Deadly Silence

by Mary Stone

  All in good time.

  “Come on, pups,” he said to them, starting to walk back toward the house, hoping they’d be tired of the mud and the playtime and follow.

  No surprise. They didn’t.

  4

  Kylie was sitting out on the porch, practicing meditative breathing when the old, rusting Honda Civic came puttering up the hill.

  She’d gotten control of herself.

  More or less.

  The house cleaning mission was a failure. It still looked like a bomb had been dropped in the very center of the living room, which happened to be Coulter Confidential’s world headquarters. Actually, it looked worse than it had before she started, as if that was even possible, thanks to some unruly pups who’d decided to go inside directly after Linc hosed them off and get their muddy footprints all over the hardwood floors.

  But even before then, she’d known cleaning was a lost cause. She couldn’t so much as inhale the scent of a Clorox wipe without getting ill. She’d been spontaneously retching every few minutes, ever since she’d looked at that wand, confirming that, indeed, she was pregnant.

  Pregnant.

  There was a tiny baby growing inside her. By next spring, she’d have a child.

  Try as she might, she couldn’t wrap her head around it. It touched every little area of her life. As she was trying to go about her business, something new would occur to her, making her stop dead in her tracks. Did she have to go to the doctor now? Where would the nursery be? Had that glass of chardonnay she consumed last night fucked the baby up for good?

  And then there was the big thing: Linc.

  What would he say?

  This wasn’t supposed to happen. She should’ve known, though. She always said she would plan and research and really try to learn before she was thrown into something, but it never actually ended up working that way. More exciting things tended to sidetrack her.

  Her life was about trial by fire. So, while she’d planned to read everything there was about being a mom before it actually happened, she didn’t know the first thing. Didn’t know a single thing about being pregnant or having a baby. Heck, the only time she’d ever held a baby was for a friend, two years ago, and she’d been stiff and scared to death, like it was a grenade about to go off in her face.

  So cleaning was out of the question. Trying to give herself a break, she’d told herself it was a nice day, and she’d just meet with Elise on the front porch. That way, she could spare Elise the horror of the mess that was their house, and they could enjoy lemonade and the fresh country air from the porch swing.

  Then it had started to rain, and a cool mountain wind had started to blow in from the west.

  From the way Linc had been casting her worried glances and walking on eggshells around her, she got the feeling she was already going off the deep end, with the stress from everything. So she was determined to be her normal, cheery self where Elise was concerned.

  As the car approached, windshield wipers arcing steadily, Kylie waved frantically, smiling as big as she could. The car stopped at the front steps, the passenger-side door opened, and Elise slowly emerged, despite the rain falling on her face.

  She took her time, holding the railing of the staircase as she helped herself up, step by step. By the time she got to the porch, her long blonde hair was drenched.

  “Hi, Elise!” Kylie said brightly. “Glad you’re here.”

  “Hello, ma’am,” she said, wiping raindrops off the end of her nose.

  Ma’am? Kylie suddenly felt like a grandma.

  “Please, call me Kylie.” Kylie squinted to see beyond the rain-spattered windshield. “Does your…driver want to come out?”

  Elise looked back. “Nah. That’s just Cody. My boyfriend. He’s fine out there.”

  “What’s Cody’s last name?”

  Elise waved at the car. “Miller. Cody Miller.”

  “I thought we could…” Kylie stopped, looking back at the porch swing. The rain was now blowing in sideways, and the rocking chairs were wet too. And poor Elise’s waif-like body was shuddering from the dampness. She was just wearing a tiny tank and shorts, and they were soaked through. This wasn’t going to work. She grabbed the screen door. “Um. Let’s go in.”

  She opened the door and let Elise in first, cringing when she saw all the puppies racing for the two of them, a tidal wave of fur.

  “I hope you don’t mind, but we have quite a few—”

  “Oh!” Elise gasped, and at first, Kylie was worried she hated dogs, but then she crouched and let them all start licking her face. “They’re so cute! Oh!”

  They started to consume her, like locusts, and she giggled, clearly loving every minute of it. Pretty soon, she was on the floor, then on her back, letting them have at her. And have at her, they did.

