn’t like it. Worse, he resented it. He didn’t need someone to complicate his already complicated life. JJ walked over to a patrolman stretching the bright orange crime scene tape. “Do me a favor. Drive Miss Shefford home, will you? And then get back here fast.”
#
Karen clasped her hands in her lap. She hated fighting with Ray. They hadn’t fought often as children. Ray had taken on the role of protector.
Big brother Ray hadn’t liked it when Ted took away his baby sister. Ted knew it. “I don’t blame him, sweetheart,” he’d said. “He’s been looking out for you for a long time, but it’s my turn now. Don’t worry about Ray. I’m not taking his attitude personally. I’d probably be the same way if I had a little sister as sweet as you.”
She hadn’t taken Ray’s objections seriously, figuring Ted was right and her brother would come around eventually. But he hadn’t. If anything, things only grew worse after Ray was designated executor of their grandparents’ estate and Ray refused to hand over her inheritance. Ted was furious, and the relationship between Ted and Ray had nosedived, fueled by Walter’s outrage that he’d been overlooked in his own mother’s will. When faced with both his father and his sister’s husband anxious to do battle, Ray had retreated to his home in Richmond. Karen had lost all hope that the two would ever become friends.
“I’m sorry, Sis.”
Karen looked up at her brother, staring at him for a moment. The bleak look in his eyes made her heart twist.
“No need, Ray. I just can’t seem to think straight right now.”
Ray pushed off from the counter and pulled out a chair across the table from her. He spun it backwards on one leg and straddled it. “No small wonder. I think you’re entitled.”
“I just don’t understand any of this, Ray. Did Ted take the money to the kidnappers? Or was he really lying to me? And where is he? What if he’s really dead like the police say?” Her head began to throb. “I just can’t accept that he’s dead. Maybe I just don’t want to.” She choked out a laugh full of bitter self-condemnation. “Good old Karen. Never could accept reality.”
“You accept reality just fine. Don’t listen to Dad. You saw what it did to Mom.” He folded his arms over the back of the chair and set his chin on his arms. “As for Ted, there’s no telling what he was up to. And that makes it difficult for me, because you know I never trusted him. If I say he lied to you, you’ll get defensive again.”
It wasn’t hard to tell they were related. Both had inherited their mother’s dark brown hair that leaned toward auburn and the brown eyes that could seem anywhere from burnished gold to pale green depending on the color of their clothing. While Karen had the same petite figure as her mother and Ray was much taller and broader, they had the same long face, straight eyebrows, and full lips.
And both could be as stubborn as their father when it suited them.
But Karen wasn’t feeling the least bit stubborn on this particular evening. She was feeling lost and confused, and if Ray could make any sense at all out of the situation, she was willing to listen.
“How about if I promise not to disagree with anything you say?”
Ray’s smile was more of a crooked grin, but it was enough to make her heart feel lighter than it had all day. “Okay, but the minute I see that pout, I’m running for the guest room.”
Karen rolled her eyes. “Deal.”
Suddenly, as if a switch were flipped, Ray turned very serious. “My take is this: Ted has his own agenda, and after clearing out the bank accounts, he told you he had to go meet the kidnappers. He made you promise not to call the police so that he would have more time to get far away.”
“Okay. Let’s say you’re right. If he wanted to leave me, why not just say so and leave? Why pretend to be going to meet the kidnappers? He had me sufficiently cowed that he could walk out with minimum fuss.”
Ray stared at her. “Don’t ever let anyone tell you that you aren’t one very smart broad.”
Karen laughed, feeling the compliment down to her toes. “But why would he be avoiding the police? Unless he had something to do with Jessica’s disappearance. See, that’s where I have a problem. He couldn’t have planned all this.”
“Okay,” Ray continued. “If he didn’t plan all this, how did that knife get in your dishwasher? And how did his blood get on your blouse? And how did it get in the laundry room? And why is his car in the river?”
Pursing her lips, Karen’s fingers played with the fringe on the pillow she’d been hugging. “That I can’t explain. And it’s driving me crazy.”
“So do we agree that Ted had to have planned all this?”
