Killer in Sight (A Tom Lackey Mystery)

by Sandra Carrington-Smith

  “He told us you were coming.” Mike said before

  moving out of the way to let the nurse through.

  After measuring Rose’s blood pressure, the nurse

  looked at her face. “Well, you are still weak, and your

  pulse is a little low, but your blood pressure is not too

  bad—115 over 75—so I think it will be okay for you to

  go when you are ready.” She smiled at Rose and was

  about to walk out the door, when she stopped and turned

  around. She sat on the chair Mike had occupied until a

  few moments before, and took Rose’s hand into her

  own, while she stroke Rose’s hair with the other. “I lost

  my little girl too, a few years ago. I know how you are

  feeling.”

  Her words were the magic touch that rescued Rose

  from the icy prison which had sprung up around her

  heart the moment she saw Tracey laying on the gurney

  and, as Rose looked into her eyes, she saw that the

  woman was sincere. Their common loss was a bond

  stronger than death itself. Rose squeezed her hand,

  almost throwing herself into the arms of the woman

  sitting by her side. She rested her head on the woman’s

  ample bosom and sobbed. The woman’s arms wrapped

  around Rose as unchecked tears ran down her cheeks.

  After a few moments the tears subsided, and Rose

  pulled back to look at her. “Thank you…I know that you

  understand completely.”

  The woman smiled, one of her plump hands quickly

  wiping her own face as she stood up. “Yes, and I can tell

  you that it will be a long journey for you. The pain will

  dull over time, but your daughter will never leave your

  heart. You will crave to hear the sound of her voice

  when you need comfort, and when you need to hear it, it

  will be there, forever recorded somewhere deep inside

  of you. To this day, if I close my eyes, I can hear my

  Lisa talking to me. If you have any other children, focus

  on them, and be grateful for the time you are given with

  them, no matter how long it is. Your pain might push

  you to focus on the time you no longer have to spend

  with your daughter, but I advise you to focus on the time

  you had with her, because that was a gift to you from

  God. Some souls are so pure that they only agree to

  come here for a short while with the distinct purpose to

  teach us something, and any of us who had them in our

  lives are very fortunate.” With that, the woman walked

  toward the door, and with one last smile, she was gone.

  Rose regretted not asking what her name was.

  #

  Kathy watched Alexis with pride, as the girl ran her

  delicate fingers over the camera while her eyes reflected

  her excitement at being able to handle such a

  sophisticated piece of equipment.

  “Wow! This is so nice…” Alexis said while she kept

  her eyes fixed on the camera.

  Kathy smiled and placed her hand over Alexis’ tiny

  one. “Alexis, how are you feeling, honey?”

  Alexis seemed surprised at the question. “I am okay.

  I just don’t understand some things.”

  “That’s a lot to process. Would you like to talk

  about it?”

  Alexis was quiet for a moment, her mind assessing

  the question, then she looked at Kathy, and her eyes

  filled with tears. “I’m going to miss Tracey. My mom

  says Tracey’s still alive, but I know she is dead. Lily

  said…” She stopped abruptly, and bit on her lower lip.

  Her eyes darted up and down the room as if she was

  trying to make sure nobody could have heard.

  “Lily?” Kathy asked softly, “Is she a friend of

  yours?”

  Alexis thought for a moment, her small hands

  kneading the top of the camera she was holding; it was

  obvious that she was making a decision at that very

  moment.

  “Yes,” she said as she nodded her head and averted

  her eyes. “Lily is my friend.”

  “That’s great. Do you and Lily go to school

  together?”

  “Sometimes.” Alexis answered evasively.

  Kathy was a bit confused but tried hard not to show

  it. “Only sometimes?” She could sense Alexis’

  discomfort, and almost let the matter go, when Alexis

  spoke.

  “My mom and dad say Lily doesn’t exist, but she

  does!”

  Kathy caught on immediately. “Do your parents call

  Lily your imaginary friend?”

  Alexis’s eyes opened wide. “Yes! But she is not

  imaginary. I can really see her. Has anything like that

  ever happened to you?”

  “No, unfortunately not. But, my sister had one—

  Jenny—and she talked to her all the time. I used to be

  jealous of her, because if my sister played with Jenny, I

  didn’t have a playmate.”

  “Did your sister tell you Jenny was real?”

  Kathy smiled. “Yes, many times. And our parents

  never believed her.”

  “Same with my parents. They think I made Lily up.

  I told my mom what Lily said the other day, and she got

  really mad at me.”

  Kathy wanted to know more. “How old is Lily?”

  “Hmm…I never asked her exactly, but I think she is

  about twelve.”

  “What type of games do you play with her?”

  “Anything we come up with together. Sometimes

  she decides, and other times I do. She likes to play Hide

  and Go Seek, and another game called Charades. It’s a

  word game, you know. Lily says she used to play it all

  the time. I like to play computer games, but she says she

  can’t play those.”

