Suffer (9 page)

16

GREY AND ABBY WALKED THE short distance to a restaurant a block away from their hotel. Before they left, Grey pulled Chief Hill aside and asked him to call his office in Sugarloaf. With the description of Jordan given to them by Scott, he wanted the chief to review any recent missing person reports filed or unidentified bodies discovered in Florida, Georgia, or Alabama. If she was the connection between Gregory Kirsk and the unsub, he was sure she was already dead.

As they walked inside the restaurant, they both heard music coming from the deck on the backside of the building. Without asking, Abby headed for the doors leading to the outside tables. Grey didn’t mind her presumption. He knew she was looking to find as many distractions as possible. She found a table far enough from the small stage so they could hear each other speak. A server was ready to take their drink order as soon as they sat down.

“My name is Chloe. Can I get you something to drink?”

“A shot of tequila and a Corona, please,” replied Abby. “Oh, and a few extra limes if you don’t mind.”

“Sure,” said Chloe. “And you, sir?”

“Bushmills neat.”

“Yes, sir. Do you guys need menus?”

“No,” said Abby.

“Okay, I’ll be right back with your drinks,” said Chloe, leaving the table.

“I’m sorry,” said Abby. “Were you hungry?”

“No, cocktails are fine,” said Grey.

Abby turned away from Grey to listen to the young man on stage playing “Into the Mystic” by Van Morison. Grey didn’t take his eyes off of her as she closed hers and began to sway in the chair to the rhythm of the music. He could tell she was trying to take her mind somewhere else. Chloe arrived back at the table with the items that could help her get there. Abby came out of her self-induced trance long enough to take down the shot and a quarter of her beer in one slug. She glanced over at Grey who was looking at his watch.

“Oh, my God,” said Abby. “You’ve got a plane to catch, don’t you?”

“Had.”

“How’s your boss gonna take that?”

“I’ll just tell him I got snowed in.”

“He does know you’re in Miami, right?”

“He does.”

“You think maybe you could come up with something a little better than snow?”

“It’ll be fine, Abby, really,” said Grey, picking up his glass.

“Well, I’m glad you’re here,” said Abby, causing Grey to cough up his whiskey.

“What was that about?” she asked as he wiped his chin.

“I’ve taken advanced courses in behavioral profiling at Quantico,” said Grey. “And I did well, but you baffle me, Abby. One minute you can’t stand the sight of me, and the next you’re telling me you’re glad I’m here. I don’t get you. And I don’t want to turn this into an argument because you’ve had a world-class shitty day, but you are a very confusing woman.”

Abby motioned to the server standing near the bar that she wanted another round. “I know I can be a pain in the ass sometimes, but I don’t baffle anyone. You have your rare occasional moments, but for the most part you’re about as warm as an iceberg.”

“I said I didn’t want to argue with you,” said Grey. “That doesn’t mean I won’t.”

“This isn’t an argument; it’s a conversation,” said Abby, smiling at Chloe as she placed another shot in front of her.

Grey downed the rest of his whiskey and motioned to Chloe to bring him another. The server had positioned herself near the corner of the bar as if she were a ball girl at Wimbledon. As soon as his hand went up, she was on the move. Her years of experience watching couples preparing to spar put her on alert. She knew booze rarely helped anyone become more eloquent or patient, but it made the empty deck more entertaining. She dropped off the refill and returned to her station.

He raised his glass and looked at her as the liquid stung his lips. It afforded him a brief moment to think about where Abby wanted to take the conversation. It was his second drink, but it wasn’t enough to confuse his senses. He knew she was looking for a distraction; she had been looking since the day she was told what happened to her sister. He set the glass on the table and decided to try and steer her in the direction he hoped she would take.

“You’ve had an incredibly confusing, dark, and painful few weeks,” said Grey. “And I can’t begin to imagine the amount of stress you’ve been under, Abby. But I think the reasons why you never warmed up to me are the exact same reasons why you want me around now.”

“Oh, this should be good,” said Abby, leaning back in her chair to get more comfortable.

