CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Monday, March 19, 2018; 7:00 p.m.
Adler returned to his desk, a large fresh coffee in hand, to find a stack of surveillance footage of the Jennifer Ralston residence. On the top was a note from Quinn. For your viewing pleasure. Footage supplied by two homeowners near Ralston residence. I’ve been summoned to the forensic department on another case. Q.
He loosened his tie and sat. Leaning back in his chair, he sipped his coffee and selected the first disc. He hit “Play,” and a rear view of Ralston’s residence appeared. Judging by the angle, the camera was mounted on the house across the alley.
The footage covered the nine days before Jennifer’s murder. He fast-forwarded to Thursday, March 15, the day of the murder. He chose seven a.m. as a starting point.
Several cars passed down the alley, and then Jennifer Ralston appeared at 7:30 a.m. walking out her back door with a bag of trash. She was dressed in a dark skirt, a white shirt, and the pumps that still sat in her entryway. A purse dangled from her arm. Jennifer hesitated on her doorstep, glancing left and then right, before she locked her door and made her way through the yard to the alley. She tossed her trash into the dumpster and then entered her garage. A minute later the garage door opened, and she backed out. The garage door closed.
He scanned the footage covering the hours after she left for work, searching for the moment her killer arrived. At the 3:02 p.m. mark, he saw a man dressed in coveralls and a hat open her back gate. The logo on his back read COMMONWEALTH PLUMBERS, and he was carrying an oversize toolbox. He moved quickly as if he knew where he was going and disappeared inside the gate, out of camera view for several seconds. Then he stood at her back door, opened it with a key, and entered the security code before closing the door.
Adler started viewing the video frame by frame. At 3:07, a shadow passed in front of the second-floor bedroom window and then vanished.
Energy surged through him. He fast-forwarded the tape to 6:00 p.m., the approximate time of Jennifer’s death. The lights in the house clicked on minutes after six, and the camera caught Jennifer through the kitchen window standing at the sink with a glass. She refilled it and then left the kitchen.
At 6:30 p.m., the back door opened. The man who had entered at 3:02 was now exiting with the same clothes and gear. He was in no rush. The killer had been in the residence for just over three hours waiting for Jennifer. He was a pro.
“I am coming back for you. You deserve to be punished.” Kaitlin’s clouded vision caught the glint of the knife’s blade rising as her alarm blared.
Kaitlin’s eyes popped open as an alarm went off in the hospital somewhere. She tried to sit. Pain tugged at her, but she expected it this time and gritting her teeth, pushed up into a sitting position. The blaring noise in the hallway stopped. Sweat dampened her hairline and between her shoulders and breasts. Her heart beat fast.
She eased back against the pillows. She slowly closed her eyes and breathed in and out while trying to slow her heart rate. But she couldn’t stop replaying his words. “I am coming back for you. You deserve to be punished.” Recollection danced just out of reach like a forgotten tune refusing to be remembered.
A knock on her door just after eight pulled her away from her laptop. “Come in.”
It was Detective Adler. His tie was loose, and thick stubble now darkened his chin. She was glad to see him. She shouldn’t have been, but there was no denying that having him close calmed her.
“What was that noise?” she asked.
“Fire alarm went off. It was a false alarm.” He studied her face.
She drew in a breath. She was annoyed she’d been rocked with fear. “You look about as bad as I feel,” she said.
“No rest for the wicked.” He held up a bag, tossing her a boyish grin. “Brought sorbet.”
Despite inner warnings to stay clear of him, she asked, “What kind?”
“Strawberry and chocolate.”
She straightened. She was relieved her body didn’t protest. “The nurses believe I’ll heal faster if they tempt me with Jell-O and beef broth.”
“Sorbet will do the trick.”
She watched with unwanted excitement as he pulled up a chair and dug out the containers. She chose chocolate, and he handed it to her along with a lime-green plastic spoon.
“You’re allowed to eat this, right?” he asked.
