Candice and I also got to our feet and expressed our condolences to the family. “I’m so sorry,” I said to first Jessica, then Terry, and finally Jeremy.
He surprised me again by reaching out to shake my hand at first, and then he pulled me into a tight hug. Whispering into my ear, he begged, “If she comes back to you again, please tell her that I will never stop until I’ve found the person responsible.”
I nodded against his shoulder and he let me go. Overcome now by his emotions, he excused himself and left the room. Candice said to Jessica, “I think we should give you all some privacy.”
“You don’t have to leave,” Jessica protested, but I could tell she desperately wanted to go comfort her husband.
“Thank you, Jessica,” Candice said, grabbing her purse off the sofa. “But we really should be off. I’ll call you as soon as I know something, okay?”
We found Harrison on the phone, pacing next to his car. He didn’t look happy, but then he never looked happy, just occasionally smug. As we came abreast of him, he clicked off his phone and motioned to the car. “Get in,” he ordered.
We loaded up and he started the car again without waiting for either of us to finish buckling up. “Are we headed back home?” I asked into the tense silence.
“No.”
“Gee, Agent Harrison,” I said moodily, finally irritated enough to be brash, “you’re so forthcoming with details. I can hardly keep them all straight.”
Harrison’s jaw clenched and he shot me a smoldering look. “You say there’s a body at the lake? Fine, we’re going up there to find it.”
My mouth dropped. “That’s got to be a five-hour drive!”
“Four,” Harrison said, his mouth turning up at the corner.
I looked at the digital clock on the dashboard. It was noon. “Can we at least get something to eat?”
Harrison eyed me skeptically. “All that hocus-pocus whip up an appetite?”
“I could go for a burger,” Candice called from the backseat. “But I’d understand if you wanted to steer more toward something with a few less calories. You probably need to start watching the carbs, right? Especially after eating that heavy Italian meal the other night.”
I turned my head to hide a smile and the car fell silent again.
Harrison drove with his typical stoic glare, and I almost thought he was going to ignore the grumbling sounds coming from my stomach when he pulled into a lovely little restaurant called Clara’s on the River.
Candice and I both ordered burgers, fries, and Cokes, while Harrison got the Cobb salad. Candice made sure to smirk at him when our food arrived. He made sure to ignore her.
We were back on the road by twelve forty-five, and now that my tummy was full and I’d expended an awful lot of energy back at the Lovelaces’, I talked Candice into taking the front seat with Mr. Charming so that I could take a catnap in the back.
It seemed like I’d only let my head rest against the backseat for a few minutes when I was being gently shaken awake. “Are we there?” I asked groggily.
“No,” Candice said from her twisted position in the front seat. “We’re still about twenty minutes out. Harrison just got the call from the local PD in Cheboygan. They’ve discovered a body and they think it might be Bianca’s.”
“In the cabin?” I asked.
Candice shook her head. “In the boathouse.”
Chapter Five
Candice and I sat in the car for much of the time that we were at Terry’s cabin. Harrison was handling most of the dirty work and he didn’t seem very open to the idea of my partner and I getting in the way and making a nuisance of ourselves.
Soon after we arrived, one lone news reporter turned up and Harrison immediately cornered the poor woman and her cameraman. I had little doubt he told her nothing of substance and convinced her to leave the scene after her camera guy had taken a few clips of the coroner’s van.
After the reporter had gone and Harrison continued to direct the scene, time seemed to drag. With a yawn I wondered out loud to Candice why he’d insisted on taking us here in the first place and Candice said, “He never thought Bianca would actually be here.”
My brow furrowed. “Then why make the drive at all?”
Candice’s sly smile appeared again. “Because he thought that he could embarrass you by having the police comb the place over and find nothing, then arrive with you a few hours later and have you fall flat on your face when you couldn’t locate her body either.”
I sighed tiredly. It had been a long day. “You’d think he’d know better by now.”
Candice replied, “Maybe you don’t need a lot of common sense these days to join the FBI.”
Just then the whirring sound of a helicopter coming in low and fast reverberated across the metal of the car. Reflexively, Candice and I both peered up out the back window as the blinking lights of a chopper came into view. “Someone’s come to join the party,” she said over the noise.
Sure enough, in the field across from the cabin the chopper set down. When the blades had slowed, out hopped Bill Gaston, Jeremy Lovelace, and my boyfriend. “Dutch!” I exclaimed as I threw open the car door and rushed out to greet him.
Candice was right behind me and we met the men on the road next to the driveway. “Is it true?” Lovelace asked me at once. “Have they really found my daughter?” I noticed that he looked pale and shaken. Even though I’d prepared him earlier, this had to be unbelievably difficult for him.
I shook my head as I answered, “I don’t know, Mr. Lovelace. Candice and I only heard that they’ve discovered some human remains. I’m sure Agent Harrison will be able to fill you in on more of the details.”
Gaston, Lovelace, and Dutch all looked up over my shoulder. I turned to see Harrison waving them over. Lovelace quickly hurried toward him, but Gaston hesitated and squeezed my shoulder. “Jeremy told me what happened at the house.”
“I’m sorry I didn’t follow orders, sir.”