Grey shrugged off the light jab and smiled at her. “You think I’m an iceberg because I don’t wear my emotions on my sleeve. I never get angry, and I seem detached when everyone else around me is in unbearable pain. I don’t sugarcoat anything even if I know it’s going to hurt someone if I tell the truth. In your eyes, nothing gets to me; in your eyes, I’m closer to being a robot than I am to being human. Stop me if you think I’m way off base.”

“No, you’re pretty much on target.”

“You don’t think I’m strong; you think I’m insensitive. You think I’m handling everything that’s happened without losing it because I wasn’t that close with Caleb, Kate, or even Paul. You don’t think I’m capable of having the same kind of relationships and friendships that you or any other normal person has. Am I still on target?”

“Damn near a bull’s-eye.”

“And you think because of those assumptions you can project all the anger, confusion, sadness, and pain you want on me because I don’t really care; it doesn’t affect me. And when I don’t react like a normal human being, becoming angrier with me is easier for you. Right?”

“Well, you might be coming off target a little with that one,” said Abby. “I don’t want to be angry at you, but you make it easy because you do seem to try harder than most not to give a shit.”

“So it makes sense to you that I be the one to tell Kate about Caleb and Paul,” said Grey. “It makes sense to you because you think seeing her devastated won’t affect me. I’ll be able to detach myself from any emotional involvement and just spit it out. Then you and your family, the people who truly love her, can come in and comfort her after I turn her world upside down. You think I’m better equipped to handle it because I’m cold and uncaring. You’re not glad I’m here. You’re just glad you don’t have to be the one to hurt her.”

“That’s not –”

“But I am glad I’m here,” interrupted Grey. “And I’m not trying to piss you off, but you don’t know shit about me. They were my only family, Abby. You have no fucking idea how much they meant to me. Caleb was my little buddy. I was there when he was born, and I was there for more of his birthdays than you were. I love Kate as if she was
my
sister. Paul would make fun of me because sometimes I’d call him, but Kate and I would end up talking for hours. Paul was my best friend, but she was a very close second.

“When you asked me to be here when she wakes up, I didn’t say yes because I wanted to help you or your parents. I said yes because she deserves to be told by someone who’s going to tell her the truth. And tell her in spite of the fear it’s going to hurt her beyond anything she’s ever experienced.”

“Grey, I didn’t mean to –”

“Now, this looks like a much better place to hang out than the waiting room,” said Evan, walking up to the table. “Whiskey, beer, cute waitress, and good music. Oh, yeah, I’m gonna spend some time in here.”

“I’ll take one of each,” said Chief Hill, joining them.

“Well, at least you two seem to be getting along,” said Evan, getting an immediate glare from both. “Or not.”

“I hate to end the moment, Abby,” said Chief Hill. “I need to steal Grey for a bit, but I’ll replace him with an Evan.”

Grey and Abby looked at each other briefly before he stood and walked away with Chief Hill. She stared at his back as he left. Evan took Grey’s seat and his glass.

“No sense letting this go to waste,” said Evan, finishing the drink in one hit. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah,” said Abby, switching her gaze to Evan and adding a smile. “Will you have one more with me?”

“That bad, huh?” said Evan, motioning to the ball girl. “What happened this time?”

“I think I just got put in my place,” said Abby.

When Grey closed the car door, Chief Hill put a folder in his lap. “Five women fitting Jordan’s description went missing in the past two months. I figured we’d go by the dive Scott told us about and show these around. Like he said, a woman that good looking will be remembered by someone up there. If not, we’ll have to pay him another visit and get him to make the ID.”

“He won’t be happy to see you again so soon,” said Grey, flipping through the photos and reports. “One of these women went missing not too far from here. One in Tampa and another right up the coast in Fort Lauderdale. I can’t see our guy using someone so close, but it could be his first mistake.”

“He doesn’t seem like the type to make mistakes,” said Chief Hill.

“They all make mistakes, Chief. We just have to be smart enough to find them.”

A row of motorcycles was parked in front of The Dog House bar along a rail used to tie up horses in the days before cars. It didn’t take two detectives to figure out the clientele inside may not be responsive to questions being asked by strangers reeking of law enforcement. Grey was counting motorcycles to get an idea of how many goons might be inside. He looked over at Chief Hill who didn’t hesitate to exit the car. He smiled thinking about the police chief from quiet little Sugarloaf Key being absolutely fearless.

