Michael (14 page)

My mind was racing. I wanted so badly to believe that nothing Michael had told me was the truth, that Charlie was just Charlie, my outgoing friend with a knack for fashion and wine. But Michael wouldn’t deliberately destroy my friendship just for the sake of doing so. He was right. Michael was always right. And I didn’t know how to call things off with Charlie in a fair, reasonable way. I picked up my phone and sent him a message:

K: Let’s take some time apart.

C: Your idea or his?

K: I have to worry about my marriage first and foremost.

C: So his idea then. I told you he’d come back and do this.

K: He has nothing to do with this, Charlie.

C: I’m not convinced. Well, good luck, Krishna. Maybe our paths will cross again.

I starred at the final message and sat my phone beside me on the glass patio table. I tucked my feet beneath myself and looked out at the still pool, over the yard and at the blur through the trees that hid Liam’s house. Maybe my sister-in-law could help shed some light on this. I stood and walked down the cleared stone path to her back patio door. I let myself in.

“Jayda!” I called from the kitchen.

“Hey!” She turned the corner into the kitchen with her toddler Kadin on her hip. “What are you doing here, thought you were headed to the vineyards with Charlie.”

“I was until Michael and your husband went all CSI and convinced me that Charlie was an ax murderer.” I huffed and plopped down on the stool. Jayda grabbed two wine glasses and a bottle of pinot and sat them in front of me. She slid Kadin into the highchair hooked to the counter.

“I knew they were up to something.” She filled the two glasses. “Liam was out of the house in a hurry after the head of his security team showed up with a thick yellow envelop. He said he was headed to the offices.”

“Yeah, well, that thick envelop was full of damning theories as to who Charlie really is. That envelope, full of photos of a twenty something murdered woman from Tallahassee, Florida.” I replied causing Jayda to choke on the sip of wine she had just taken.

“What?!” She said after clearing up the pinot induced cough.

“There was a woman that disappeared from Florida and found murdered some months later. Eerily enough, she had a deceased infant, Charlie Jenner. And my Charlie, He doesn’t exist on paper. Apart from media appearances, he has no paper trail.”

“And they conclude that he’s a murdering psychopath from that?” She slid in next to me.

“Yup. So I called off our friendship, told him I needed to focus on my marriage. And now he thinks Michael made me do it.”

“Well this guy sounds like bad news. I mean, he’s a nice guy, there wasn’t a time I didn’t like hanging out with him but if our husbands say it’s a workable theory, they’re probably right. There’s a reason he keeps seasoned detectives on payroll. If it’s true, they’ll get the evidence they need to bring him to justice.”

“They’re not cops, Jayda.” I remarked rolling my eyes.

“No but they aren’t the ones to cross. They’ll get to the bottom of it all. I promise.”

“And if they’re wrong?” I asked causing a laugh to escape from Jayda’s lips.

“They aren’t. It’s that simple.”

“Sadly, I hope they are. I really like Charlie, he’s fun.” I pouted.

“I know, honey. There will be other Charlie’s. Well, not other Charlie’s I hope. But other friends.” She laughed again hugging me.

“I hope so because you are downright horrible!” I hugged her back.

“I’m sorry. But this is so Lifetime Original Movie, I can’t help it.”

“Well, I’m going to go home, make dinner or something. Maybe spend time with my husband.” I smiled and hugged Jayda again. “Thanks for the wine.” I gulped down the remainder of the glass and sat it on the table.

“Good luck, Sis.”

It was obvious that I wasn’t Krishna’s favorite person by the time the sun had come up the next morning. She had a few glasses of wine and proceeded to go in on me about my obsession with her and every person that comes into her life. And by the time we climbed into bed we had “made up”. But the morning sun bought about a whole ‘nother Krishna. Bright and bubbly and faking it to make it. I spent the morning on the phone with Florida detectives and Liam had managed to get the plane ready to fly us and our own detectives down to Florida. It wasn’t planned but out little investigation had reopened the case and launched a joint investigation.

“Hey, I’m leaving around noon. Text me any photos you have of Charlie. We’re heading to Florida.”

