CHAPTER TWENTY
Thursday, March 22, 2018; 10:00 a.m.
With discharge papers and instructions in hand, Kaitlin could not wait to be sprung. Freshly showered, she’d gingerly slid on a loose T-shirt, sweats, and canvas slip-on shoes. Certainly not the most attractive look, but it was progress. A knock on the door had her turning. “Come in.”
A nurse appeared with a wheelchair. “Ready to go home?”
“More than you know,” she said, smiling. She bundled up the plastic bag of her belongings with her backpack and lowered into the wheelchair.
“Do you have someone to drive you home?” the nurse asked.
She fished her cell from her backpack. “Taxi.”
The nursed hesitated. “You don’t have anyone?”
“Friends offered, but it’s simpler this way. It’s not a big deal. A short car ride home, and then I’ll go straight to the couch and put my feet up.”
The nurse unlocked the brakes. “Who’s going to take care of you at home?”
“I’ll be fine. I’ll order a few pizzas and just chill. Honestly, it’s going to be a vacation.” She kept her smile fixed as if she were pitching to a big client. “Any more flower deliveries?”
“No, just the one. Such a pretty arrangement. Someone thinks a lot of you.”
That’s what she was afraid of. “Yes, he certainly does.”
The nurse turned the chair around, pushed it out the door and toward the elevator. When the doors opened, Detective Adler stepped off. He wore jeans, a white shirt with sleeves rolled up above thick wrists to muscled forearms dusted with hair, and no tie today.
“Good, I caught you,” he said, holding the door open with his arm.
“What’re you doing here?”
“Taking you home,” Adler said.
“I have a taxi.”
“You did. I sent the taxi on his way.”
Aware the nurse was watching, she kept her tone even. “I had it worked out.”
He shrugged. “The best-laid plans.”
The nurse pushed Kaitlin past him onto the elevator. “I was worried she’d be on her own. I’m glad she has you.”
Kaitlin didn’t have John Adler. He wasn’t here for her. He was here to monitor her because she was a key component of Hayward’s deal.
The challenge in his gaze dared her to get into an argument in front of the nurse. She swallowed her pride as well as a few choice words for Adler until she was actually free of the hospital.
She tossed another winning smile at the nurse. The nurse gave her a thumbs-up.
The three rode the elevator down in silence. When the doors opened, the nurse wheeled her through the automatic doors toward a black SUV. Adler moved past them and opened the passenger door. He took her backpack and bag and set them inside. As she rose, he supported her weight with his hand. She didn’t fight it. When she’d settled into the seat and snapped the seat belt, he closed the door, moved around the front of the car, and slid behind the wheel.
“I appreciate the lift,” she said.
“Sure.” He slipped on dark sunglasses.
Absently she glanced in the rearview mirror to make sure no one was following. It was a habit that she’d finally broken until recently.
“How’re you feeling?”
“Like a million bucks. Ready to get back to work.”
He frowned. “Your plan is to rest, correct?”
“Yeah, yeah, I get it. Feet up. Lift nothing heavier than a book for two weeks.”
“And you’re going to do that?”
“Sure. Don’t worry about me.”
She’d been going it alone for a long time, but it was nice to have someone in her corner even if it was just for a little while. “What else have you learned about Erika?” she asked.
“Not much. Her autopsy is today.” He was silent for a moment, tightening and releasing his hands on the steering wheel.
Neither spoke as they crossed the river and hooked a left down a side street that led them to an industrial building converted into apartments. A patch of asphalt dotted with cracks and potholes surrounded the brick exterior. The front entryway was made of metal. There was a security pad to the right.
He parked by the front entrance and came around to her side of the car as she opened the door. He pulled it open the rest of the way and held out his hand for her. It was another moment of pride versus practicality. Like it or not, pride was a luxury she could not afford. She laid her hand in his and allowed him to support her as she gingerly stood. “Thanks.”
“I’ll see you up.” He collected her backpack and bag of personal belongings.
“Not necessary. It’s a few steps inside and then a short elevator ride. I’ll take it from here.” She looked toward her parking spot and spotted her SUV.
She walked slowly toward the front entrance. Adler followed behind and appeared content to move at her pace, as if he had all the time in the world. She punched four numbers into the keypad. The lock on the door clicked open. He reached around her, his arm brushing her shoulder, and opened the door. He waited for her to pass.
