by Kaylea Cross
“Go on,” Detective Porter said, just as Patel re-entered the room, nodding at his partner.
“Things just went from bad to worse,” she said. “I guess the dad couldn’t take it anymore, and he ended up killing himself. His son found him shot in the head in his bedroom—the dad’s bedroom, that is. That’s when Suki came to live with us as a foster child. Ethan was old enough to be on his own, but Suki was only fifteen.”
“Have Suki and Ethan stayed in contact all these years?” Patel asked.
“Off and on. While Suki was with us, they did. He got into drugs and alcohol pretty bad. He would call or stop by occasionally at first, but if he was high, my husband would run him off. After awhile he quit coming around, and I don’t know what happened after Suki turned eighteen and left us. That was the last we saw of her.”
“I understand what you’re saying, Mrs. DiMarco, that the family fell apart and the kids’ lives were turned upside down, but can you tell us why you think Suki and Ethan would kidnap Whitney?” Porter asked.
“Because they blamed her sister, Kate, for their mother’s death, of course.”
Ryan leaned in closer when she said that. Kate was right. Please be okay, Kate, please. As much as this information was confirmation, he felt he should be out looking for Kate, not cooped up in this little room. But since he had promised Raj he wouldn’t say anything, he sat back again.
“What do you mean?” Patel asked.
“Well, I overheard them a number of times talking about how all their troubles were Kate’s fault. As you can imagine, the accident started everything going downhill. Losing their mom is what caused all the other horrible things that happened to that poor family.”
“I don’t understand, though, if they blamed Kate, why wouldn’t they have kidnapped her instead of her sister?” Detective Porter questioned.
“I don’t know. I just thought it had to be too big of a coincidence that Kate’s sister was missing and you were questioning Suki. That’s why I called you.”
“Was Kate responsible for Mrs. Henderson’s death?” Patel asked.
“I wasn’t around them when it happened. I only heard Suki and Ethan going on and on about Kate McAllister and how it was all her fault. So, yes, I thought so, at first,” Mrs. DiMarco explained.
“At first?” asked Patel. “What do you mean, at first?”
“I mean because that’s all I heard. But later, after Ethan stopped coming around, I got something in the mail from the police department. It was a copy of Mr. Henderson’s suicide note and a letter from a police investigator explaining they’d found the note in the police files and thought his children should have it.”
“What did it say?” Porter asked.
“I have it right here.” Mrs. DiMarco pulled the letter out of her purse, unfolded it on the table, and read it out loud. “Ethan and Suzanne, I can’t stand the guilt and pain anymore. I have to put an end to it. I’m ashamed to admit it, but I had an affair and Mom found out the afternoon she died. She had been drinking when I came home and she confronted me. We had a huge fight and she ran out the door and drove off. I’m sorry I didn’t stop her. She ran that stop sign when she was hit by the SUV and died. It was all my fault. Please forgive me. Dad.”
“And you never gave this to Suki or Ethan?” Porter asked.
“No. At the time it came, Suki was starting to do better in school and make a few friends. Her brother had stopped coming around—I think he’d gotten himself arrested for drugs or something. I didn’t want to stir things up again, so I just stuck it in a drawer and forgot about it. That is, until I saw Suki on the news today and heard them mention the name McAllister.”
“This explains a lot,” Porter said. “You’ve been a big help, Mrs. DiMarco.”
“Thank you, Detective. I hoped I could be.”
Ryan tried to process what this all meant. It seemed that Suki and Ethan had been plotting revenge, and it wasn’t even Kate’s fault. We have to tell them. They need to know…before something happens to Kate!
Then just before Ryan opened his mouth to say something, Porter said it for him. “Would you mind telling Suki what you just told us?” Porter asked. “I think she’ll be more likely to believe it coming from you.”
“Sure, if you think it would help.”
“I do,” he replied.
Porter stood up to leave. “Mrs. DiMarco, if you’ll just wait here, I’ll be right back with Suki.”