“What are you going to Florida for? You’re not a detective, Michael.” She argued.

“I know. But I want to see this one through. If he’s a danger, I want him bought down.” I threw a few changes of clothes into my bag. “You should take the kids and go stay with Jayda.”

“We’ll be fine. The kids will be there anyway, swimming. This place is as secure as the White House.” She smiled and came to me, wrapping her arms around my waist.

“Yeah but even the crazies manage to jump the White House walls.” I kissed her.

“Well, I’ll be just fine, Michael. I love you. You’re my hero.”

“Stop calling me that.”

“Why? I thought you liked being everyone’s knight in shining armor.”

“It’s definitely something I don’t want to have to live up to.” I pleaded.

“But you do. You were born to be the hero.” She kissed my lips halting any argument I had. “And Liam can be your sidekick. Tell him I called him Robin.”

“I will not.” I laughed. “Don’t underestimate the guy. A Scott man is a Scott man.”

“I love you.”

“I love you, too.” I’ll send someone by every few hours to check on you. Please check-in so you don’t force me to fly back on a red eye.”

“Promise.”

With that I enjoyed breakfast with her and the kids laughing at the twins and their antics while Lincoln clung to Krishna. After that I grabbed my bag and met Liam at his car for the drive to the airport. By seven that evening I was shaking hands with Detective Alexander Jones of the Fort Walton Beach Police Department.

“We have to thank you for making time to see us, Mr. Scott, Mr. Scott.” He shook Liam’s hand as well as mine.

“It’s no problem, really. The second we thought things were a little off; we had to get in touch.”

“Well, I’m glad you did. We analyzed the photo you sent, got a hit.” We got inside the black sedan and headed to a base station.

“And? Who is this guy?”

“Serious danger. He may look unassuming and rather meek but he’s dangerous. Meet, Jason Andrews, United States armed forces for ten years, two tours in Iraq after 9/11, a trained sniper and certainly not the type of guy you want to make an enemy out of.”

I was shocked as was Liam as we flipped through the confidential jacket of the former Airmen. His photo was a lot more intimidating than the guy I had brunch with days previous. He was still lean but very intimidating.

“Any connection to the victim?” Liam asked.

“Not immediately, we didn’t see it. But this a military town, people talk and everyone mingles. We thought maybe it was a simple case of wrong place wrong time until our detectives dug further. You guys might have cracked four cold cases all at once.” He handed another folder as we pulled up to the base.

Inside were three other victims, all women, nothing significant in common. All of the crime scenes looked similar and as the detective explained it, Jason Andrews was stationed in those cities at the time of the murders.

“What set him off?” I asked wondering if they had found a motive.

“We don’t know but we have an inkling.” He looked back at us as he led us to a quiet conference room. The white boards were covered in photos of the victims. “Sorry if this is all a bit much.”

“It’s fine.” I stomached the horror of the photos and turned my attention to the detective.

“Being a sniper, being over there period, it can do things to you. You see things that can’t be unseen and that’s what we thought we were dealing with here but as it turns out, Andrews had some expunged records out of California. His juvenile records indicted a little Ted Bundy behavior, like setting neighborhood cats on fire. He was arrested and it was thrown out on the merit of his educators who insisted Andrews was a highly intelligent boy who kept to himself. Had they known better he would have probably gotten the help he needed.”

“So do you have anything solid to link him to these cases? Forensics, DNA, a freakin’ speeding ticket? Anything? I’m not convinced that setting kittens on fire is a precursor to murder.” Liam said shifting in his seat.

“I haven’t finished. That was age twelve. By age fifteen, he was being tried for rape in the first degree. He allegedly beat and tortured a girl from his high school. Her word against his, his won. By eighteen he enlisted. From there, nothing extraordinary.” He finished.

“So dead end. Why would he go through the trouble of changing his name? Why take on the name of a deceased kid and kill the child’s mother?”

