“Come on, Baby Doll. I think you’ve had enough, and I don’t want you falling asleep before the next part of our evening.” He helped her ease out of the booth then steadied her as she swayed. “Whoa, Sweetheart. You okay?”
“I need to pee,” she said weakly. He supported her with an arm around her waist and steered her to the ladies room. Sherry wobbled inside and into an empty stall. She emptied her bladder and desperately prayed she wasn’t going to puke. Standing at the sink she wanted to splash cold water on her face, but the act of leaning forward was enough to start her stomach on a serious roll again. Deciding it was safer just to wet a paper towel and blot her face, Sherry wondered what Ricky would say if she asked him to take her home. She’d been so looking forward to this date, but now all she wanted to do was crawl into bed and lay her face on a cool pillow. Things were not working out the way she had planned.
The door pushed slightly open. “Baby Doll, you okay in there?”
Tears filled her eyes at the concern in his voice. Keeping one hand on the wall for support, Sherry slowly made her way to the door. “I’m okay,” she tried to smile. “But I think you need to take me home.”
Ricky pulled her close supporting her slight weight against him. “I think my Baby Doll needs to go to bed,” he said softly.
Sherry wanted to weep with gratitude. “Thanks for understanding. I thought you might be mad.”
“Honey,” he scooped her into his arms and carried her through the kitchen and out the back door. “Why would I be mad? I want to go to bed with you.”
Her head lolled against his chest. Did he mean he wanted to have sex? Her stomach did another roll. She should probably tell him she was a virgin, she thought. And closing her eyes to stop the world from spinning, she was instantly asleep.
Smiling, Ricky placed her limp form in the car and secured the seatbelt to keep her from flopping over. As far as he was concerned their evening was just beginning. Whistling, he climbed into the driver’s seat and started the engine. As he pulled into traffic he began to hum softly with the radio. Yes, it was going to be a damn fine night. Sherry moaned and slumped further down in her seat. Realizing he hadn’t pulled the seatbelt tight enough, Ricky reached over and undid the latch. He never saw the light go from yellow to red until it was too late. The impact exploded his airbag. He had a moment to register the terrible sound of crashing metal then pain consumed him and all went black.
* * *
Kate wasn’t smiling when she finally pulled into Jo’s driveway and all the lights flashed on. She was weary to the bone and sick at heart. Opening the door she was surprised to find Jo half asleep on the sofa with her laptop open and propped on her lap with a pillow.
“What are you doing up?” she said dropping down into the overstuffed chair. “It’s nearly four in the morning.”
“Well, I started doing some searches on my dead body, since Jared Rodriquez now has a name, and I think I fell asleep. You’re really late.” She yawned until her jaw cracked. “What’s up?”
“Traffic accident,” Kate said simply. “A bad one.”
“Fatalities?”
Kate nodded. “Two. And to make it worse, I knew one of them.”
Jo set the computer aside and swung her legs to the floor. “Oh, Kate, I’m so sorry. Anyone I know, too?”
Kate leaned her head back against the chair and closed her eyes. “I’m not sure. It was one of the teachers from Christian’s elementary school.”
“What?”
“Yeah, small world huh? Diana Harkins, the physical education teacher. Bitch of it is I spoke with her just this afternoon. She was hanging these posters in the hallway all smiles because they had reinstated the Field Day.” Midnight walked over and gave Kate several head butts. Getting no reaction she jumped into Kate’s lap, turned several circles and started to purr.
“I’m so sorry.”
“And that’s not the worst of it,” Kate continued, absently stroking the cat. “The other driver was DUI and he had a teenager in the car with him. She bought it, too. I had to wake her father up at midnight and tell him his daughter was in an accident and she was dead.”
“God, of all the shit you have to put up with in your job, that has to be the worst. Can I get you anything? A cup of tea or something?”
“You know, I really don’t want to talk about this right now, okay?” Kate took a deep breath and, setting the cat back on the floor, stood slowly. “I just can’t think about this anymore.” And turning she went to her bedroom with the cat close behind her.