She nodded her head in agreement and sat fidgeting with the note while Patel jotted down something in the case file.
Ryan sat in silence, trying to appear calm on the surface but inside he was struggling with doing nothing to find Kate. He reminded himself that if they could convince Suki she had been wrong then maybe she could reach Ethan—before he did something drastic.
Just then, Porter pushed the door open and ushered Suki in. She stopped in her tracks when she saw Mrs. DiMarco.
“Have a seat over there,” Porter directed Suki, motioning toward the chair across the table from her foster mother. Suki did as she was told and sat down.
“Why’s she here?” Suki asked Detective Porter, staring at her former foster mother with suspicion written all over her face.
“She has something she wants to tell you. So, we’re going to leave you two to talk.”
Suki turned quickly and shot Porter a questioning glance. “Where’s my lawyer? I asked for a lawyer. I’m not saying anything without my lawyer!”
“Mrs. DiMarco isn’t here to ask you any questions,” Porter replied. “She wants to tell you something—something important. So sit still and listen.”
He motioned to the door, and then Ryan and his partner followed him out. They stepped into the observation room next door, and they watched as Mrs. DiMarco explained the letter, handing it to Suki.
Then Porter turned to Ryan. “Raj tells me that Kate is missing. What happened?”
“We were at a restaurant and she got a call, then she told me she was going to the ladies room—but she never came back.”
“Let’s hope Suki spills her guts once she knows Kate is not responsible for her mother’s death, and we can solve this case.” Porter sounded exasperated.
Ryan looked toward the two women in the other room. “I hope she can tell us something.”
“Well, let’s go see what Suki has to say about Kate’s disappearance,” Porter said. They left the darkened room and burst into the conference room. Both women looked up as the men entered.
“Did you tell her yet?” Patel asked Mrs. DiMarco.
“Tell me what?” Suki questioned.
“Did you tell her Kate was not responsible for her mother’s death?”
“I was just getting to that, Detective. You busted in here before she could finish reading the letter.” The woman sounded irritated that they hadn’t given her more time to talk to Suki.
“I’m sorry, but time is running out,” Patel responded.
Suki looked from Ryan and the detectives to her foster mother. “What do you mean Kate’s not responsible? Of course, she’s responsible. She hit my mom’s little compact with her big fat SUV when she ran the stop sign.”
“No, honey. It was your mom that ran the stop sign. She’d been drinking and she’d had a fight with your dad. Read it,” Mrs. DiMarco said, “it’s all there in your dad’s note.”
They all sat in restrained silence as Suki finished reading the suicide note, anxious for her to be done. When she was through, she buried her face in her hands and began to weep, her red curls falling forward. She seemed to realize that all the hate and bitterness that she and her brother had harbored against Kate, all the revenge they had planned, was based on a misunderstanding.
Detective Porter’s gaze moved from Mrs. DiMarco to Ryan and Patel. “Suki, please, where is Whitney?” he pleaded in a calm, even voice.
Mrs. DiMarco handed Suki a tissue from her purse, and the young woman wiped her eyes.
“How do I know this isn’t a trick?
” Suki asked. “Maybe this is a ploy to get me to talk.” She raised her head a bit and looked at the men. “You could have found my foster mother and given her this note and told her to lie to me so I would talk.”
“Suki, no,” Mrs. DiMarco said, stretching her hand out across the table. “I wouldn’t do that to you. Look at the handwriting. I think you know it’s your dad’s.”
“Where is Whitney?” Porter asked again.
“And Kate?” Ryan demanded.
“Kate?” Suki prickled at the question. “How would I know? I don’t understand. What do you mean where’s Kate?”
“Kate’s gone missing, too. You’re telling us you don’t know anything about that?” Patel questioned, placing his hands on the table as he leaned toward her. “I find that hard to believe!”
“Well, I—I—” Suki stammered.
