61
Tuesday, March 21, 2006
1:00 p.m.
Kitt stared at the phone log, at the damning number. Brian had called Joe last night. Kitt checked the time. At 5:20. Just before he had called her.
Her vision blurred. Why? What possible reason could he have had?
He’d been looking for her. It made sense. He’d left her a message, had obviously needed to speak with her so-
She and Joe had been divorced for three years, why would Brian call there, looking for her?
What had Joe said this morning? That he’d discovered that the line between love and hate was thin, indeed.
Dear God, how thin?
She felt ill. All along, M.C. had thought Joe was a good suspect. She hadn’t believed it. She still didn’t. Not Joe. Not the man she had loved almost her whole life.
But if he had lied about the alibi…
What else had he lied about?
She reached her desk. On it sat two calendars. One from 1989, the other from 1990. Both were promotional, from the Society for the Deaf.
There was a note on top from M.C. From the storage facility. Could be something. Call me.
“Hey, Lundgren? You okay?”
She looked up. Detective Allen stood beside her desk, staring quizzically at her.
She worked to regain normalcy, her sense of balance. “Fine. What’s up?”
“Been looking at Brian’s computer. He spent a good bit of time yesterday searching old cases.”
He handed her a printout. “Some of them are cold cases, others were solved.”
Kitt quickly scanned the page. He had pulled up the files of Marguerite Lindz, Rose McGuire and Janet Olsen. In all of those, she knew, he had been one of the investigating officers. The other cases she didn’t recognize.
She handed the list back. “With the exception of these three, could you look up who the investigating officers were on the cases? I’m going to question some of the folks Brian called yesterday. I’ll have my cell phone if you need anything.”
A partial truth, she thought as she exited the VCB. She intended to speak with Joe-and see where that led her.
Her cell phone buzzed and from the display she saw it was M.C. She started to pick up, then hesitated. She couldn’t tell her about Valerie recanting Joe’s alibi. Not just yet.
She needed to speak with Joe first.
She reholstered the device and hurried down the elevator to the parking garage.
As she exited the elevator, the phone rang again. This time it was Danny.
She hadn’t spoken to her friend since the night she rebuffed his advances.
“Hi, Danny,” she said.
“I was hoping we could talk about the other night.”
“This isn’t a good time.”
He was quiet a moment. “When would be a good time?”
She frowned. “Truthfully, I don’t know. This investigation is really heating up.”
“How about after group?”
“I don’t know if I’ll be there, it depends on the-”
“Investigation.”
The word dripped sarcasm and irritation rippled over her. “It’s my job. And sometimes, me staying on the job is the difference between life and death.”
“Right, how could I have forgotten?”
“Look, I’m sorry about the other night. We’re friends and I value that too much to get romantically involved with you.”
She expected him to apologize. For getting pushy. For putting her in a position that jeopardized their friendship. Instead, when he spoke, he sounded angry. “I know you, Kitt. I know what drives you-and what drives you to drink. You need us. You need me.”
Something about the way he said it raised her hackles. “I’ve got to go. I’ll be back to group as soon as I can.”
She hung up and went in search of Joe.
Kitt tracked him down with Flo’s help, at one of his building sites.
“Hi,” he said, breaking into a smile. He moved to kiss her and she backed away.
His smile slipped. “What’s wrong?”
“We have to talk.”
“Okay. Sure.”
He glanced around. The house was in the process of being framed in. Joe’s crew was everywhere.
“How about my truck?”
Kitt nodded and followed him to his pickup. They climbed in the cab and she turned to face him.
“Valerie was in this morning,” she said, not mincing words. “She told me she lied about the night of March 6, said the two of you did not spend the night together.”
He frowned. “I don’t understand.”
“She recanted, Joe. You don’t have an alibi now. For any of the Copycat murders. You want to change your story?”
“No! We were together. All night.”
“She says not.”
“And you believe her?”
“I don’t want to. But-”
“I thought you knew who I was, Kitt.”
“I do. But I have a job to do.” She heard the quiver in her voice and acknowledged that she was out of her depth here. That M.C. had been right to take this out of her hands.
Cool-eyed objectivity. She had it.
Yeah, right. What a joke.
“Did it occur to you that maybe she changed her story out of anger? Because I met her this morning and broke our engagement?”
“She was still wearing your ring. I figured you would-”
“Stay engaged to her? After last night? What kind of man would I be if I did that?” He caught her hands. “I love you, Kitt. I never stopped.”
“Then why-”
“Because I wanted a life. A family. I thought Valerie and I would be good together. And she needed me, because of Tami, her handicap.”
He gazed into her eyes. “I’d given up hoping you’d ever need me again.”
“I always needed you,” she said. “I was just in too much pain to-What handicap?”
She saw by his expression that he was confused. “Tami,” she repeated. “What handicap?”
“Tami’s deaf,” he said. “I thought you knew.”
62
Tuesday, March 21, 2006
1:40 p.m.
