Rushin' Death, page 28
But they tried to keep each other apprised with at least the general shape of their days and when they would be home or out. Kenzie felt like she had really let Zachary down by not giving him a call, even though she had been physically unable to do so. He would be worried, even if he felt like their relationship guidelines didn’t allow him to inquire about where she had been or what she had been up to.
The nurse at the reception desk wasn’t familiar to Kenzie, since she was probably normally on mornings and Kenzie usually visited in the evening. She paid attention to Kenzie’s identification and didn’t chat familiarly with her as the nurses who knew her did. She wrote everything down carefully and motioned to an orderly to escort her to the visitor room.
“I know where to go,” Kenzie said, trying to wave him off.
“It’s pretty quiet,” the tall, dark-skinned orderly told her. “I need something to do.”
So Kenzie let him escort her to the visitor room where, of course, Zachary was not waiting for her. He wouldn’t sit there all day when she only came in the evenings.
“Do you mind if I go by his room? I’ll suggest we come out here to visit.”
“I will get him for you.”
Kenzie opened her mouth to object, then let the man do his job. If it was that quiet, she might as well let him do something.
Zachary’s expression was wary when the orderly returned with him. His eyes alighted on Kenzie’s face, and he brightened. “Kenzie!” He stepped forward eagerly to greet her with a hug and a quick kiss; then he withdrew slightly to be able to look her in the face. “What day is it? Are you off today?”
“Well, it’s Saturday, and I was up late last night, so I decided just to go ahead and take the whole day off. I thought you would be proud of me.”
He chuckled. “Playing hooky from work? Of course I’m proud of you. Even though… it’s not really playing hooky when you just decide not to work overtime.”
“Don’t burst my bubble.”
They both laughed and sat down together. Zachary’s brows drew together, and he indicated the laceration on her forehead that she hadn’t been able to disguise with makeup. A couple of sterile strips held it closed, and she had managed to tone down the bruising with a little foundation around the mark, but it was still clear that she had hit her head.
“What happened there?” Zachary asked.
Kenzie rolled her eyes. “It’s still icy outside. I tripped and hit my head on a van.”
All of that was true, but she knew she was still constructing a lie, keeping from Zachary what had really happened. There was no way she was telling him she had been abducted. Not while he was still in psych and not fully stabilized on the new meds. Maybe down the line, when he was home and everything was back to normal, and all of the drama with Walter and the Russians was just a memory. Then she might tell him a little bit about it, in a casual way, as if it had just been a minor blip. She wasn’t quite sure yet how she would pull that off, but she had time to think about it.
“Ouch.” Zachary grimaced. “But you’re okay? No concussion?”
“No. I’m perfectly fine.”
She hadn’t actually been checked for a concussion, but she knew the signs well enough, and she thought that the brain fog and feeling of watching herself from outside were more the results of stress and her concern over Walter than signs of a concussion.
If she did have one, it was very mild, and they would just tell her to take it easy and not do anything too strenuous. And she didn’t plan to. She was taking the whole weekend off and would not be moving any bodies around.
“Good.” He raised his hand and touched the other side of her face gently, letting his warm, dry palm rest on it for a second or two. “I don’t like to see you hurt.”
“Nothing to worry about,” Kenzie assured him. “And I’m sorry about not getting here last night. Things were… kind of crazy.”
She would let him think she was talking about work. All true. No lies. That was another rule they had established in couples’ therapy. Never to lie to each other. They could say they didn’t want to answer a question, could not force one another to reveal anything they didn’t want to, but no lies.
“That’s okay.” He nodded to emphasize this. “I’ve said before, it’s okay if you can’t make it here every day. Sometimes other things come up. It’s not exactly convenient to come here every night. If I was at home, there would still be nights that we didn’t see each other that much, either because you had to work late or run errands or whatever, or because I had surveillance or something to do. If we wouldn’t be home every night, why should you have to be here every night?”
“Well… because if we were at home, I would still see you in the morning before work and touch base during the day, and we would sleep together for at least a couple of hours even if you were doing night surveillance. When you’re here… I don’t see or hear from you the rest of the time either. I miss you, and you must feel isolated too. I just want to make sure… I want to support you and not let us drift apart.”
“We’re not going to drift apart because you missed visiting one night. It’s okay.”
Kenzie swallowed and nodded. He was saying and doing all the right things, but she still wondered whether he was hurt or upset that she hadn’t been there the night before. He was the kind of guy who buried those feelings, hid them even from himself, and insisted that everything was fine. But he had been abandoned by his parents. Rejected by numerous foster families. By Bridget, his ex-wife. Kenzie’s absence must send up red flags for him. It must have triggered some kind of anxiety that she would abandon him just like everyone else.
But she couldn’t insist he feel bad about it or share those feelings. So she just smiled and acted as if she was reassured by his words. “Good. Because you’re important to me. I don’t want you to worry.”
“It’s fine, Kenzie. I just hope you didn’t wear yourself out. It is still the holidays. You should be taking time to relax and recharge.”
