Cold Image

by Leslie A. Kelly

  “Jesus, what happened?” Julia was on the floor, kneeling beside the pretty blonde, who was struggling to rise to her knees. “Are you okay?”

  “I’m so stupid,” Olivia said, shaking her head. “I tripped over the damn lamp cord.” Her hands clutched the bulge in her stomach. “Oh my God, what if I hurt the baby?”

  “I’m sure the baby will be fine,” Kate said, hurrying over to hold the woman’s other arm so she and Julia could help her to her feet. “He has lots of cushion in there.”

  “She. It’s a she. Gabe and I found out a couple of months ago.” Tears fell from stricken eyes. The hands clenched tighter, and Olivia winced, as if in pain. “Her name’s Tyra.”

  Julia drew her lips into her mouth and sniffed.

  “I’m sure she’s okay,” Kate said as they helped Olivia into a chair in front of her desk.

  Olivia wiped her tears off her face with her hands. “I can’t believe I am so clumsy.”

  “Pregnant women lose their center of balance really easily,” Kate said.

  “It’s not your fault,” Julia added. “You look down and see nothing but stomach, so how can you be expected to see any obstacles on the floor?”

  “You’re both kind, but…” Olivia flinched and gasped. Her arms wrapped around her belly, and she hunched forward.

  “What is it?” Kate asked.

  Julia dropped to her knees beside the chair. “Are you having pains?”

  Olivia nodded miserably.

  Julia and Kate exchanged looks. Although only about seven months pregnant, it was possible that the fall could cause Olivia to go into premature labor.

  “Come on,” Julia said. “We’re going to the hospital.”

  “I don’t think I need to do that yet.”

  Kate looked intently in the other woman’s face. “You really should. It’s better to be safe than sorry. You’re not going to rest until you know everything’s all right. If by some slight chance you go into early labor, the hospital is exactly where you need to be.”

  More tears. And another slight gasp of pain from the woman.

  “Up you go,” said Julia, grabbing her colleague by the arm.

  “But Gabe is working undercover. I won’t even be able to reach him tonight,” Olivia said, looking desperately unhappy.

  “I’ll call the station and tell them it’s an emergency. Don’t worry, he’ll get there. Now, we’re going to the hospital, and I’ll stay with you until he arrives.”

  “But the case. Derek…”

  “I’ll go help Derek,” Kate said, not giving it a second thought.

  Julia nodded. “Yep, Kate will save me from the bugs, snakes, bats, serial killers, and grumpy coworkers.”

  Olivia forced a tiny smile, as she was meant to. But with one more flinch of pain, the smile faded. She gave up all resistance, letting the other two women guide her down to the parking garage. They helped her up into the passenger side of Julia’s Jeep.

  Before going to the driver’s side, Julia rattled off four numbers. “That’s the code to the office door. Could you go up and get the faxed document, and my file?”

  “Done.”

  “Derek planned to meet me at 9pm in the same area where he met you the first time.”

  Kate nodded. “Fine. Now go, take care of your friend.”

  Julia glanced into the car. “God, I hope the baby’s all right. Liv’s talked of nothing else for months. She and Gabe are so happy.”

  Watching them drive away, Kate hurried back upstairs. She only had about ninety minutes to get home, change, and get up to the meeting place on that dirt road in the woods.

  Now that she was the one going for this late-night search, she couldn’t help starting to worry. Derek had called the office, not her. Even if he hadn’t wanted her to come up to the school grounds, he usually let her know when stuff like that was going on.

  Had something serious happened today?

  Maybe he’d gotten important news from that teacher he was meeting.

  Maybe it even involved Isaac.

  Meaning maybe the mystery of her brother’s disappearance might be solved tonight.

  When he saw Kate’s car instead of Julia’s at the appointed meeting place, Derek frowned and muttered a curse. Kate was far too recognizable here; their encounter with Eli earlier today had proved that. While he did not expect to stumble over any faculty members, staff, or students in the swampy woods, he hadn’t wanted to take the risk of bringing her out here.