Jo stood and wished there was something she could do. But knowing Kate, it was best to just let her be for a while. In the morning she’d see if talking it out would make a difference. But then, she thought, how could she make a difference? The dead would still be dead.
* * *
The next morning Bella’s tail started to thump the floor and Jo looked up to see Kate, still wearing a robe, standing in the kitchen doorway.
“You didn’t get much sleep,” she said looking at the clock. “I’m surprised to see you up this early.”
“The smell of coffee called to me,” she said slowly. She poured herself a mug then looked back at Jo. “You need a refill?”
“Nah, I’m good.”
“Sorry I crapped out on you last night.”
“No problem, it had to be pretty awful.”
Kate took a sip and then settled in the chair across from Jo. “I kept dreaming about it. Each time I closed my eyes I saw the twisted metal of the cars and all the blood.” She shuddered. “Not a pretty sight.”
“And you had to be the one to notify next of kin?”
Kate nodded and closed her eyes. “I think that was even worse than recognizing Diana.” She took another sip of her coffee. “I didn’t want to tell the parents over the phone that their daughter was killed in a traffic accident, so I drove to their house. I wake the dad up and he’s telling me his kid is asleep in her bed and who the fuck did I think I was to show up on their doorstep at that hour of the night? He’d been drinking and he’s not too steady on his feet so we go into the living room. He still swears that the kid is in bed, and starts yelling for his wife. Well, no one comes and he’s hollering loud enough to wake the, well, let’s just say he was really loud. So he tells me he’ll prove it’s not his kid and goes to her room and flips on the light.” Kate sighed. “She’d stuffed pillows under the spread and her window was open. The dad turns, takes one look at me and falls to his knees. He’s now sobbing on the floor when the mom pulls up. She comes in all pissy, reeking of alcohol and stale sex, and wants to know what the fuck is going on and who the hell am I.”
“Oh, Kate.” Jo pushed a box of tissues forward and wondered if Kate realized that tears were running down her cheeks.
“So the dad is yelling at the mom that their kid is dead, and then the mom pushes into the room and flips back the spread revealing the staged pillows. She turns on the dad and demands to know why he let her go out; when it’s clear the kid went through the opened window. The dad gets off the floor and starts yelling, where the fuck have you been all this time? They’re nose-to-nose and I swear, Jo, I thought for a moment they were going to start throwing punches.”
“You know, your job has some really crappy parts to it.”
Kate sighed and lifted Midnight onto her lap. “The mom finally turns to me and wants to know how we identified their daughter and where she is and how it’s probably all a mistake anyway. So I give her the kid’s purse. She takes one look at it and gets hysterical. So she’s now crying and the dad, instead of comforting her, starts in on how she’s always been a lousy mother and it was her fault their daughter was turning into a slut like her.” Kate reached for a tissue and wiped her eyes. “Christ, I just told them their daughter was dead and instead of comforting each other, they’re having a knock-down, drag-out fight. I just couldn’t stand to listen to any more. I left my card and told them to call me if they had any more questions. Then I left and c
ame home.”
“I’m so sorry you had to deal with that.” Jo got up and refilled Kate’s coffee cup. “Can you eat some breakfast? I made French toast.”
At Kate’s shrug, Jo opened the oven and took out a plate. “Careful,” she said setting it on the table. “The plate’s really hot.” She watched Midnight sit up straighter on Kate’s lap. “And paws off, you,” she pointed at the cat. “Your breakfast is over there on the floor.”
“Thanks.” Kate took her fork and cut off a corner of the golden bread. “That little girl was only fifteen.”
“And she was in the car with the teacher?”
Kate shook her head. “No she was in the other car. Her parents said they’d never heard of Richard Smith. Didn’t know anyone by that name. I left them arguing as to whose fault it was that their little girl had to sneak out with someone they didn’t even know.”
“So what happened to this Richard person?”