“We don’t take holidays at Christmastime at the morgue. That’s our busy season.” She grinned and repeated one of their well-worn jokes. “People are dying to get in.”
Zachary chuckled. “Still, don’t let Dr. Wiltshire work you too hard. Or I’ll have to have a word with him. It’s not like they’re going to get sicker if you don’t see them right away. Your waiting room is a lot bigger than most doctors’.”
“And colder.”
61
Kenzie sat in the car, thinking about Zachary and analyzing whether he suspected her of keeping something from him. She didn’t like keeping him in the dark about what had been happening with Walter and about the previous day’s abduction. But it would have been a lot worse to tell him about it. He had seemed okay, despite her worries about how he was going to react to her missing a visit. Maybe he was secure enough in their relationship that he could accept her missing a visit here or there without getting overly anxious about it. But she knew enough about him to know that he didn’t necessarily show what he was feeling.
Kenzie’s phone rang. She pulled it out and looked at the number for a moment before recognizing it. Another conversation that might be rather difficult.
“Hello?”
“Sergeant Campbell, Kenzie. Good news!”
Her mouth went dry, and for a moment she was afraid that something else had happened. She didn’t know why she would be anxious about new developments when Campbell said that it was good news. Maybe there had just been too many negatives lately for her to take anything at face value.
“What’s that?” she asked tentatively.
“I heard from your father this morning. And he said that he had seen you last night.”
Kenzie let her breath out slowly. “Yes,” she agreed. “Really good news. I was beginning to think… after nine days…”
“Of course,” Campbell agreed, not making her put it into words. “After so much time has passed, things didn’t look good. But in the end, things worked out.”
“How much did he tell you?”
“Well, I can’t say that we got all of our questions answered. And of course the investigations into the deaths of the Russians and whatever criminal activities are going on in that community will continue to go forward. But as far as his missing person case goes… obviously, that can be closed.”
“You don’t need anything else?”
“What else would I need?” He sounded amused. Kenzie supposed it was a stupid question to ask. But she had wondered whether he would need sworn testimony or affidavits, whether she needed to go in and sign off on a report, saying that she was satisfied that the case had been resolved, or some other official action.
“Nothing, I guess. You know that he is no longer missing, so you obviously won’t keep looking for him!”
“No. I think I have enough to do without looking for people who are already found. How are you doing? A little… irritated with him?”
Kenzie laughed a short, sharp bark of laughter. She hadn’t really thought about how she felt about what Walter had told her the night before. She was still trying to process everything and to figure out what was true and what was not. But his question triggered a sharp jab of emotion. Irritated? She was irritated as hell. Walter claimed that he had just been in hiding. That he had voluntarily chosen to drop out of sight to avoid trouble. He had, apparently, talked to the governor, but he couldn’t be bothered to talk to his own daughter. Despite her increasingly worried phone messages to him, he hadn’t made a simple phone call to let her know that everything was fine and she could stop looking for him.
“I don’t think irritated begins to cover it,” she admitted.
“I can understand that. If I’m irritated to have him show up and say that it was all voluntary after I’ve deployed so many man hours trying to track him down and ensure his safety, I can only imagine how you would feel after searching for him alone for days and worrying about what might have happened to him. You have a lot more emotionally invested in it than I do.”
“Yeah,” Kenzie agreed. “Even though I’ve tried not to…”
“I can’t see how you can help it when it’s your own father. Even if you don’t see eye to eye on everything.”
It was interesting that Campbell, who she wasn’t that close to, had recognized the emotional distance between Kenzie and her father. She didn’t recall saying anything to him about how they didn’t get along. Though maybe she had, in explaining why it had taken so long for her to file a missing person report on him.
“So if the case is being closed…” Kenzie looked at her burner phone, feeling its unfamiliar weight and shape in her hand. “Can I get my phone back from you?”
“Yes, of course. We’re finished with it. I’m sure you’ll want to get it back as soon as possible. And since Walter was the one to write you that email, and it was not a threat, we don’t have any reason to investigate where it came from. I can tell you, though… that it was quite sophisticated. There are sites you can go to if you want to send someone an anonymous email, and you just use their web interface and everything is taken care of. This… wasn’t that. On a preliminary basis, it looks like it was initially routed through Russian servers.”
Kenzie’s stomach tied itself into a knot. What did that mean? Had someone other than Walter sent it to her, and he had just covered for that person? Or had he been working with the Russians when he had sent it to her? Or being held by them against his will, but managed to negotiate with them to let him send her an email to try to get her out of their business?
“Oh. Well… that’s interesting.”
“Yes,” Campbell agreed, his tone light and non-accusatory. “I thought so too.”
“I’ll stop by and get my phone in the next couple of hours. Your front desk is open?”
“Yes. I’ll leave it in an envelope at the desk for you. Stop by at your convenience.”
“Thanks. I appreciate it. And let me apologize for having started an inquiry when there was apparently no need for one. For wasting police time. I doubt if Walter apologized.”
