Girl Eight: A Mercy Harbor Thriller

by Melinda Woodhall

  Nessa didn’t respond, but her mind flashed back to a conversation she’d had with Barker in the weeks after she’d been shot. They had discussed the Natalie Lorenzo homicide, and he’d told her that he had been the one to tell Natalie’s twelve-year-old son, Vinny, that his mother had been killed.

  The encounter had left Barker with the conviction that he wasn’t cut out to be a detective.

  “And what does the Lorenzo case have to do with Leo Steele or his mother’s homicide?”

  “He thinks the cases may be related. That the same perp may have killed both Natalie Lorenzo and Helena Steele.”

  Nessa’s mouth went dry at the idea. Had the same man killed the two women and gotten away with it? She coughed, reaching for her water bottle and taking a long sip.

  “And what do you think, Barker? You investigated the Lorenzo case. You think that case matches up with the Steele case?”

  “I don’t know, that’s why I need to see the files. In the Lorenzo case we interviewed loads of people, tracked down all the sexual predators in the area, but in the end we never did solve it. I always assumed some sick john had ended up taking things too far then left town.”

  Barker hesitated, as if considering his next words, and then continued, his voice sounding cautious.

  “But Reinhardt and Vanzinger worked the Helena Steele case. I only had peripheral involvement.”

  Nessa’s throat constricted, and a dull ache started up in her stomach at Pete’s words. Detective Kirk Reinhardt had turned out to be a dirty cop. And when Nessa had gotten too close to the truth, he’d shot her.

  She still had flashbacks of the rainy night and the explosion from Reinhardt’s gun that had blasted her off her feet and sent her crashing to the pavement.

  While her bullet proof vest had stopped the bullet, her head had hit the pavement with force, and she’d been knocked unconscious. Luckily she’d come to in time to take down Reinhardt before he could hurt anyone else.

  Nessa squeezed her eyes shut against the memories, but she could still feel the rain on her face as she’d pulled the trigger and watched Reinhardt fall into the bloody puddles on the pavement beside her.

  Leo Steele had been there that night. He’d helped save Nessa’s life. His was the first face she’d seen after Reinhardt had fallen. As much as she wanted to turn Barker away and put Reinhardt and Leo Steele and everything to do with that terrible night behind her, she knew she couldn’t do it.

  She owed Leo Steele more than that. And she respected Pete Barker too much to refuse to help him out. He was a true friend, and she didn’t have many of those hanging around these days.

  “I can’t give you the files, Barker, not without clearing it with Chief Kramer first.”

  “So, ask him. Tell him I just want to close out a case I left open. He may even appreciate the help.”

  “Yeah, and maybe pigs will start flying, too.”

  Nessa snorted, then lowered her voice.

  “You don’t understand the kind of pressure we’ve been under since the Reinhardt story blew up in the press. Investigators from the state and the feds came down here poking around. I bet Kramer was sweating bullets that they’d blame him. Things are just starting to settle down. He’s not about to let Leo Steele reopen old cases that’ll make the department look bad.”

  “I don’t care who looks bad, Nessa, and neither should Kramer. If there’s a killer in Willow Bay that’s gotten away with two homicides, I think Kramer will want to know.”

  Nessa bit her lip and tried to think.

  “He won’t want to hear about it on Friday night. Let me think about it this weekend. In any case, I won’t be asking him anything until Monday.”

  Barker sighed, and Nessa could imagine the deep frown mark that was probably appearing between his puppy-dog eyes.

  “Nessa, I don’t want to wait. We’ve finally got a lead. Something that could link the two cases. I can’t just sit on it all weekend.”

  Nessa looked at her watch. It was now five fifteen. Traffic would be building, and Jerry and the boys were waiting.

  “What kind of lead?”

  “Both the woman frequented the old community health center around the time they were killed. Helena Steele was a social worker and Natalie Lorenzo attended mandated substance abuse classes.”

  Nessa wanted to scoff at the suggested link, but her past experience told her that it was just this type of seemingly random connection that could break a case open. Waving it off as a mere coincidence could prove to be a fatal mistake.