“We were thinking the same thing. So we pulled the birth certificate, it was his son. The baby died at five months, sudden infant death syndrome. And that’s all we have, I wish we had more. We want to start this investigation from scratch. We have to if we’re going to close this case. We’re retesting evidence for DNA, maybe it’ll give us a profile.” The detective said. My phone buzzed.

“I have to take this.” I excused myself and picked up the call. “Lewis. What’s up?” Lewis was only to call me in an emergency. My hands trembled.

“It’s Mrs. Scott, Sir. We’ve been checking every hour and we’ve kept a marked car outside the door. She’s not inside, Sir. We’ve got nothing. We’ve set up a perimeter and…” His voice trailed off as I dropped my phone and fell back against the glass wall separating me from my brother.

My body sounded hollow inside the back of the warm trunk. I listened for any sounds that would help me navigate the roads I couldn’t see. I had seen a million episodes of Law and Order and Criminal Minds, enough to know that I wouldn’t go down without a fight. Thunder crackled overhead, a long boom that sent chills down my spine. I heard a blaring beep from within the trunk, my phone. I had tucked it into my waistband after the shower because I didn’t have pockets and didn’t want to miss a single call from Michael.

I felt around in the dark until my eyes met with a small glow. I found my phone face down. A weather advisory for the state of Virginia. I immediately silenced it and noted that my battery was at the more half empty point. I called Michael. The phone went to voicemail. I hung up and called 911.

“911, what’s your emergency?” My hands shook.

“I’ve been kidnapped.” I cried finally realizing the extent of my circumstances. “My name is Krishna Scott, I live at 1139 West Belleview Terrace. I was taken by a man name Charlie Jenner. He took me from my kitchen and through the back woods to a black Vo—.” I forced out as much information as I could before the line went silent.

I tried to stifle my cries as the music up front went silent. I knew what I had to do if I were going to make it out alive. BOOM! Another clap of thunder. The music turned back up as I heard rain beating down on the trunk. BOOM! I positioned myself, getting a grip on back of the seat. BOOM! I kicked as hard as I could to get the back light of the passenger side to break. It barely gave. I waited. BOOM! I kicked again sending the plastic tumbling down the highway. I looked through the hole. Pass the rain I couldn’t see anything, not even headlights of another car.

I called Jayda. It rang twice.

“Krishna!” Her voice cracked. “Where the hell are you? You have everyone worried sick. Michael and Liam are flying back as we speak.” She rambled on as I tried to get a word in. My phone beeped, the battery was fading.

“Jayda.” I cried. “Jayda. Help me. He took me. Charlie took me, Jayda. I called the police. I think we’re in Virginia. Please find me.” The phone signal faded again. I waited for it to return. I had to try Michael again. But I got nothing, straight to voicemail because he was in the air. I left a message.

“Michael. Michael, I’m so sorry. You were right. I didn’t want to believe you but you were right.” I cried. “And now it might be too late. I don’t know where he’s taking me Michael.” I kept an eye on the hole the headlight had left behind hoping I’d see the trace of another person, just one car. But nothing. “I love you Michael. No words I could ever say could tell you just how much you mean to me. This marriage, our precious babies.” I cried harder thinking about my children, our beautiful babies. “Michael! You have to find me. Please! I need you Michael. I need to come back home.” I sobbed as I ended the call. It would be forever before Michael had made it back to D.C., even in the jet. I looked at the time on my phone. We had been driving at least forty minutes. A light beamed in my eyes. A car!

I threw my hand out the hole and waved frantically at the car I couldn’t see through the rain, I prayed the person saw me and acted on it, I prayed I’d be saved.

My house looked like a crime scene as I pulled up; the entire mansion surrounded my flashes of red and blue lights. My hands were still shaking and I struggled to walk into the house. Krishna’s voicemail left me on edge and I just wanted her found. That and to kill the man responsible for taking her. My stomach had been in knots and flying at lightning speed to get back home hadn’t helped.

“Mr. Scott, I’m Detective Taylor. Let me assure you that we’re doing everything in our power to bring your wife home. Her last known whereabouts are Virginia. We’re working with local authorities to get this guy and to bring your wife back safely.”