  Besides, she’d done her part the first night. She was paying them to investigate this place, not to bring her into a dangerous swamp right out of a horror movie.

  She got out, dressed for the occasion in all dark clothes and boots. She’d even tucked her brilliant red hair into a black ball cap.

  “Julia couldn’t come.”

  “Is everything all right?”

  “Olivia fell and was having some pain.”

  “Damn. Is she gonna be okay?”

  “I think so. Julia took her to the hospital. Her husband is apparently difficult to reach tonight, and Julia plans to stay until he gets there.”

  Knowing how happily Liv was looking forward to the baby’s birth, he could only imagine how terrified she must be. As a friend, he was glad she had Julia for support. Tonight’s search, however, had just gotten more complicated.

  “We have to be so careful to make sure you’re not seen by anyone.”

  “I know.” She went back to her car and locked it with the key, rather than remotely, probably not wanting even the low electronic beep to break the quiet of the night. Smart.

  “Ready?”

  “Before we go, is there something specific we’re trying to find? Did you…learn anything special today?”

  He shook his head, frustrated. “Not as much as I wanted to. The teacher I was supposed to meet with didn’t follow through. I went to his classroom and waited a while, but he was gone. I guess he got cold feet.”

  “I’m sorry.”

  “Me too. From what I overheard in the teacher’s lounge this morning, I have this feeling I need to get into building 13 fast. Some of the faculty talked about what a good idea it would be to leave the boys in there for days. It got me thinking.”

  Her eyes lit up with hope she didn’t usually show. “Do you suppose Isaac…no, of course not. It’s been too long.” She straightened her ball cap. “But it might not be too late for Charlie.”

  “Exactly. I came right out with Robby’s map and did exactly what he said, but just couldn’t find the place. Once it got dark, I figured it would only get harder.”

  “So you called Julia.”

  “Yes. I was hoping Robby sent me to the right general vicinity, and with another set of eyes, we could split up and search the grid.”

  She didn’t so much as blink at the suggestion they separate. He, however, wasn’t happy about it. Julia, an ex-cop, was damn good at self-defense. What could Kate do if she was accosted by a violent person? “But you and I will stay together.”

  “You don’t have to protect me. I can deal with the animals.”

  “The human ones?”

  She lifted a foot and easily hopped over a downed tree, one side damp with moss, the other infested with bugs. “You don’t really think we’ll run into anybody out here, do you?”

  “I honestly don’t know, Kate.”

  “Let’s try together first, then,” she said, exhibiting that common sense he found so attractive about her. One of the many things he found so attractive about the woman.

  Derek began leading her through, following a different route than the one they’d taken last time. They had gone into the swamp and due south that night. Robby’s map said the building they were looking for was to the west, on the other side of the school, which they hadn’t searched quite as thoroughly because of the dorm windows facing it. Tonight, they had no choice. He only hoped no boys were looking out if they had to get close to the building.

  “I don’t suppose going this
way means we avoid snakes and bogs?”

  “They built the original hospital in the dry center of a wet horseshoe. It’s surrounded on three sides by that crap. If anything, the west side’s worse.”

  “Must have been just wonderful for tuberculosis patients.”

  “I suspect it’s what drew the people who ran the asylum here. Easier to stop runaways.”

  She didn’t point out that it was a selling point for a school for troubled youth, too. They both knew that very well.

  Drawing a tiny flashlight, he directed a pinpoint of illumination on the ground ahead of them—the most he dared risk. Now that it was full night, they couldn’t get through without it. Unlike when they’d headed south, this direction held endless bald Cyprus trees that were probably hundreds of years old. They rose so high and grew so close together, they blocked all but the briefest glimpses of the moon or stars.

  They walked in silence for several minutes. He tried to clear away tangled brush from in front of her feet, and twisted moss and downed limbs from in front of her face. But there really was no avoiding anything in this dense Georgia jungle.

  “It’s warmer than it was last time,” she eventually whispered.

