by Robin Mahle
Will raised his glass and waited for her to join him. “Cheers. And congrats to both of us for passing the test.”
“Cheers.” Kate looked to Will and smiled. Although he was aware of some of her past, mostly from what was splashed around in the media, he didn’t know all of it. All the unpleasantness that led to her arrival to this very point in time. It was freeing and she began to understand that this was what it was like to start over. Fresh, with no baggage. Well, she had plenty of baggage, but it was much easier to leave behind when she wasn’t being constantly reminded of its presence.
This was what they had wanted; the girls in the pictures Kate had studied for so long. At least, the ones who’d come to America believing it was the land of opportunity. Now they were nothing more than slaves. She was enjoying the food and the conversation, but her mind never left them and she would find whoever was taking the women, robbing them of the new life they’d so badly wanted.
Kate dabbed her lips with the napkin and reached for her purse when the waitress placed the bill on their table.
“Hey. Hold up. You aren’t paying for this. I asked you to dinner, remember?”
“Will. Stop. I’m not going to let you pay for me, okay?” She retrieved a fifty-dollar bill and placed it on the table, but before she could let it go, Will laid his hand on top of hers.
“No. Please, this is my treat.” His hand lingered in place.
Kate waited for another moment, then decided she wasn’t going to fight this battle and really only wanted to pull her hand away. “Fine. Thank you. That’s very nice of you.”
“All right then. You ready to go?” he asked, leaving his own cash on the table to cover the much-too-expensive meal.
Kate put her money away. “I’m ready.”
As they walked out of the restaurant, Will lay his hand against the small of her back. She flinched and tried hard to conceal it. She hadn’t wanted to make Will feel bad. He was only doing what most men do, but the problem was, she hadn’t been touched that way in a very long time and it was something that Marshall always used to do.
She brushed off the discomfort and walked outside into the warm night air. Warm by east coast standards, not by southern California standards. But it felt nice nonetheless. Kate reached into her purse and pulled out her car keys. “I really needed this tonight, Will. Thanks for the wonderful dinner and conversation.” She unlocked her car.
“Do you want to go and get a drink somewhere? I mean, it’s what, like ten o’clock?”
“We do have to go in tomorrow morning, you know.”
“I know, but come on; we’re having fun here, aren’t we? Let’s go grab a drink at some dive bar.”
Kate noticed he’d moved in a little closer and, for a moment, she didn’t mind. But then she remembered who she was. “Thanks for the offer, but I don’t think so. I’m too old to be going into work hung over. Some of us aren’t twenty-three anymore.”
“I’m twenty-seven.” He placed his hand against her car door.
“Will.” Kate wasn’t ready for this. Not now, not until a time that she couldn’t even envision yet.
“What?” he whispered.
His lips were so close to hers, she could feel the heat of his breath on her mouth. The idea that he could be someone to offer comfort. She thought how good it would feel to be touched again. Her heart still ached so badly and for a moment, it was Marshall’s breath she felt; his whisper in her ear.
Will’s lips touched hers and she did not pull back. It could be him, just for a moment.
The tears pooled in her eyes when she remembered this man was not Marshall. She pulled away. “I’m sorry, Will. I can’t.” Kate stepped inside the car. As she turned the ignition, she saw the look on Will’s face – disappointment, and she’d put it there.
“Kate, I’m sorry. Don’t go.”
“I have to.” She pulled the door closed and drove away. In her rear view, she watched him standing there, alone. He finally walked away.
Kate turned up the radio as loud as she could to drown out her thoughts. Guilt over a betrayal that wasn’t really there, guilt over treating a kind man that way. For a moment, all she wanted to do was keep driving. Just go back home. Not to her home here, but her home in San Diego. Only it wasn’t hers anymore.
Kate’s cell phone buzzed and the Bluetooth picked up the call. She immediately suspected it was Will wanting to offer an apology he did not owe, but instead, the caller ID on her dash showed Nick’s name.
“Nick. What’s going on?” She cleared her throat and hoped he hadn’t picked up on her shaky tone.
“We got the labs back on the woman in Virginia Beach.” He paused. “Kate, not only is it a match to the DNA found on that earring, they found foreign DNA too.”
Kate was trying to absorb the information, pushing back the regret that had begun to consume her thoughts.
“I need you in the field office—now.”
TEN
The streets were heaving with summer tourists, even at this late hour, but Kate made it to the WFO in pretty good time. She hadn’t bothered going home to get changed and felt somewhat uncomfortable showing up in a dress and high heels.
On arrival, she noticed several agents still hard at work and soon spotted Agent Jameson. “Hey. You’re here awfully late.”
“Well, hey there.” He turned around. “I guess I could say the same thing about you.”
“Agent Scarborough asked me to come in. Said he’s got the labs back. Have you seen them?”
“I have. I’m working on the files now. Looks like you were out having fun.” Jameson eyed her slim figure, which her long dress so elegantly revealed.
Kate smiled. “I guess.” She started to walk away. “I better go see what he needs. Catch up with you later.” The corridor was carpeted and Kate suddenly found new appreciation for it. Otherwise, she would have been heard coming from a mile away in her high-heeled strappy shoes. “Knock, knock.”
