You Really Got Me (13 page)

“Special Agent Nicki Barden.”

The men turned to look at the woman standing in the office door.

“Agent Barden.” Jason rose to his feet and walked out from behind his desk, hand extended. “Nice to meet you.”

She lifted an eyebrow as if she knew he was lying. She sent him a cool smile, her round face surprisingly youthful, with wide blue eyes and a small bow-shaped mouth. She wore no makeup and her blonde hair had been scraped back into some kind of plastic clip. A dark suit clung to her ample curves.

“My team’s here,” she said, jerking her head to indicate the group standing outside Jason’s office.

“Thanks for coming. We’ll get you all up to speed on what’s been happening.”

They spent most of the morning reviewing the case, what had been done, what still needed to be done, Jason working hard not be defensive about the lack of progress in the case as Special Agent Barden asked questions.

“What did the search of the lab turn up?” Agent Barden asked.

“Nothing besides a few fragments of glass that had been swept into a corner. We told you about the argument one of her co-workers overhead. But the security video shows her leaving the lab at 4:42.” Jason tried to temper the impatience in his voice. “She never came back.”

“Let’s search it again.”

“We didn’t find anything the first time.”

She gave him a look, and he swallowed his sigh.

“Okay, yeah. We also have computer records of the security system showing who entered the lab and where they went inside. We’ve started on them but didn’t have enough resources to get through it all yet.”

“I want to see the security video.”

“Sure.”

“Has the family seen it?”

“No.”

“How do you know it’s her?”

“The cameras showed her entering the building at about one o’clock with her fiancé.”

“Kevin Vioget.”

“Yes.”

“He left at about 1:22. One of the other researchers there overheard them having a big fight at about 1:20. We saw her go in. We saw her go out.”

She nodded. “Okay.”

Their teams disbursed to continue working, leaving them alone. She looked at him with narrowed eyes. “Do you believe Natalia Debarros ran away?”

“We’ve got nothing else right now.”

“You didn’t answer the question.”

He narrowed his eyes at her and said nothing.

“You need to keep an open mind, Chief.”

He frowned. “Jesus. Of course I have an open mind. There’s nothing to suggest any kind of crime at this point.”

“Uh-huh.”

He sat back in his chair. Who the hell did she think she was talking to? He leaned forward and fixed a frigid glare on her. “I know the facts. And I’m open to any possibility. Including the possibility that she
didn’t
run away.”

Her gaze narrowed right back at him and she lifted her chin. “Okay then. Let’s get to work. We have some polygraph tests to do.”

 
“At this time we have no reason to believe a crime has been committed.”

Kendall watched Jason on television, holding a press conference. A strange feeling of pride swelled inside her. He was so good at his job—so smart, so confident and commanding.

“So Kevin Vioget is not a suspect?” a reporter asked.

Kendall frowned.

“As I said, at this time we have no reason to believe a crime has been committed. There is no evidence whatsoever of foul play.”

Kendall cupped her chin in her hand. She so wanted to believe that.

Jason went on to talk more about the investigation, all things she already knew. Then the news returned to the anchorwoman in the studio and Kendall flicked off the television with the remote control. She picked up her coffee cup from the kitchen table where she sat and sipped the hot strong brew.

Morning sunshine flooded in the wide windows, golden light spreading like melted butter across the white tiled floor. Still in her
 
pajama shorts and tank top, Kendall pulled one foot up onto the chair and hugged her knee, cupping her mug in two hands. Steam teased her nostrils as she breathed in the rich scent of the coffee.

Today they had to cancel the wedding. Friends and family had been phoning, everyone wondering what was going on and, as she’d told Jason last night, they’d all agreed today they would put things in motion to cancel the plans. Kendall’s heart constricted at the thought of doing that, because in some strange way it did feel like they were giving up on Natalia.

The more time that passed, the more it seemed likely something
had
happened to her. Something bad. It didn’t seem right to have to focus on such mundane practical things as calling the caterer, the chair rental company, not to mention all the guests, when Natalia could be in trouble—or worse.

She took another sip of her coffee and looked up as Natalia’s parents walked in, both dressed, the strain evident on their faces.

“Good morning,” she said, sliding her bare foot back to the cool tile floor. She stood. “You’re up early.”

“It’s hard to sleep,” Maria said with a wan smile.

Kendall nodded to the coffee maker on the counter. “Would you like some?”

“Yes. Thank you.”

She poured cups for both of them, and Maria and Juan sat at the table. “I’ll go get dressed and then we can get started.”

“Where will we start?” Maria asked softly.

“We can divide up the guest list between the three of us,” Kendall said. “I don’t know if Kevin will be able to help us or not.”

Maria and Juan exchanged glances. Kendall’s insides tightened as she gazed at the older couple, Juan, short and stocky, his dark hair frosted with gray, Maria’s hair still dark, long and pulled back into a knot at the back of her head, her small, plump frame slumped in her chair.

“I’m so sorry,” Kendall whispered. “I don’t know what else to do.”

“It is not your fault,” Juan said with a faint, sad smile. “We appreciate everything you have done for Natalia. And for Maria.”

“I feel so…so helpless.” Kendall shrugged. She didn’t really feel like she’d done very much, wished with all her heart she could do more, wished she could make this all better, for everyone.

“No more than I do,” Juan said, with a sigh and a glance at his wife. “No more than I.”

Maria’s eyes filled with tears again, and she brushed them away with her fingertips. Then she lifted her chin and straightened her spine. “Canceling the wedding doesn’t mean we are giving up hope that we’ll find Natalia.”

“Of course not.” Kendall reached for Maria’s hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. “There’s still hope. I just watched the police chief on the news,” she added. She reiterated what Jason had said, that there was no evidence of a crime.

