Untold

by Nancy Ann Healy

  Cassidy looked back at Alex. She hadn’t intended to tell Alex about her pregnancy until the weekend. In fact, Cassidy had planned a night at the beach for them as a surprise. It seemed as if she kept getting caught in her attempt to keep the secret, or maybe she decided, she just didn’t want to keep it to herself. She smiled at Alex.

  “Cass?”

  “I think the slopes will be out for me next season,” Cassidy replied.

  “Why?” Alex asked curiously. Cassidy raised her brow. “What am I missing?” Alex asked.

  Cassidy took a step toward Alex, and wrapped her arms around Alex’s neck. “Well, there’s a chance we might be unwrapping presents in the hospital this Christmas,” she said.

  Alex remained confused. Cassidy rolled her eyes. “Holy shit,” Alex gasped. “Cass? Are you telling me that you’re pregnant?” Alex asked. Cassidy smiled. “Seriously?” Alex asked again.

  Cassidy laughed. “Not the reaction that I expected.”

  “Really?”

  Cassidy nodded. “Got the call about the blood test yesterday morning. Sometime mid-December,” she explained. Alex smiled and kissed Cassidy tenderly. She pulled back and let her forehead fall softly against Cassidy’s. “Happy?” Cassidy asked.

  “Of course,” Alex replied emotionally.

  “Worried?”

  Alex pulled back and smiled. “A little,” she confessed.

  Cassidy nodded. “Me too.”

  “Cass…”

  “I am,” Cassidy admitted. “Just a little. I think this one is meant to be,” she told Alex.

  “You do, huh?”

  “Yeah, I do.”

  Alex nodded. “Dylan bails just in time,” she chuckled.

  Cassidy laughed. “You know, somehow I think he will be a bit disappointed about that.”

  Alex agreed. Dylan loved his younger siblings. She and Cassidy had always been grateful for their son’s desire to spend time with Mackenzie and the twins. They rarely needed to ask Dylan for his help. He seemed to revel in his role as a big brother. Alex had thought that when Dylan began dating, that would change. It hadn’t. Dylan had been dating the same girl for the last two years. Maggie Nolan had become as much a part of the Toles clan as any of Alex and Cassidy’s children, nieces, nephews, or siblings. She was an only child who delighted in all things Dylan. Those things included spending time with any and all members of the Toles family.

  “He’ll have a few months before he leaves us,” Alex said, her voice trailing off.

  “You know, Jane offered to take them down for a tour of the academy next weekend,” Cassidy told Alex. Alex sighed. “It’s what he wants, love.”

  “I know. I know it is. I just wish he’d…”

  “Choose something other than the military?” Cassidy guessed. Alex nodded. “It’s part of who he is.”

  “I know that too. He’s got a lot of his father in him.”

  “He does. He’s got a lot of you in there, Alex.”

  “I don’t think…”

  Cassidy took Alex’s face in her hands. “I know you don’t think so. You don’t see what I can see. He wants to be like you. He always has.”

  “You wouldn’t catch me dead trying to fly a plane,” Alex replied.

  “You know what I mean,” Cassidy returned, receiving yet another sigh from Alex. “He’s always loved planes and cars.”

  “Well, how about he becomes a race car driver? Safer,” Alex offered.

  Cassidy shook her head. “I think I’d prefer The Naval Academy.”

  “You just like the uniforms,” Alex poked. One thing Alex knew; Cassidy loved to see Alex in her uniform.

  “I like you in yours,” Cassidy admitted. “I like you better out of it, though,” she flirted.

  Alex burst out in laughter. She pulled Cassidy to her and kissed her slowly. “Hard to believe he’ll be leaving.”

  “Hard to believe we’ll have one in diapers and one in college at the same time,” Cassidy chuckled.

  Alex smiled. She was about to answer when her cell phone startled her. She looked at it, surprised to see the caller’s name. “Sorry,” she apologized to Cassidy. “I think I need to take this. Dave?” Alex answered the call.

  Cassidy winked. “Anything to get out of bathing the twins,” she teased. She placed a kiss on Alex’s cheek. “I’ll see you upstairs,” she whispered.