“Come on in,” he replied, still staring at his computer screen. It was only when Kate moved in closer did he turn his eyes towards her. “Wow. Look at you. What, were you on a date or something?” He caught himself. “I’m sorry. None of my business.”
“It’s fine. No, it wasn’t a date. Just friends having dinner.”
“Gotcha. Thanks for coming down. I know it’s late. I wanted to go over what we found and then talk about the websites and start to put the data together on the tattoos. See if there’s anything there.”
“Shoot.” Raising her dress a little, Kate lowered herself onto the chair across from his desk. She was ready to get down to business.
“First, let me start with the foreign DNA found on Jane Doe’s body. Have you heard the name Martin Druseburg?”
“Doesn’t sound familiar.” Kate leaned back in her chair. “Who is he?”
“A man who has enough money to pay for pretty much anything he wants. Apparently, he made his fortune selling off his small software company to one of the big boys.”
“Okay. The guy’s rich and he likes the company of eastern European women. Enough that he wanted to keep one as a pet?” Kate was startled by her own blunt tone, but chalked it up to the late hour and the whiskey that had settled on top of her meal.
“That’s what I’m thinking.”
“If that’s the case…” Kate sat back up and leaned on the desk. “Wait, how did she die?”
“OD’d.”
“So, we assume he gave her the drugs and she decided to take more than she should? Because I have to think that he wouldn’t have wanted anything to happen to his investment.”
“Exactly. I think she wanted out and thought this was her only way. But, Kate, we have a match. On this man who paid money for her and a match on the earring you found in that house.”
“We don’t have a name. Who was she? And why is this wealthy man in the system?”
“He had to give a sample a year ago to absolve him of charges from a woman who claimed he raped her. Tur
ns out it had been someone else. Not that that alone would convince me of the man’s innocence. I find it hard to believe the charges would have come from out of the blue. But anyway, once you’re in the database, you stay in. And it gives us an idea of the type of person we’re dealing with. Seems to fit right in with this current Jane Doe situation. As far as Jane’s identity, I emailed Detective Garrett a picture of the body. Someone’s bound to identify her.”
“Okay. In the meantime, I think we’ve got something on this branding theory.” Kate was about to elaborate, but Agent Myers walked in.
“Hey, Georgia. You just get in?” Nick’s face lit up in an instant.
Kate recognized that look. She used to wear it all the time.
“A while ago. I freshened up a little and then decided to check up on you. It’s been a long day.”
“I’m sure it has,” Nick replied. “But that’s it, right? Case is over?”
Myers continued inside and sat down in the chair next to Kate. “You look nice. Let me guess, you were on a date when this one here called you in?”
“Something like that,” Kate replied.
“It’s good to see you’re getting out and starting to make some friends, Kate. You deserve to enjoy yourself once in a while.” Myers returned her attention to Nick. “Yes. The case is finished. Well, my part in it is. So what are you two working on that required taking her from what looked to be a fun night out?”
“I was just about to tell Kate that she and I are going to take a trip up to Virginia Beach. We got a female victim and found DNA on her that matched who we think was holding her.”
“That’s good news. When are you leaving?”
Nick turned to Kate. “I’m going to head up first thing in the morning and I’d like you to catch the first flight out after your class. Can you do that?”
“Yeah, absolutely. Won’t be a problem.” Kate pushed up from her chair. “Well, I’ll leave you two alone. I’ll go over the website images with Agent Jameson and see if we can put a report together for you. Good night.” Kate moved towards the door, closing it behind her.
A large, open space occupied much of the fourth floor. Desks, computers, and wall monitors reminded Kate of a communications room or something along those lines. It served as the nerve center for the unit. Kate found Agent Jameson once again and was ready to get to work. “I’m back. You got some time to go over the photos from the websites?”
He turned from his monitor. “You bet. Sit down and show me what you’ve got.”
Kate logged into the system and retrieved the files she’d been compiling. “I started to see these tattoos and didn’t think much of it at first, but then I recalled that they were similar. So I talked to Agent Scarborough and mentioned that I think this guy could be branding the girls he takes.” She clicked on the file that contained the images she’d pulled so far that all had the similar markings. “See here.” Her pinky lined up with the girl’s back. She was naked and standing with her back to the camera. “Just above her right thigh. You see that?”
Jameson zoomed in on the image. “It looks like a tattoo of a flower. Maybe a sunflower? I don’t know; it’s kind of hard to tell.”
“I think it could be a daisy.”
“Oh yeah, I can see that.”
Kate proceeded to pull up multiple images and pointed out similar markings. All were flowers, but different in one way or another; species, or color.
“Holy shit.” Jameson rolled his chair back. “You’re right. This guy is branding them like cattle.”
She nodded her agreement. “We need to know if this Jane Doe has a tattoo.”
“If she does, then Druseburg knows James Corbett. Good work, NAT.” Jameson cracked a wide smile and locked his pudgy fingers across his thick waist. “I’ll take this to Scarborough. You should go home and get some rest. Tomorrow’s going to be a long day.”
Kate rose from the chair. “You’re right. Better get some rest while I can. I’ll see you tomorrow afternoon. Thanks, Dwight.”
