Anna relaxes a little, and pulls the blanket up to her chin. Neither of them speaks for a while.
“Can you put the TV on? I want to watch something to help me fall asleep.”
Madison tenses. “Apparently it’s broken; the doctor told me earlier. Sorry.”
Anna looks at her. “Really?”
“Yes. But why would you want to watch what they’re saying anyway? It’s not going to do you any good. We know Jenny hasn’t been found and we know stress could harm your baby. Just try to get some sleep.”
“Why are you even here?” Anna’s eyelids look like they’re about to close. She’s clearly exhausted.
“I didn’t want to leave you alone. No one should be alone at a time like this. But as soon as your husband shows up, I’ll leave if you want me to.”
Anna doesn’t answer. She closes her eyes and yawns. It makes Madison yawn too.
“Before you fall asleep, can I ask you something? You might not like it, but don’t get worked up; it’s just something I’m curious about.”
Anna opens her eyes. She doesn’t look concerned. “What’s that?”
“If you’re able to get pregnant, why did you adopt Jenny?”
Panic creeps into her eyes, but she doesn’t look away. “You know, I ask myself that all the time.” She thinks about it. “Ultimately, we wanted to help a child in need.” Her voice becomes drowsy. “You hear of so many unwanted kids, and it’s just devastating, you know? Grant earns a good wage and we had this big house for as many kids as we wanted. But now, in hindsight, I can see that we shouldn’t have done it.” Her eyes close again.
Madison leans in. “Why not? You love Jenny, I can see that.”
Sleepily she says, “But everything was so perfect before. We were so happy. We didn’t need another child. But I guess—”
Madison jumps in before she can stop herself. “Another child?”
Anna’s eyes flutter awake. Her face suddenly changes. She looks grief-stricken, like she’s suddenly remembering something. “I mean… well…” She stops, clearly unsure how to answer. “It’s just… I’d miscarried a few times, so we assumed I couldn’t carry a baby to full term. That’s when we looked into adoption.”
Her face is tense. Madison is certain she’s hiding something, but she’s not sure how to probe without upsetting her and raising her blood pressure again. She’ll have to tread carefully.
“I know how devastating miscarriages are, trust me. If you’re anything like me, you still see them as children. I get that.”
Anna looks relieved, but Madison is just trying to keep her calm. If she’s reading the subtext correctly, it sounds like the Lucases had another child they haven’t told anyone about. She thinks about the painting from the library: a black figure looming over two small children. Are the children in the painting Jenny and her sibling? In which case, who is the black figure? Clearly someone Jenny was afraid of.
“You know, I really need to sleep,” Anna says. “Do you mind leaving me alone for a while?”
Madison stands up, frustrated that she can’t question her properly. She has to remember she’s not a cop anymore, and she’s lucky to even be here right now. Anna could have told her to leave and never come back the minute they got here. “No problem. I’ll be close by if you need me.”
Anna closes her eyes, and her breathing turns heavy before Madison even leaves the room.
Sixty-Seven
Nate finds Madison on the fifth floor. She’s sitting on a small plastic chair, leaning her head awkwardly against the wall. He assumes she’s asleep until she opens her eyes and looks up at him.
“Hey,” she says. “It’s your turn to babysit.”
He smiles at her disheveled appearance. “How about we get out of here?” He looks in on Anna. She’s asleep. “She’ll be okay here overnight. Let’s head back to the guest house and get some food and sleep.”
Madison looks relieved. “That’s the best thing you’ve ever said to me.”
As they walk out of the hospital, Nate wonders if Detective Morgan’s checked on Anna yet. “Has anyone stopped by?”
She shakes her head. “Nope, no one. She called her husband but he didn’t pick up. He’ll probably be here by the time we get back tomorrow morning.”
They walk to his car, and as she buckles herself in, Nate watches her glance behind her. “Brody!” The dog licks her face over the seat. She turns back to Nate. “What’s he doing here?”