  Before Kylie could tell them to back off, the young woman squealed, “This is so fun!”

  Kylie watched for a moment, wondering if they’d ever get down to business, with the puppies stealing the show, when Linc came out of the kitchen. “I thought you were—”

  “It’s too wet out there. Can you take the puppies somewhere else so we can talk in peace?”

  He nodded and whistled for Riot and Roxy, the two mostly Vaders, who were starting to get in a fight in the middle of the living room right by her desk. “Yeah. Sure. We’ll go out to the barn.”

  As he left, holding the door open so all of the puppies could tumble out onto the porch, Elise giggled. “They’re so cute. How many do you have?”

  “Ten puppies plus their mom and dad.”

  “Oh my goodness,” the blonde girl said as Kylie led her to a seat beside her desk, which was overflowing with paper. “I’ve always wanted me a puppy, but Cody says we can’t afford it.”

  The skeletal girl perched on the edge of the chair, her back straight, looking carefully at everything with a frown. She shivered, and Kylie wondered if it because she was cold or because the place was such a mess.

  “Sorry that this place is a disaster.”

  “Are you kiddin’ me? This place is great!” Elise exclaimed with a bit of a lisp. “Cody and I just live in a small apartment downtown. He calls it a dump. It’s not bad, though. Overlooks the railroad, and I used to wake up ever time a train went by. Now, I guess I’m used to it.”

  She shivered again.

  Kylie smiled and played hostess. “Would you like something to drink? Coffee or tea? Something to warm you up?”

  “You got any milk?”

  Milk. Strange request, but yes, they had that.

  Kylie went to the kitchen and poured her a big glass of one percent milk. When she came back, Elise had her hands piled in her lap, and Kylie was sure she was trembling, despite it being pretty stuffy and warm inside. She wasn’t sure if it was a chill or her nerves, but she brought a towel so the girl could dry herself off, just in case.

  But if it was nerves, that was okay. That was where Kylie excelled. Greg had told her as much. She had a way of putting people at ease and making them open up—clients, witnesses, everyone. It was an important skill for her line of work, where people were often spilling their deepest secrets.

  Kylie sat down on her chair and pulled her knee up to her chest, trying to be casual. “So, you said you had a possible case you needed help with?”

  Elise’s eyes widened, and her body crumpled. Her eyes volleyed around the room. “Well, I saw your ad, you see. On the placemat? And you seemed so nice whenever I waited on you two guys. I thought if anyone could help me, maybe you could?”

  Kylie smiled. Placemat advertising had been a freaking fabulous idea. She made a mental note to make sure Linc knew that.

  “Sure. I’d like to try. If you tell me what the trouble is.”

  Elise looked at the glass of milk cupped between her hands. “I’m not sleepin’ well at night. I keep tryin’ to, but it’s real hard. Not because of my schedule. I take pills, ones that I got over the counter, not drugs.” She finally looked up and met Kylie’
s gaze. “I don’t do drugs,” she insisted. “Just the sleep ones, but even they don’t do nothin’ for me anymore…”

  Kylie shifted on her seat, listening, trying to understand where the need for a private investigator would come in. Maybe Elise was confused. She spoke so slowly and in circles that even Kylie, who was usually a good listener, found her attention flagging.

  She shifted her gaze to the window, where the dog whisperer was trying to round a bunch of soggy mutts into the barn and having a hell of a time doing it. They’d just managed to get the dogs cleaned up after their earlier mud-bath. And now they were as bad, if not worse. Kylie smiled as two of the pups chased each other’s tails in a circle around him.

  What a disaster.

  “…and I just don’t know when it’s goin’ to end. I need my sleep. I don’t get my sleep and someone at the diner ends up with key lime pie in their lap.”

  Kylie refocused on the woman and sighed. Gently, she said, “Elise, you do know I’m a private investigator, right?”

  Her blue eyes widened again. “Oh, yeah. I sure do.”

  “And that’s what I do. I investigate things for people who need me to help them.”

  Elise nodded vigorously.

  “And, well…have you spoken to a doctor, maybe? One who specializes in sleep disorders? Because if you’re having trouble sleeping, there are doctors who can prescribe you something to help. Unfortunately, I’m not sure if I’m the right person to help you with your problem.”