She’s hiding something, Ryan thought. She may not know where Kate is, but she must know that her brother has taken her and what his intentions are. The question is, will she give up him up to the police?
“Where’s Kate? Spit it out!” Patel snarled.
“I don’t know where Kate is!”
“But you do know who took her, don’t you?” Patel pushed. “Now, come on, Suki, when you thought Kate was responsible for killing your mother, maybe you were willing to help Ethan. But now…” he paused, looked her straight in the eyes, “…how can you let your brother kill an innocent woman?”
Suki remained silent.
Ryan couldn’t take his own silence any longer. “If you can let Ethan know about the note, and that it wasn’t Kate’s fault after all, maybe you could stop him before he goes through with his plans.”
Raj shot him a warning glance and Ryan thinned his lips, forcing himself to stay out of it. He stepped back.
“Do you have any idea what he’s done with her?” Porter asked, maintaining more composure than his partner or Ryan.
The young woman sat stony silent.
“Suki, for heaven’s sake, tell them what you know,” Mrs. DiMarco pleaded.
“I want my lawyer. I told you that before.”
“If we have to wait for your Public Defender to show up,” Patel said, “Whitney and Kate could be dead. Is that what you want?”
“No, but I need someone on my side to help me out of this,” Suki replied.
“I understand, Miss Henderson, but look at it this way. Right now, you’re in a little hole. It won’t be so hard to dig your way out of it,” Porter said. “However, if Whitney or Kate are found dead, you’re going to be in a hole so deep you’ll never see the light of day again—your brother, too. Now, tell me, do you still want to wait for a lawyer?”
Suki looked at Porter and paused, likely weighing her options. “No, I guess not, when you put it that way.”
“Let me ask you again,” Porter said, “do you know who took Kate?”
“I think my brother, Ethan, took her,” she said, guardedly.
“Do you know where he would have taken her?” Porter questioned, leaning in closer to Suki, searching her eyes for the truth.
“No, I don’t.” Suki shook her head as she answered. “I wish I did, but, no.”
“But you do know where Whitney is, don’t you?” Patel asked.
“Yes,” Suki hesitated, “but—”
“Tell us!” Patel yelled. “Where is Whitney McAllister?”
“Okay, okay, I’ll tell you. She’s in a hidden room in the underground city, below Pioneer Square, where I work,” Suki cried, the truth spilling out. “I hid her in a locked storage room to get Kate to come to Seattle.”
“Is she dead?” Porter asked.
“No, I don’t think so,” Suki replied, avoiding looking him in the eye. At least she seemed ashamed of what she had done to Whitney.
“You don’t think so?” Patel questioned. The veins in his neck were visibly pulsating from the stress.
“I don’t know, I don’t know. I’ve kept her sedated with sleeping pills.”
“Oh, Suki…” Mrs. DiMarco sounded stunned.
“I was going to check on her when you picked me up outside of the Underground Tours,” Suki explained. “I didn’t just leave her there.”
Porter directed Raj to call for an ambulance to meet them at the building in Pioneer Square where the Underground Tour begins, and he dashed out of the room to make that call.
Then Porter stepped out in the hallway for a moment and Ryan paced back and forth, desperate to find Kate too.
Porter returned with a uniformed policewoman. “Suki, we need you to help us figure out where your brother took Kate. And we need to find Whitney now—right now.”
She looked up at him with understanding. “Okay.”
Time was not Whitney’s friend and Porter’s face had grown gravely serious. “I think you already know that I’m going to have to arrest you, but don’t make it any worse. I need you to show us, this minute, where you’re keeping Whitney. Hopefully, she’s still alive.”
“I understand,” Suki agreed. “I never intended to kill Whitney…” she let the words trail off.
“Officer Diaz, after you handcuff her and read her her rights, meet me at my car. I want both of you to go with us to find Whitney.”
“Yes, sir,” the officer answered.
“Mrs. DiMarco. Thank you for your help.”
