L.A.P.D. Special Investigations Series, Boxed Set: The Deceived, The Taken & The Silent (55 page)

From the tracks on the inside of her leg, Jordan guessed the rehab had been temporary. “Where’s your daughter now?”

The woman looked down. “She’s gone. Foster care. But I’m going to get her back.”

Again, Jordan fought the urge to give advice and say something about needle diseases and responsibility. But he knew the futility of it. She’d been given the opportunity to change, probably more than once, and yet her daughter was in foster care.“So, give me some other names. You know Delores Matthews?”

She nodded. “Dee was Anna’s friend. But I heard she disappeared.”

“Anything else you know about her? Did Matthews have friends who might help her?”

“Nope.”

“She ever talk about going anywhere?”

The woman squinted at him with uncertainty, as if deciding whether to say anything more. He took another bill from his pocket and fingered it.

Rita sighed heavily. “She used to talk about starting over in Hawaii or somewhere exotic. She was a dreamer. She wanted to get out of the business. I think Anna was going to help her, but then she died and Dee disappeared.”

He had a theory that the Kolnikov murder and Matthews’s disappearance might be related somehow. What Valdez said fit perfectly. But theories only went so far. More important were motives and actual evidence.

“What about other friends of Anna’s?”

“There was a guy Anna took up with the year before she died. Handsome man. Younger than she was. But I never got introduced.”

“Were they dating?”

“I couldn’t say for sure, but they were mighty friendly.”

Jordan stood, too impatient to sit for long. “Anything else? You must remember something else.” He handed her the other bill.

“He was blond and…um…he was around all the time.” Furrows on her forehead proved she was thinking hard. She pushed at the front of her lacquered hair. “I heard he came from the town where she grew up.”

Jordan’s skin prickled. The town where she grew up. Kolnikov had a life before she came to L.A. A life that could provide more clues about the woman, clues that might lead to her murderer. He didn’t recall seeing anything in the case file about it. Nothing about a younger boyfriend, either. Odd.

“What town was that?”

The woman shrugged. “I don’t know.”

“Getting back to Delores. Did you know her well?”

She shook her head. “No, but I bet they dumped her body in the ocean.”

“They? Who do you mean?”

She frowned, then shrugged.  “Whoever killed her.”

“But she only disappeared. There’s no indication she’s dead.”

“Might as well be,” the woman said, shrugging again.

Jordan was just about to ask another question when they heard a loud double knock along with a short one at Rita’s door.

The woman stood. “I’m having company, Detective. And I really don’t think I can entertain you any longer.”

“Sure.” He pulled out a card and gave it to her. “Call me if you remember anything more.”

She smiled as she fingered the money she still had in her hand. “Maybe. If I think of anything.”

CHAPTER SIX

“
YOU SEE THAT
tweeker friend of Brandy’s around here lately?”

Laura stopped dusting and looked up at Rose. “No. Why?”

Rose shrugged. “I saw him twice in the last week.”

“No one has said anything.”

“Well, maybe it’s nothing.”

Maybe. Or maybe not. They’d had stalkers at Victory House before—a junkie boyfriend of one of the girls, a pimp one of the girls had worked for. “I’ll keep a watch for him.”

“Good.” Phoebe headed for the kitchen just as Caitlin came in the front door with Alysa on her heels. Cait had walked home from school with her friends all week, and Laura could see her daughter’s confidence growing. Cait needed to feel capable, every bit as much as the girls staying at the shelter. And with each day that passed, Laura had felt less worried—until now.

She started to ask Alysa if she knew anyone who might be hanging around, but with Cait right there, she decided against it. “Hey, ladies. How was your day?”

Alysa tossed her bag down. “Great. I got an A on my last midterm exam.”

“Wonderful,” Laura said. “I didn’t expect anything less.”

Alysa beamed

“And how about you, squirt?”

Cait waggled her hand in a so-so gesture.

“Do you have homework?”

“I have tons of homework. I always do. My teacher sucks.”

Laura swung around to look at her daughter, who was now heading down the hall to her room. “You love your teacher. What’s this all about?” Laura said, following Cait, arms folded across her chest.

“Shannon got busted for talking and sending me notes. Now her mom probably won’t let her walk home with me anymore.”

“Maybe. Maybe not. You’ll have to wait and see. But there’s no reason to be mad at your teacher. Shannon was at fault, and I think you know it.”