As soon as he walked inside, a thick layer of cigarette smoke stung Grey’s eyes as the smell of stale beer and cigars assaulted his nose. All eyes around the pool tables cut to the side to size up the two fish out of water. One of the fish walked up to the first pool table which was surrounded by five bikers holding cue sticks. As a player lined up his shot, Chief Hill snatched the ball off the table.

“Are you outta your damn –”

“Shut your smelly holes and listen up,” barked Chief Hill to the confused men around the table. “Each of you is gonna take a look at these photos and point out any faces that look familiar. I’m not gonna ask any questions about how you know them. All you have to do is point.”

Chief Hill held out a small stack of photos to the first biker. Along with the person they hoped to identify, they inserted random pictures of both men and women. They didn’t announce that they were looking for a female.

The much bigger man stared at the chief and didn’t look down at any of the pictures. “No need to be a hard-ass, son. The sooner we finish this, the sooner I’ll be on my way and you can get back to playing pool with these lovely ladies.”

The tough biker couldn’t hold back his chuckle. “You’ve got balls, little man. You’re not a local cop, are ya?”

“Nope,” said Chief Hill. “And I don’t wanna be. But I’ll stand right fucking here all night making everyone uncomfortable until I get what I need.”

“Hand ‘em over,” said the biker. He took his time, but nodded to the chief when he saw the familiar face. “Seen this one in here a couple of times; easy on the eyes with great tits.”

The obvious leader of the group instructed each man around the table to look at the photos. All of them recalled the same face. Chief Hill dropped a fifty-dollar bill on the pool table and thanked them for their time. They were in and out in five minutes.

“Her real name is – was – Pamela Beaumont,” said Chief Hill, standing outside holding her file under a neon sign. “No telling where he dumped her body. Guess we’re back to square one.”

“No, Chief,” said Grey. “We just got one step closer to him.”

17

SHE HAD TO CONCENTRATE TO complete the simple task of curling the fingers on her right hand. After she was able to make a fist, she concentrated even harder to bend her elbow and raise her hand to her face. She extended her fingers and patted the dressing over her left eye. She eased them down her sensitive skin and felt more gauze along her cheekbone and across her neck.

Kate opened her right eye and blinked several times in an attempt to clear the haze. For the first time since she arrived unconscious weeks before, she realized she was in a hospital room. She tensed her abdominal muscles and tried to raise her head off the pillow to get a better look at her surroundings. The pain was excruciating.

She gave up the attempt and lay motionless, staring up at the ceiling. When her eye began to focus more clearly on the tiles, her mind began to focus more clearly on why she was there. Her heart rate increased when the images of Caleb tied to his playroom chair fired through her brain. Her rapid breathing and pulse alerted the nurse at her station that the victim of the horrifically violent crime was awake.

Abby was pushing her tray down the metal rail in front of the breakfast bar in the hospital cafeteria when her phone vibrated with a message. She abandoned the food and ran at full speed toward the ICU. She burst into Kate’s room to find the nurse leaning over her sister and adjusting the oxygen tube under her nose. The nurse looked at Abby and gave her a hand gesture to calm down.

“Your sister is here,” said the nurse, standing up straight and unblocking her view.

“Hi, Kate,” greeted Abby, trying to catch her breath.

Abby thought she would be stronger when the moment arrived, but she started crying when she saw her sister look at her. “Can I hug her?”

“Gently, very gently,” replied the nurse, stepping back.

She walked to the side of the bed, leaned down and put her cheek against Kate’s. “I love you so much.”

“I love you, too,” whispered Kate in a very weak voice.

When Kate began to regain consciousness, the nurse called Dr. Singer. Days earlier, he left specific instructions to be notified if she woke up. He also instructed the nurse to give her a sedative and not to let any law enforcement come close to her until he arrived. He didn’t want the officers badgering her for information and sending her into shock or worse. When Grey and Chief Hill arrived, the nurse blocked their path before they entered the room.

“I’m sorry, gentlemen,” said the nurse turned sentry. “I can’t let anyone else inside until Dr. Singer arrives. You’re more than welcome to wait in the lobby. He should be here shortly.”

“Is she awake?” asked Grey.

