Reckless

by Susan Kiernan-Lewis

  He walked them to the elevator and punched the down button.

  “Don’t leave town,” was all he said before he turned away as the elevator doors opened.

  While Mia had been taken to the station by the two detectives, Burton had been allowed to drive himself. He was relieved to see his car hadn’t been ticketed or booted. The parking spot was only good for four hours and he’d easily exceeded that by two.

  He could tell Mia was exhausted because she had stopped talking. When he glanced at her in the passenger seat, her eyes were closed but he knew she wasn’t asleep. He drove them back to Atlantic Station, constantly checking the rear view mirror to see if anyone was following them. He didn’t see anyone.

  Once upstairs, Burton kept her behind him as he checked and cleared the apartment, then locked the front door.

  “Go to bed,” he said as he raked down the blinds in the living room. He tempered his tone but even so he could see her stiffen.

  “You make me want to do the opposite of what you say,” she said. “Do you have that effect on everyone, I wonder?”

  “Only the chronically immature,” he said, standing in the living room with his hands on his hips. He said it with a smile but she wasn’t buying it. “Go on,” he said. “Go to bed. You’re dead on your feet.”

  She dropped her cardigan and her purse on the floor next to the couch and collapsed into its cushions. “This is fine,” she said.

  Remembering that, new bed or not, she wouldn’t want to sleep in the room where she’d found Dave’s body, Burton went to a stack of blankets by the TV set and handed her one. With the rest, he made a pallet on the floor next to the couch.

  It occurred to him that he had been a little hard on her this afternoon and since finding a dead body was stressful for most people not in the business of finding one, he might have been a little insensitive.

  “You okay, Mia?” he said softly from his stack of blankets on the floor.

  She reached down and touched his cheek and when he took her fingers in his, she fell asleep holding hands with him.

  * * *

  The next morning he allowed himself to watch her for a few moments before she awoke. He couldn’t help but be impressed with her determination to find out what happened to her brother—even if her methods were starting to turn his hair white.

  “I can tell you’re staring at me,” she said, her eyes still closed.

  He laughed. “Now that is a useful skill.”

  She looked at him and smiled. “Were you able to get any information about Dave’s case?”

  “Are you serious? You haven’t even been awake two minutes. I need coffee.”

  He climbed to his feet and saw her disentangle herself from her blankets.

  “Did you hear anybody make a suggestion as to how Carol’s death might be connected to Dave’s?”

  “You were there, Mia. You saw how happy they were to share information with us. In fact, I’m thinking of going and having a few beers with them later today.”

  “Really?”

  “No, Mia. We are serious pariahs down there. God, for someone who’s supposed to superhumanly intuit things, you can be remarkably dense.”

  “I just thought you might have heard something.”

  Burton went to the kitchen to get the espresso machine warmed up and heard her go into the bathroom. As he opened one of the cabinets for mugs, he saw a photograph taped to the inside of the cabinet door and was surprised he hadn’t seen it before. It was a picture of Dave with two other guys. They were all wearing ROTC uniforms.

  Seeing the photo hit him like a pitcher of ice water to the face. On some level, he had gotten so comfortable with the fact that Dave never did any time in the military—one of the things that always bothered Burton—that to see him in a military uniform unsettled him.

  He touched the photo and peered into Dave’s college-age face. There was something there. Something stirring in Burton’s gut, something about Dave and why things had never been right.

  Right from the beginning.

  “Coffee almost ready?”

  He turned to see Mia dressed and in the process of tying her long hair into a ponytail. The movement pushed her breasts out and made them press against the tee-shirt and he felt a rush of desire for her.

  Damn, this family pushes all my buttons, he thought, as he pulled two mugs out of the cabinet before firmly shutting the door, and the photo, away. He poured the coffee and she settled on one of the barstools. She was wearing a pair of snug fitting jeans and, for the moment, was barefooted.

  “So, can I ask you what your plans are for the day?” she asked.

  He sighed and sat down at the kitchen counter. “You do know we need to sit this one out, right?”

  “I don’t know what that means.”

  “Mia, we were first on the scene of a murder. That makes us persons of extreme interest to the detectives trying to find out why and how that murder happened.”

  “We know how it happened.”

  “Yeah, and by the way telling them before they even had a chance to run a tox screen that she died of an Ecstasy OD was not a good move.”

  “Why? It’s the truth.”

  “Why? Because they are not going to believe you know because you felt it. They are going to think you know because you did it.”

  “That’s ridiculous.”

  “And any evidence at the crime scene that might have pointed away from us, away from you, was compromised by your need to ransack Carol’s purse, desk and personal computer. You know, normal people who discover a dead body go screaming out the front door or dial nine-one-one. They don’t view it as an opportunity to start rooting around the dead person’s belongings.”

  “So you intend to do nothing. Is that what you’re telling me?”

  “I intend for both of us to do nothing until things cool down a bit.”

  “Well, that’s swell. You think you’ll find it easier to solve a cold case than one that’s still going on? People are being killed, Jack! It’s happening right now!”

  “I know that, and forgive me for not wanting you to be in the middle of people still getting killed.”

  “You owe it to Dave.”