She walked down the hallway toward a lobby mirror that tossed back their reflections. She was shocked how pale and thin she’d become. Haggard was a better description, especially compared to Adler’s olive complexion and toned body.
They rode the elevator to the fifth floor and walked the long corridor to her apartment. Fumbling with her keys, she had trouble supporting the backpack’s weight and her hand began to shake very slightly. She let her pack slide down her arm to the floor and finally jammed the key in her door.
Without the strength to lean over and pick up the discarded pack, she nudged it over the threshold like it were a football goal line score.
“Please, let me pick it up,” he said.
“It’s inside. That’s all that counts.” She held out her hand for her plastic bag. “I’ve got it from here.”
He scooped up the backpack and moved past her. He set her belongings on a large worktable filled with her case notes on Gina. When she’d been in public relations and responsible for multiple projects, she’d been organized to the point of OCD. Now everything was in such a jumble, only she could make sense of it.
The apartment with its high ceilings was large, and noise traveled easily through it. There was a tall bank of windows that faced the river and the city skyline. The walls were brick, and the black ceiling ductwork was exposed. Hints of family money showed in a four-poster bed, a dining set, and a twelve-piece set of china, silver, and crystal that had all been inherited from her aunt. However, her couch was a secondhand purchase, as were the coffee table made from shipping pallets and rustic desk holding audio equipment and computers.
She could almost hear his mind clicking: Who the hell was this woman?
She faced him. “I felt like myself when I left the hospital, but now, I’m beat.”
Less than a foot separated them, and she could feel energy radiating from him.
“What’re your plans for today, Kaitlin?”
“Other than crawling into bed?”
“Good. Tomorrow is going to be a big day.” He studied her as if he wanted to say something else, but only said, “Watch your six.”
“Always.” She walked him to the door.
He inspected the line of locks.
“A girl can’t be too careful,” she said.
“You’re doing everything but being careful.”
“Those allow me to sleep at night, so I’m bright eyed and bushy tailed in the morning.”
“You checked the rearview mirror five or six times while we drove here from the hospital. You also cupped your hand over the keypad when you punched in the code. Each move was automatic. Well practiced.”
“Trouble seems to find me.”
He stood at the door. “I’ll be here early tomorrow. About seven.”
She raised her hand. “Ready with bells on.”
Again he paused and studied her, and she could almost read his thoughts in his frown. “I know,” she said. “I’m a puzzle with too many missing pieces.”
“You sure as hell are.”
He strode down the hallway while she stood for just a moment watching him. She closed the door and fastened all the locks. The apartment had never felt empty until this moment.
She moved across the open space to the antique bed behind a silk screen. Relief leaked over her lips in one breath as she sat down and eased back against the pillows. She adjusted her body once or twice until the incision in her abdomen didn’t pull.
She opened the bedside table drawer and removed a small box. From it, she pulled one of Gina’s heart necklaces left to her by her aunt. She touched the gold and then, taking a deep breath, fastened it around her neck. She lay back on the bed and touched the cool, delicate metal as she watched the reflection of light on the wooden ceiling beams.
He’d been watching the hospital parking lot and the cab, expecting Kaitlin to emerge alone. He had another opportunity to take her, and he’d been so tempted to do just that. But the black SUV pulled up, and Detective John Adler stepped out and sent the cab away. He disappeared through the double doors.
Twenty minutes of waiting and the cop reappeared. This time he was escorting Kaitlin, who sat in a wheelchair pushed by a nurse. The detective was almost solicitous as he opened the passenger door and helped Kaitlin into her seat. Anyone else watching might think the detective was concerned about her.
Adler would be a fool to care for her. She was a chameleon. She wasn’t the poor victim. And though she was making a lot of noise about finding Gina, there was no fixing her betrayal.
He was careful to stay back several car lengths as he followed them, and he sped by as Kaitlin got out of the car. Her SUV was still in the lot, and Kaitlin was now locked inside her apartment and alone. But she couldn’t stay inside forever. Sooner or later, she would have to venture out.
A resident hustled up the stairs to the front door and punched in the security code on the keypad. Propping the door with a rock, the young woman hurried back to her car and grabbed what looked like a large framed picture. She set the picture inside and then removed the rock. The door closed.
It would be easy to slip past a resident with overloaded arms, but that would leave a witness. Better to wait until he could get Kaitlin alone.