“Thank you.” I turned to my brother. “Can you stay here? I need to see the kids.” He nodded. I swallowed the knot in my throat and went through the house down the path to Liam’s. I banged on the back door, Jayda answered. She immediately enveloped me in a hug. It had been ages since I had felt such deep affection from my sister-in-law but she remained my closest friend despite my failed attempt at courting her years ago. “Where are the kids?” I muttered.

“They’re asleep. In the family room.” She released me and I walked in silence to the room to find Lincoln asleep on the couch and the twins together in the playpen. I caught a glance of the television and choked. “Turn it off.” I whispered trying to hold back my tears. I scooped Lincoln into my arms. The resemblance between her and her mother was uncanny. I squeezed her small body close to me and finally broke. The disbelief that was plaguing me turned into fear as I clung to my daughter. “We have to find her.” I said to Jayda who looked over at me from the door jamb.

“You have to find her, Michael.” Tears ran down her face. “
You
have to find her.” She stepped towards me and took my sleeping child from my arms. She laid her back down, covering her with a small blanket. “You can wait for them to do their job, or you can find her.” She tucked car keys into my hand and pulled me in for a tight hug. “I love you.” She stepped back. “Now go.”

I wiped the tears that wouldn’t stop pouring from my eyes. I hoped into her Tesla and sped off. My wife could be anywhere. I had no clue where to go. I just connected my phone to the car and prayed that she’d call again. I knew it was near impossible.  I just sped along praying anyway.

A call came in over the speaker of the car. I answered immediately, it was Liam.

“Tell me they have something, anything.” I pleaded.

“They’re looking into reports of a person waving from the tail light of a black Volkswagen. The car has been spotted at various points along 81. Heading south.”

“I can’t lose her, Liam. I’ve lost too much over the years. Krishna is my lifeline. If anything happens to her, I swear to—”

“Keep a leveled head, Michael.”

“I can’t promise that.” I held back wanting to scream at my brother. When I found this man, I fully intended on ripping his head from his body.

“Think about your children. Don’t do anything stupid. By all means do what has to be done to get Krish out of harm’s way, if that means killing the guy, so be it. But don’t let your emotions take things where they don’t need to go.”

“I get it.” I breathed trying to reign in my emotions. I was terrified and trying to save face. “Do me a favor, call Krishna’s brother and see what he knows about this guy, they spent a little time together, find out if he has ties to Virginia or if he’s headed elsewhere.”

***

“Can you dance?” Krishna asked me.

“I do my best. I mean, I’m Latino. It’s in my blood. The natural rhythm anyway.” I pulled up to the studio where her birthday date was starting.

“I can’t promise the same on my behalf.” She giggled undoing her seatbelt and gazing into my eyes. I pulled her face to mine for another taste of her lips.

“They’re dance lessons; you don’t have to be perfect. But it is something I like to do; I wanted to share that with you.” I pulled from her and hopped from the car to open her door. I reached for her hand and she grabbed mine stepping into the spring breeze.

“I’m glad you do that. You’re so open to me being a part of your life instead of being like most men who like their woman to merely exist alongside them.”

“Well, I’m wanting forever with you.” I pushed her against the car. “I want our lives to be one. One day, maybe, it’ll be hard for me to tell where I end and you begin. You’re my soul mate, Krishna. I can promise you that I’d go to hell and back for you.”

“I know you would.” She kissed me again. This unbridled passion she had for me sent me to the edge every time. I grabbed her behind not remembering that it was broad daylight and we were on a busy D.C. street. I pulled away.

“Damn, I love you.” I smirked grabbing her hand. I pulled her up the block to the studio where we would be getting tango lessons from the legendary Alfonso Alverez.

In the studio I watched as Alfonso taught Krishna the most basic moves. I loved the way her hips had swayed to the music. Her arms locked in position and her eyes were locked on his as she quickly embodied what it meant to tango. I had learned years ago as a way to stay connected to my heritage and to my mother. I saw my mother as a brilliant Latina that oozed her heritage while somehow conforming to all things good about American society. On paper she read like an upper-class Caucasian housewife but in reality she was a petite Latina that cursed in Spanish and crossed her chest all in the same breath. I missed her.

