Changing Tides

by Veronica Mixon

  Kate stepped toward the door leading to her private residence. “I want to get on the road.”

  If hostility had a sound, Cedar would’ve crackled. “I think we’re through here, Marshal.ˮ

  Nathan gathered the photos and stuffed them in his file. “I’m requesting Kate remain in the area until we wrap the case.”

  Kate stopped midstride. The little bit of color in her face drained away and for a moment she reminded Nathan of a marble statue.

  “For goodness sake, why?” Cedar said.

  Erica snorted a laugh. “How about she’s paramount to our case.”

  Kate and Cedar turned, their eyes met and Kate shifted into her calm façade.

  Heat engulfed Nathan’s neck. Kate was hiding something, and he was determined to question her without her attorney. “Kate’s remanded to this county for the duration of our investigation.”

  “Paramount how?” Cedar boomed. Undoubtedly, the counselor believed the loudest voice won the battle. “She has nothing to do with your drug investigation.” Cedar locked eyes with Nathan. “The man you needed was Calvin, and he’s dead.”

  “In case you haven’t noticed, bodies are stacking up like cordwood,” Erica said.

  “What’s that have to do with Kate?” Cedar spat a disbelieving scoff that only a defense attorney would attempt to pull off. “She hasn’t murdered anyone. And she wants to see her son.”

  Nathan snapped his briefcase closed. “Your client’s remanded to a one-hundred-mile radius of Savannah. And, Counselor, it’s not open for discussion.”

  “Kate.” Nathan pulled out his final ace. “You said you looked in the trunk of your investigator’s car because of an unpleasant odor. But the lady who works at the marina told Erica you removed something from Snider’s car. An envelope you looked in right before you opened the trunk. Where’s that envelope now?”

  Cedar opened his case and handed Nathan a photograph.

  Nathan glanced at the image. His heart skipped. Evidence was rarely linear, and sometimes information surfaced in unexpected ways. He passed the picture to Erica and focused back on Kate. “Why would that photograph cause you to open the trunk?”

  Kate blew a worn-out breath. “The smell. The photo. Ben was missing. I just opened the trunk. Nothing more.”

  Her answer sounded so reasonable. But Nathan didn’t buy it. “Either give me a straight answer, or I’m placing you under arrest for the death of Calvin Thompson.”

  Kate’s lips lost color. Her eyes rolled.

  Nathan jumped forward and caught her in his arms just before she hit the floor.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Nathan closed the guesthouse sliding doors overlooking the river. The temperature hovered at ninety, but someone had left the sliders open and it had to be close to eighty inside the apartment.

  Erica stomped up the stairs and slammed the front door. “It’s a sauna outside.”

  “Not much different in here.” He set the ceiling fan on high and punched seventy on the air controller. “How was Kate when you left her?” It was his fault she’d fainted. He’d successfully pushed past her aloof boundary, but his intent had been to knock her off her stoic perch, not lay her flat.

  “She tossed Cedar and me out.” Erica walked to the sliding glass doors and peered through a slit in the curtains.

  The feeling of Kate in his arms haunted Nathan like the phantom sensitivity of an amputee. He shook his arms, slapped them around his waist. Nathan had allowed himself to get too close to Kate. Bunking at Spartina, seeing her every day, he’d lost his perception. That was all it was.

  Erica snatched up the highly suspicious photo of Kate and Owen on Barry Island. “Who took this shot? Only one of our guys was on that island Sunday, and he’s the one driving the boat in the photo.”

  And there was the crux. Access to Barry Island either required an airboat to ride over the marsh grass or navigation through one of the three entry creeks. His team controlled the airboat and had live feeds on all three waterways.

  Nathan had to figure out how to break the news to his boss that their worst fear looked to be fact. “We might have a rat.” The words seared his throat like kerosene charcoal set afire.

  Erica stalked the eight-hundred-square-foot living area like a wary feral cat. “I’d trust every one of our agents with my life. No way we have a snitch.” She paused at the front window and tipped the blind.

  “You on surveillance?”

  “Just making sure that skank of an attorney doesn’t double-back and slip Kate out.”