“If I didn’t take him, Morgan was going to euthanize him. The son of a bitch would probably shoot the poor dog himself, given a chance.”
“But he won’t be allowed in the guest house, surely?”
He smiles as he drives away from the hospital. “He will if they don’t know. I’ll need you to distract Mary while I get him upstairs. Just for tonight. I’ll find a no-kill shelter in the morning.”
“A shelter?” She looks alarmed. “You do realize they all call themselves no-kill, but the majority still put the animals to sleep when they’re full or low on donations?”
He considers it. “No way. They can’t do that, can they?”
She rolls her eyes. “How can you be so naïve? Of course they do.”
He glances in his rear-view mirror as he thinks about it. Brody is sitting up straight, panting and looking happy with himself. Nate sighs. He can’t keep him—he doesn’t live the kind of lifestyle a dog needs—so he has to find the right owner for him. Rex springs to mind. After a few miles he says, “I have a friend who lives on a ranch. He’s managed to fill it with hundreds of rescue animals. I’m pretty sure he’d take Brody in.”
“Where does he live?”
“San Diego.”
“Shit, that means another delay in getting to Colorado. Can’t we just take him with us for now?”
Nate looks at her. “How are we going to care for a dog while we’re on the road?”
She smiles. “You’ve been doing pretty well already. Can’t you see he’s smitten with you?”
He checks the rear-view mirror. Brody is staring back at him, leaning his head to one side as if he knows they’re discussing him. Then he barks.
“Jeez, how do I get myself into these situations? I guess he can come with us until I can get him to Rex.”
“How does your friend afford to look after so many animals?” Madison asks. “Food alone would be expensive, never mind the vet’s bills.”
Nate looks across at her. “He’s funded by wealthy schmucks who have nothing else to spend their money on.”
It takes her a second to realize who he’s talking about. “You’re funding him?” She laughs. “That’s sweet of you.”
“Sweet, or stupid?”
After another ten minutes, he pulls up in front of the guest house and switches the engine off. “You better distract Mary for us.”
Madison gets out of the car. “Piece of cake.”
Once they’ve eaten dinner, they head to Nate’s room. Mary was delighted when Nate asked for a doggy bag to take upstairs with him, obviously thinking her pot roast had been well received. He just hopes she doesn’t find out how literal the request was. He opens the silver foil and places it on the floor in front of Brody, who starts by gently licking the grey meat to see what it is. Then he devours it, vegetables and all.
“Man, he’s a noisy eater.” Nate switches the TV on low. He sits on his bed and leans back against the headboard.
Madison takes the armchair by the window. After checking out the slow sunset, she turns to him. “Did you ask Morgan about his history with Anna?”
He pulls a face to suggest he did and it didn’t go down well. “He didn’t confirm or deny it.”
“No?”
“No. Instead he threatened to frame me for something hideous and put me in jail if I didn’t leave town.”
She raises her eyebrows. “What the fuck?”
“The reaction of a guilty man.”
“Sometimes I can see why you hate cops. But we’re not all that wa
y, I promise.”
He doesn’t respond.
“This is just getting weirder and weirder,” she says. “I feel like the people who should want Jennifer Lucas found are the ones who are hiding something. Is that just me?”
He sighs and takes a sip of the coffee Mary made him. “I feel exactly the same way. I guess now we have to figure out what their relationship was. I mean, we can’t assume they were lovers just because they went to the same university.”
She sits back. “No. But that would explain why they don’t want us to know.”
Nate thinks about the implications of a romantic relationship. “What if they were lovers in college and she never told her husband? That would explain why they’re being shady about it.”
“But why would Grant care after all this time? He’s married to her, and in this scenario, Anna obviously split up with Morgan at some point.” Her face changes. “Holy crap. Unless they’re having an affair now, and that’s why Grant doesn’t know about it.”