Cait chucked her backpack on the desk and dropped onto the bed. “Yeah. I guess, but I can still walk with her sister, Kayla.”

“We’ll see.” Laura sat next to her. “So, what else happened today?”

“Nothing.”

“Nothing?” Laura pulled back, giving Cait her I-don’t-believe-you look.

“Nothing much. But I saw the car. The black one at the park. It was by the school playground.”

Laura’s heart stopped. Her mouth went dry. But somehow she managed to push words past her lips. “Are you sure it was the same one? Lots of people have black cars.” Something she had to remind herself of.

“Uh-huh. But it wasn’t doing anything, it was just sitting there.”

“Did you see someone inside?”

Cait shook her head.

“Did you tell someone? Your teacher?” The schools were always on watch for anything unusual.

“No.”

What to do? Laura couldn’t think. Was someone stalking Caitlin or another child? Some deranged pervert waiting for an opportunity to present itself? “It’s okay, honey. I’ll call the school. I think the principal should know, and if you see the car again, you go right inside and tell someone. Okay?”

“Okay. But maybe it’s just one of the parents. Jenny says her mother watches everything she does. It’s so embarrassing.”

“Like me watching everything you do,” Laura said, and gave Cait a quick hug, hoping the child didn’t sense her panic. Cait was right. It could be another parent. It could be nothing. She didn’t want to scare Cait over nothing.

“Maybe not that much.”

“Does Jenny’s mom have a black car?”

“No, hers is white.”

“Okay. Well, this isn’t getting your homework done.” Laura stood. “Call me if you need any help.”

Cait rummaged in her backpack and took out some wrinkled papers. “I want to do it in the dining room like everyone else.”

More independence. “Okay. I don’t see anything wrong with it—if you get the work done and don’t pester everyone else. They have their own work to do.”

Cait did a “YES” fist pump as she hurried off. “Way cool!”

Not so much for her. Rubbing the gooseflesh on her arms, Laura walked across the hall to her room and immediately picked up the phone and called the school. She got the damned answering machine.

After leaving a message, she started to call the police, then hung up. She’d called the police before when a couple of the shelter residents had boyfriends stalking them…and the police never did anything. They needed proof someone was being threatened. She made another quick decision and pulled Detective St. James’s card from the drawer on the nightstand. Hands trembling, she punched in his number. She didn’t know if she was scared or angry. Probably both.

“St. James.”

“Detective St. James, this is Laura Gianni. Do you have a minute?”

“Sure. Has something happened?”

“I don’t know. I—I think someone might be stalking us.”

“Us? You and Cait? Someone at the shelter?”

“I don’t know who.”

“Do you think you’re in danger right now?”

“No. He’s gone.”

“Where are you?”

“At home. Victory House.”

“Well, stay put. I’ll be right over.”

He hung up before she had a chance to say anything else. Acid churned in her stomach as she replaced the phone. Walking quickly to the dining room, she felt better when she saw her daughter working hard at the same table as Alysa, Brandy and Dakota. The child wanted so much to be like other kids, wanted so much not to have her mother hovering over her all the time.

It wasn’t as if Laura didn’t understand how Cait felt. She understood only too well. Still, she had good reason to be watchful of her daughter. Very good reason.

***

Jordan scouted the few blocks around Victory House before he pulled into the driveway, and then he did a quick three-sixty of the grounds.

Laura opened the door just as he reached it.

“That was fast.”

“I wasn’t far away. Are you okay? Cait?”

“We’re fine. In fact Cait doesn’t know I was upset about anything. She doesn’t know I called you.”

Given she’d been trying to get rid of him ever since they’d met, he figured she’d have to be extra nervous about something before she’d call him. The worry in her eyes confirmed it.

“So, let’s call this a social visit.”

“Come in. I’ll make some coffee.”

They went into the kitchen, where Laura closed the thick oak door into the dining room and then scooped some Folgers into the pot. He shrugged off his leather jacket and hung it on the back of a chair. Sitting at the table, he waited while she set out some cups.

“Why don’t you tell me everything that’s happened. From the beginning.”

Laura leaned a hip against the counter and crossed her arms. “I don’t want to scare Cait or the girls. And maybe I overreacted. I probably shouldn’t have called.”