“I don’t know. What if. . .I don’t know, let me ramble here. Let’s say that maybe Ted has been gambling or something—something he wouldn’t tell me about—and the people were getting antsy for their money and pressuring him, so he cleaned out the bank and went to pay them, and they killed him and then planted evidence here to throw the police off.”
Now Ray was pursing his lips as his fingers tapped out a beat on the arm of the chair. “Maybe. But why risk coming back here and running into you?”
“They knew I wouldn’t be here.”
“How?”
“I don’t know.” Karen felt the cold fingers of fear and uncertainty crawling up her spine. “I don’t know. I don’t know where my baby is. I don’t know what happened to Ted. I don’t know why God is doing this to me.”
Ray lifted his head. “God isn’t doing this to you, Sis. Why would you think He is?”
“Then why is this happening?”
“Because of free will.”
“What do you mean?”
“Free will, Karen. The only way God could have stopped all this was to prevent Ted from having a free will. He wouldn’t do that.” Ray seemed to shift gears. “So Ted tells you he’s going to meet the kidnappers, stages his own death, frames you for murder, and vanishes with all your money.”
Karen opened her mouth to object, but Ray threw up a hand. “Regardless of what he did or did not do, just follow me here.”
“Okay.”
“So Ted had a free will to make his own choices and he did. And he didn’t care how those choices would affect you. But God does care. He’s with you in this. He’ll see you through this and bring you out on the other side.”
“Can I ask a question?”
“Sure.”
“The police brought a psychic here to help. My neighbor Rene wouldn’t let them use her. She said that it’s against God’s Word.”
“Hmm.” Ray closed his eyes as if to collect his thoughts. “I believe she’s right,” Ray replied.
“So did God bring her here or the devil?”
“If the enemy can get you to participate in something that God has forbidden, he can effectively cut God out of the situation.”
“Then did God bring Rene here?”
“I believe He did. God knew you didn’t know His Word well enough, so He brought in someone who did to help protect you.”
Karen leaned back in her chair. “I didn’t realize God worked that closely in our everyday lives.”
“All the time, little sister. All the time.”
“Ray, what will I do if Ted really is dead?” She lifted her tear-filled eyes to his. “Do you understand what I’m feeling?”
“Not entirely. But I’m sure it’s not easy to have your life ripped apart at the seams. But don’t believe the lie that you’re weak. You’re not. Not by a long shot. Somewhere deep inside you is the strength to face all this. To grieve if you have to grieve and to let go of what you only thought was real.”
“I want my daughter back safe and sound, Ray.”
He reached over and took her hand. “I know you do.
I’m praying for that to happen. But in the meantime, you’re going to have to face this. You’ll hit emotional bottom and that’s where you’ll find Karen waiting for you.”
“I am Karen,” she said with a trace of exasperation.
Ray shook his head. “No. You’re the shadow of who Karen used to be. You’re the creature that Ted and Dad have molded you into. They’ve pounded you down until you don’t know who you are anymore. You don’t know your strengths. You don’t know your capabilities. And you don’t know how to be anything but miserable.”
#
Zoe looked through the peephole in the door and then unlocked it. She tilted her head and stared at JJ. “What happened?”
“Got any coffee?”
Zoe stepped back and let him in. “Sure.”
In the kitchen, she poured him coffee, not bothering to announce that it was left from breakfast. He didn’t seem to notice as he leaned against the counter and drank it.
“What happened?” Zoe repeated.
He sighed and set the cup down. “Emily wasn’t alone.”
“Another little girl?”
“Yeah.” Pushing off from the counter, he walked into the living room. “She was buried right next to Emily. You were right; he’s been at this awhile.”
“I’m sorry.”
JJ shook his head as he moved around the room, his fingers trailing over shelves, books, pictures. “Tell me about your father.”
Zoe looked up at him, confused by his quick change of topic. “My father? What about my father?”
“I’m just curious.” JJ shoved his hands in his pockets.
It made her suspicious. She gave him a long, considering look. “What’s going on, Detective? Why this sudden interest in my family?”
“Just your dad. Are you and he close?”
“Not particularly,” she replied dryly.
“So you don’t share little secrets together?”
“No.”
“He owns a lot of real estate, doesn’t he?” He picked up a glass butterfly, examined it, set it back down.