“He’s in the hospital. I think he has a broken arm and some cracked ribs and I’m not too sure but I think there was something about his leg or it might have been his foot. Anyway, his blood alcohol is off the charts so he’ll be sited for DUI.”
“Will he be charged for the deaths?”
“I’m not sure. First glance says he’s the one that ran the red light, but until we complete the investigation, I don’t know.”
“And the other victim?”
“The physical education teacher at Christian’s school.” Kate shook her head again. “I mean what are the chances, I just spoke with her a few hours before. She’s all happy about this event at school and now she’s dead.”
“Will you pull grief counselors in?”
“Have to. I’m going to call Isaac later this morning and ask him to help with the high school kids and see if he can suggest someone to go to the elementary school to be there for the teachers. This is really going to hit them hard. I got the distinct impression when I was there that Diana was very well liked and respected.” Kate pushed the food around on her plate. “So what were you doing last night? I’m a little foggy about that.”
Jo sat back at the table and glanced at her laptop. “Now that I know the name of the dead guy, I’m doing a search to see if I can shake something out that might lead me to his killer. He had a sheet a mile long so I’ve noted all the places he lived and I’m doing the resident search.”
Kate shook her head. “That’s going to take you days. Any progress on the missing kid?”
“Well, I might actually have a tip on that one. I wanted to run it by you before I officially called it in.”
“What did you get?”
“I had homeless Ruby in yesterday.”
“Homeless Ruby? What’s a homeless Ruby?”
“That’s what we call her. She’s probably in her fifties, mostly harmless and lives under the bridge near the old tracks.”
“If you have her, she’s not harmless.” Kate said pointedly.
“See, she’s not really mine. I just saw her because Cindy is on vacation and I told her I’d take her cases this week.”
“Okay, so what does homeless Ruby have to do with missing Christian?”
“Well she’s in my office and I’m getting ready to drive her over to Lake View.” At Kate’s pointed look Jo hurried on. “I know, I know, but it’s on her requirement sheet and she has no way to get there. So we’re getting ready to leave and she’s talking about how everybody is going on vacation. Cindy is on vacation, the kid is on vacation, and now she’s going on vacation, too.”
“And again, okay, what does this have to do with Christian?”
“I have a picture of him on my bulletin board, one of the missing child posters. Ruby takes one look at him and says his mother picked him up for vacation.”
“What? Aggie picked him up?” Kate stood and Midnight slid to the floor with a thump.
“No, that’s just it. When I pull up Aggie’s picture on my computer, Ruby says that’s not his mother. The woman who took him had blond hair. Actually, I think she said gold hair.”
“Ruby saw someone take the boy?”
“That’s what she said. She told me she was in the woods near the school ‘cause it’s cooler there. Kate, that’s really close to the area where Mason took us. Ruby said the lady came and told him they were going on vacation. And then they left together. She said it had to be his mother because they both had the gold hair.”
Kate reached for the phone at her waist and realized she was still wearing her robe. “I gotta get dressed. How reliable is this Ruby?”
“Well,” Jo stretched out the word. “She does have some mental issues, hence the stay at Lake View. And she’s afraid of someone she calls the Birdman who’s always watching. But she had no reason to say anything about Christian so I think she probably did see something.”
Kate nodded. “I’m going to call this in. Knowing somebody picked him up makes it very different from a child who just wandered away. And,” she smacked her head, “with all that’s happened, I forgot to tell you, we found out that Danny isn’t Christian’s father.”
“What?” Jo gasped. “When did this happen?”
“Worm called me and I stopped by the M.E.’s office after my visit to the school yesterday.”
“Wait, why did you need to go back to the school?”
“Christian’s teacher, Ms. Johnson, called and asked me to come by.”
“Did she want to see your homework?” But Kate didn’t grin as Jo had hoped.
“She was cleaning out Christian’s desk and found that he had done Internet searches on antifreeze.”
“What! The kid is only eight. How could he do Internet searches?”