  “She’s formally remanded. Haynes won’t risk jail, even for Kate.” Nathan opened his laptop, read the preliminary autopsy report on Calvin. “You need to check the duty logs for Sunday. Find out which agents were off.”

  “Travis already did. Everyone’s accounted for.”

  “Do it again. He could’ve missed something.” Nathan scanned the preliminary work-up on Calvin’s murder file.

  Erica tossed the photo back on the counter and headed to a space roughly the size of a walk-in closet that Kate called a galley kitchen and peered into the fridge. “That photograph could be nothing more than a lucky Google Earth shot.”

  “Came with a dead body.”

  “Point taken.” She shut the fridge a little harder than necessary.

  “There was a photographer planted in a tree, or drones are monitoring Barry Island.” It was a draw which was worse for their case.

  “I vote for the drone.” She ripped into a pack of Chips Ahoy.

  “A ghost photographer not showing up on one of our feeds means they know how to circumvent the cameras, and we have a snitch,” he said. “But if there’s a drone, the increased visual range means our position at Spartina is compromised.”

  “I had Travis looking for a warm body,” Erica said. “He might’ve missed a UAV. I’ll go back over the feeds after I eat. Where’s the dinner tray?”

  “Not six o’clock.” He scanned the ballistics report. Inconclusive, but Nathan’s guess was a nine millimeter.

  Erica tilted the kitchen blinds and looked out. “Kate’s got a migraine, and she’s lying.”

  “Is one connected to the other?”

  “Got no stomach for lying—puts her down for twenty-four hours, minimum.”

  Interesting. But based on his analysis, Kate had been less than truthful for the past two days and continued to function upright. “She take knock-out meds?”

  “No. Said she’d already sucked down eight aspirin. Cedar wanted her to take something stronger, but she threw us out. Said she needed an hour of quiet. Asked for privacy to call her mom and Owen and tell them she wouldn’t be coming to the beach tonight.” Erica slow-chewed a cookie. “Today at the marina, Kate was scared.”

  “Finding your cousin dead in the trunk of a car can do that to a person.”

  “Scared and shocked aren’t the same.” She took another four cookies from the package.

  Nathan pointed at the bag.

  She passed him the cookies and dropped into a chair. “If you’re right, and Cedar told Kate the airboat was DEA, why didn’t she use that when you threatened to arrest her? She’s clutching to something, but I can’t figure what.” Erica wiggled a cookie at him. “You need to push her.”

  “I plan on it.” He boosted himself off the sofa in search of caffeine. He removed two Cokes from the fridge and threw one to Erica. “Speaking of holding back, why didn’t you say you knew Jacob Lafferty?”

  “Didn’t connect the name to the face. Only met him once or twice when we were kids.” She held the cold drink to her forehead. “God, it’s hot.” She sipped and belched. “Calvin and Jacob’s murder changes things.”

  “Like me being skewered on a spit?” Nathan debated whether to tell his supervisor about the possible snitch before or after he gave him the news that their prime suspect had been snuffed and stuffed in a yellow Corvette.

  “Better your backside in the fire than mine,” Erica said. “Kate will hide behind her
attorney. And by tomorrow she’ll throw us off her property.”

  He couldn’t argue with Kate hiding behind Cedar Haynes, and if they had a drone, leaving Spartina was inevitable. He had two hours of paperwork, and depending on what Erica did or didn’t find on the creek feeds, maybe more.

  Erica perched on the edge of her chair.

  “Go.” He waved her away. “I have work.”

  She scowled, but there wasn’t much behind it. “I think you should put two more agents in Florida.”

  His stomach rumbled, if he was going to spitball theories he might as well eat. He went to the fridge and removed a leftover pizza from lunch, spread a napkin on the bar, and slid a piece from the box. “No additional agents are necessary. The whole family will be in a safe house by tomorrow night, including Kate.”

  Erica leaned over the counter, plucked a pepperoni, and popped it in her mouth. “Pipe dream. Katie’ll never agree.” She peeled off another pepperoni.

  “She’ll agree if a safe house is the only way she’ll see her son.” Nathan slid the remaining full piece to his napkin.

  Erica opened the pantry and found an unopened bag of Lay’s potato chips.

  “Where did you get those?”