“You did great, Ms. Cooper. My friendship with Jeremy goes way back, and I know you brought him some measure of comfort this afternoon. I would like to thank you for what you said to him. I know that sometime later, after the shock of losing his daughter ebbs a bit, he’ll bear the loss a little less painfully because you convinced him she’s still nearby, in spirit.”
I nodded and ducked my chin, a little embarrassed. When Gaston left me for Harrison, I felt a strong arm snake around my middle. “Good work, Edgar,” Dutch whispered into my ear, using his favorite nickname for me (after Edgar Cayce), while he pulled me close.
“I wish it could have had a happier ending.” I sighed.
“It is what it is, Abs.”
I squeezed him tightly for a few seconds before realizing that his being here probably meant good news. “Have you been cleared by IA?” I asked, glancing up into his face.
“Not yet,” he groaned. “Hopefully another few days and this mess will be behind me and I can get back to my job.”
“How were you allowed to come along, then?” I asked, pointing to the helicopter.
“The same way you were,” he said with a grin. “We didn’t tell anyone important about it.”
“So what now?” I asked, turning to watch Harrison talk to Gaston and Lovelace.
Dutch motioned with his head in their direction. “We wait for my new boss to get finished briefing those two. Then we take you and Candice back home.”
“Thank God,” I said. “I’m beat.”
“Does that also mean we’re done with the case?” Candice asked, and I could tell she’d been reading Harrison’s body language as his eyes kept roving over to us.
Dutch sighed. “It might,” he admitted. “Gaston told me on the way over here that Harrison called on some big guns last night. People he knows personally in high places. The word on your involvement is starting to leak, and by continuing to have you two around, it could look really bad for the bureau if this thing goes south.”
“What does that
mean exactly?” I asked. “How could it go south?”
“It means that if any other VIP’s kid is abducted and/or murdered, you two could be blamed for sending the FBI on a wild-goose chase and diverting the agents from the real clues.”
“That’s ridiculous,” I snapped. “I was the one who told Harrison where to look for Bianca in the first place!”
“Hey, don’t yell at me,” Dutch said, putting his hands up in mock surrender. “I’m just telling you how it will likely go down if we get one more mysterious disappearance.”
I scowled, remembering what I’d told the task force the day before, that there would be another abduction soon. “You know what?” I said, still irritated. “They don’t want our help? They don’t have to have it.”
“Abs,” Dutch said with a sigh of his own. “Don’t be like that.”
I knew I was being childish, but it irked me that all my efforts weren’t being appreciated. I didn’t really have long to dwell on it because Gaston was soon back with us. “Agent Harrison is going to stay here and work with the CSIs to make sure this is done right. Jeremy is also staying, and he’ll catch a ride back to Battle Creek with Agent Harrison. In the meantime, I think we should get these two home,” he said, indicating me and Candice. “You both look very tired, and I know we’ve put you through a difficult few days.”
“Thank you, sir,” I said gratefully.
“We know you’re busy and again, we very much appreciate all your assistance in helping us get this far.” He said that last bit like he was confirming what Dutch had hinted at—that Candice and I were officially off the case.
I should have been relieved, but the connection I’d made earlier in the day with Bianca left me feeling bummed about not being allowed to help anymore. I simply nodded when Gaston had finished speaking, and we all walked quietly to the helicopter.
The ride home was thrilling, even though it was dark now and I couldn’t see much. Still, I’d never ridden in a helicopter before. . . . Er . . . scratch that. I’d actually been medevaced out of a wooded area once, but that’s another story. This ride I could actually remember and I wasn’t in and out of consciousness—so it was easier to focus.
We were home around nine and I was asleep by ten.
The next few days were very routine; I got back to my regular schedule, beginning each day with Candice at the gym, and we worked diligently on one of the only cases she had lately. “If this doesn’t pick up soon,” I heard her grouse as she closed the file with a sigh, “I might have to look for a corporate job.”
I could sympathize. My own calendar was woefully thin. I remembered fondly when around this time last year there had been a two-month waiting list to get in to see me. Nowadays you could get in for a session right away.
Still, I wouldn’t be a good friend if I didn’t at least put out my feelers for Candice’s business, and when I did, I came up with something interesting. “You know what, girl?” I said casually as I stared at the far wall and concentrated on the images swirling around in my head. “I think you’re going to be okay.”
“Really?”
I nodded. “I’m getting that this month there might not be a lot of business, but there’s something of a windfall coming your way.”
“Ooooo,” she said dreamily. “I like the sound of that!”
I smiled. “Yeah, but I want to prepare you: The windfall might come with strings.” And then something unsettling poked at me from the ether and I couldn’t help but pause to reflect on it.
Candice must have noticed the pause because she asked, “What is it?”
I looked at her curiously, considering what I had to ask her and how crazy it was going to sound. “Have you been crying or depressed lately?”
Candice tilted her head back and laughed. And if you knew her like I did, you’d get why that was funny. Candice defined cool, calm, and collected. I’d never seen her cry, or get overly emotional. “No,” she said, cocking her head. “Why? Am I about to dissolve into a puddle of tears?”