  “So, what are you hoping to find in the files that can’t wait until Monday?”

  “I want to see if the reports list any common witnesses or suspects. Maybe someone at the health center that they both knew. I need to find out if anyone gets mentioned in both files.”

  Nessa looked at her watch again. Almost five twenty now. If she left it any later they’d never have time to eat pizza and make it to the movie.

  “Listen, Barker. I can’t give you the files without running it by Kramer first, but I’ll find them and take them home with me tonight. That way I can look through them tomorrow morning for anyone connected to both cases or to the health center. If I find anything I’ll call you tomorrow and let you know.”

  Nessa heard footsteps and then keys jangling in the hall behind her. She looked back to see Simon Jankowski stroll over to his desk and start unloading his backpack.

  “I appreciate that, Nessa. I really do. I’ll be waiting for your call.”

  Nessa hung up and shoved her laptop and a few files into her briefcase. She’d need to hurry if she hoped to make it down to the file room, check out the two files, and pick up Jerry and the boys in time to find an empty table at Pizza Express.

  Friday nights were always busy, and the boys would get grumpy if they had to wait too long to eat. She decided they’d have to wait on the movie, perhaps see a Saturday matinee.

  “You leaving already?” Jankowski asked, booting up his laptop and arranging his coffee mug and files on the desk.

  “It’s after five and I’ve got a family to think about,” Nessa snapped, instantly regretting her words.

  Jankowski was going through a rough divorce. Friday nights on his own probably weren’t his favorite thing.

  “Sorry to ask. Just like to keep tabs on my partner.”

  “No, I’m sorry, Jankowski. Just rushing to get out. Jerry and the kids are waiting.”

  “No problem,” Jankowksi said, regarding Nessa with curious eyes. “Is everything okay? You look upset.”

  “Everything’s peachy. Just in a hurry.”

  As Nessa hurried down the hall and made her way to the file room, she wondered if she should have told Jankowski about Barker’s request. He was her partner now, after all. And he did have a right to know what she was working on. Especially if she was going to ask Chief Kramer for approval to help Barker.

  But Jankowski’s silence about Reinhardt’s suspected involvement with a drug and sex trafficking ring had almost cost Nessa her life. She wasn’t sure she could afford to trust him again.

  Chapter Five

  Eden paused outside Room 324 and took a deep breath, suddenly scared to go inside. She’d been relieved to hear that Kara had regained consciousness and had been moved to a patient room for overnight observation, and she’d hurried up in the elevator without taking time to consider what she should say.

  What was the appropriate thing to say to a young woman who had overdosed, and who might have been attempting to take her own life? Would Kara even want to see her, a woman she barely knew?

  The setting sun was still visible through the west-facing window as Eden walked in and softly closed the door behind her. Kara lay in the hospital bed, her dark hair spilling over several white pillows propped behind her. Her eyes watered as Eden approached the bed.

  “Oh, Kara, I’m so glad to see you’re okay.” Eden clasped the girl’s small, cold hand. “You had us all so worried.”

  “I’m sor
ry about…everything. The nurse told me I’d overdosed, and they had to bring me here in an ambulance, but I don’t remember anything.” Kara stared at Eden with big, scared eyes, looking far younger than her twenty-one years.

  “You don’t remember taking the methadone?”

  Eden wasn’t sure she should be the one asking Kara questions. If the girl had tried to kill herself, she should be talking to a therapist. Someone like Reggie Horn or Dr. Bellows. Someone who would know the right things to say, the right questions to ask.

  “Well, Dr. Bellows has me on methadone as part of my treatment, but I only remember taking the usual pills this morning. Gloria always comes around first thing.”

  “And you don’t remember getting a prescription bottle and taking more pills?”

  Kara shook her head firmly, her forehead furrowing into a frown.

  “No, I never had a bottle or any pills. I’m clean now. I didn’t even want the meth but the doctors keep telling me it’ll help me readjust to being straight. Keep me from relapsing.”