She pried off the top, savored the sight of the creamy swirls. “The doctors said soft foods. I think this qualifies.”
He peeled off his container top. “How’re you feeling?”
She took her first spoonful. The cool, rich chocolate was the best she’d ever eaten. “Better now.”
“You’re lucky.”
She ate a second bite, the rich taste making her feel optimistic. “I suppose I am.”
He cocked a brow. “You’re listening to your doctors?”
“Generally speaking. I freaked out a nurse when I tried to walk down the hallway this morning. She wasn’t happy. Made me promise to stay in bed.”
He chuckled and took several bites of sorbet. He raised his gaze to her as if he were seeing her in a different light. “I didn’t realize your hair was so curly.”
She resisted the urge to touch a curl. She saw something in his eyes that sent nervous energy running through her body. “I call it my ‘mountain woman’ look. Detective, if you haven’t noticed, I’m in a lockdown ward. No beauty contests here.”
“I like the curls. And your natural color. Why did you dye your hair blond?”
“Other than blondes have more fun? Hiding, I think. When I returned to Texas I decided I needed to look different. Didn’t want to see Gina when I looked in the mirror.”
He was silent. “Keep the brown. It’s you.”
“Might as well. If I thought the hair color was helping me hide, I was wrong.”
But she was vain enough to enjoy his compliment. She also wished she weren’t dressed in a shapeless hospital gown when he looked so sharp and commanding.
Her belly tightened, so she shifted positions. Without hesitating, Adler set down his sorbet and grabbed her elbow. She felt the rough skin of his scarred palm as he steadied her while he resettled the pillow behind her. “In a week I’ll be running track and jumping hurdles.”
“You ever run track before?” He pulled the blanket up.
“No, but I could if I wanted to. And I just might take up running.”
“That I’d like to see.”
She considered telling Adler about her dream. The detective had quiet strength that calmed her anxious nerves. And right now he felt like a man she could trust.
“Forensic came back with some preliminary information,” Adler said. “They did find your thumbprint on the Crowleys’ front door latch. You let yourself into the house.”
“Have you found Erika?”
“No. And her phone is not emitting a signal.”
His blunt assessment didn’t bode well for Erika. “What about her husband?”
“Brad Crowley came by the station. He says he’s also searching for his wife. And he’s hired a lawyer.”
“Are you following him?” she asked.
“I have no cause.”
“He knows more than he’s saying.”
“He’s on my radar,” Adler said. “But I don’t think he knows where Erika is.”
“How could he not?”
“I honestly don’t think he’s smart enough to have pulled it off.”
She took another bite of sorbet, but suddenly found the flavor too sweet. “You went to see Susan.”
His spoon hovered above his carton. “I did. I’m trying to figure you out.”
“I’m very simple. I’m trying to find Gina.”
“So am I.”
She was doing her job. He was doing his. And as long as their priorities aligned, they’d be fine. “You know my life story, so I think you could throw me a detail or two about yours.”
He dropped his gaze to his sorbet and dug out a full spoon. “Forty-one, divorced, no kids.”
“Married to the job?”
“It was supposed to be a stepping stone into politics, but I discovered I liked it and am good at it. My ex had a different vision for my future.”
“She wanted you to go into politics.”
“She has her sights set high.”
“It must have been painful when you two split.”
“Not as bad as it should have been.”
“How long were you married?”
“Ten years.”
“I can imagine you standing before a gilded altar in a church filled with stained-glass windows and hundreds of important people.” She didn’t like the image.
“It was quite the society affair.”
She liked John Adler a lot, and if she were going to trust someone now, it would be him. She stared at the spoon before she said, “So, I received flowers today. They were delivered to my office. No note. My boss has no idea who sent them.”
He scanned the room, and his tone sharpened when he spoke, “Where are they?”
“I gave them to the nurses. Someone also sent me flowers the night of my lecture. I gave those away to a student. I don’t know anyone who would send me flowers.”