  “Hold on one second, Dave,” Alex spoke into her phone. She grabbed Cassidy’s hand and pulled her back.

  “Yes?” Cassidy asked.

  Alex leaned in and kissed Cassidy deeply. “I love you. I can’t wait for one in diapers. One in college, I could do without.”

  Cassidy understood. “I feel the same way,” she said. Cassidy kissed Alex on the cheek. “I love you too. I’ll see you upstairs.

  “I’ll get the twins ready,” Alex promised.

  “Finish your call,” Cassidy replied knowingly. “I’ve got the kids covered. Just don’t make me wait too long or I’ll be asleep,” she said as she left the room.

  Alex watched Cassidy go and grinned. “I’ll wake you up.”

  “Don’t count on it, Alfred,” Cassidy called back, already down the hallway.

  Alex chuckled. Cassidy could hear a pin drop three rooms away. “I wonder if this one will be the one to inherit that ability.”

  “Never know!” Cassidy’s voice boomed back.

  Alex laughed. “It never gets old.” She glanced down the hallway before returning to her call. “Dave? What’s going on?” Alex asked.

  Dave Siminski chuckled. Alex was never one to mince words. Right now, he didn’t have time for casual niceties either. “I need you to look at something.”

  Alex took a deep breath. “I’m listening.”

  “Look, I got called out to look at something.”

  “And?”

  “Alex, listen, I can’t explain it. I have a bad feeling about this one.”

  “Homicide?” Alex asked.

  “Missing teenage girl,” Siminski replied.

  “Missing for how long?”

  “Hours,” he told Alex.

  “Hours is hardly cause for the major crime squad,” she said. “How do you know she didn’t just take off with friends?”

  Siminski groaned. He didn’t know if Kaylee Peters had taken off with someone. It wouldn’t be the first time a teenager sent the police on a wild goose chase. He’d worked enough cases in his life that he had developed an ability to read between the lines—to see the truth in a person’s eyes. Kaylee’s friends were scared—not only worried—scared.

  “Okay? I don’t understand what makes you think I can help.”

  Siminski kept his chuckle in check. Alex was an investigator who had a talent for seeing what no one else did. Part of that stemmed from her ability to concentrate amid confusion. He had witnessed that a few times when they had both worked at the FBI. Insanity could surround Alex: noise, movement, questions, and somehow Alex Toles seemed to be able to focus with razor precision.

  “I need your eyes.”

  “Where?”

  Siminski laughed. “There’s no point in you coming here. She’s not here.”

  “Okay? But, that is where she was last seen.”

  “Yes,” Siminski agreed. “Alex, that’s why I need you. There is nothing here. I mean nothing. It’s like she vanished.”

  “Well, Mulder, we both know that isn’t possible,” Alex replied. “Either she walked away or someone took her away. That much we can be certain of, and as much as I enjoy a good fantasy, I’m not betting some alien ship beamed her up.”

  “I hear you. I’m telling you, we have walked these woods for the last three hours. Nothing where she was last seen. This place is approaching two-hundred acres and there is barely light left.”

  “Where are you?”

  “State Park on the Glastonbury side,” he replied.

  Alex had been to the park a handful of times with her older brother. Krause loved to hike when he was restless—hike and dri
ve. She combed her memories of the place. “There’s something there,” Alex said assuredly. “There is always something. You just aren’t looking in the right place.”

  “Which is why I need your help,” he said.

  “Is this even our case?”

  “No, but it will be,” he said. “And, if I had to bet we will be revisiting some folks from the past.”

  “You think it’s going federal?”

  “I feel it.”

  Alex sighed. "Dave, I haven't worked an active case in over five years," Alex reminded her friend.

  "No, only all the old dormant ones you've got everyone in that classroom piecing together."

  Alex groaned. "Your point?"

  "Maybe you can take the investigator off the case; you can't banish the need to solve the puzzle," he said. Alex grimaced. "Come on, Alex; I could use your help on this one."

  "You don't even know if this is one," Alex replied.

  "No, but if it is we've got a ticking clock that is winding down against that girl."

  "Fine. Have your buddy send me what you’ve got—all of it. I'm not making any promises. If I don't see anything that seems..."