He warms to the idea. The more he thinks about it, the more reasons he can find to explain their reluctance to tell anyone. “That could be it. You know, we could even jump one step further and consider whether Jenny was actually the result of their affair and not adopted.”
She looks confused. “What do you mean? I thought we knew for sure she was adopted. Didn’t your pal check with CPS?”
“Yeah, but maybe Grant had to adopt her because he wasn’t the biological father, but Anna is the biological mother?”
Madison leans forward in her chair. “This is getting complicated. If Morgan’s the biological father—and I think that’s a big if—could that mean he took the girl? Maybe he thought Grant was an asshole; hell, maybe Grant is an asshole and Anna’s been complaining that he beats them or something. That could make Morgan want to rescue his daughter. You know, to protect her. Maybe he and Anna agreed a plan to get Jenny away from Grant.”
Nate’s fully absorbed in this theory now. He gets off the bed and starts pacing the room. “That actually makes a lot of sense.”
“You know what?” says Madison. “Wouldn’t it be amazing if that’s the case and Jennifer Lucas is actually still alive? It’s been so easy to assume she was dead this whole time. I’d love to be right on this and get a happy ending to a missing child case for once.”
Nate tries not to quash her hope, but they have to be realistic. “It would be great, but what are the chances of Morgan being able to live with his daughter in plain sight when everyone around here knows there’s a twelve-year-old girl missing? He would have to leave town with her if that’s what he’s after.”
She appears to think about it as Brody finishes his food. He’s destroying the silver foil, so Nate picks it up. “You can’t eat that, buddy.” He throws it in the trash can and sits back on the bed. The dog rests on the rug.
They’re both silent for almost five minutes, absorbed in possible theories, then Madison looks across at him. “You know what we have to do, don’t you?”
“What?”
“We have to search Morgan’s house.”
The possibility of a police officer being involved in Jennifer’s disappearance reinvigorates Nate. He smiles. He might not be getting paid for this job now that Esme’s passed away, but there’s something about catching bent cops that makes it all worthwhile.
Sixty-Eight
Anna sleeps through the night; a whole eleven hours straight. As she slowly wakes up, she tries to think back to when she last had more than three hours’ sleep, but it must have been a long time ago, because she can’t remember. She rests her hands on her stomach and smiles at the curve of her bump. Is it just her imagination, or has it grown overnight? She laughs to herself. It can’t have.
She sits up just as a nurse she hasn’t met before enters.
“Morning, Mrs. Lucas!” says the nurse cheerily. “How do you feel today? You certainly had a good sleep. I came to check on you earlier and you were happily drooling away!”
Anna smiles and self-consciously wipes her mouth. “I feel amazing. Really refreshed. I’m hungry too, which is rare these days.”
“Good. Breakfast will be along soon. I just need to check the dog bite isn’t infected.” The nurse unwraps the bandage on her arm. The cuts are leaking. “I know it looks nasty, but the liquid is clear, so that’s a good sign. They should start drying up if we give them some air.” She rubs some cream on them. “I’ll leave the bandage off for today, but try not to touch the arm or wear anything over it until it’s looking a bit drier, okay?”
Anna nods. The nurse checks the IV drip in her other arm. She takes her blood pressure and temperature, makes some notes and then leaves.
Anna is feeling optimistic, almost like today could be the start of something new. She realizes it’s the first day of July and smiles at the thought of drawing a line under everything that’s happened and using today as the start of her new life. Then she thinks of Grant. A feeling of dread almost overwhelms her as she retrieves her cell phone from the nightstand.
She has three missed calls from an unknown number, but nothing from Grant. That’s odd. Maybe he’s about to turn up. Feeling uneasy, she tries calling him. She’d rather know where he is than wait for him to appear without warning. She lets the phone ring for longer than she would normally wait and is rewarded with a response.
“Anna?”
“Where are you, Grant?”
She can hear the sound of the car’s engine in the background. He must be using hands-free.
“Grant? I’m in the hospital. Where are you?”