He was silent.
With him she was able to confess, “They gave me the creeps. Who would have thought such a pretty and perfect arrangement of white tulips would make me want to jump out of my skin.”
“The other flowers were also white tulips?” he said.
“Yes. Does that mean anything?”
“I’m not sure.” His expression said otherwise. He was concerned but seemed to be holding back his thoughts for her sake. “Was there a card?”
“Susan said there wasn’t.” She stabbed her spoon in the sorbet and set it on the table beside her. “I’m scared. I can’t stop looking for Gina, but I am terrified.”
Adler looked her in the eye. “You’re not in this alone, Kaitlin. I’ve got your back.”
She believed him, and that calmed some of the fears enough for her to say, “I had a dream just a few minutes ago. I woke to the alarm in the hallway. I was so terrified. I was drenched in sweat.”
“Tell me about the dream.”
“It was the moment I was stabbed. My attacker said, ‘I am coming back for you. You deserve to be punished.’”
Adler leaned forward. His eyes were intent, but his voice was calm. “What do you remember about him?”
“I never saw his face.”
“His voice? A mark on his hands? A smell?”
She drew in a breath. “The voice was muffled. A whisper. He sounded angry and frustrated, like I’d screwed up his plans.” She tried to relax her clenched fists. “His hands were smooth. His breath smelled of peppermint.”
“That’s more than you first recalled.”
“My head is finally clearing.”
“Did anything about this man’s voice remind you of the man that took Gina?”
A swell of emotion tightened her voice. “No. I know it’s been fourteen years, but nothing about this guy made me think of Gina’s kidnapper. I know this guy wasn’t on the road that night.”
“Who would care about this case as much as you now?”
“Gina and I don’t have any family left to speak of, but her face was in the news so much fourteen years ago. Even last year a reporter did a story about her unsolved case.”
“Someone might see themselves as Gina’s champion.”
“And he’s come back for all the girls on the road with her that last night. Jennifer is dead. Erika’s missing. And I’m stabbed.” She felt vulnerable and fought a rush of tears.
“He’s not going to hurt you,” Adler said.
“I’ve survived years of self-destructive behavior. Now I’m faced with a real threat, and I’m afraid of dying. How’s that for a turnaround?”
“It’s healthy. And I’m going to keep you safe.”
“How can you be sure?”
“I’m very good at what I do.”
She searched his face for any sign that he was playing her. “I’m going to have to believe you, Detective Adler. You’re all I’ve got right now.”
A grin tugged at the edge of his lips as he set his sorbet on the side table next to hers. “I met with Ashley Ralston.”
She sensed he didn’t share his thoughts easily either. “I remember her. She’s four years older than me.”
“What do you remember about her?”
“When I saw her at a July Fourth party, she had a bruise on her cheek. I can’t remember the reason she gave then, but I didn’t question it.”
“You think Derek hit her?”
“I can’t say for sure. But they were dating at the time.”
“What about Hayward? Was he around?”
“He was at that party and several others. He was around a lot that summer.”
“How tight were you with Hayward?” he asked.
“There was a time when I thought he was the answer to all the pain I carried after my brother’s death. For a brief time I forgot about all the guilt and suffering and had fun.” She plucked at a thread on her blanket. “But his smiles hid a lot of darkness.”
“When did you two stop dating?”
“Right after that July Fourth party in 2004.”
“Why’d you break it off?”
“He lost his temper, and he hit me.”
Adler didn’t comment, but a muscle pulsed in his jaw. “Did he hurt any other girls?”
“I’m sure he did. He showed no remorse when he struck me.”
Fury smoldered in his eyes. “He will spend the rest of his life behind bars.”
“What about his deal?”
“I’ll find a loophole. When do you get discharged?”
“Thursday morning.”
“You have a ride and a brush?”
She smiled, reminding herself that relying on him too much was a slippery slope. “Got them both covered,” she lied.