  “That dog won’t hunt any more, Mia. If I owe Dave anything, I owe him to keep his sister alive. Dear God, were you this much trouble with him?”

  He saw her face take on a look of indignation but before she could add the audio to the picture, his cellphone rang and he snatched it up to break the building drama.

  It was Karen.

  “Hey,” he said, moving away from Mia to stand in front of the living room window. “I guess you heard.”

  “That’s pretty much all anybody’s talking about around here,” Karen said. “I can’t believe Mia Kazmaroff found another dead body. Starting to sound suspiciously coincidental.”

  “Is that what people are saying?”

  “By ‘people’ I guess you mean Rocky’s team and I don’t have any official information for you, sorry, just scuttlebutt.”

  “I’ll take what I can get at this point. That’s Rocky Daniels?”

  “Yeah. Well, Rocky said it all looks suspicious and trust me, Maxwell has weighed in too, and not on Team Burton or Kazmaroff.”

  “How’s Maxwell doing?”

  “Oh, Jack, it’s so depressing. I mean, in spite of everything he loved her. He’s a wreck. And he’s angry.”

  “I’m surprised they let us go last night.”

  “Frankly, so am I but I wanted to tell you was Rocky said they picked up the tail on Mia Kazmaroff.”

  Burton turned to look at Mia who was listening intently to his side of the conversation. “Who were they?”

  “Get a load of this. They’re a couple of guys her mother hired to look out for her.”

  Damn. So Jess lied to him.

  “They let ‘em go?”

  “They had to. They weren’t thugs, they were registered private investigators. No law against following someone you’ve
been paid to follow.”

  “Thanks. I appreciate it. Sounds like you and Rocky have gotten close.”

  “Jealous, Jack?”

  “Just happy for you.”

  After he’d hung up, he turned to find Mia standing close enough that he could smell the body wash she’d used that morning.

  “So much for your mother’s promise to stop having you tailed.”

  “It was her after all?” She put her coffee mug down firmly on the counter. “Great,” she said. “So you can go now.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “You. Can. Go. I don’t need you here.”

  “In case I need to remind you the tail wasn’t the only threat.”

  She waved her hands to take in the condo. “You’ve changed the locks on all my doors and I’m picking up a handgun this afternoon.”

  “Don’t even think about it.”

  “I’m sick of being babysat by someone who doesn’t respect me,” she said heatedly.

  “I’m not leaving.”

  “Well, you can’t stay if I don’t want you here. And I don’t care what kind of guilt trip you’re indulging in you’re no help to me at all. Frankly, you’ve been an obstacle.”

  “Really? Was I an obstacle two days ago when I saved your ass from being arrested?”

  “I cannot believe you are trying to get credit for that!”

  He held up his hands in frustration. “Can we cool down? Go to our separate corners?”

  “Great idea, Jack. As long as our ‘separate corners’ are not in the same condominium!” She turned and stomped back to the guest room, slamming the door behind her.

  The silver-framed photograph of the two of them had always been his favorite. Sure, it was a wedding photo so of course they both looked great. Well, Carol always looked great. Her smile, her effortless presentation to the world, the sexuality slithering off her…

  Bill Maxwell sat in the kitchen of his Virginia Highland ranch. His daughter, Mindy, and her husband Tad had descended on him for most of the afternoon, bringing a trainload of casseroles and cakes, flowers and cards.

  He knew Mindy couldn’t do much more than that. She’d hated her stepmother; felt Carol was directly responsible for his divorce from her mother. Hell, she was probably right. Maxwell hadn’t hated being married to Cindy. In fact, until he’d laid eyes on Carol, he hadn’t really given his marriage much thought.

  I’m sorry, Carol, he thought as he traced the form of her image in the photo. Her hair was up off her shoulders. Her gown was white and strapless. He knew he’d been the envy of every man there that day.

  What a fool he’d been.

  It wasn’t supposed to end like this. Things had gotten carried away. He’d gone too far.

  He put the photo down and realized his hand was shaking.

  “You didn’t deserve this, babe,” he said softly, shaking his head. “Forgive me. I’m so sorry.”

  He felt the tears stinging his eyes and suddenly his daughter was in the kitchen with him.

  “Dad? Did you say something? Can I get you something?”

  He shook his head and cleared his throat. “No, I’m good,” he said gruffly. “You go on now, Mindy. Who’s taking care of the kids?”

  “Don’t worry about it, Dad, they’re being watched. I’m here for you. Can I make you a plate?”

  He stood up, refusing to look at her.

  I am so ashamed…

  “No, I want you to go on home. I want to be alone.”

  “I don’t think that’s a good idea, Dad.”

  “Tad?” he pushed past Mindy to call into the living room.

  “Dad, don’t,” she said with a sigh. “You shouldn’t be alone right now.”

  “Yes sir?” Tad poked his head in the room, his eyes going first to his wife. Yes, it was clear who ran things in that marriage.

  “I need you and Mindy to go on now. I’m fine here.”

  “I told him, no…” Mindy started, but Maxwell could see Tad was more than ready to leave.

  “Come on, Mindy,” Tad said, holding an arm out to his wife. “Your dad needs some time to himself.”