He chuckled. “No, you would be right in that assessment. Don’t worry about it, Kenzie. I know it wasn’t frivolous. You had good reason to be concerned.”
Before Kenzie drove over to the police station, she got out of the car and checked the trunk.
It was empty.
She had been abducted just as she got out of her car to take Walter’s luggage into the house. She was pretty sure that she had already popped the trunk when they had grabbed her, but the adrenaline-filled excitement and confusion around the abduction had muddied her memories. She might have popped the trunk, or she might not have.
Either way, the luggage was gone.
Did that mean that the Russians who had kidnapped her had taken it? Or had Walter taken the suitcases at some point?
She had never given Walter the keys or opened it for him. It was possible that the trunk had been unlatched when he’d brought her home after the abduction, but how would he know that? She hadn’t seen him retrieve the luggage. He could have after she sent him on his way. If he’d known that the trunk was open or had jimmied it himself.
More likely, it had been the Russians. Just because she hadn’t seen them take the suitcases, that didn’t mean that they hadn’t. They hadn’t thrown them into the back of the van with her, but there might have been a follow car. Or she might simply have been unaware of it, face down in the van with her head spinning and one of them standing on her back.
Kenzie closed the trunk and made sure it latched. She slid back into the driver’s seat, feeling every bruise and pulled muscle from the abduction. She should just go home and relax, like Zachary had told her to. Like Walter had suggested. Like anyone who knew what she had gone through would have recommended. But she wouldn’t feel any better lying in bed at home. Then she would just be thinking with nothing to do. It was better to stay busy and not think about her aches and pains and all of the questions that had not been answered.
62
After retrieving her regular phone from the police station, Kenzie hit the road.
It was funny how much better she felt once she had the phone in her possession. She had never been one of those people who claimed that “her whole life” was on the phone. She had a life, and a phone wouldn’t change that. But she had come to rely on it for her contact list, both the phone numbers and emails she didn’t have memorized. And her schedule. And it came in handy when she wanted to play music in the car and didn’t want to mess around looking for something good on the radio. She wasn’t sure when the last time she’d actually listened to the radio was. Growing up, that had been what she’d listened to all the time. It was strange to think that the technology was becoming obsolete with the rise of cell phones and streaming music subscriptions.
And, of course, the phone gave her a way to look up her emails while on the run. And to quickly text a message to Zachary or another friend when she wanted to touch base, maybe to get an answer to a quick question when she didn’t have the time for a visit.
And she sometimes wound down playing a quick game or reading a book on her reading app.
It wasn’t her whole life, but it made accessing her life easier. And she felt much better having it back in her possession. It gave her a sense of security and belonging, as strange as that seemed.
She played her music with the volume turned way up, far louder than she would have if she had been driving with Zachary. No need to hold a conversation. All the reasons in the world to block out her thoughts. She was careful to stick to the speed limit, or at least within ten miles per hour of the speed limit, taking her time. Nothing was going to be gained by speeding. Getting there ten minutes ahead of schedule would make no difference.
The highways were cleared of snow, and traffic was moving at a good pace. No accidents, no slowdowns. Working in the Medical Examiner’s Office, she always wondered when she saw a traffic accident whether anyone had been killed and she would see them later in autopsy. It was an eerie feeling and one she didn’t share with anyone. She couldn’t have shared it with very many people who would understand, other than Dr. Wiltshire himself.
Eventually, she pulled onto the familiar lane and slowed to drive the last leg to the house. When she pulled into the circular parking area, she saw a white sedan already parked there, as she had expected to. So he hadn’t picked up his own car from the Front Street Hotel parking lot yet. Was he afraid to be seen back there? Maybe he had been warned off? Or had the hotel had it towed to an impound lot and he hadn’t paid the fines yet?
Kenzie parked neatly beside the other car and walked up to the front door. She rang and then, after a moment’s consideration, tried the handle. The door was unlocked. Kenzie let herself in. Lola barked frantically and dashed into the hall. Lisa followed at a more sedate pace.
“MacKenzie!” Lisa smiled and hurried forward to give her a brief hug and buss both cheeks. “It is so nice to see you. Come in. Your father is here.”
“I saw the car,” Kenzie said with a nod.
“Ah, you’re very observant.” Lisa held Kenzie’s arm companionably as they walked back into the sitting room. Walter looked up from the newspaper that lay open on the coffee table.
“MacKenzie. Fancy meeting you here.”
Kenzie imagined that the last week had never taken place. That it was Christmas Day again and she was arriving at her mother’s house for the first time. That Walter was there as he usually was every Christmas, giving his ex-wife a box of chocolates or some other sentimental gift, acting as if he still lived there. Could she wipe out the rest and pretend it had never happened? That they were just a happy little family, enjoying the festive season?
“Are you okay?” Kenzie asked, unable to push her anxiety over his safety aside as she wished.
“I’m fine.” Walter looked down at the paper and turned the large, folded sheet. “Did you get a good night’s sleep? You’re looking a bit better today.”