  “Stashed them behind the flour canister.” She shook a few chips onto Nathan’s napkin. “With Cal dead, if Kate gets a vibe the danger has tentacles, she’ll grab Owen and Roslyn and bolt. Make sure our Florida team understands she has the means to spirit her family from under their noses and disappear.”

  “Nobody disappears with my guys sitting on them.”

  “Really?” Erica gave him a look that could pierce titanium.

  Her not-so-subtle poke aimed at Hartley, the female agent he’d assigned to Beth Thompson, reminded him to check his inbox. He scanned his cell, threw the phone on the bar, and went back to his pizza. “The number Kate gave us for Beth Thompson’s a wash. Phone’s out of commission. Probably removed the battery.”

  Erica stuffed a handful of chips in her mouth. Chewed and swallowed. “How would a nurse know to remove a battery?”

  He finished off the second slice and considered eating the piece Erica had raided, but pepperoni was the best part of a cold pizza. He swiped his hands down his jeans and grabbed the chip bag out of her hand. “Beth’s Calvin’s wife. Not a big stretch she’d know how to go off-grid.”

  “Call the Colorado employer,” Erica said. “See if she’s checked-in.”

  “Kate didn’t get the name of the clinic.”

  There was a short rap on the door. Agent Hartley walked in with eyes cast to the floor. She placed a sandwich platter on the counter.

  “What’d you bring us, Hart?” Erica looked over the tray.

  “The usual. Turkey, ham, tuna, and chicken salad.” Hart cut her eyes at Nathan.

  He acknowledged her with a quick nod, and she slunk out the door. She’d moped around ever since Beth had given her the slip. It was a hefty screw-up and Nathan had given her grief.

  “Can’t be that many clinics in Boulder hiring a new manager.” Erica stood over the sink and scarfed down half a tuna on rye. She couldn’t weigh over a hundred and ten, but she ate with the gusto of a sumo wrestler. “Put Hartley on it,” Erica said between bites. “Give her a shot at saving face.”

  Nathan thought Erica’s idea had merit.

  “Beth was jumpy yesterday,” Erica said. “Girl acted as if she were an hour late for a fix.”

  Nathan had tried getting a clear read on Beth during their interview, but with Erica grilling her on Calvin’s whereabouts, it had been impossible to obtain a baseline.

  “Maybe Beth already knew Calvin was dead,” Erica said. “Could be she played Kate.”

  “You think Kate’s that gullible?”

  “Just saying we shouldn’t count on Beth being in Colorado. I couldn’t locate Joseph Lafferty, so I ran him. No credit card usage for five days. Last hit was Albuquerque. Kate says he has a daughter in the area.” Erica finished off her sandwich and put the top back on the tray. She swept crumbs from the counter into her hand; half of them fell on the floor. “I put the daughter’s contact information in the file.”

  “Okay, that’ll be my next call.” Nathan tossed his empty Coke can in the trash. “Go. I need to work.”

  Erica grabbed her laptop and the chip bag off the counter, but Nathan’s raised brow stopped her from snagging the chocolate chip cookies. “I’ll tag Hartley,” she said. “Get her started on the clinic calls.”

  “Do that.”

  Erica had been right about one thing—dead bodies were stacking up. Nathan’s hypothesis was the Cabral’s were sweeping their house clean. If Kate was an innocent caught up in a family of criminals, no surprise she’d be spooked.

  Nathan studied the island photo with a fresh eye. The kid’s hands covered his ears, and he appeared agitated, most likely from the sound of the engine. Kate stood with one hand stretched in front of her body as if daring the boat to move closer; her other arm hugged her son to her side. The wind from the propeller blew hair across her face and prevented Nathan from seeing her expression.

  He bought that the island confrontation would be a bad memory and finding Calvin’s body a traumatic event, but Nathan found Kate’s level of confusion and her inability to converse coherently within an hour’s time leaned more to fear. Reminiscent of a soldier after a close call in the field. Suddenly he felt incredibly dense that it had taken him so long to add this particular two plus two. This photo hadn’t been the only item inside the envelope.

  Six-thirty in Georgia would be four-thirty in Albuquerque. Nathan called the number Erica had left for Lafferty’s daughter Jessica. He spoke with Jacob’s mother, Kathleen, and gave her the sad news of her son’s death. Then he spoke with Jessica. Then he called Kate.