“Oh hey, congrats on passing PT.”
A curious grin crossed her lips. “Thanks, but how did you know?”
“You realize this is the FBI, right?”
His deadpan expression brought her to laughter. “Right.”
» » »
Kate flipped on the hall light and immediately kicked off her shoes. It’d been too long since she’d worn heels and her feet hurt like hell. If she knew what was good for her, she’d walk straight into her bedroom and go to bed. But she was too anxious now and had almost forgotten the disastrous end to her evening with Will. Almost.
With thirst nagging away at her, she walked to the kitchen and pulled a bottle of water from the fridge. Wine rattled again in the refrigerator door. “What the hell,” she said, and poured herself a glass.
An uncomfortable and awkward feeling began to rise in her and the thoughts pushed aside her previous elation from Jameson’s praises. She didn’t mean to hurt Will’s feelings, but then, he shouldn’t have put her in that position in the first place.
“Forget it. I shouldn’t feel bad,” she said, walking to the couch. The late night talk shows were almost over, but it didn’t matter; she just wanted the sound of people’s voices. She curled up her legs and pulled the long dress over her knees. There was a chill inside this house. It didn’t seem to matter that it was summer, the place never really heated up. Perhaps because it was surrounded by enormous trees that blocked out much of the sun’s warmth.
Kate only sipped on the wine as she watched the television. Her initial desire for it having faded as the minutes ticked by and probably stemmed from a need to drown out her guilt over leaving Will that way. She soon recalled the look on Nick’s face when Georgia walked into his office earlier tonight. It was nice to see and she did miss that, very much, in fact.
A lump began to rise in her throat and Kate tried hard to swallow it back down again. So many people had treated her with kid gloves since she lost Marshall. Like she would just break in two at the mere mention of his name. Some days it was like that, but she never let them know what it truly felt like for her—to lose him.
Still, she thought about the kiss and how it reminded her of him. Kate placed her fingers over her lips and closed her eyes, reliving the softness and the gentle touch. “Stop,” she told herself. But it was too late; her eyes reddened and began to spill over.
Kate picked up her cell phone from the table and opened up Will’s contact information. Her finger hovered over his number. Don’t. She began typing a text to him. It would be easier than talking. “Hey. You up?” The casualness of the words felt contrived. She stared at the message. Finally, she pressed send.
Immediately, she regretted the action and put her phone down, standing up to go to her room. If he answered, she was just going to ignore it. Kate began walking away when the familiar buzz sounded. She stopped in the middle of the living room. A minute or longer must have passed because it sounded again. A reminder that she’d received the message.
“Go to bed. Just go to bed,” she whispered, but loneliness was overpowering her logic and he reminded her of him. She turned to pick up her phone and read the reply. “I’m awake. You okay?”
“I could use a friend.” She held the phone, waiting. Her pulse was rising and her hands trembled. Her thumb still hovered over the send button. Kate closed her eyes and touched the screen.
An immediate reply came back. “I’ll be there in 30.”
She had plenty of time to tell him not to come, that he should turn around and just go back home. But she didn’t. Instead, she consumed all that was left of the wine in her glass, closed her eyes and simply waited, remembering the kiss, remembering how it felt to be so close – convincing herself that this was okay. Finally, the knock on her door came.
Kate felt weak, but she rose from the couch and carried herself to the door. With a click of the deadbolt, she momentarily postponed the inevitable and reconsidered the consequences.
&nbs
p; “Kate? It’s me, Will.” His voice sounded through the door.
A deep breath filled her lungs and the door opened. “Hi.” A fragile smile came only by force. “Come on in.”
“Are you okay?” Will closed the door behind him.
“I’m fine. Come sit down. Can I get you something to drink?”
“I’ll take a beer, thanks.”
Kate returned with an opened bottle of beer. She sat down next to him, but didn’t speak.
“You’re not okay, are you? You want to tell me what’s going on and why I’m here?”
No, she didn’t because she didn’t know why he was there, except that she missed Marshall, and seeing how happy Nick was with Georgia just made her feel even more alone.
“I just wanted a friend to talk to. Is that okay?”
“Of course it is. I am your friend, Kate.”
“Thank you.” A genuine smile appeared on her lips this time.
Will raised his hand and pushed the hair from her face. He ran his finger along the scar on her left temple.
Kate knew he’d seen it before. Her hair was always pulled back and, although it wasn’t as noticeable now, it was still evident. “You want to know how I got that?”
Will shook his head. “Not in the least.”
» » »
Her room was quiet, dark. Kate lay in her bed, staring out the window that let in a hint of moonlight around the edge of the curtains. This shouldn’t have happened. All Kate wanted was to feel something other than grief and loneliness. She wanted to feel loved again. But this man next to her now didn’t love her; at least, she didn’t believe he did. And she didn’t love him.
His arms around her offered momentary comfort, but now she regretted it, as though she’d just betrayed Marshall, and it did nothing to fill the emptiness.
Kate turned her head to Will. He was asleep. Her lips quivered as she looked at the man who was not Marshall. She had to get out of this bed. She had to get away from him.