  “I know Charades—my sister and I played

  sometimes, too. It’s an old game which goes back as far

  as Civil War times.” Kathy said animatedly.

  “Wow! Really?”

  “Yes, a lot of the popular games kids play today

  originated in the past.” Kathy paused for a moment.

  “So,” she then asked, “what did Lily say that made your

  mom so mad?”

  Alexis remained briefly silent, her small hand

  touching her left cheek. When she spoke, she shook her

  head softly. ”Lily said that Tracey is not coming back,

  that she’s dead.”

  Kathy arched her eyebrows. “I can see how

  something so devastating would upset your mom; she is

  probably still clinging to the hope of finding your sister

  alive. Did you ask Lily how she knows?”

  Alexis shrugged her shoulders. “When I ask her

  questions, sometimes she just runs off laughing and asks

  to play. You know, one time Lily helped me find a

  bracelet I thought I had lost. She told me to look at the

  bottom of my old toy basket and there it was! Do you

  think she hid it there herself, just to mess with me?”

  Kathy remembered reading several case studies

  discussing imaginary friends, but she couldn’t recall any

  of them describing similar experiences. “I’m not sure,

  Alexis. Does Lily ever tell you anything about her life?”

  “No, not really. I once asked her why she dress
es

  funny, and she didn’t really understand what I was

  talking about. I thought maybe her family is Amish or

  something. She always wears these weird dresses and

  she doesn’t know what an MP3 player is. At first I

  thought she was a bit strange, but she is nice and I like

  to talk to her.”

  “That’s interesting,” Kathy replied. “Maybe her

  mom sews her clothes.”

  “Yeah, maybe.” Alexis replied, and then her

  attention reverted back to the camera. “What kind of

  camera is it?”

  “It’s a Canon EOS7D. Do you like it?”

  ‘Oh yes! How many megapixels?”

  “Eighteen. It’s a very versatile camera. And a very

  expensive one, at that. I usually leave this one at the

  studio, and only carry the other one with me wherever I

  go.”

  Alexis was intrigued. “You mean you have more

  than one camera you use?”

  “Yes. I use this one for portraits and other

  professional shots, and I carry a smaller Canon for

  personal use. See? That one over there on my desk. It is

  a Canon Powershot. It only has nine megapixels, but it

  is a very reliable camera.”

  Alexis carefully handed the larger camera back to

  Kathy and hopped off the couch, heading toward

  Kathy’s desk.

  “I like this one,” She said as she extended a hand to

  touch the small camera. “It’s more like something I

  would use. I would worry about messing up the other

  one. Does it take good pictures?”

  Kathy joined her at the desk.” Yes, it really does for

  a small camera. And it is durable, too. It dropped off the

  table twice last night, and it still functions. I took some

  photos around the house with it, to make sure it wasn’t

  damaged, and it seemed to work well. The only problem

  is that the photos seem to have too much light…all of

  them came out a little strange.”

  Alexis arched her eyebrow and looked at Kathy.

  “What do you mean by strange?”

  “I’m not sure. I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything

  like that. They all show an extra shot of light

  superimposed over the items I was shooting.”

  “That’s wild,” Alexis said with as much professional

  demeanor as she could muster. “Can I see them?”

  Kathy shrugged. “I don’t see why not. Let me get

  them for you; I even printed them out.” She opened her

  briefcase and took out a manila folder. She pulled out

  the pictures, and laid them side by side in front of

  Alexis. “See what I’m saying? They all have the same

  light. I thought maybe the camera was damaged, but I

  tried taking a few more photos with it, and they came

  out fine. So, I have no clue what happened to these

  shots.” She turned on the lamp over the pictures to make

  it easier for Alexis to see them.

  Alexis didn’t say anything at first. Her eyes darted

  back and forth from one photo to the next, and her chin

  began to quiver.

  Kathy noticed immediately that something wasn’t

  right. “What’s wrong, Alexis? Are you okay?”

  Alexis continued to shake her head, and by now

  tears were running freely down her cheeks. Her hands

  were shaking as she ran a finger over the images, and

  she swallowed audibly several times.

  “For God’s sake, Alexis, what’s wrong? You’re

  scaring me!”

  Alexis turned to look at Kathy, and her words came

  out in a pained whisper. “This isn’t light, Miss Kathy…

  this is my sister, Tracey.”

  #

  When Tom got home, Kathy was sitting at the small

  desk in the kitchen looking at the photos she had shot

  the night before. She was so taken by her task that she

  didn’t even hear him come in. He stood at the doorway

  and watched her for a moment—he loved the look on

  her face when she was completely absorbed by

  something she was working on. Kathy picked up one

  shot and looked at it under the light; then she placed it

  beside the others and seemed to be studying them as a

  whole. Suddenly she stopped and turned around. “Hey, I

  didn’t know you were home. How long have you been

  there in the shadows?” She said smiling; then she stood

  up and pushed her chair against the desk.