“The doctor will be here shortly,” she repeated, showing them out of the ICU.

“Well,” said Chief Hill, “I guess the doctor will be here shortly.”

“I guess so,” said Grey. “I’m going to go grab a cup of coffee. You want one?”

“Heavy cream and sugar, please,” replied Chief Hill, taking a seat in the waiting area.

Grey took the elevator down to the cafeteria and ran into Evan as he walked through the first floor lobby. “Looks like she might be waking up.”

“That’s fantastic,” said Evan. “Her parents are a few minutes behind me.”

“Is Abby with them?” asked Grey.

“No, she’s already upstairs. That’s who called me. You didn’t see her?”

“Oh, okay. No, I didn’t,” said Grey. “The chief wanted to stop by and check in on Kate before he headed back to Sugarloaf. We didn’t know anything was happening until the nurse turned us away from her room.”

“Why did she do that?” asked Evan.

“No idea. I’m grabbing some coffee. You want one?”

“Sure, black with a little sugar. I’ll see you up there.”

Standing in front of the coffee bar, Grey noticed Dr. Singer walking through the cafeteria on his way to the elevator lobby. He waived and called his name, but the doctor didn’t slow his stride. Grey abandoned the cups and quickly followed him to the elevator.

“Morning, Doc,” said Grey, joining him.

“Good Morning,” said Dr. Singer, not turning his head to look at Grey.

“Is everything okay with Kate?”

“I can’t discuss it until I examine her. You and the family will need to wait in the lobby while I do.”

“Yeah, the nurse made that clear, but I think her sister is already in there with her.”

“She’ll have to leave as well. I don’t want to add any stress at this point. I hope you understand,” said Dr. Singer as the bell chimed when they reached their floor.

Years of experience with the FBI alerted Grey that something wasn’t quite right with Dr. Singer. He knew the doctor heard him yell out in the cafeteria, but didn’t slow down to see who was calling his name. The engaging and friendly physician was cold and distant. He didn’t make eye contact for the entire elevator ride to the ICU. He couldn’t put his finger on it, but something was wrong; very wrong.

The doors opened and Dr. Singer wasted no time exiting. Evan and Chief Hill stood as he approached, expecting him to stop and give them an update. They looked at each other with raised eyebrows as he walked past without saying a word or even acknowledging they were there. Grey stood with them, staring at the closing doors.

“What’s wrong with the doc?” asked Evan. “He looked a little freaked out.”

His friend noticing Dr. Singer’s demeanor was enough to send Grey into action. “Chief, come with me. Evan, stay here.”

“Stay here?”

Grey didn’t respond to Evan’s question as the chief followed him through the doors to the ICU. Chief Hill sensed Grey was on the clock. He didn’t have any information, but he knew Grey wanted him as backup for whatever they were about to face.

The nurse was rushing a confused Abby out of Kate’s room and closing the door when Grey and Chief Hill approached. “Oh, no, you don’t,” said the nurse. “The doctor specifically said not to –”

They ignored the nurse and entered Kate’s room while she protested behind them. The chief closed the door and braced his foot against it to prevent anyone from coming inside. When he turned, Grey already had his weapon leveled at the doctor’s head. The chief responded by doing the same.

“I got him,” said Chief Hill.

“Dr. Singer,” said Grey in a commanding tone. “I need you to step away from Kate, and I need you to do it right now.”

Dr. Singer’s hands were trembling as he held the tip of the syringe against the plastic tubing of her IV. His thumb was hovering over the plunger, ready to inject the deadly drug into her system. He was crying with his teeth clenched while Kate stared up at him. She was losing consciousness from the sedative the nurse had administered a few minutes before they arrived.

Grey lowered his weapon and walked to the opposite side of the bed. Chief Hill didn’t lower his and fixated on Dr. Singer’s thumb. If he closed the gap at all, the chief would end him.

“I know you don’t want to do this,” said Grey. “I know he’s making you. Who did he take, Doc? That’s what he does.”

Dr. Singer closed his eyes. Grey knew he was thinking about his loved one who was in terrible danger if he didn’t follow the order. But he also knew Chief Hill wouldn’t hesitate to shoot him if he didn’t back away.