  Eden knew drug addicts were often experienced liars by necessity, having to convince family, friends and authorities that they weren’t taking drugs, weren’t hustling for drug money, but Eden thought Kara looked sincere.

  I just can’t believe she’s lying. She looks so upset, so scared.

  Eden watched Kara raise a trembling hand to her throat and begin twisting a gold cross that hung on a delicate chain around her neck.

  “The people here keep asking me if I meant to hurt myself. They think I overdosed on purpose, but I didn’t.” Her voice cracked with emotion as she continued to twist the chain. “I would never do that to my sister. She’s been through too much already.”

  Eden’s heart ached at the girl’s obvious distress, having experienced the pain of failing her own sister in the worst possible way. She forced thoughts of Mercy’s death from her mind.

  “Your sister? Should I contact her for you?”

  “No, I don’t want Anna to know what happened,” Kara cried out, her hands grasping Eden’s in panic. “She’ll worry, and maybe even drag my little nephew over here to see me. They live over in Orlando and it’s a long drive. I’ve caused enough trouble already.”

  “Okay, we won’t call Anna,” Eden soothed, trying to think of something to say to calm Kara down.

  The girl needed time to think. She could call her sister and tell her what had happened once she was ready.

  “How old is your nephew?” Eden asked, keeping her voice light. “What’s his name?”

  “His name is Nikolai, but we call him Niko. He’s only two years old. But very smart. He already talks up a storm, or at least tries to.”

  A sparkle came into Kara’s eyes and she sat up in the bed.

  “I talked to him on the phone yesterday and he called me Auntie for the first time. I can’t believe how fast he’s growing up.”

  Eden grinned at the enthusiasm in Kara’s voice, wanting to encourage her to talk more. Perhaps if she felt comfortable talking about herself and her family, she would open up about what had happened with the methadone.

  “That’s a lovely cross,” Eden said, her eyes drawn again to Kara’s hand nervously tugging at the chain.

  “My father gave it to me,” Kara said, looking down as if to reassure herself it was still there. “Before he died he gave one to me and one to Anna. It’s all we have left of him.”

  “I’m sorry about your father.”

  Eden patted Kara’s arm, regretting the way the girl’s hazel eyes now appeared sad, the sparkle gone as she turned to gaze out the window, the sun’s last rays glinting against the glass.

  “I can’t believe he’s been gone over two years, but it feels like yesterday, you know?”

  “I do know,” Eden said, her own grief at losing Mercy still painfully fresh. “I lost my sister five years ago but it still…hurts.”

  Kara turned toward Eden, her forehead furrowing again in a sympathetic grimace.

  “That’s…terrible. I don’t know what I’d do if anything happened to Anna. She and Niko are the only family I have left.”

  Eden forced herself not to react to the words that mirrored her own feelings for Mercy before she’d been killed. She hadn’t thought she would survive losing her younger sister but giving up hadn’t been an option. She’d had to be strong for Mercy’s children. Hope and Devon had lost both their mother and their father on that horrible day, and they’d needed her.

  “I think you’d surprise yourself. I didn’t think I’d get through it, but I did. I had my nephew and niece to look after, and that helped. I feel very lucky to have them.”

  Kara bit her lip and blinked back tears.

  “I’ve gotta get out of here. I need to see Anna and Niko. I need to tell them I’m sorry for leaving.”

  She squeezed her eyes shut and fell back against the pillows.

  “I should never have left Orlando. Never have been so stupid.”

  “The only way you can help your sister is to get better. You need to get clean and strong. Then you’ll be ready to be the best sister and aunt you can be.”

  “That’s what I was trying to do,” Kara insisted. “I was doing so well at Hope House. I just don’t know how this happened. I don’t know how I got…here.”

  Eden heard the frustration and confusion in Kara’s words and wondered again if perhaps the girl really didn’t remember taking the methadone. Could it really have been some sort of mistake?

