ideas where Valerie’s gone. Then I thought I’d give the Dekalb sheriff’s office a call. See if I can get a little more information.”
“Keep me informed.” He started for his office, then stopped and looked back. “Heard from Riggio?”
“Left her a message an hour or so ago. I’ll give her another call, see where she’s at.”
A moment later, fingers crossed that the clown angle played out, she dialed her partner’s cell. M.C. answered on the second ring.
“Hey, stranger,” Kitt said. “Long time, no see.”
“I was just listening to your message. Major developments?”
Kitt quickly filled her in about Valerie, Joe and the ballistics match. When she didn’t comment, Kitt went on, “What about the clown angle?”
“It was a bust. Sorry.”
Kitt admitted bitter disappointment. If the clown lead had panned out, Joe would have been a step closer to “free to go.” She would have at the very least been able to offer him some reassuring information.
Or was she simply wanting to reassure herself?
“You contacted all the family members who might remember-”
“Yes. Nothing. No clowns. No magic tricks, either.”
The last came out of left field. “I didn’t know you were looking into that angle as well. If you’d told me, I could have saved you some time and trouble-Joe wasn’t even doing magic back then.”
“You’re not going postal on me, are you?”
“Excuse me?”
“Just trying to go with the flow, take a joke. You know.”
“It’s been a long day, hasn’t it?”
“You have no idea.”
“I’m going to follow up on the ballistics match, see if I can get a lead on how that weapon made its way from Dekalb to here. Are you coming in?”
“Thought I’d swing by Mama’s, give her my regrets in person.”
“Regrets?”
“Tuesday nights are pasta night with my family.”
“That’s right.” Kitt glanced at her watch. “Look, I’m here. Go have dinner with your family. Besides, if I need you, I’ll call.”
“What if I need you?”
Kitt laughed. “I’ll leave my cell on all night, just in case you need saving from Mama Riggio.”
“I’m getting another call, Kitt. I’ve got to go.”
She hung up before Kitt could say goodbye. Perplexed, Kitt drew her eyebrows together. Something about M.C. had seemed off. Brittle. As if she had been working hard to be pleasant.
Was she pissed off about something?
Kitt holstered her phone and shifted her thoughts to Joe. She wished she’d had no part in today. But she had- and she had a job to do. If Joe was innocent, it would be proved so.
She prayed that when that happened, they could salvage what they had and make a fresh start.
She stepped into the interrogation room. Joe, who was now alone in the room, looked at her. She saw how angry he was. How hurt.
“Back for another pint of blood?” he asked.
“I’m sorry you feel that way, Joe.”
“How else could I feel? This was an ambush, Kitt.”
“I didn’t mean it to be.”
“Please. I’m not stupid. ‘Just trust me,’” he said bitterly, mocking her. “And I did. What a fool.”
“When I said that I meant it. Circumstances changed and I had to-”
“You had to do your job.” He looked away, then back. “I wish I had a dollar for every time you said those exact words to justify your behavior. I’d be a rich man.
“I suppose what gets me,” he went on, “is that even after having known each other most of our lives, after loving-and burying-a daughter, you don’t have a clue who I am.”
His words cut her to the quick. They hurt because she felt she did know him, because she loved him-and because even so, she had suspected him of being a part of this. And would continue to suspect him until evidence cleared him.
It was the nature of her job-and what that job had done to her.
What could she say to him?
She had no defense. She was guilty as charged.
“I love you, Joe. I always have.”
He made a sound of pain. “You always put being a cop before me. That’s not going to change, is it? When this is over and it’s clear I had nothing to do with this, it’ll be something else. Some other case, some other victim.”
“That’s not true! When this is over and you’re cleared, we-”
“There is no ‘we.’ I love you, Kitt. But I want more than you can give me. I have for a long time.”
She held a hand out. “Let’s not talk about this. Not now. Please.”
Her words came out rough, broken.
Broken. The way she felt inside.
She cleared her throat. Refocused. “Valerie’s taken off. She didn’t show up for work after she left here and she checked Tami out of school. I’m afraid for the girl.”
“Of course you are,” he said, tone bitter.
“I was hoping you might have some idea where they could have gone.”
He made a sound, part anger, part pain. “Check with Valerie’s mother. She lives in Rockton. And she has a sister in Barrington.”
“You have names?”
“Mother’s Rita Martin. Sister is Lori Smith.”
Detective White stuck his head into the room. “Lawyer’s back, Kitt.”
She held a hand up, indicating he should give her a minute.
“Joe, I want you to know that I-”
He cut her off. “Forget about it. Go do your job. Catch your killer, because I’m not him.”
She passed his lawyer without looking at him. Her chest hurt so badly she could hardly breathe. She wondered if things could get any worse, then acknowledged she hoped the hell not.
68
Tuesday, March 21, 2006
7:10 p.m.
Kitt hung up the phone. Her call to the Dekalb County sheriff’s office had yielded little new information. The evening staff was on duty; the deputy she’d spoken with sounded all of about twelve years old.
Damn, but she was getting old.
The young deputy had promised to ask around, see if anybody on the shift had been around in 1989. In addition, if the night proved slow, he’d pull the files himself and fax them to her. At the very least, he’d leave a message for the sheriff and his chief deputy to call her in the morning.
She hung up, frustrated. In the time it would take someone to get back to her, she could be down there, thumbing through the actual file herself.
She dialed M.C. It went directly to voice mail, indicating the device was turned off. “It’s me. I’m going to take a quick run down to Dekalb, to get a firsthand look at the Ballard case files. If you need me, call my cell.”
She headed out of the VCB, toward the elevator. She stopped short halfway there.