“He took my wife,” said Dr. Singer in tears. “He took her while she was sleeping and left her ring finger in a fucking box on my pillow! He’s going to kill her if I don’t do this.”

“You need to listen to me,” said Grey. “I know this man; I know he doesn’t leave anyone alive. He killed Kate’s six-year-old son, her husband, and the only two people who had any contact with him. I’m so sorry, Dr. Singer, but he won’t let your wife live either. I won’t lie to you, she’s already gone. Killing Kate isn’t going to change that. All you’re doing is taking away our only chance to find him. He’s using you to do his work for him now.”

“He wins if you do this,” added Chief Hill, holding his aim.

“He’s already won,” said Dr. Singer in a sharp tone.

“No, he hasn’t,” said Grey. “Not if Kate survives. Dr. Singer, please don’t do this. Look at her. She didn’t have a chance, but you saved her life. You’ll be saving
his
if you kill her now. You’ll be taking away the only chance we have to stop him from doing this again.”

“You don’t understand,” said Dr. Singer with his red eyes locked on Kate. “My wife is everything to me. I need her – our children need her.”

“No, Doc,” said Grey. “They’re going to need you. If you don’t stop, they’ll be orphans. They won’t have anyone to look out for them. Your wife had no choice, but you do. Stay with them, Doc. Be here for your children. What would your wife tell you to do?”

“What if you’re wrong?” asked Dr. Singer. “What if she’s still alive?”

“I’m not wrong, Doc. And do you really believe he would? If you do, then push that needle and take the bullet Chief’s gonna put in your head. But what I hope you do is put it down and help us go get the animal that hurt your wife.”

“If you’re wrong and she’s still alive,” said Dr. Singer, “I swear to God I’ll kill you myself.”

Chief inhaled and then held his breath to steady his aim. He knew Dr. Singer was about to make his decision. In the chaos of the moment, the doctor was still aware his time was running out. Chief was relieved to see him slowly back the needle away from the tube.

Dr. Singer lowered the syringe and then dropped it on the floor. Chief Hill holstered his weapon and picked it up as the tortured man fell into a chair behind him. He held his head in his hands and sobbed.

Grey walked over to him and knelt beside the chair. “I don’t believe you would’ve hurt her, Dr. Singer. If you really wanted to do this, we wouldn’t have been able to stop you. You know that.”

“What happens now?” asked Dr. Singer, lowering his head in shame. “I’d like to call my kids before you arrest me.”

“I’m not going to arrest you,” said Grey. “We really do need your help. As far as we’re concerned, you reached out to us because you couldn’t go through with it. We’ll have the chief get with the local police and start looking for your wife.”

“But you said she’s already dead.”

“I believe she is, but we still need to find her.”

“Do you think he’ll go after my kids?” asked Dr. Singer. “I call them kids, but two of them are in college and the other is staying at our beach house.  They don’t live with us anymore, but they’re not far.”

“No,” said Grey. “He’s through with you. Going after your children would be too much trouble for him. Thanks to you, he has to stay focused on Kate. She’s the only one who can hurt him. But just in case, the chief will make arrangements for officers to go check on them. We need their names and where they are now.”

“I’m on it,” said Chief Hill after taking the information and walking out of the room.

As soon as the door opened, Abby burst inside. She noticed Kate was unconscious again and Dr. Singer was shaking. “Is she okay? What the hell happened in here?”

“I’ll explain everything in a few minutes,” said Grey.

“She’s fine, Abby,” said Dr. Singer, trying to regain his composure. “We gave her a mild sedative to help her sleep. I’ll send in the nurse to stay with her until she wakes up.”

“That’s great, but I’m not leaving.”

“That’s perfectly fine,” said Dr. Singer, wiping his eyes.

“Doc, why don’t you find us a quiet room to talk,” said Grey. “I need to speak to the chief for a moment.”

“I’ll be in my office at the end of the hall.”

Grey walked up to the chief, who was ending a phone call outside the room. “State troopers?”

“Yeah,” said Chief Hill. “They’re on their way to check on his kids. The bad news is, Sheriff Doyle is also on his way.”

“I figured that was coming.”

“Just so you know, Grey, we’ve both just stepped in it up to our necks.”

“Yeah, I figured that was coming, too. That’s why we need to work fast.”