Hide'n Go Seek (15 page)

"It's also likely to be sheer coincidence that Julie and the first victim are both survivors. The first could just have been a victim of circumstance. In the wrong place, at the wrong time. We know nothing about Julie at this point."

Damn him and his logic. Kali's mind tumbled over the possibilities. Then she noticed how silent the room had become.

Stan stood stock-still, eyes wide, jaw slack as he stared at them. "Oh, God. You think she's been snatched. Where's that list? Damn it to hell. I figured you needed to talk to her. That she knew something, someone…damn me for being an old idiot. Shit." He frantically pulled out files, looking for the right one.

"Don't you have her number in another place? On your cell phone, in the bills, somewhere?" Grant's hands fisted on his hips.

"Stan, you have a master list on the computer, don't you?" Kali strode over to the desk and pushed the power button. It would take a minute or two to load.

He shook his head. "That's the old one. That's what I was trying to update the other day."

Typical Stan. Still, she could understand. Sometimes she had trouble with priorities, too. Any other time the contact list wouldn't have been critical. The log-in screen came up.

"Stan, come log in. This is your computer, not mine."

"What? Oh, yeah." Stan stepped up to the keyboard and pounded out a series of numbers and letters.

Kali waited impatiently as the computer finished booting. Then she navigated to the main directory.

"Here it is." She double clicked on the document, her fingertips pounding out a crescendo on the desktop as it opened. There. "Okay. What's Julie's last name, do you know?"

Stan leaned over her shoulder. "Taylor. There, wait, you just passed it. Go back."

"Okay. Here she is. We have her old address, old phone number of..." She rattled off the number to Grant, who wrote it down. Kali quickly rattled off the cell number, too. Both men snatched up phones and started dialing.

"No answer." Stan said. Grant was talking to someone. They both waited until he was done. "Grant?"

"I have her new phone number and address." Even as he spoke, he was re-dialing. Everyone waited to see if Julie would pick up.

Kali absentmindedly stroked the top of Shiloh's head. She watched Grant's face as he left a message on her answering machine.

"Let's go," she said. Grant headed to the door.

Stan looked at her, confusion wrinkling his face. "Go where?"

"To her home."

"Did she have a vehicle?" Grant asked abruptly.

Kali shrugged. She had no idea.

"Yes, she
does
." Stan stressed. "But I don't remember what."

"We'll find it. Let's go."

Kali was already through the door and heading back to Grant's car. "Stan, I'll call you if we learn something." She snapped her fingers. Shiloh came running.

Stan trailed behind them. "Is there anything I can do to help?"

Kali started to shake her head, then stopped and considered. "Pray?"

Stan shuddered. "Call me when you find her," he cried as they drove away.

They arrived at Julie's townhouse within minutes. Kali jumped from the car before Grant had the engine off. Racing to the front door, she pounced on the doorbell. Then rang it again. The brick townhouse remained dark and silent. Where had Grant gone? She searched the surrounding area, spying him walking through the parking lot to stand behind a small red car.

"Is it hers?" she asked.

"I'm having the plates run now."

She watched as he checked the parking space number. It matched the townhouse number. They both walked around the car, as if it would give up the answers they sought. Grant's cell phone rang.

"Right. Okay. Yeah, I'm going in. No. Yes. Fine."

Grant put away his phone, moving to Julie's front door where he knocked first. Then again. Then he called out, "Julie? This is the FBI. Answer the door, please."

Silence. He pulled out a small tool and had the door open within seconds.

Kali watched astonished. "Isn't that illegal?"

"Not if we have just cause. The car is hers." He pushed open the door and stepped inside.

"Julie," Kali called out behind him. "Julie, are you home? This is Kali."

"Julie?" Grant ran up the stairs two at time. Caught up in his energy, Kali raced after him.

There was no sign of Julie.

But she'd been there. The bedclothes lay crumpled, half on and half off the bed. Several days' worth of clothing decorated a rattan swivel chair. Untidy but normal-looking.