  "Deal," Siminski stopped Alex's offer in its tracks. "Call me when you've got something."

  Alex chuckled. "I'll call you if there's anything to find."

  ***

  Alex groaned as she perused the documents on her laptop. There wasn’t much to look at—pictures of trees, stone walls, and barely discernable remnants of buildings. She rubbed her temple in frustration. Dave Siminski possessed a trait that Alex seldom encountered in her years as an investigator—instinct. In Alex’s experience, people often scoffed at the notion that instinct played a role in solving cases. She didn’t need scientific evidence to support that idea. It wasn’t an idea as far as Alex was concerned. It wasn’t a possibility. And, it was never dumb luck that solved a case. Many times, the driving force that led to a trail of evidence was instinct. Something in an investigator’s gut said to keep pushing.

  Instinct also had risks attached to it. At times, a gut reaction could be motivated by an emotional response. That sometimes led to witch hunts and ghost chases. Alex has seen that as well. Siminski was a veteran. He’d worked everything from serial killer cases to bank robberies. He would push when his gut told him to, but only until he found hard evidence. If he had thought to call Alex, it meant that something about this case had gripped more than his interest, it had twisted his gut.

  Alex pulled up the initial police report and combed through it for what she was certain had to be the tenth time. Young girl. Big forest. No signs of foul play. Well, none that anyone had detected. She rested her face in her hands and sighed. “Where did you go?” she muttered.

  “I went to bed,” a voice answered from behind her. Alex lifted her head when Cassidy’s hands began to massage her shoulders. “What are you doing down here?” Cassidy asked. Alex swiveled in her chair. Her eyes had narrowed to slits, and her forehead was creased in concern. Cassidy shook her head, recognizing the familiar set of Alex’s jaw. It was an expression that indicated Alex was in pain. “Headache?” she guessed. Alex closed her eyes and nodded. “Sit tight,” Cassidy directed her wife.

  Alex heard Cassidy’s footsteps as they padded down the hallway and turned back to the computer screen.

  “Close the laptop, Alex,” Cassidy called back. Alex huffed. She barely had the chance to sit back in her chair when Cassidy reentered that room. “Take these,” Cassidy handed Alex some pain reliever and a glass of water. “What are you doing?” she asked Alex.

  Alex sighed. “That call was from Dave Siminski earlier.”

  “Yes, I gathered that.”

  “He asked me to look at a case. To be honest, I’m not sure why he asked me. It’s not even our case.”

  Cassidy licked her lips as she studied Alex. Reading Alex had never been difficult for Cassidy, not since the first day they had met. They had shared a powerful and unique connection from the moment that Agent Alex Toles had walked into Cassidy O’Brien’s home. That had been over ten years ago. Cassidy’s ability to understand Alex had grown with each year. She took a deep breath and prepared to tread what she knew could become treacherous waters quickly.

  “Our case?” Cassidy asked gently.

  “Yeah, The State Police.”

  Cassidy nodded. “Do you want to talk about it?”

  “Not much to talk about. I looked. I didn’t find anything.”

  “Mm-hum.”

  “What does that mean?” Alex asked.

  Cassidy sighed again. “Alex, you have been down here for nearly six hours.”

  “No, I haven’t.”

  “Yes, you have. It’s almost two in the morning.”

  Alex looked at her phone. “Shit,” she grumbled. “No wonder I have a headache. I’m sorry, Cass.”

  “Don’t be.”

  “I guess, I lost track of time.”

  “I guess so. So?” Cassidy prodded Alex.

  “What?”

  “If you spent six hours looking, that tells me you think there is something to look for.”

  Alex smiled. “There’s always something to look for, Cass. That’s why detectives and agents have jobs. It’s just that there isn’t always something to find. At least, not something that requires our involvement.”

  Cassidy listened to Alex thoughtfully. This was not the first instance of someone asking Alex’s input on a case. It didn’t happen often, but it was hardly unheard of. Alex generally dealt with anything work-related at work. Something about whatever Dave Siminski had called to her attention was different. Cassidy could see the wheels spinning in Alex’s head as Alex attempted to put the scattered pieces of a puzzle together.