  Elise stared at her, mouth slightly open, her grip gradually loosening on the full glass of milk. Kylie noticed it before Elise did, but by the time she reached out to steady it, it was too late. The glass slipped from the girl’s grip. It fell to the floor, spilling across the hardwood as the two women jumped to attention.

  Before Elise could apologize, Kylie ran for the ever-present roll of paper towels. “Not a problem,” she said, grabbing it and crouching to wipe up the spill. “You know what they say. No use crying over—”

  “But she’s out there,” Elise said in a small, child-like voice. Tears flooded her eyes. “Somewhere. Without me. And you’re the only one who can maybe bring her back.”

  Kylie stopped swabbing the mess and looked up, thoroughly confused. “Bring who back?”

  “Daisy,” the girl wailed. “My baby. I can’t sleep because she’s not with me. Because I don’t know where she’s at.”

  Kylie gradually rose to her feet, holding the glass and the wet wad of towels. “Your…baby?”

  It might have been that Elise seemed too child-like herself, but Kylie had never imagined that such a tiny little fragile waif could have her own baby. She’d known her for a year at least, and nothing about Elise’s infantile demeanor, slim hips, and nonexistent breasts suggested that she was a mother. Surely, she was speaking of something other than an actual baby. A beloved family pet who’d run away?

  Elise nodded. “Well, she probably ain’t a baby anymore. But…” she reached into her tiny denim purse and pulled out a photograph of a couple-days-old baby, the kind of mug shot that’s usually taken in the hospital, “I can’t stop thinkin’ about her, ma’am.”

  Kylie let the “ma’am” slide this time because she was too eager to hear the rest of the story. She tossed the glass in the sink and the paper towels in the trash and rushed back to the girl, lightning fast. “She’s beautiful. And she’s your baby? I’m sorry, I didn’t realize you were a mother. Can you start at the beginning?”

  Elise opened her mouth to speak, but then stopped when a car horn blared outside. The two of them jumped, and the dogs started to bark. Elise straightened, an expression of pure fright on her face. “Um. Maybe I should just go. I mean, Cody told me this was shit-stupid, me comin’ up here. He told me it was a waste of my time, botherin’ you guys like this, since I don’t got no money.”

  “No, no! Please!” Kylie begged, urging her to sit back down. “I’d like to hear what happened to your…Daisy, you said?”

  Elise nodded and slowly sat down. “Cody’s probably right. I mean, he told me these private investigators are expensive, and I don’t got two pennies to rub together, like my ma used to say. I been saving up, but I still don’t got enough. And if the police say she’s gone, then she’s gone.”

  “All right. But that’s okay.” She put a hand on the girl’s arm. “Don’t worry about that. Just tell me what happened from the very beginning and don’t think about the money. Okay?”

  The horn blared again. That boyfriend of hers, Cody, was being an asshole. Kylie wanted to run outside and stick the horn up his ass.

  Elise shook her head. “I should—”

  Kylie gritted her teeth. “Wait.”

  She went to the window and spotted Linc standing in the driving rain. Whatever whisperings he was using on the dogs was obviously not working since he was drenched through and they were frolicking like drunken college students at a frat party—even the so-called good ones. From his hunched posture, hands in the pockets of his cargo shorts, it looked as if he’d given up. She pushed open the window with the heel of her hand and motioned him over.

  His hair slicked down in his eyes, he loped over to her, looking nothing short of miserable. His t-shirt was plastered to his muscular frame and the water was running in rivers down his face, spouting off his chin like a faucet turned all the way up. As he got closer, he sneezed.

  “God bless you,” she said automatically. “Could you do me a favor and entertain Elise’s boyfriend?”

  He ducked his head under an eave for a momentary reprieve and raised an eyebrow. “Entertain?”

  “Yeah. I’m in the middle of the consultation with Elise, and I’m trying to listen to her story. I’d really like to get to the bottom of this, so I need a few more minutes.”

  Linc shifted his gaze toward the front of the house, where the beat-up old Honda was idling. “What do you want me to do? My soft-shoe routine?”