  “That’s right,” Maxwell said, wondering if they would, please God, just get the hell out before he broke down completely, because then he’d never get rid of them.

  “I’ll call you tomorrow,” Mindy said and when he looked at her, he saw how much she loved him and that made it all so, so much worse.

  After he watched their taillights disappear into the night he went back to the kitchen table. There were few memories of Carol in this house. She’d hated it and preferred to spend most of her time in their midtown condo—until she’d taken the little two-bedroom in Morningside. The one he didn’t have a key to. The one where her body was found.

  He picked up his cellphone as he’d been craving to do since before the first casserole and well-wisher had shown up today. Like an alcoholic anticipating that first drink, his hands shook as he jabbed in the number, praying she’d be home, praying she’d accept his call.

  “Hello?”

  Hearing her voice was the trigger. And later he’d remember that that was what sent the whole crumbling structure plummeting into the abyss. Just a voice, just a single word. The sob erupted from his throat as he squeezed his eyes shut and somehow got the words out.

  “Please. I need you.”

  14

  They drove back to Mia’s mother’s house in silence. Mia sat, arms crossed as if daring him to be the first to speak. After everything they’d been through, Jack figured they could use a little time apart. And the no speaking thing? Well, the fewer things said meant less to be regretted later.

  He pulled into Jess’s driveway, and she opened her car door before he had the car fully stopped.

  “I’ll be back in an hour,” he said.

  She started walking up the drive to her mother’s house. Burton sighed.

  Yeah, we can probably use a little breather.

  * * *

  Mia’s phone rang before she reached her mother’s porch and when she saw who was calling, she was glad she hadn’t announced her arrival yet to her mother.

  “Hey, Trish,” she said, turning and walking to the ancient and leafless dogwood tree that anchored the southern corner of her mother’s house. “I’m glad you called.”

  “I hope you’re just as glad when you find out it’s me and not Trish,” a male voice said.

  Mia stopped walking for a moment, trying to place the voice. “Oh, hey, Keith,” she said. “Using Trish’s phone?”

  “Yeah, I couldn’t find mine and I wanted to give you a call and see how you’re doing. Dave would’ve wanted me to look out for you and your mother.”

  “That’s nice. Thanks, Keith. We’re fine.”

  “You know, I just wanted to say, Mia, and I hope this isn’t coming out of the blue, but I know you’re trying to find out what happened to our boy and I just wanted you to know that I’m one hundred percent and twenty four seven available to you for help in doing precisely that.”

  Mia frowned. “Really? Because I thought the police mostly thought I was a huge pain in the ass and they’d prefer I go away.”

  “I won’t lie to you. The general atmosphere downtown is not pro-Burton so if you’re aligned with him, you’ll be shooting yourself in the foot as far as any help you can expect from the department.”

  “Tell me something I don’t know.”

  “I know, right? I figure if anybody should be doing this with you, it’s me. Dave was my wingman, my best friend. He always had my back and I’ve been going through some pretty bad stuff just trying to process what happened to him.”

  “He really loved you, too, Keith,” Mia said, as she sat on a small stone bench littered with leaves under the dogwood tree.

  “I can’t take credit for the idea,” he said. “It was Trish who first thought of it. We were talking and I said there was no way the new team was going to work with Burton. They hate him down there.”


  “But they’ll work with you.”

  “Damn right they will. So can we do this thing together? Can we get us some justice for our boy?”

  “There’s nothing I’d like better, Keith. You really called at a perfect time. This is exactly what I needed.”

  “Are you at Dave’s condo?”

  “No, I’m at my mother’s. Why?”

  “I was going to suggest we meet and put together a game plan.”

  This is what I was hoping for all along!

  “That sounds great, Keith, but I don’t have my car.”

  “No sweat, little sis. I can carry you.”

  “Can you pick me up on Peachtree Industrial? I haven’t actually gone into my mom’s house and I’d prefer she didn’t know I was here.”

  Keith laughed. “God, you’re just like him, you know that? Yeah, sure, where abouts?”

  “There’s a Jiffy Market on the east side of the road.”

  “I know the one. Can you be there in fifteen?”

  “I can. And Keith. I can’t tell you what it means hearing from you today.”

  “I’m glad, Mia. Just wish I’d thought of it sooner.”

  * * *

  Burton sat in the waiting room in Major Crimes. He’d asked to see Detective Daniels and was told he was somewhere in the building. Even old Jasper, the sergeant on the front desk, was less than welcoming and Burton began to wonder exactly what kind of talk was filtering down about him.

  Karen said they liked the look of him for Dave’s murder. Were they looking to see how tidily they could pin Carol’s death on him too?

  “Detective Daniels isn’t answering,” Jasper called out. “You can continue to wait if you want.”

  Burton stood up and approached the high desk where Jasper sat encased in protective bars. “Could you try Dr. Sanders then instead?”

  Jasper frowned as if it was a considerable imposition. Burton had already texted her twice. He went back to sit in the waiting room. Normally this room was a walking short story of the depths of the human condition, weeping mothers, vitriolic girlfriends, and stunned parents. This afternoon it was empty.