“It’s your turn, Michael.” Alfonso backed off and I took his place. I laughed as Krishna winked at me and did a little shimmy.

“Don’t step on my toes!” I warned her jokingly.

“Try to keep up.” Was all she said before the music began to play. All I could do was laugh. But when we started, Krishna showed me that she had a natural ability to learn anything, including a sultry tango. She executed kicks and lifts with an enviable ease and it turned me on to have her body grind so smoothly against mine. We practiced for over two hours; having wine, laughing and kissing one another in between.

“I have to hand it to you. You can dance.” I said wiping sweat from my brow. We had walked to the car arm in arm. I couldn’t keep my hands off of her; I loved what the dancing had done to us. We proceeded to my place to shower and change for dinner.

“If you could go anywhere in the world? Where would it be and why?” I asked. We were in the limo and headed to dinner.

“I don’t know. After the year I’ve had, probably somewhere with a beautiful beach, like Fiji. Just to be able to sink my feet into the sand and see crystal clear waters. That’s the ideal vacation to me.”

“I like Fiji.” I replied. “I have to tell you that I admire what you do. It takes an amazing woman to put her everything into her career.”

“Thanks, Michael. I love my kids.” She leaned against me.

“You want kids? Like once we’re married and stuff?”

“Absolutely. I have to tell you though, I don’t know if it’ll be that easy. I was diagnosed with endometriosis as a teen. Pregnancy isn’t impossible but it’ll take a minor surgery and medication to get my uterus ready for that.” She looked serious, like she had stolen something from me.

“Whatever it takes. It’s not a concern right now. It’s only been a few months. And while I know where I want this to go, we can take our time getting there.” I smiled. The limo pulled up to the hanger and I stepped out before Krishna, taking her hand and leading her into the hanger. Inside, an elegant table was set and a waiter stood nearby. “I didn’t want to starve you on the flight.”

“What flight?”

“You sad you wanted to go to Fiji.” I kissed her hand and pulled out her chair. Tears ran down her face.

“This is too much, Michael.”

“Nothing is too much when it comes to the things I want to do for you. I want to give you the world, Krishna. Anyway that I can show you how much you mean to me, I’ll do it all, you deserve it.” I pulled my chair in and signaled the waiter. We ate mostly laughing and talking about our families. Krishna told me about her deceased parents and her desire to find her biological family at some point. I told her about my less than stellar past and she showed me unwavering support and encouraged me to keep building on the relationship I had with Liam. After dinner, we boarded the plane, nestling into the full size bed and making love at thirty thousand feet.

***

My phone rung across the car speakers. I had been driving for an hour and had no clue where I was heading. I pressed the button on the steering wheel.

“What’s up?”

“Michael.” A whisper came across the speaker that shattered my heart into a billion pieces.

“Krishna, where are you?” I nearly cried.

“Michael, I’m in the trunk of his car, we’ve been stopped for a while. I don’t know where I am, I can’t see any signs. I keep waving from the tail light but there’s not much traffic. We’re not on the highway anymore.” She was scared, no doubt, but I could hear her taking deep breathes.

“I’m looking for you. Do you know where he could be taking you? Any places he talked about on this coast? We know he was headed south at some point.”

“I don’t know.” She cried. “He lived in Florida for a while. And in North Carolina.”

“Okay babe. You hang tight. I promise that I’m going to find you. I promise. Don’t give up. Keep looking out for a landmark.”

“My phone is dying, Michael; it only has ten percent left.”

“Do me a favor. Go to your phone and activate the family locator service.” I breathed a sigh of relief remember how stupid and invasive I thought the app was. “I’ll try to find you.”

“Okay.” She responded. I could hear her phone clicking, signaling that her battery percentage was dropping. “I love you, Michael.”

“I love you too, Krishna. And I will find you.”

The call ended and I activated my end of the app waiting for her location to pop up. When it finally did I called my brother, bewildered.