Tracie Peterson (14 page)

“Come on, Harry,” Brianna called from the swings. “You promised to push me really high.”

Harry laughed and got to his feet. “So I did. I guess lunch will have to wait a few more minutes,” he added apologetically to Cara.

Pushing Brianna gave him time to consider the situation without fear that Cara would read the emotions in his expression. He liked playing father to Brianna, and he felt, too, that she was eager for him to assume that role. Still, was it fair to let the young girl draw so close to him when there was no certainty as to what would happen down the road? Cara always steered clear of talking about the future with Harry, and he knew full well the reason for her evasiveness: the campaign.

But a life with Cara and Brianna was exactly what he wanted.

Twenty

Bob Kerns felt the mounting tension of the moment. Russell Owens had telephoned earlier and left a message with the hotel switchboard that he would call back at nine o’clock that evening. With his own watch reading two minutes after the hour, Kerns began to pace.

Serena Perez eyed him from where she sat at the small table. She had been rewriting speeches for him all evening, and now with the November election so close, Kerns found himself relying on her heavily for support.

“Don’t worry,” she fairly purred the words. “Russell will call.” As if on cue, the bedside phone rang. “See, I told you.” She smiled up at him with warm red lips.

“Hello?” Kerns said, picking up the telephone.

“I see you got my message,” Russell said from the other end.

“What’s the news?”

“I just wanted you to know that our little problem has been eliminated.”

“Eliminated?” Kerns questioned, feeling perspiration begin to form at his temples.

“That’s right. It’s clear sailing from here, boss. I’ll give you the details when you get back to Topeka.”

Kerns took a deep breath. “You’re sure about this?”

“Of course. How’s it going at your end?”

“Same as can be expected. Debra’s passed out in the room down the hall, and Serena and I are working overtime on speeches you should have written for me.”

“I’ll be joining you tomorrow,” Owens said, seeming to ignore Kerns’ tone. “When is Cara coming out?”

“She’ll join us on Saturday and we’ll make one grand whistle-stop tour back to Topeka. Is she behaving herself?”

“She’s reacting perfectly to the demands of her role,” Owens replied. “I think she finally sees the merit of doing things our way.”

“You mean my way,” Kerns said rather snidely. “Don’t forget who’s in charge here.”

“I wouldn’t dream of it,” Owens replied. “Look, I’ve got a million things to do before I can leave. I’ll see you sometime tomorrow.”

Kerns hung up the telephone, still uncertain as to whether he was truly rid of the Teri Davis situation. Russell sounded confident and that was a good sign, but there was always the possibility that somehow things could be linked back to him and ruin his chances for the governorship.

Watching Serena as she bent over the stacks of papers, he questioned, “Are you finished yet?”

Her brunette head shook from side to side.

“Well, I’m starving and I’m going downstairs to get a bite to eat. You want to come along?”

Serena glanced up with an expression of question on her face. “And who would finish these?”

Kerns ran a finger down the side of her cheek. “There’s still time to do them later.”

“No,” Serena said with a flash of a smile. “I never procrastinate. You go ahead and eat. By the time you get back from supper, I should have these done.”

Glancing at his watch, Kerns nodded. “I suppose I’d better check on Debra first. There’s no telling what she might do if I don’t.”

“Didn’t you put a couple of guys at her door?”

“Yeah, but if she thinks I’m with you, things could get ugly and noisy. I’ll be back as soon as I can.” With one final glance at the shapely woman, Kerns left the room and made his way down the hall. Sooner or later he’d have to do something about Debra and her drinking, but for the sake of the campaign, he hoped it might wait a little longer.

****

Cara went over her agenda one final time. Spending a week on the road with Bob Kerns and Russell Owens hardly held any appeal. This was to be their final push. They’d head out from Salina with two days devoted to the Wichita area. After Wichita, they’d take the turnpike north to Emporia, then include another series of token visits to Ottawa and Olathe before finally coming to rest in the Overland Park/Kansas City area. It was going to be a grueling ride by hired bus, with long hours and tight close quarters.

With a heavy sigh, Cara folded the agenda and put it in her purse. The only good part about the trip was that it would only last a week. Melissa had agreed to stay nights in Topeka with Brianna, while Mrs. Pritchard had volunteered to drive over and get her off to school and wait for her bus in the afternoons.