She hears a loud sigh. “I can’t do it, Anna. I can’t do it anymore.”
Her chest suddenly tightens. “You can’t do what? What are you talking about?”
“All this! It has to end! I read your journal.”
Her heart sinks. She knows they can’t survive as a couple now.
“I can’t live like this anymore.” He pauses. “I can’t live with you, Anna. You won’t see me again.”
She grips the side of the bed with her spare hand. The positivity she woke up with vanishes in an instant. “Grant? What are you saying? Where are you? Come to the hospital, honey. I need you.”
She hears sobbing and it makes her heart ache. “Grant? Don’t you dare leave me this way. Don’t make it all for nothing!”
He doesn’t respond. She listens to the hum of the car’s engine and the occasional gasping sob. Eventually he speaks again. “I’m going to be with Jenny.”
She gasps. What does he mean? She’s about to yell his name, but the call abruptly ends.
Sixty-Nine
Breakfast is greasy but filling, and Nate manages to sneak some extra bacon up to his room afterwards for Brody. He isn’t sure whether to take the dog with them to Detective Morgan’s house. “What do you think?” he asks Madison.
She looks down at Brody, who’s sitting next to the door, keen to get going. “Well, we can’t leave him here. Mary would find him when she cleans our rooms.”
He hadn’t thought of that. “I guess that decides it then.”
Just as they’re about to leave, Nate’s cell phone buzzes with a new email alert. When he sees who the sender is, his stomach flips with dread.
“I’ve got to read this.”
“Okay, I’ll just get a few things from my room and I’ll be right back.”
Nate sits on the bed, his legs suddenly weak.
I see you have a new lady friend. Yes, Nathaniel, I have eyes on you. First Stacey, then Kristen, and now a new woman. How long will it be before you get her killed too?
That’s all it says. He stands up, knowing that’s the confirmation he needs that Father Connor was involved in Kristen’s disappearance. His adrenaline kicks up a gear and he feels the familiar craving for coke. He heads to the bathroom but doesn’t pull out his stash. Instead he stares at himself in the mirror. He sees his twenty-one-year-old self looking back at him. Is this never going to end? He can’t understand why Stacey’s
uncle won’t leave him alone to live out the rest of his life in peace.
“What’s the matter?” asks Madison, appearing behind him.
His fists are clenched and he feels like shit. He tries to concentrate on what he’s about to do, but his mind is clouded by Father Connor’s words.
“Oh shit. You’re not using today, are you?” she says. “You can’t turn up at a cop’s house fully loaded, Nate. You could get us killed!”
He can’t seem to speak. The words won’t come out. He slides his phone across the vanity and she picks it up and reads the email.
“Is this the piece of shit who killed your fiancée?”
He nods.
She moves closer and puts a hand on his back. “Nate, you have to hold it together. You’re letting him get to you, which is exactly what he wants.”
“Why won’t he leave me alone?” He spits the words out.
She reads the email again. “He likes the control he has over you. And he doesn’t have eyes on you. He’s just pretending he’s got some paid knuckleheads clocking your every move, but it’ll be him who’s following you. His life is so shit, all he can do is track you around the country. And isn’t he about seventy by now? Sure, he got away with murder, but now he’s just some weak old man near the end of his pathetic life. You have your health, a good thirty years on him, plus a shit ton of money and your freedom. You win, Nate. Stop letting him control you.”
He’s taking deep breaths to calm down. If Madison wasn’t here, he would’ve gone on a bender for sure. He knows she’s right, but it’s still galling that the guy can wind him up so badly. “He has his sister.” He thinks of meek, deplorable Deborah, who lied about him under oath, despite her strong religious beliefs. He shakes his head. “It’s the bit about him getting away with it that bothers me.”
“I know. Trust me, I understand. But we’ll get him in the end. Someone like that can’t outsmart us.”
He looks at her. Is she offering to help him? “I thought you wanted to go to Colorado?”
Shadow Falls Page 24