  She answered on the second ring. “I just spoke to Kathleen Lafferty.”

  “How did she take the news?” Kate asked.

  He thought he caught a hesitation. “As well as can be expected. Difficult to get the news your son’s dead over the phone.”

  “How did Joseph hold up?”

  “That’s why I’m calling. Something’s come up I’d like to discuss.”

  This time he heard a definite intake of breath. “Can’t it wait until morning?”

  “I don’t think so.”

  “Okay.” Her tone indicated it was anything but. “I’m in the kitchen eating a bowl of soup.”

  ****

  Kate was standing at the bar when he arrived, freshly showered and wearing a silk shirt and jeans. He recognized her sandalwood scent from the bath gel in the guesthouse. He’d used the subtle, clean fragrance during his morning shower. It smelled better on her.

  “Appreciate you agreeing to meet this late,” he said.

  Something akin to guilt coiled into an inflexible stone and lodged in Nathan’s throat. Kate looked exhausted, faint purple rimmed her eyes. Her lips were pale and thin. If eyes were the windows to a soul, lips were the gateway to human emotion.

  Their eyes met and Kate smoothed a hand over her hair. Her fingers fluttered over her collar, then ran over her midsection.

  Two agents were eating at the small table by the window, and she waved Nathan through the door. “We’ll be more comfortable in the atrium.”

  It was a glass room, and based on the books and magazines stacked on every available space, he assumed the area was used for casual reading. The furniture and pillows were different shades of yellow, as if someone had gathered ten gourmet mustards together for a color match.

  Kate switched on a floor lamp in the corner, and along with the night stars overhead, the room had a cozy glow.

  He sank into one of two wicker sofas.

  She waffled between the sofa and a nearby chair; he patted the cushion and she eased down beside him.

  “I spoke with Lafferty’s daughter,” he said.

  “Jessica?”

  “You know her?”

  “Yes. But I haven’t seen her since we were te
enagers.” Kate perched on the edge of her seat, her fingers locked in her lap.

  He realized she wasn’t going to say anything else. He’d invited her to the party and it was up to him to initiate the dance. “Kathleen Lafferty’s visiting her daughter. Joseph’s not.”

  “Where’s Joseph?” The slight eyebrow raise and narrow separation of her lips were conducive to surprise.

  “Wife says she doesn’t know. Joseph hasn’t called in three days.”

  “I’ve left several messages on his cell. He hasn’t returned any of my calls.”

  Nathan counted to five. “Mrs. Lafferty says that she called you today, left two messages at your office.”

  Kate massaged the area between her eyes. She usually made the gesture right before swallowing aspirin. “I haven’t checked in with my office today.”

  Considering her day, that sounded reasonable. “Don’t you think it’s odd that a wife doesn’t know where her husband’s gone?”

  Kate tugged her bottom lip. “Very strange.”

  “Joseph received a phone call at three o’clock Monday morning.” He let his words rest, but Kate exhibited no signs that she knew what was to come. “The wife claims the call was from you and you sent Joseph on an urgent errand.”

  “Me?” Her colorless lips ringed white. “I haven’t spoken to Joseph since he left Savannah.”

  A prickle on the back of Nathan’s neck stopped him from commenting. A person’s brain had the ability to notice details much quicker than the conscious awareness, sometimes in as little as one-twenty-fifth of a second, literally in a blink of an eye. The phenomenon was known as thin slices. Nathan’s ability to register and react to his slices was one of his strongest assets. Kate’s fear now tilted close to petrified. He’d witnessed similar expressions in videos, and on the faces of prisoners of war right before the Taliban beheaded them.

  “Kathleen said Joseph was doing something for me?” Each word like a dead weight.

  “A person who learns of their child’s untimely passing rarely has the mental faculties to fabricate a lie.”

  Kate raised her right palm. “Hand to God, I don’t know where Joseph is, or why he’d lie about his trip.” She leaned forward. “There’s something else about Joseph you should know.” She rushed her words, reached across the cushion as if to touch him, then reconsidered and rested her hand on her knee. “His office computer’s been wiped clean.”