She Was Out of Reach, page 6
“Can you send me that picture?”
“Sure. Of course. I’ve already downloaded it. You said that Amir might have used Orna’s passport for Claire.”
“Yeah.”
The police had undoubtedly turned up the same information. And they also might have had access to her passport, which Zachary didn’t. They knew who he had been traveling with and, in their opinion, he was a non-custodial parent taking his child out of the country.
But as far as Zachary knew, they hadn’t been able to get in touch with him. Places like Saudi Arabia were notorious havens for absconding fathers. Getting Claire back, if Amir had taken her there, would be difficult if not impossible. Rose hadn’t heard anything back from the investigators, which probably meant they were still dealing with the red tape, trying to figure out how to advance the case. Or they had already given up.
“Do you have Amir’s parent’s names? They live here?”
“Yes. Are you going to go see them?”
“I might. It might be the only way to get in contact with him.”
9
“I’ll get you everything tonight,” Heather promised. “I need to take a break for supper now. And so do you.”
“I’ll eat when Kenzie gets home. Promise.”
He was starting to feel vaguely hungry. After years of meds that suppressed his appetite or made him nauseated, he was surprised whenever he actually felt hungry. And most of the time, he ignored the uncomfortable feeling and it went away. But he was supposed to be keeping his weight up, which wasn’t easy if he didn’t eat.
“One more thing,” Heather said as he was about to end the call.
“Oh, sorry. What?”
“About that other thing.” He was in the dark until she clarified. “The family dinner.”
“Oh. Yeah. Don’t worry about that. I’ll do something else. Just see people separately.”
“No, that isn’t what I was going to say. I think you’re right. I think it’s time we put our past aside and get together again. It’s been decades. Why are we letting them hold us back from reuniting?”
Them might mean their mother and father. Or it might mean the various social workers they had dealt with who had kept them apart through their childhoods. But childhood was long over, and there wasn’t any reason they couldn’t get together if they wanted to. There were no longer any other adults to tell them what they were or weren’t allowed to do.
“Yeah. I think we should,” Zachary said tentatively. “But it might be too soon. I can wait… let people heal… get to know each other separately before we all have to be in the same room together.”
“No. I think you’re right. I think it’s time now. Don’t chicken out on me.”
“I’m not afraid. I just don’t want to push. I don’t want it to be a negative experience. I don’t want people saying, ‘I’m never going to do that again.’ ”
Heather laughed. “I think we should tell the others we’re doing it. We’re going to get everyone together for a pre-Christmas dinner. It’s not going to happen if we don’t take charge.”
“Won’t everybody just get their backs up? Or Joss anyway. We want her to come, but if we tell her what she has to do or that she has to see us all together, she’ll just tell us to go to hell.”
“Let me deal with Joss. I know she’ll push back, but she loves the family, no matter how she might act. It will still mean something to have everybody get together. It will be hard for her, just like it will be hard for you… and me. But that doesn’t mean we call it off. She’ll come if we work on her.”
Zachary was buoyed up. Maybe it would be possible. Maybe it wouldn’t take them another thirty years to get up the courage to all get together.
“If you think so. You want me to start to talk to people, then? Do you think we should set a date? Or poll for a date?”
“Let’s just start by saying that we are planning to do it. I’ll talk to Joss. You can talk to Tyrrell. Tyrrell can talk to Vince and Mindy. Okay? But tell them we’re doing it. It’s going to happen.”
“Okay.” Zachary nodded. He swallowed, straining at the lump in his throat. “Sounds good. Thanks, Feathers.”
10
Kenzie arrived home just as Zachary was ending his call with Heather. He put his phone in his pocket and smiled at her, though he was still feeling a little emotional from the call and Heather’s reassurance that they would get the siblings together for dinner.
Kenzie looked at him, eyebrows raised. “You’re not ready?”
Zachary looked into the kitchen. He should have started dinner for her. But she hadn’t told him she was on her way home or wanted anything particular.
“Uh, I can put something on now. What did you want?”
She gestured at him with an open palm. “I want you cleaned up and ready for family dinner.”
His brain bounced from one possibility to another, confused. He had just been talking to Heather about the family dinner, but that wasn’t yet finalized. They didn’t have a date, let alone agreement from the others to be there. He wasn’t ready for dinner with Kenzie, but it wasn’t like they usually did anything formal.
They sometimes had family dinner with the Petersons, but that was usually on a Sunday, and he was pretty sure it wasn’t Sunday. Kenzie tried not to work on Sunday. She would go in for a while Saturday morning and then take the rest of the weekend off, unless something really bad or political happened that needed her immediate attention. And now that Dr. Cook was there, he could handle any emergencies.
Zachary slapped his forehead as his brain fastened on to the next possibility. Family dinner with Kenzie’s parents. They had asked for the chance to have more regular meals with Kenzie and Zachary. Actually, they had asked for equal time with the Petersons, but Kenzie said there was no way she would be able to pin both of her parents down for dinner more than once every few months. It wouldn’t be every second week like their visits to Lorne and Pat.
“Is that today? I completely forgot.”