  Dripping with sweat and breathing hard, he turned back, shining the light on her. Kate was reaching for the bottom of her black sweatshirt. “Don’t forget the bugs,” he warned. “Heat might feel better than bites.”

  She offered him a tiny smile. “I practically bathed in repellent.” Tugging at the shirt, she pulled it up, revealing a thin black tank underneath. It clung to her in ways the baggy pullover hadn’t. She was sweaty, which made it cling tighter, emphasizing the slim waist, full breasts, graceful neck, and sleek arms.

  God, even just that tiny bit of light revealed that she was stunning. No wonder he’d been unable to resist kissing her when she’d literally been wearing boggy gunk. Their interlude at the bar Friday had only whetted his appetite to see, touch, and taste the rest of her. If they weren’t on such a critical task, he would walk back and slide his tongue along the bare skin below the scoop of her top. For starters. Bug repellent be damned.

  “Seriously?” A fisted hand on her hip, she cocked her head. “What is it with you and swamps?”

  He shrugged. “Can’t blame a guy for looking.”

  “How about looking when I’m in, like, sexy lingerie or something? Not in black camo with sweat and dirt all over me.”

  He groaned, picturing that sexy lingerie. “You kill me, Kate.”

  “Pay attention or that alligator over there might do exactly that.” The tiny smile told him she wasn’t really annoyed. Wrapping the sweatshirt around her waist and tying the long arms in front of her slim hips, she nodded. “Let’s go.”

  The flirty interlude had eased a little of the tension, but not for long. As soon as they dove back into the thick woods, things went from bad to worse. He must have gotten a little off-course, because they were confronted with an area thick with underbrush. The overhead trees had thinned, giving them more light. Unfortunately, that only emphasized that they were about to try to bore through a thigh-high tangle of thorny growth.

  “Damn it,” he muttered, looking around for another way to go.

  She joined him, peering ahead. “That doesn’t look fun.”

  “It’s not going to be.” Especially not with her bare arms and chest.

  She reached for the long-sleeved shirt tied around her waist. “Guess I’ll put this back on.”

  “Maybe not,” he said. “Hold the flashlight.”

  Taking it, she watched curiously. Without warning her, he reached down and picked her up in his arms, as he had the last time they were here. Now that she didn’t reek of fish and rot, dripping mud and stagnant water, it was even more pleasant.

  “Derek, put me down.”

  “My boots and pants are thicker than yours, and it’s not too far,” he said, already stepping into the bramble.

  She began to struggle. He didn’t loosen his hold. “Keep wriggling and I might drop you in the briar patch. And I don’t think you’re Br’er Rabbit.”

  “Zip-a-dee-freaking-doo-dah,” she snapped.

  Ignoring her, he tightened his grip and kept walking. Well, not walking—it was more like pushing through a sea of jellyfish all trying to wrap their stinging tentacles around his legs. Vines tried to trip him up, tangling around his boots, but he stomped them down with every stride. Several times he felt something tear into his shin and knew these pants were goners. But better that than one smooth spot on Kate’s body being scratched.

  “You should not be here,” he snapped, mad at himself for even thinking about letting her come along. He would have felt the same way about Julia, except it was her job. Kate, though, should be sitting in a hospital office in a white coat. Or at a museum, or a doctor’s cocktail party wearing a slinky black dress and diamonds. She was sheer class…and he was dragging her through the swamp.

  The differences between them had never been more obvious.

  “Well, I’m not walking back through that,” she said when they got through the thicket and he lowered her to stand on her feet.

  She looked down. “You’re bleeding.” Bending over, she began to pull away the vines curling around his boots and legs, revealing rips in his pants.

  “Forget it,” he said. “The shortcut was worth it. There’s the old carriage-house. That’s on Robby’s map.”

  He pointed toward the ruin of what had once been a stone-framed building with a tall archway, big enough for a horse-drawn vehicle. The door, probably wooden, was long gone. All that remained of the structure were the stony bones of three tall walls. “He said the path goes off from the back of this place. We go about twenty yards to a rotted old bench that’s maybe five feet off the path. That’s what I couldn’t find.”