  “Yes, you were doing really well, and you’ll continue doing well once you get out of here and come back to Hope House. You can’t let this…accident…stop you from getting your life together.”

  “You mean you’d let me come back?”

  The timid question made Eden smile even as her heart ached for the girl. Kara was still so young, and so alone.

  “Of course, you can,” Eden assured her. “We’ll hold your spot until you’re ready to come back. In fact, I’ll check on you tomorrow and see if I can bring you back to the house myself.”

  Eden was glad to see a shy smile appear.

  “Okay, I’ll come back and finish the program,” Kara said, sounding sure of her decision. “And then I’m going back to Orlando to help Anna and Niko. I’m going to be the best sister and aunt ever.”

  “I’m glad to hear it. Now you get some rest, and I’ll come by tomorrow to see how you’re doing.”

  As Eden took the elevator back down to the lobby, she checked her watch and saw that it was only eight o’clock. Would Leo have eaten yet? Perhaps it wasn’t too late to go on their date after all.

  Eden pulled her phone out of her pocket, suddenly remembering she’d turned off the ringer. Seven missed calls. Five of the calls had been from Reggie or other staff at Hope House, likely wanting an update on Kara. The other two calls were from Leo, but he hadn’t left a message.

  She quickly pressed the call back option, eager to hear his deep voice, wanting to tell him about her traumatic day. But the call went to voicemail and Eden decided not to leave a message. He had probably made other plans. Was likely out with friends enjoying his Friday night.

  Did I really expect him to just sit around waiting for me?

  The question lingered in her mind as she stood alone in the lobby waiting for her uber to arrive.

  Chapter Six

  Kara jabbed at the remote, bored with the selection of Saturday morning cartoons, infomercials and local news available on the small television mounted above her hospital bed. She paused to watch the weather report on Channel Ten. Weather girl Veronica Lee pointed to a satellite image of a tropical storm brewing in the Caribbean. The curvy forecaster seemed excited to report the storm was heading toward the Gulf.

  “Why is she always so cheerful about severe weather?”

  Kara jumped at the unexpected voice beside her. She turned to see that Dr. Bellows had slipped into the room unannounced.

  “Uh, I don’t know. Maybe job security?” Kara offered, trying not to let him kn
ow that he’d startled her.

  Dr. Bellows laughed and put his hand on Kara’s arm.

  “How are you today, Kara? Better than yesterday I hope.”

  Kara felt the urge to shrug his hand off her arm but didn’t want to seem rude. After all, he’d come all the way to the hospital just to check on her.

  “I’m feeling better, Dr. Bellows. Pretty much back to normal.”

  “That’s wonderful. I wasn’t sure I’d be able to pull you through when I found you yesterday.”

  Kara stared at him, her expression perplexed.

  “You found me? You were the one who saved me?”

  “Well, I asked Izzy to go find you and she alerted Ms. Winthrop, who found you unconscious in your room. She called me out of the session, and I managed to give you an antidote to counteract the methadone you took.”

  Kara blinked, not wanting to contradict the doctor but convinced that she hadn’t taken methadone, at least not knowingly.

  “Dr. Bellows, I took the pill Gloria gave me yesterday morning, but that was it. I didn’t take any other pills, and I didn’t have a bottle of anything in my room either.”

  “Calm down, Kara. I’m just telling you what I saw in your room. There was an empty prescription bottle and you were unconscious.”

  “But Dr. Bellows, I don’t remember-”

  “Call me Doc, okay? I think when someone saves your life it’s appropriate to be less formal.”

  “Well…all right,” Kara agreed.

  Her frustration was growing at his refusal to listen to what she was trying to tell him.

  “But I didn’t take any pills. And I didn’t want to hurt myself. I’m trying to get clean. I didn’t even want the methadone anyway. That was your idea, remember?”

  Dr. Bellows’ face hardened at her words, and Kara cringed back against the bed at the contempt in his eyes.

  “We talked in your last session about taking responsibility for your actions. That’s one of the most important steps to recovery. It’s disappointing to stand here and watch you blame me for your actions.”