And she had reminded him that morning at breakfast. He had promised to be dressed and ready to go when she got home. Zachary’s guts knotted.
“I’m so sorry, Kenzie. I’ll do a quick change now. I’ll be ready in five minutes. I’m sorry, it was on the calendar and everything. You even reminded me this morning. I have been so wrapped up in this case…”
Her face was carefully composed. Neutral, rather than showing her anger at Zachary’s falling down once more on his obligations after multiple promises had been made. “Well, you’ll have to catch us up on it. I’m sure that will make interesting dinner conversation,” she said lightly.
Zachary swallowed and hurried toward the main bathroom to strip down, spray his pits, and run the electric razor over his stubble. That done, he dashed to the bedroom to throw on a button-up shirt and pants with a crease. Back to the bathroom to grab his phone, wallet, and keys out of the pockets of the clothes he had discarded there, and to the back door, where Kenzie stood absolutely still waiting for him.
“If you want to go ahead, I’ll be right out,” he assured her, grabbing his winter coat and threading his arms through the sleeves.
She pivoted and went back into the garage to wait in her car. Zachary blew out his breath, trying to calm his speeding heart and the feeling of dread and doom that he always got when he screwed up badly with Kenzie. He almost preferred the way that his ex-wife Bridget used to tear a strip off him when he stepped out of line and did something really stupid. At least then, it was out in the open, and he knew exactly how she felt and what she expected of him. Verbal abuse was familiar and expected. Kenzie’s tight-lipped, uninflected responses made him more sure that the worst was yet to come. One day, she would break up with him over something like this, and it would all be over.
He hesitated between dress shoes and boots in the wintry weather and decided he’d better stick with dress shoes, choosing formality over practicality. Then, one more pause before he went into the garage. Should he take an anti-anxiety pill before he left? It would calm him down and help him be more relaxed during dinner.
But it would also make him tired and distant, and he wanted to be fully engaged and to catch any nonverbal signals from Kenzie.
He didn’t take anything before he left. He could always take something later in the evening. Excuse himself from the dinner and swallow one in the restroom. He always had them on him. He patted his pockets to be sure, then followed Kenzie out to her car.
It was too cold for the little red convertible. Kenzie had commented several times that it was time to put it up for the winter and rely on his car instead, but she couldn’t seem to bring herself to. She loved her “baby” and didn’t want to spend the next few months just driving Zachary’s car or getting a short-term lease for herself.
Zachary slid into the passenger seat and pulled his seatbelt across, clicking it into place. Kenzie’s was already on. Without a word of acknowledgment, she started the car, reversed out of the garage, and they were on their way.
The drive to the restaurant was uncomfortable. Zachary tried not to be distracted by anything else, to give Kenzie his full attention, but she was driving and didn’t want him staring at her. He kept an eye on the time, and they reached the restaurant at the appointed time. Kenzie’s lips were pressed together. He knew that for her, being “on time” meant getting there early, preferably before her dinner companions were all assembled. That was the way it was done in the Kirsch family. Even though Zachary had always thought that being fashionably late was the thing for the rich and powerful.
They had apparently arrived there just behind Walter and Lisa, who were still in the reception area of the richly appointed restaurant. Lisa’s dinner jacket had a faux fur collar, and Walter wore a tie that probably cost more than everything Zachary was wearing. Kenzie had not changed at the house, but Zachary saw as he helped her out of her coat that she was wearing a smart blouse, jacket, and pleated pants with too-high heels that made her several inches taller than Zachary. He couldn’t remember if she had been wearing the blouse and pants when she had left for work that morning. She certainly had not been wearing the heels. A great observer of human behavior he was. So much for being a private investigator who took note of every detail around him.
“Mother,” Kenzie greeted, touching her mother’s shoulders and giving her air kisses. Walter wasn’t having any of that and gave her a tight hug before releasing her. Walter shook Zachary’s hand. Zachary always expected a crushing grip from him, the alpha male challenging the younger, smaller man’s claim on his daughter. But Walter spent all day shaking hands. A battle for who had the tighter grip would just leave him with bruised knuckles that would hinder the next day’s handshaking. So instead, his handshake was firm, brisk, and turned into a supportive two-handed shake when he clapped his other hand over Zachary’s arm.
“Zachary, how are you doing?”
“Fine, thank you, sir,” Zachary replied immediately, the words springing to his lips without any thought. He had been well-trained in social greetings by numerous foster moms, institutions, and Bridget. “And how are you?”
“No need to ‘sir’ me, Zachary. I’ve told you that before. Would you like me to call you Mr. Goldman?”
“No,” Zachary laughed, “please don’t!”
Walter slapped him on the back, chuckling, and driving Zachary into Lisa, who insisted on an actual kiss on the cheek, not just an air kiss. Zachary restrained himself from wiping his cheek after, though he worried about lipstick. They all turned to the restaurant hostess, who greeted Walter and Lisa by name and offered to escort them to their table.