Looking around the cramped quarters of her office, Cara knew she’d be happy when the campaign was finally over. Kerns had chosen the 6th Street headquarters for two reasons: One, because it was close to the Capitol; and two, because it was cheap. Given the fact that the small three-room suite was roach infested and without proper heating, Cara thought they should have been paid to stay there instead of the other way around.

Hearing the doorbell, Cara was happy to find Melissa and Harry being ushered into her campaign office. The young receptionist nodded at something Harry was saying and pulled the door closed behind her.

“Well, I must say this is a treat. I was just going over—” Cara stopped in midsentence. The look of grim despair on Melissa’s face and stark concern on Harry’s screamed that something was desperately wrong. “What is it?”

“Remember when my beeper went off yesterday and I had to leave to cover a story?” Melissa asked softly.

“Sure. What about it?” A quick glance at Harry did nothing to calm Cara’s nerves.

“A body was found in the river,” Melissa replied.

“A body?” Cara shook her head. “I don’t understand.”

Melissa swallowed hard and looked at Harry as if seeking council. Cara felt a spreading dread consume her.

“It was Teri Davis,” Melissa said, her expression full of sympathy.

“Teri? But how?” Cara felt her mouth go dry and her hands grow clammy.

“The autopsy hasn’t been performed yet, but for now it’s being listed as a drowning.”

Cara sat in shock, the grave news slowly forming thoughts in her head. Teri Davis was dead. The child so harmed by Bob Kerns would be harmed by him no more.
Bob Kerns!
The name came unbidden to her mind and without warning she flew up from the chair in a rage.

She considered Harry and Melissa for only a moment. “Kerns! I’ll see him hanged for this!” She pushed past Melissa and headed for the door. Already blinded by her tears, Cara gave little thought as to where she would go.

Harry moved with lightning speed and took hold of Cara’s upper arm. “You can’t go after Kerns. We don’t have any proof that he’s involved.”

Cara tried in vain to pull away from Harry. “Let me go! I know what I’m doing. Kerns has to pay for this.”

“We don’t have any proof,” Melissa repeated.

Cara turned accusing eyes on her friend. “I have all the proof I need. I have Teri’s story and that beautiful baby.”
The baby!
“Where’s the baby?” she asked, looking up at Harry. “Where’s Jamie?”

“I don’t know,” Melissa replied.

“What do you mean?” Cara was strangely calm.

Melissa nervously bit at her lower lip. “The press was directed as to where Teri lived. We reviewed the premises and were allowed to photograph her place. There was a lot of damaging evidence to suggest Teri was involved in dealing drugs.”

“That’s ludicrous. It must have been planted there. Teri was a good decent kid. She couldn’t help what had happened to her in the past.”

“No, she couldn’t,” Melissa said, coming to where Harry still held Cara tightly. “She also had to find some way to support herself.”

“Selling drugs wouldn’t have been an option,” Cara protested.

“How can you be so sure?” Harry asked her softly. “People do what they think they have to, even when it isn’t very pleasant. I have friends in the sheriff’s department, and they didn’t have anything too complimentary to say about the situation. They found a great deal of heroin on the site.”

“No! I refuse to believe that Teri was dealing drugs. She had Jamie to worry about. She knew Jamie had no one else to rely on. Teri wouldn’t have risked that.”

“Honey, you didn’t really know Teri.”

Cara bristled at the term of endearment. “How dare you patronize me at a time like this! I can’t believe you two are taking this so calmly.” She tried to wrench away from Harry, but it was no use.

“You’re the one who needs to calm down. Without your help, we may never find Jamie Davis,” Harry said sternly. Cara immediately quieted.

“That’s right,” Melissa joined in. “For all the world knows, Jamie has never existed. There was no sign of her at the house. Not one bottle or diaper or even a crib to suggest that a baby had once lived there.”

“But maybe it wasn’t Teri’s house,” Cara protested.

“The car outside was the same dilapidated Ford she drove to your office. It was registered to the name on her fake ID and driver’s license.”

“Which was?”

“Lonna Jessup. That was also the name under which the house was rented,” Melissa replied. “Look, I’ve been at this all night. I found papers with both Teri’s name and the Lonna
Jessup name. What I can’t find is a record of Jamie’s birth. For all purposes, that baby doesn’t exist.”