I shook my head ruefully. “I know, it’s absurd, right? I must be having an off day.”
“You’re due,” she said with a kind smile. “Maybe you should take off and go do something nice for yourself, like get a massage or something?”
“I’ve got a client in twenty minutes,” I said. “Otherwise, I’d be all over that.”
“Okay,” she said. “I’ve got some paperwork I could catch up on, but I think I’ll take off a little early today and go see my grandma.”
“How is Madame DuBois?” I asked.
“Crazy as ever. She wants me to help her paint a new chest of drawers for her bedroom.”
“Don’t tell me,” I said, covering my eyes in mock concentration. “Is the color of choice . . . pink?”
Candice giggled. “Wow, you must be psychic!”
Candice’s grandmother was ridiculously fond of pink. Dutch and I had once visited with her, and we’d both felt like we’d fallen into a vat of cotton candy. “Well, have fun with that,” I told her as I got up to move into my office and get ready for my client’s arrival.
“Thanks, hon. If I don’t catch you before I leave, I’ll see you on Monday in the gym.”
My client arrived right on time and I ushered her into my reading room, which is located just off the lobby that both Candice and I share in a lovely little building in downtown Royal Oak.
I was excited to see that I didn’t recognize the woman who booked the session with me—it’s always good to be challenged by reading for a total stranger. She introduced herself as Jennifer Callahan and we sat down for our session.
“The first thing that I’m picking up for you, Jennifer, is a man to your side. I feel like he’s just a little bit older than you, but it’s weird—there’s no romance here, but I know you two share the same space. It feels like this relationship has fallen into the roommate rut.”
Jennifer smiled. “My brother lives with me,” she said.
“Ah!” I said. “Well, that explains it. Okay, so with regard to your brother, does he work in law enforcement? Or is he an attorney or does he do anything with the law?”
“No,” she said slowly.
“Weird,” I said as the image of a badge kept reappearing in my mind’s eye. I told her what I saw and she admitted that her brother had been thinking about applying to the police academy. “He should totally do it,” I said with emphasis. “He’d make a great cop.”
She looked unconvinced. “Do you think he’d be safe?”
“Abso-tootly!” I said, feeling my right side lighten. Then I focused on another series of images. “Holy cow,” I said when I’d gotten a sense of the energy. “Do you work with some sort of hateful woman or something?”
Again Jennifer’s eyebrows lowered in confusion. “No,” she said. “I love my boss.”
I frowned. Swirling around my client was the energy of an awful beast of a woman, clearly unstable, who was causing her a lot of havoc. “Then I don’t get what this is all about,” I admitted, “because there is this woman who is right out of a nightmare and has no control over her emotions. I keep feeling like she’s painted you as a target. There is a man in this picture too, however, and I feel like these two used to be a team, but now he’s on your side and she’s not having it.”
Jennifer’s eyes lit up with understanding. “I think you’re talking about my boyfriend’s soon-to-be ex-wife.”
And like the missing piece in a puzzle, it clicked into place. “Oh, yeah!” I said. “That’s got to be it! Wow, she really has it in for you. Did you know she spies on you?”
Jennifer sighed heavily. “My boyfriend, Paul, and I thought we heard someone in the bushes outside my house two nights ago, but when we went to investigate, no one was there.”
“It was her,” I said with conviction. “She’s really unstable, you know.”
“Oh,” Jennifer said with a laugh, “you don’t have to tell me twice!”
Just then I heard the phone ringing in my
office and something about that buzzed my radar, but I set it aside because I needed to focus on my client. “She’s also doing something funky with your boyfriend’s accounts or with his money,” I added. “Again, I want you to realize this woman is not thinking rationally, and she’ll pretty much do anything she can get away with to try and hurt both of you.”
“Do you think I’m in physical danger?” Jennifer asked.
I worked that question in my mind for a minute and relaxed when I felt the answer. “No,” I told her. “I think she would stop just short of that. Still, you and your boyfriend need to tread carefully here, especially with regard to his finances.”
“How can we find out what she’s up to?”
As if in answer, I heard the phone in Candice’s office start to ring and my radar gave another little ping. “My office mate is actually a private investigator, and she’s one of the best in the business. I think she could definitely help you out with a little digging.”
Jennifer and I continued with the session for about another twenty minutes before we ran out of time. It was a good session, with some great hits, and she looked a bit dazed at the end. “It’s a lot to take in, isn’t it?” I asked as she paid me.
“It is!” she said with a laugh. “I’ve never done this before, so I didn’t know what to expect, and I certainly didn’t think you’d be so detailed and so accurate.”
I resisted the urge to blow on my knuckles . . . but just barely. After she left, I remembered the little ping my radar had sounded when my phone rang, and as I moved toward my office, I noticed the light was still on in Candice’s suite. Curious, I headed there first and was surprised to find her still at her computer. “I thought you were leaving,” I said.
She’d been so focused on her computer screen that she obviously hadn’t heard me come into the doorway, and she jumped in her seat when I spoke. “Just the girl I need to talk to,” she said, recovering quickly, as she indicated the chair in front of her desk. “Take a seat, Abs. We need to talk.”