Once seating arrangements were made, Zachary breathed out heavily a few times, trying to calm himself down. It was just Kenzie’s parents. He’d had a meal with them before and had enjoyed their expertly directed dinner conversation. They had not put him on the spot or made him feel awkward about his work or his mental health issues. They didn’t look down their noses and imply that they didn’t believe he was good enough for Kenzie. But they were rich and powerful, and that was enough to intimidate Zachary, no matter how courteous they were.
Drinks were ordered. Still unsure whether he would need to take an anxiety pill before the night was up, Zachary stuck with Coke while Kenzie and Lisa had wine and Walter a Scotch.
“So, tell me what you have been up to lately,” Walter invited as they pored over their menus.
Zachary glanced aside at Kenzie, looking for any warning that she wasn’t comfortable with him answering or wanted to send the conversation in a different direction. She simply smiled at him and looked back down at her menu.
“Well, I’ve just started on a new missing person case,” he answered hesitantly. “A missing child.”
“Oh, dear,” it was Lisa who responded first. “How tragic. What happened?”
“Today was my first day on the investigation, so I don’t have all the answers yet. But she was out at a mall play center with her mother and disappeared.”
“Just vanished?”
Zachary nodded. “They haven’t been able to find any security footage that shows her leaving. Don’t have any witnesses or a description of the person who left with her. She was just there, playing, supervised by her mother, protected by security gates and guards, and then she disappeared.”
“That’s terrible,” Walter shook his head. “Her poor parents must be frantic. Do they think that she just wandered off? Or that she was taken? Was there a ransom demand? I guess if this just happened, you don’t have any of those answers yet.”
“It happened a few days ago. There was no ransom demand. No contact from anyone.”
“And no body,” Kenzie said, letting them know that the little girl hadn’t turned up on her table. “They think it was a parental abduction, don’t they?”
“That’s the police theory at the moment. They think that the father took her and left the country with her.”
“Oh, it’s one of those parental things,” Lisa nodded. “Always so heartbreaking. One parent stealing the child from the other. And you never know whose story to believe.”
“Well, in this case, the father has never had anything to do with her since the day she was born. Didn’t even ask for visitation or send a birthday card. So the chances he showed up where they were and stole the child…” He trailed off, shaking his head. “I think the truth may be something quite different. But I don’t know yet what.”
“Can’t they just call the authorities in the country she was taken to?” Walter asked. “That would seem to be the obvious course of action. Speak with their embassy, maybe. Get people working on it from that end.”
“That doesn’t always work,” Lisa disagreed. “Haven’t you heard any of the stories? It’s just dreadful. Sometimes, the children are overseas for years or never see their mothers again. Not all countries are open to dealing with these cases, or have any law under which the non-custodial parent could be charged. I hope it isn’t in the Middle East.”
Zachary sighed. “It is.”
Though Zachary looked at his menu like everyone else, he had no idea what he was going to order when the waitress came over. His ability to read with any comprehension was severely limited by his learning disabilities, the cursive writing, and the names of dishes written in French or another foreign language. He couldn’t even pick a dish by comparing the prices and choosing something that was mid-range. There were no prices on the menu at all. Zachary always felt at a distinct disadvantage in fancy restaurants.
He tried to catch Kenzie’s eye, hoping she would give him a clue. “The chicken marsala is always wonderful here,” or “You must try the veal,” or something along those lines. But she looked at the menu and her parents and not at him. One trick he had learned from Bridget was to ask what the special was, and then after due consideration to nod and say he would take that. But the special was often one of the highest priced options on the menu, and he didn’t want Walter and Lisa to think he was greedy.
Kenzie ordered something that sounded like fish, which wasn’t helpful since Zachary didn’t particularly enjoy anything fishy. Everyone looked at Zachary. He motioned to Lisa, “I’m still deciding. Why don’t you come back to me?”
Lisa ordered a chicken dish, which sounded nice but was accompanied by a green salad. Zachary would eat salad if he had to, but preferred not to. Walter ordered a steak with potatoes, and that sounded like a winner. He nodded and handed his menu back to the waitress. “I’ll have that too, but maybe the six-ounce?” He didn’t have a big appetite even when he was hungry and didn’t want to embarrass himself by only having a few bites of a huge steak. The waitress nodded, asked him how he wanted his steak and potato prepared, and started moving away.
“They have garlic bread,” Kenzie murmured.
“Oh!” Zachary hadn’t even thought of that. “Yes, I’d love a side of garlic bread, too.”
“Why don’t we order garlic bread for the table?” Kenzie suggested, “I’m sure everyone would enjoy it.”
And that would give Zachary the chance to eat more than just one slice. His mouth watered just thinking about it, and he gave Kenzie a smile of appreciation.
11
Zachary thought that things had gone pretty well at the family dinner. Kenzie and her parents seemed relaxed, without the underlying tensions they had been experiencing recently. Maybe they were past the trouble over Rhys and his treatment and what Kenzie perceived as her parents interfering with his life behind her back. Zachary was alert for any undercurrents, ready to smooth things over or change the subject. But things went well without his having to say anything.
Not that it was his place to mediate between Kenzie and her parents. She knew them better than he did and, if he had a different opinion on their behavior than she did, she was the one who was most likely to be right.