Cara felt what little calm she’d managed to obtain fade in light of this news. “Do either one of you need more proof than this? I’m telling you, Kerns was involved. Somehow he found out about Teri and he took care of the problem. He knew—better than anyone else—what he stood to lose because of her.”

“Cara,” Harry said, putting a hand to her chin and gently lifting her face to his. “We have to handle this carefully. I don’t doubt for a minute that your suspicions are true. What I can’t stress enough is that Kerns is going to be on his guard more than ever, especially if he arranged for this.”

“He needs to pay,” Cara said in a voice that broke into a whimper. “He has to pay.”

“I know.” Harry’s voice held the hope that Cara so desperately needed to hear.

“We’re not going to let this rest,” Melissa promised her.

Cara drew a deep breath and let it out slowly, collecting herself, and Harry dropped his hold. “Okay,” she said, looking up at Harry first and then Melissa, “what do we do first?”

Twenty-One

Cara was glad for Melissa’s suggestion that she spend the night with Cara and Brianna. Harry, too, seemed quite relieved to know Cara wouldn’t be alone.

Cara found it impossible to unwind from the news of the day. Tomorrow she would join Bob Kerns on the campaign trail. How could she spend a week under his close scrutiny and not break? It was the first time she truly felt capable of hating another human being and she didn’t like feeling this way. Even the drunk who’d killed Jack had incited more pity than disgust.

With Brianna in bed for the night, Cara returned to the living room to find Melissa holding two hot mugs of coffee.

“I thought maybe a little something warm would help. It’s decaf so it shouldn’t keep us up all night.”

“As if I’d need something else to stimulate me into staying awake all night,” Cara said, taking the extended cup. “I don’t think I’ll ever sleep again.”

“I know. I feel the same way after my time in the morgue and at Teri’s house. It just seemed so . . .”

“What?” Cara prodded, leaning on the edge of the seat she’d just taken. “Anything you think of might help us.”

“Now that I think about it,” Melissa replied, “it just seemed too perfect. The house didn’t look right, you know what I mean?”

“I’m not sure.”

“Well, it just seemed like a stage set with props. It didn’t have the feel of being natural. Everything was in perfect order, even in the midst of the mess and clutter. The heroin was in plain sight. The scales and paraphernalia were lined up in meticulous order. It just didn’t feel right.”

“What did Harry say about it?”

Melissa smiled. “Harry says very little about anything except you.”

Cara felt her face grow hot. Another time she might have welcomed this conversation. “But he said he had friends with the sheriff’s department. Did he say what they were concluding?”

“A drug deal gone bad.” Melissa offered the explanation, then took a long drink from the mug.

“That’s it? A nineteen-year-old girl is dead, her baby is missing, and the police are chalking it up to a drug deal gone bad?”

“What do you expect?”

Cara stared at her friend for a moment. What did she expect? She had prayed and pleaded with God for an answer to her dilemma. She had begged for a pathway that would lead her away from Kerns and his control.

“I don’t know,” she finally answered. “I’m just so tired of all of this.”

“I know.”

The words were simple and matter-of-fact, but Cara felt her friend’s sympathy and understanding.

“I don’t think I can deal with next week.” Cara put her cup down and stared blankly at the wall above Melissa’s head. “I mean, it was one thing to have to support this campaign. I grit my teeth every time I have to tell people how great Bob Kerns is. I’m living a lie, Melissa. How can that be right?”

“Maybe it isn’t. Hey, you’re the one with the religious beliefs, not me. Harry said, ‘God doesn’t always explain His purposes, but He always rewards the faithful.’ I guess that’s what a religious person would say to you just now.”

Cara smiled and thought of Harry’s words. “Yes, I suppose you’re right. Faith seems like such a simple thing until you see children dead at the hands of madmen.”

Melissa said nothing, and Cara felt the silence weigh down upon her like a millstone. Teri Davis was truly dead. Jamie Davis was missing and most likely just as dead as her mother. And though she cared deeply about the girl and had hoped to help her, Cara couldn’t stop the heinous act from happening. Through the darkest moment in her life, Teri Davis had faced death alone.