She kept her voice barely above a whisper, and if the look he saw in her eyes was any indication, she was one very scared lady. Every time he’d seen her he’d noted what a strong woman she was, but right now, she seemed vulnerable. He wished he could say something to make her feel better. “But you did call, and you had a reason. Why don’t you let me be the judge if you overreacted or not.”

The coffee stopped percolating, and when she reached for it, he saw her hands shake.

“Okay. You be the judge.” She poured them each a cup, then put a sugar bowl and a milk carton on the table. “No fancy stuff here.”

“Good, I don’t like fancy,” he said, and then dumped a spoonful of sugar into his cup. He waited for her to continue.

After a sip, she managed, “The car at the park the other day—Cait has seen it before. Outside here a few times and today she saw it at the school playground. At least she thinks it was the same car. I called the school and left a message.”

“Did you call the police?”

She gave him a strange look. “Yes. I called you.”

He noticed her gaze drifting over his jeans and sweater.

“You’re not on the clock, are you?”

“I’m always on the clock.”

“I’m sorry…I didn’t mean to take you from anything.”

“Not a problem. But I’d like to know why you didn’t just call the local station so they could send someone out.”

She sighed. “We’ve had people hang around before, old boyfriends and…such. But the police never do anything, and the old boyfriends usually go away once they know it isn’t going to do them any good. But this feels different…and you saw the car before, too.”

“Can you think of a reason someone would want to harm any of you?”

She rubbed her hands together in her lap.

He sensed she had more to tell him, but nothing was forthcoming. “Anything you say is between you and me. I didn’t come here in any official capacity. I came because you called.”

She closed her eyes. Whatever it was weighed heavily on her.

Finally she blurted, “I’m worried Caitlin might be in danger.”

Right. She’d not be as worried about herself as she would be her daughter. “Not one of the girls?”

She shook her head. “No. I don’t think so.”

“Because of the car or something else?”

Instead of answering, she stood and looked out the window. “Because the car was here and at the school and the park. I think that’s enough for me to be worried.”

“If you call the police, they’ll check out any known criminals in the area.”

“I know. But I don’t want everyone…the girls to know about it. I just want it to stop.”

She was afraid for her daughter, thought she was in danger, but she didn’t want to involve the police—except for him. It didn’t make sense. Unless she thought talking to the police would make things worse. He decided to take a stab at it. “I’ve got to notify local law enforcement. They’ll put a watch at the school. All anyone will know is that someone reported a car prowling the playground. No one will know you said anything.”

“No one? If you notify them, you’ll have to say where you got the information, and that stuff always gets out.”

“I’ll make sure it doesn’t,” he said, placing a reassuring hand on her shoulder. Though, he wasn’t sure how he’d pull it off since most police reports were public information. But looking at her, knowing how scared she was, he’d figure a way. Maybe call in a favor if he could.

“Thank you,” she said softly. “I appreciate whatever you can do.”

As she stood there under his touch, he felt a need to pull her closer, to physically comfort her. The contact and the invitation in her eyes made him suddenly aware of how long it had been since he’d felt this way with a woman.

And he sensed something had changed between them, that she’d lowered her protective barrier. Not much, but a little.

The door swung open and Caitlin came in. “I’m done, Mo—” Seeing him, the kid stopped in her tracks. Her eyes brightened. “I didn’t know anyone was here.”

Laura stepped back.

“Hello, Cait. I was in the neighborhood and thought I’d stop by,” he said quickly, hoping the excuse would work so Laura didn’t have to lie to explain his presence. Already he knew that lying to her daughter would bother her. Other lies he wasn’t so sure about.

“I got a star on my papers today,” Cait announced.

Laura placed her hands on her hips and looked at her daughter. “You didn’t tell me, Caitlin.”

“But you know I always get stars. Jordan doesn’t know.”

“Oh,” Laura said, closing her mouth.

Just then Phoebe peered into the kitchen. “Sorry to interrupt the party, but it’s my day to start dinner.” She glanced at Jordan, her eyes big. To match her smile. “Do we have a dinner guest?”

Before Laura had a chance to say anything, Cait piped up, “Please, Mom, can Jordan stay for dinner? Please.”

He glanced at Laura.

Laura looked at Cait. “Uh…Jordan’s a busy man. I’m sure he has other plans.”

She was giving him an out—and he could tell by the way she shifted from one foot to the other, she really wanted him to take it. Sweet. “No. Except for a few phone calls, I have no other plans at all. I’d love to stay for dinner.”