Maria nodded, her mouth pinched into a thin line. “But we know,” she said in a low voice. “There
has
been a crime. Natalia would not just disappear without saying anything to anyone. If she was all right, she would have contacted us by now, to tell us, even if she had decided she didn’t want to get married. Or the police would have found her somehow.” She lifted tortured dark eyes and looked at Kendall. “I know something has happened to my daughter.”

Kendall wanted to protest, to reassure her that there was still hope, but in truth, hope was waning. She reached out and clasped Maria’s hand. “I’m so sorry.”

She trudged upstairs and dressed in jeans and a T-shirt, pausing in the hall before returning to the kitchen. She nibbled her bottom lip and narrowed her eyes. Damn him, Kevin had to start acting like a man. She knew he was worried and distraught about Natalia but geez, that didn’t excuse him acting like a child. She closed her eyes briefly, then straightened her shoulders and knocked at his door. The door opened and he stood there, ashen-faced and rumpled.

“You have to help us,” she said through tight lips. Her insides churned. She hated being like this, hated that she felt so sorry for him she wanted to let him get away with hiding in his room, hated that she felt herself weakening in her resolve. “We’re making the calls to cancel the wedding. Mr. and Mrs. Debarros are just as devastated as you are, and they’re stepping up. You have to help us too.” And she turned and walked back downstairs.

When Kevin walked into the kitchen a few minutes later, she gave him a brief nod, relief filtering through her. And when the doorbell rang, she got another surprise. Kevin’s friends who were supposed to stand up with him at the wedding, his best man Trey, his other friends Scott and Christian, arrived and asked what they could do to help. She shot them all smiles of gratitude and put on another pot of coffee, and they all got to the business of making the phone calls. Everyone they talked to had heard the news and had been wondering, probably expecting their call to tell them the wedding was officially off. They repeated the same lines over and over again. With her neatly organized file folders in front of her, Kendall took care of the business calls, knowing there would be issues of non-refundable deposits and cancellation fees. There was no help for it—it had to be done.

One personal call Kendall made herself was to Erin, who insisted she was coming anyway, which nearly made Kendall cry. The emotion of it all was exhausting, leaving her drained and sagging by the time they were finished. She saw how difficult it was for Kevin too, the strain on his face evident when people asked him questions or expressed sympathy. His friends were quietly supporting him and she loved them for that.

Later, once they’d done all the phone calls, Kendall walked over to the tasting room where Dedra and Chelsea, another assistant, were working.

“I have to leave right at four o’clock,” Dedra told her. She worked quickly, taking advantage of a lull in business to load the glass washer, her body tense and in a rush to finish up on time because her fiancé was picking her up. He’d insisted on driving her to work and picking her up every day this week. Kendall wanted to believe it was because he was concerned for Dedra’s safety after Natalia’s strange disappearance.

Dedra grabbed her purse and called “Bye, Kendall! See you tomorrow, Chelsea.”

“See you tomorrow, Dedra.”

Dedra hurried out.

Kendall left Chelsea in the quiet tasting room and proceeded into her office. She sat at her computer to answer some emails and deal with suppliers, managed to concentrate for a half an hour before she gave up. She shut down her computer and rubbed her forehead. She’d go into the vineyard and check the grapes one more time.

She emerged from the building into the late afternoon sunshine and blinked. A small female figure sat on a bench across the lawn, near the parking lot. Auburn hair shone brightly in the low sun. Dedra? She was still there?

Kendall walked down the path toward the lot. “Hey,” she called as she neared Dedra. Dedra looked up at her and Kendall’s heart clenched to see tears in her eyes. “What happened, Dedra? Your fiancé didn’t show up?”

“No. He’s…late. I guess.” She kicked her legs and looked down at her feet in brown leather sandals, adjusted her cotton skirt on her knees and picked off a piece of lint.

“Did you try calling his cell phone?”

“Yeah. He didn’t answer.”

“Oh. Well. I’ll sit and wait with you. Or I could give you a ride home.”

“That’s okay!” Dedra bit her lip. “I mean, if he shows up and I’m not here, he’ll be…um…annoyed.”

Kendall sat on the bench beside Dedra and licked her lips. “How long are you going to wait?”

“I don’t know.” One shoulder lifted. “A little longer, I guess.”

Kendall’s chest squeezed even more.

“You don’t have to wait with me,” Dedra said with a smile. “I’m fine here.” She gazed down the road toward the highway again, giving a quick swipe of her fingertips beneath one eye then the other.

Kendall couldn’t leave her like this, clearly upset. She wished she could do more to help the younger girl, worry gnawing at her insides.

“There he is!” Dedra jumped to her feet as a vehicle came racing down the road, the wheels churning up a cloud of dust. He was going way too fast and Kendall lifted an eyebrow. Guess he knew he was late. She pursed her lips and watched Dedra arrange her face into a calm expression, as if she hadn’t just been crying.

The car ground to a halt in front of them, tires skidding a little. “Bye, Kendall,” Dedra said again, and she rounded the car to climb in the passenger side.

Teeth sunk into her bottom lip, Kendall lifted a hand as the vehicle roared off down the road, spitting stones out from beneath the tires.

And not for the first time, confusion tangled dark and tight inside her at how she could be so worried about Dedra and how her fiancé treated her, when she wanted the things she did from Jason.

She rose from the bench and set out toward the vineyard. There, the low sun illuminated the leaves of the grapevines into glowing shades of green and gold on either side of her in straight rows. She took a deep breath, inhaled the rich scent of the earth, the sweetness of growing grapes, the warmth of gentle September sunshine. The
unusually
warm September sunshine. They’d planned the wedding for late September, anticipating an October harvest. She never would have planned a wedding for such a busy time, but Mother Nature apparently didn’t know about the wedding.