  “Well, let’s go look for it.”

  “Wait, let me go first,” he insisted. “It’s pretty uneven.”

  She gave him back the flashlight. Picking his way carefully through hunks of block that had once been part of that missing fourth wall, he led her around the building. Although the last horses had probably resided within it more than a century ago, it still held the faintest scent of animal—thick and unpleasant. Like animal sweat, shit, moldy hay, and decomposition.

  When they reached what had once been the back, she paused to look into the open ruin. The swamp water might not have risen high enough to reclaim this place, but the vegetation certainly had. Scrubby trees grew in the middle of the former structure. Succulents climbed up every wall, creating strange patterns, and moss dripped from the few remaining fixtures.

  “Let me take a look at that map, would you?”

  “It’s not in very good shape.” He pulled the napkin out of his pocket and handed it to her.

  She smoothed it out onto her open palm. “Flashlight?”

  He shone the beam. Kate stared at the damp paper. The hand-drawn lines were smeary, but the carriage house was clearly marked as near building 13. Kate ran the tip of one slim finger along the line from the start of the path where they stood, following it past a couple of location markers to the X on the map. When she was finished, she nodded and handed the napkin back. “I don’t think we need to split up. Honestly, it can’t be far from here. I think with another set of eyes focusing, we’ll be able to find that bench.”

  He’d had no intention of letting her peel off alone, but merely nodded. “Sounds good. It’s too narrow to go side-by-side. Let me go first and look to the right, you follow and focus on the left. We’ll take it slow—remember, the bench is probably more overgrown than it was when Robby went to school here. It could be completely concealed.”

  “Good point.”

  “Here,” he said, handing her the flashlight.

  “Won’t you need it?”

  “It’s not all covered overhead—there’s some moonlight.”

  “Wait, I can use this.” She pulled out her phone, tapped it, and brought up the home screen. The lightin
g appeared to be on its lowest setting, but it provided a decent glow in this utter darkness. “This should be enough.”

  He nodded. “Ready?”

  She glanced at the path, maybe a foot wide and surrounded by dense scrub on either side. Anything could be lurking beneath the sagging leaves, but all she said was, “Okay, let’s do this.”

  Despite the eerie, decrepit ruin beside them, and the swamp on all three sides, and the cool wind creating strange sounds, the croaks of animals in unseen bogs, and the whip of the long Spanish moss hanging like witch’s hair all around them, Kate was completely calm and ready to proceed. Derek couldn’t help shaking his head and looking into her eyes, usually that light, pale green that spoke of spring grass, now darker, jewel-toned in the shadows and the moonlight.

  “You are one hell of a woman, Kate Lincoln.”

  She blinked, eyeing him curiously.

  “Your brother would so be proud of you.”

  He heard her draw in a quick, sharp breath, and almost wished he hadn’t said a thing. But he knew Kate carried a tremendous weight every minute of every day. Although she’d been a world away, she held herself responsible for Isaac’s death; that was obvious in the haunted look on her face whenever she mentioned his name.

  She needed to put that weight down someday. Getting the closure of knowing what had happened to her only sibling would be a good start. Knowing she had literally crawled through slime to try to find him would help, too.

  “Thank you,” she finally whispered. “I appreciate you saying that.”

  He nodded, and then, without another word, stepped on the path, feeling her fall in behind him. Going slowly, studying every square foot beside him, Derek strained to see the bench Robby had described. The path descended into muddy pools, and their feet squelched in reeking muck. When a cottonmouth slithered across his path, he threw a hand out behind him, silently telling her to stop. He didn’t know if she saw the snake, heard the rustle, or just sensed his tension, but he felt her shudder.

  “It’s gone.”

  “Ick,” she whispered. “I’m glad you spotted it. If I’d stepped on it, I would have leapt on you and you’d have to piggy-back me the rest of the way.”