Grant strode over to the night table and turned on the lamp. A halo of light filled the room. Grim lines wrinkled his forehead as he assessed something on the floor.

"What is it?" Kali whispered.

"Blood."

His words punched her in the gut. "Oh no." Her imagination took flight. Now all she could think about was that Julie was missing and possibly injured, and Kali was trying to find her, with no idea where to look. Shit.

Panic set in. Julie didn't deserve this. Kali had known her for years, yet she didn't really
know
her. She was a great woman who'd already survived so much. Kali wished she'd taken more time to visit with her. After Mexico, Kali had ignored the people around her, the changes going on in the world and especially at the center.

She stood in the middle of Julie's bedroom and held her throbbing temple. "Think, damn it. Think," she whispered. Where could Julie be? What was the chance she'd be doing something ordinary like visiting friends or staying over with a boyfriend? Just because she wasn't home didn't mean she should hit the panic button. And yet - Kali's nerves refused to be calmed. She spun around looking for a jewelry box. "What's the chance the matching earring is here?"

Grant frowned but checked the dresser and night table. A small one sat open in the top drawer. Kali walked over to see. No missing earring.

"It makes sense that the earring wouldn't be here. If he has her, she's likely to have started out wearing both."

If she'd been taken, she couldn't be far. There'd been no time. Or had there? When had the earring been delivered? She'd been at the center for hours, followed by at least two hours at the coffee shop. So where could he have taken her within...say an hour's drive? Although, even that was an arbitrary time-frame.

"What are you thinking?" Grant asked, the phone open in his hand.

"I'm sorting through possibilities." Kali motioned out the window. "If the letter writer has her, this isn't exactly the easiest place to kidnap or bury her. Presuming he buried her. There are always people around - someone should have seen him. She's small, but surely he's still going to be noticed carrying a body, isn't he?"

"If she didn't walk out on her own. We'll canvas the neighborhood. If we're lucky, someone saw something."

"But chances are we won't find them in time to save her." Kali couldn't keep the bitterness out of her voice.

"This is not your fault," he reminded her firmly, a gentleness in his eyes.

Kali wanted to believe him. Shaking her head, she struggled to concentrate. "My brain understands, my heart, however..."

"I know."

His voice soothed her tattered nerves. She welcomed the comfort, but the deepening connection between them confused her more. So much for locking people out. Grant had wormed his way inside.

"Let's stay focused," Grant said. "If she's been taken, and, yes, we're jumping to a conclusion without any proof, where could he have taken her?"

"Anywhere. Everywhere. Within an hour's drive, there are millions of places to bury someone where they'd never be found." Places flashed through her mind, ditches, fields, gardens, empty lots. The opportunities were endless.

"You found the last victim."

"Sure. But I was already on the scene with a search and rescue dog in hand." She threw her hands up in frustration. "That was the right location with the right tools. Yes, I have Shiloh with me now, only she won't be able to help unless we can narrow the location."

"Okay, now think. He knows you and how you work, so he must be expecting you to do something. There has to be a clue somewhere."

"Yeah, somewhere." Tears of frustration turned her voice into a croak. Damn it.

"What about your sketch? Can you identify a location from your picture?"

"Maybe," she said, relieved to have something constructive to think about. "I can take another look." Grant retrieved the sketchbook from the car while she waited at the front door. Using the bright kitchen light, they studied the details.

"No mountains or major identifiers." Grant bent over the map. "It's hard to pick out anything."

"I know," Kali whispered. "Yet..."

"What?" Grant straightened, his sharp gaze zeroed in on her face. "What do you see?"

"It feels familiar." Kali reached out and motioned toward the slope and ground cover surrounding it. She chewed on her bottom lip. "But I can't be sure."

"What about it looks right?"

"It's hard to explain. That single line captures Julie's profile." She pointed it out. "This line here captures a hill on one of the training areas we use for cadaver training."

"You have a special training area for that?"

Kali shook her head. "It's not full of dead bodies or anything. It's where we run training exercises for the dogs, especially young ones."

"Would you have trouble finding Julie there?"