  “Why are you looking at me like that?” Alex asked.

  Cassidy raised an eyebrow. “You know why.”

  “Cass, I’m just helping Dave out, and I’m not sure that I am going to be much help at all. Who knows if this is a case? And, even if it is a case, who knows where it will land?”

  Cassidy nodded, reached over, and shut Alex’s laptop. “Well, for now, it is landing in sleep mode—just like you.”

  Alex smiled. “Is that an order, Mrs. Toles?” she asked. Alex’s smile did little to conceal the evident pain she was in.

  “Come on,” Cassidy said as she stretched out her hand.

  “Cass?” Alex asked as Cassidy led her toward their bedroom.

  “Yes?”

  “Do you think a seventeen-year-old girl would run away from her best friends?”

  Cassidy stopped and turned to Alex. She considered the concern she saw in Alex’s eyes. “That’s what Dave sent?”

  “Sort of. You taught high school. What do you think?”

  “I’m not a detective, Alex.”

  “I’m asking you as a teacher—as a mom.”

  “I think it depends,” Cassidy said. “What do her friends think?”

  “What?”

  “You just said she ran away from her friends. What do those friends think?”

  “They don’t think she ran away,” Alex said.

  Cassidy nodded. “Then chances are she didn’t.”

  Alex sighed.

  “Is there any more you can do tonight?” Cassidy asked.

  “Not really.”

  “Then leave it until morning, love.”

  Alex sighed again. If she has that long.

  Cassidy leaned in and kissed Alex on the cheek. “You can’t help her if you can’t think straight, Alex.”

  “I’m not sure I can help at all.”

  Cassidy smiled and gently led Alex up the stairs without comment. Yes; you can. And, something tells me that you will.

  CHAPTER THREE

  Alex stretched her back until it popped while she waited for her coffee to brew. She felt Cassidy’s arms surround her waist and smiled. “You’re up early,” Alex observed.

  “Don’t remind me,” Cassidy grumbled.

  Alex turned and p
laced a light kiss on her wife’s lips. “Are you feeling okay?”

  “Tired,” Cassidy admitted.

  “Why are you up so early?”

  “Kenzie has that field trip today; remember? Mom will be here shortly. Bus leaves at seven.”

  Alex grimaced. One thing that Mackenzie did not take after Alex for was rising early. She seemed to have inherited Cassidy’s propensity for sleeping late whenever possible. While Cassidy occasionally grumbled in protest about early mornings, waking Mackenzie often felt like walking into a sleeping lion’s den.

  “Want me to get her up?” Alex offered.

  Cassidy patted Alex’s chest. “No,” she said. “Raincheck.”

  “You sure?”

  Cassidy nodded.

  “Coffee?” Alex asked. “No offense, you look like you could use a cup,” she teased.

  Cassidy raised her brow. “I wish.”

  Alex mentally slapped herself. There would be no caffeine for Cassidy for the next few months. “I didn’t forget. I just…”

  “Forgot?” Cassidy laughed. She leaned in and kissed Alex’s lips. “It’s okay, love. You have a cup for me. I’m sure once the beast wakes, so will I.”

  Alex snickered as Cassidy plodded out of the kitchen. She grabbed a mug and filled it, savoring the scent before sipping it. She was surprised when Dylan rolled in, stretching his arms.

  “You have a field trip too?” she asked him.

  Dylan laughed. “No.”

  “Went for a run without me? How did I miss you?”

  Dylan shrugged. “Didn’t sleep much.”

  “Everything okay?”

  Dylan nodded. “Yeah. Besides, no practice today; right?”

  “Nope. Today you get a free pass. Tomorrow…”

  Dylan nodded.

  “You sure you are okay?” Alex asked.

  “Yeah, totally. I promised Mom I would take over with the twins after school. Grandma has dinner plans,” he explained. “Mom won’t be back until after six. I didn’t want to miss a workout.”

  “Worried about the meet at the end of the month?” Alex guessed. Dylan was slated to compete in three events at the state-wide track meet.

  “I’d like to place in at least one event,” Dylan said.

  “You will.”