  Tom walked toward her and wrapped his arms

  around her waist. “Just a couple of minutes. I love to

  watch you while you are working. You look like a sexy

  librarian with those reading glasses on.”

  Kathy laughed. “A sexy librarian? I like that!”

  “So, what’s for dinner?”

  “Hmm…I’m not sure yet. I just got here not too

  long ago myself—I had to drop Alexis off at the hotel,

  remember?”

  Tom nodded. “Yes. I so appreciate you chipping in.

  The family is very distressed. I can only imagine how

  hard it will be to break the news to their younger

  daughter.”

  Kathy tried her best to sound casual, though she

  knew there really wasn’t a way to say what she was

  going to say and not sound insane. “Alexis already

  knew, Tom.”

  Tom shook his head sadly. “Children can be very

  intuitive, unfortunately. Alexis must have heard some of

  the conversations between her parents and the detectives

  who went to their home.”

  “No, Tom. You’re not hearing me…I mean that

  Alexis really knew. She has a friend she talks to, and her

  friend told her about Tracey.” As she uttered those

  words, Kathy realized how strange they sounded, even

  to herself.

  “I’m not following you, Kathy. What friend? Should

  the police know about this?”

  “No, no…it’s a different type of friend. What you

  would call an imaginary friend.”

  Tom raised his eyebrows and his eyes got wider.

  “An imaginary friend? And this imaginary friend told

  Alexis about her sister? Of course she did—I assume it

  is a ‘she,’ right?—isn’t that what imaginary friends do?

  Kids make them up to feel less alone. That’s why they

  are called ‘imaginary.’”

  “That’s correct, Tom, but I don’t think it is the case

  with Alexis. I really believe Lily is a spirit rather than a

  figment of her imagination.”

  Tom looked at Kathy as if she had suddenly grown

  three heads. “A spirit?! You can’t be serious, Kathy. Tell

  me you don’t really believe that.”

  Kathy weighed her words for a moment. She

  wanted to tell Tom about the photos, and she already

  knew that he wasn’t going to be very receptive if she

  pushed the “spirit” issue too far, so she decided to be

  diplomatic. “I’m not sure, Tom. Alexis was reticent to

  talk; it was like she was scared I wasn’t going to believe

  her. But, some of the things she said are so unusual for a

  child to make up that I think they came from someone

  else.”

  Tom’s curiosity was piqued, but he asked cautiously,

 
“What sort of things?”

  “Well,” Kathy answered, “for one thing, this Lily

  wears strange clothes for a modern child, and she won’t

  touch a computer; she doesn’t even know what an MP3

  player is.”

  “That’s it?” Tom sounded a little surprised. “What

  kind of imaginary friend did you expect her to create? A

  gang member?” As soon as the words escaped his lips,

  Tom noticed that his tone was more irritated than he

  ever meant for it to be. “I’m sorry, Kathy…it has been a

  very long, exhausting day. I really appreciate the fact

  that you were willing to help, and I am sure it was good

  for Alexis to have someone to talk to, but we are dealing

  with a child who just lost her big sister—some strange

  things are going to come out of her mouth.”

  From his words and tone, Kathy knew that this

  wasn’t a good time to expand the conversation, so she

  decided to focus on dinner and to leave the really

  spooky stuff for later, hoping that a full stomach and a

  backrub would make Tom more receptive. “You’re right,

  Tom. It has been a long day for all of us. Why don’t you

  go change while I whip up something for dinner?” She

  tried her best to smile nonchalantly.

  Tom smiled. “It sounds like a very good plan. I’ll be

  back in a minute.” With that, he left the room and Kathy

  opened cabinets to find something fast and easy to

  prepare. She found a box of Macaroni and Cheese in the

  pantry, so she put a pot of water to boil on the stove and

  some dinner rolls in the oven. She was too tired to enjoy

  a glass of wine and knew it would quickly put her to

  sleep, but she also needed Tom to relax enough to hear

  what she had to say, so she poured two glasses and

  brought them to the table. By the time Tom came back

  to the kitchen, everything was ready. They ate quietly

  for the most part, but Kathy’s heart skipped a beat when

  Tom asked her if she was working on something new.

  “No, not particularly. I’m working on a wedding

  package, but I am down to the last few touches. The

  bride is gorgeous—she doesn’t need too much help to

  look breathtaking.”

  “Is that what you were working on when I came in?

  You were completely taken by those pictures…it almost

  looked as if you were holding your breath.”

  This is the perfect time… Kathy toyed with the idea

  of showing the photos to Tom, but how could she

  convey what she wanted to say without sounding like