“I hope you get there in time.”
“You and me both.”
At that, Ryan rushed out of the room and dashed to Raj’s desk. Patel was on the phone calling for an ambulance. He stood by as Raj then phoned a junior officer, directing him to contact the manager of the Underground Tour to meet them there too, ASAP, to unlock the place and turn on all the lights.
“Did you hear back from the forensic team yet?” Ryan asked. “Do you have some word on Kate?”
“No, not yet. But the investigators have been all over the area behind the restaurant and didn’t find anything.”
“When was that?” Ryan asked.
“I sent a couple of CSI’s out there when I stepped out of the room, while Will was questioning the DiMarco woman.”
“Raj, I need to find Kate!”
“You need to find Kate? Ryan, you’re not on the force anymore. You can’t be running all over town trying to do our job.”
“I know I’m not a cop, but I can keep my eyes open. If you let me ride along, I promise I’ll stay out of the way.”
“We’ve got to go and find Whitney,” Raj said as he headed toward the door.
Ryan reached out and tapped Raj’s arm to stop him. “I understand about Whitney, but what about Kate? Maybe I should take my own car.”
“We don’t have any leads on Kate yet. We’ll continue questioning Suki in the car on the way to find Whitney. Hopefully, we can get her to tell us something that will lead us to Kate, too. But in the meantime, I can’t have you doing anything crazy. Do you hear me?”
“I hear you, but if Kate is right about Ethan killing her parents, it’s more than possible he took her. And if that’s the case, you know he won’t hesitate to kill her.”
“We don’t know for sure that he killed her folks.”
“I know, but it’s possible, isn’t it?”
“I guess, anything’s possible.”
“So, let me come with you and Porter. I can help you question Suki.”
“All right,” Raj said, his eyes darting around to be sure no one was within earshot. He lowered his voice to almost a whisper. “You better stay in the car and wait, or we’ll all be in a lot of hot water.”
“You have my word.”
“Raj!” Porter called out on his way out the door.
“I hope my partner agrees to this,” Raj said. They sprinted to catch up to Porter and dashed out the door.
Chapter Seventeen
Officer Diaz and Suki met them at Porter’s car, and they all climbed in and sped off, lights flashing and siren blaring, to meet the ambulance and other officers at the Underground Tour. Ryan, Diaz and Suki ro
de in the back, while the detectives used the opportunity to try to draw more information out of their suspect.
“Suki, I appreciate the fact you decided to cooperate and show us where you’ve been keeping Whitney.” Porter peered up to see her momentarily in the rearview mirror as he drove. “It was the right thing to do.” He swung the car around a sharp corner. “But it’s critical we find Kate, too. Do you have any idea where Ethan might have taken her?”
“Not really.”
“What’s he planning to do with her?” Patel asked, twisting in his seat to look at her.
Suki didn’t respond. With her hands cuffed behind her back, she dropped her head down. A few tears fell onto her cotton blouse, leaving dark spots.
It took everything Ryan had not to reach over and make her talk.
“Suki, answer me,” Patel pressed. He wore an expression that looked like he had the same bad feeling that Ryan had, when he saw her bending forward and crying.
“Suki, look at me! What is your brother planning to do with Kate?” he insisted. “Tell me.”
She lifted her face. “He’s going to kill her.”
Porter glanced at the rearview mirror again, then over at his partner. Their eyes met with a look that said they didn’t have much time.
“Think, Suki. You know your brother better than anyone else does. Where would he take her?” Porter demanded.
“I don’t know!” she screamed, shaking her head from side to side. “I don’t know. If I knew I would tell you!”
Ryan felt a thin layer of sweat forming on his forehead and his pulse began to race. He felt helpless as he sat beside Suki, listening to this unproductive line of questioning. If it were up to him, he would find a way to make her tell them what they needed. Suddenly his phone vibrated. He snatched it up hoping it might be Kate.