She understood what he meant. "No, Shiloh can separate live from dead and, although it may take her a while, she will eventually find everything buried, dead or alive." She pressed her lips together, thinking. "It would be a good hiding spot, because the ground is easy to dig." Kali dismissed her words with a head shake. "Then again, it's an area that Shiloh knows well so, this wouldn't be much a challenge."

"Maybe the challenge is to find the location, knowing you'd have no problem finding the body."

Kali recoiled. "What time is it?"

"Just after two in the morning."

"Sunday morning. Already."

He put his hands on either side of her face. "Focus for a moment. Is there anything else in the picture that calls to you? Anything recognizable?"

Kali closed her eyes against the tumultuous thoughts crowding her head. Opening them, she stared at the picture one more time. Instead of seeing something new, the picture cemented the location in her mind.

"She's there." Kali knew it in her heart. Julie was buried somewhere in their training ground. "I need to go home and get my gear."

Grant held the front door open. "I'll pull a team together. And I’ll get a uniform over here to wait in case she comes home. Just in case this is a wild goose chase." He headed for the car, already talking on the phone while Kali waited impatiently. Before opening the door, he asked, "Directions?"

Quickly relaying them, Kali hopped into the car, wishing he'd hurry up. Her heart pounded and her palms started to sweat. Julie was dying. Kali knew it, even though she couldn't prove it. Urgency morphed into panic - they weren't going to be in time.

Tears blinded her.

Grant drove back to her house. He glanced at her several times, and Kali appreciated his concern...and his silence. She needed time to collect herself.

Back at her house, lights blazed because Grant's people had never left. Kali shook her head at how far her life had slid out of control. Shiloh barked. Kali bent and hugged her tight.

"Okay girl. Let's go to work." Kali quickly gathered up a vest, Shiloh's lead and some dog treats. As an afterthought, Kali filled a couple of water bottles and stuffed several granola bars in her pockets. It took a moment longer to find Shiloh's teddy bear. She tucked it inside her jacket.

A fine-edged focus settled her by the time she'd finished.
Time to go to work.

"Ready?" she asked Grant on her way to her Jeep.

"We're right behind you."

Kali held the door open as Shiloh jumped into the back. Kali slammed the door, hopped into the driver's side and took off, spitting gravel in her wake. The training ground was a good twenty minutes out of town. Wooded areas and meadows dotted the hilly terrain there. Shiloh's playground.

As she drove, she had to wonder who knew the industry and the center well enough to know their training ground's schedule, setting their plans in motion when they wouldn't be disturbed accidentally. Detailed records were always kept of who had been where, and used what for each training session. Who knew enough to access the schedule?

Kali's cell phone rang as she pulled onto the highway. Shiloh whined, an odd note in her tone.

She pushed the button, leaving the phone in the holder on her dash. "Hello."

Eerie laughter filled her Jeep.

"Hello? Who is this?" Kali snapped.

"You're too late." The strangled whisper ended with a click as the line went dead.

Kali's heart stalled. "Oh, God. Shiloh, please tell me that doesn't mean what I'm afraid it means." Her hands started shaking. Shiloh whined and nudged her nose against Kali's neck.

Leaning forward, Kali rummaged through the front cubbyholes for Grant's card. Damn it. Where was it?

There. "

Keeping one eye on the empty highway, she punched in his number. Grant," she said, "the killer just called me." She quickly relayed the conversation. "It had that same mechanical sound as the voice from the other night."

"Chances are he's disguising it. It's easy to do with today's technology. My team will have traced it. I'm betting it's a dead end again."

Tears collected in the corner of her eyes. "Shit." She pounded the steering wheel. Frustration and anger warred with grief and sorrow, all of them threatening to collapse her very foundation.

"Keep steady, Kali." Grant's voice sharpened. "Let's stay focused. There's always hope."

"But what if I'm wrong and she's not even here?"

"Then we're wrong and we have to accept that. None of it means you're to blame."

Kali sniffled. She checked her rear-view mirror, noted the steady headlights of the FBI following her and changed lanes. "The turn-off is ahead."