“You’d be surprised what a kid of eight can do on a computer these days. Some of them are probably better than we are.”
“That’s just scary.”
“Tell me about it. He had searches on how dangerous antifreeze was to pets and small kids. He knew it was a poison. And one of the searches explained how if someone ingested the stuff they could even die.”
“Damn it, Kate, do you think he killed his father?”
Kate shook her head. “I don’t know – but at least we know that Danny wasn’t his biological father. Did Aggie ever tell you she’d been married before?”
Now Jo shook her head. “I think I need to go and have another talk with her. And wait, didn’t you say he clammed up each time you tried to talk to him. Here we’re thinking maybe he saw something.…”
“And instead maybe he’s done something,” Kate finished. “We’ve got to get dressed and get moving.” And ignoring her uneaten breakfast, Kate hurried from the room.
Jo looked down at her cutoff jeans and stained tee. “I thought I was dressed.” Bella just wagged her tail.
Chapter Eleven
Their first stop was Lake View where they found Ruby clad in an institutional blue gown and robe, sitting in front of the washer in the facility’s laundry room.
“It’s the only way we could get her to let us wash her clothes,” the aid said in a whisper, fanning her nose as way of explanation. “She was afraid someone was going to take her things and she wouldn’t get them back.”
“She has possession issues,” Jo offered. “She doesn’t have much, but what she has she protects.”
“Tell me about it,” the aid said. “Well, she’s all yours. Let me know if you need anything else.”
Not wanting to startle the woman, Jo called from the doorway. “Hey, Ruby, how’s it going?”
Ruby turned and took a moment before recognition set in. “Miss Jo,” she smiled. “Are you on vacation here, too?”
Jo heard Kate give a snort of laughter behind her. “No, I just came by to see how you were doing. Are you having a good time since you don’t have to be out in the hot weather?”
Ruby looked back at the washer. “You got to be careful here cause they want to take your clothes.”
“But they’ll be all nice and clean when they come out.?
?? She walked over to stand beside the woman. Without her many layers of clothing, Ruby gave a surprisingly frail appearance. “Think of how nice it will feel to put clean clothes on.” When Ruby remained silent, Jo continued. “Actually I brought a friend for you to meet.”
Ruby looked over at Kate. “Is she going on vacation here?”
Kate smiled and stepped closer. “I wish I could go on vacation,” she said easily. “But actually I was hoping you could help me.”
Ruby looked from Kate to Jo then back to the washer. “I’ve got to watch my clothes. I don’t want anybody to take them.”
“You don’t have to leave that chair,” Kate said moving closer and squatting down so she and Ruby were almost at eye level. “My friend Jo told me you saw the missing little boy and his mama in the woods behind the school.”
“Going on vacation,” Ruby said, never taking her eyes from the washer’s window.
“Can you tell me what she looked like?” Kate prodded.
“Looked like each other.”
“Was she tall or short?”
Ruby tore her gaze from the spinning clothes and looked at Kate. “Why?”
Kate hesitated a moment. “Well, Ruby, that wasn’t his mama.”
“But she looked like him.”
“I know,” Kate said gently. “But his real mama is so worried. She’s been crying all night because her little boy is lost.”
“But he’s on vacation.”
Now Kate shook her head. “Ruby, I think that might have been a bad woman. The little boy’s name is Christian and that wasn’t his mama.”
Ruby’s eyes went wide. “She stole him from his real mama?”
“I think that’s what happened. So can you help me find him?”
“He’s not on vacation?”
“I don’t think so. I think that bad woman stole him. Can you tell me anything about her?”
Ruby stared at the washer and for a moment Kate was afraid she wasn’t going to answer. “She was pretty,” she said finally.
“And she had gold hair?”
Nodding, Ruby’s face lined with concentration. “Why did he go with her if she wasn’t his mama?”
“I don’t know,” Kate said. “Maybe she told him his mama had asked her to get him.”
Ruby’s eyes grew wide again. “She lied?”