  “No,” she said, trying not to smile. She’d known he’d say something like that. “I don’t know. Think of something. Show him the llamas. He’s getting ants in his pants, and I really just need five more minutes with her. Please?”

  He grunted and headed to the front of the house, his boots kicking up mud in the deep puddles. She was going to owe him big-time later. Probably in bed, knowing him. Could pregnant women have sex? She’d have to research that later.

  Oh, god. She was pregnant. In the excitement of Elise’s case, she’d almost forgotten.

  Forcing that little notion away, Kylie sat down again and pulled out a pad and pen. “All right. Now, where were we?” Elise was gnawing on her lip, clearly reluctant, so Kylie decided to push her along. “Tell me about Daisy?”

  Elise shook her head. “I don’t…oh!”

  Just then, they were interrupted by Britt, the shiest puppy of the litter. Somehow, while Linc was herding them all outside, Britt must’ve been overlooked, as he often was. Though she had a hard time telling the dogs apart, she knew Britt because he was only about three-quarters the size of the other dogs. He was more German Shepherd than Newf, with a trimmed beige coat and little ears. When he licked at Elise’s flip-flop, she wiggled her purple toenails and giggled.

  “Oh, who’s she?”

  “He. That’s Britt.”

  “Britt!” Elise reached down and lifted him up, regarding him at eye-level before bringing him into her arms. “He’s so cuddly. Oh my gosh, he’s the cutest little doggy.”

  Kylie smiled. “He’s a good boy,” she said as Elise stroked the fur between his ears, completely enamored. “So, about Daisy…?”

  “Daisy. She was my…baby,” Elise said, her voice full of child-like delight, as if she was cooing a bedtime story to the puppy. “Cody ain’t the father, so maybe that’s why he don’t care. I got pregnant when I was seventeen.” She finally took her eyes off the little dog and glanced up at Kylie, shame like a mask on her face.

  Kylie leaned forward and covered her hand with hers. “It’s okay. Just
tell me what happened.”

  Tears came to the young woman’s eyes, and she hugged the pup closer to her chest. “Wasn’t good in school so I fell in with a bad group. We partied a lot. Drinking and doing things we shouldn’t of. One night, I went drinking, passed out, and woke up with a man on top of me.”

  Kylie barely stopped herself from gasping. “Who?”

  Elise shrugged. “Don’t know who. I think it was one of my friends’ fathers. My mom kicked me out when she found out I was pregnant, so I went to live with my older brother, Hal. But he went off to be an army man and left me alone in his trailer. I was scared and mad and sad. All these feelings inside me…and a baby too.”

  Kylie moved her pen to the paper, feeling sad to her very core for Elise. And anger. And helplessness. And through all those emotions, she couldn’t stop thinking about the life inside her.

  This sweet young woman had been serving her and Linc for over a year, always smiling, always happy. It just went to show that everyone was struggling with their demons. It made Kylie feel bad for stressing over her situation. She had a husband who loved her, which was more than a lot of people had.

  “Nine months later, I had Daisy,” Elise said, smiling so brightly that Kylie couldn’t help but return it. “She was perfect. Everythin’ just seemed to fall into place, you know? I stayed home from the diner for six weeks, just me and Daisy, bondin’ and all that. I swear, it was the best time of my life. I loved that little girl with every inch of my heart.”

  “And then?”

  Elise leaned down and planted a kiss on Britt’s wet nose, and Britt licked her chin in return. She giggled. “Well, I don’t got no trust fund, so I knew I’d got to get back to work because I was already three months behind on the rent, and Hal hadn’t sent me any money from the army to pay, so I was up shit’s creek.”

  Kylie’s heart began to pound, the spidey sense she relied on stirring deep in her belly. “What happened, Elise?”

  “I had a neighbor with a grandkid who said she’d watch her durin’ my shift. But then I got back home after a shift and Daisy was gone. So I ask where the baby was, and she tells me that my aunt came and picked her up. I said I don’t got no aunt, don’t got any family ‘cept for my mom who didn’t want to see me and my brother who was off who knows where, but Agnes just insisted it was my aunt, and that’s that. I—”