All the Shiny Things: A Kate Reid Novel (Kate Reid Series Book 1) (21 page)

“I’m just the only one who survived.” Katie disagreed with the chief. She believed her former abductor was after her. She was the one who had been digging around, insisting the case be re-opened.

“Thank you, Chief. Please keep us informed if you get anything more and we’ll do the same on our end.” Marshall said.

“Thank you, and Katie, I won’t let anything happen to you, not again.”

The line disconnected and Marshall turned off the speaker. “We need to think about setting up patrols around your home.”

“Wait, wait,” Katie interrupted. “Look, I know you want to watch out for me, but how are you going to explain a request for patrol? We have no case here and the chief wants us to keep it quiet until they have more information.”

Marshall didn’t like the feeling of being helpless any more than she did, but they had nothing to go on.

“We don’t know who we’re looking for.” Katie stared off into the distance, realizing she was sounding more like Marshall every day. “What’s that saying? Be careful what you wish for?” she began. “For the past several months, I’ve wanted nothing more than to find out who this son of a bitch was; this man who has destroyed so many lives. And now . . . now that I know he’s really still out there, I’m terrified. I guess this whole time I thought maybe he was already dead.”

Marshall hoisted himself up from his chair. “You know what? There’s something we haven’t tried yet.” He started to pace the room, seemingly processing his latest idea. “I don’t know if the chief has considered this or not.”

“What is it?” Her anticipation was palpable.

“He said something that struck me. He said serial killers don’t stay quiet for long. He’s right about that. When I asked if there could be other victims, I originally considered other victims from the time frame of your case, but we tried that already, looking for a connection to the other twenty-year-old cases. But what if he never stopped? How many kidnappings are similar to yours, Kate? How many kids along the north coast, Oregon, Washington, anywhere along the Pacific Northwest, have been abducted over the past fifteen, twenty years? What if we can connect some of them? Any of them? Some may still be unsolved and there could be enough similarities that might link them to yours.”

“Don’t you think that possibility would have been explored already? My dad mentioned that the last time the chief contacted them was when a similar case in Portland turned up. It was a year or so after I came home.”

“Not necessarily. The cases could have spread out over several years in several different jurisdictions. Unless there were striking similarities, a link may have been overlooked. And without the cooperation from your parents or the parents of the other missing children, the chief wouldn’t have had much to go on. But that was before new forensics data may have become available. We started down this path before, but I was so wrapped up in the Thompson case that I overlooked current cases. Not to mention the fact that up until now, there was no indication the man was even alive.” Marshall continued to pace the room. Katie was becoming dizzy by his frantic movement.

“Look, I’m not saying any of the guys in charge of these cases weren’t diligent. I know how hard they work. I’m just saying that unless there was information in CODIS that would trigger a connection, it was probably never considered to span decades. You’re the only evidence that this guy ever existed, Kate, except for the letter we have now. And now that you remember at least some details, I believe we
have
something.”

“So where do we start?” she asked.

Marshall finally sat back down. “We start by searching missing persons’ records. We profile children, around the ages of 5 to 8, since we believe this was his target age range, and we broaden our search to include not just northern California, but all the way up the coast. It’s hard to say if he would have been in these areas, but the Portland connection is a good place to start. I’ll need to contact my friend at the Eureka PD. I can poke around a little without giving away the farm.”

Katie started to think about her parents, how this would affect them. She hadn’t thought to involve them any further. Was it possible he would find them?

“Oh my God. What about my parents? Do you think he knows where they live? What if they’re not safe?”

Marshall walked around his desk, sitting on the edge in front of Katie. “One thing I think the chief was right about was the fact that we shouldn’t panic. He believes that the letter was an attempt to get at him, not you, and not your parents. Now, I’m not entirely convinced of that. I think this psycho is playing games with us right now. However, as far as your parents are concerned, I think I’d like to get the chief to step up patrols around the area. I don’t believe it’s likely he would go after them. He likes kids, remember? But I think we ought to err on the side of caution.

“When I read your file, it was obvious that Chief Wilson fought long and hard in trying to find him. I know what that feels like; not to catch them in the end. The chief doesn’t want you to overreact or draw any further media attention. This guy’s looking for attention, wanting to stroke his ego. I don’t know why it’s taken him so long, but he’s probably been monitoring the internet for some time, waiting. And finding that article was probably what pushed him over the fence. If he is looking to get caught, you’d better believe I’ll be the one to do it.”

He got back on his feet and looked at Katie. She saw his determination and drew strength from it. For so long, she’d been feeling like she had no control over her life. Ever since the nightmares started, her entire world began unraveling. Anger grew not only toward Spencer because he couldn’t understand her need for answers, but toward her parents for covering up her abduction for so many years. Not Marshall; he knew. They were very much alike in ways that were only now becoming apparent. It was as if he brought her out of this place she’d been hiding. She was afraid, but her will was growing stronger.

“I know this is a lot for you to take in. Why don’t you go home? You’re supposed to be out sick today anyway. I can get started on the search and fill you in as I get more details.”

“No. I want to stay. This is what I’m supposed to do. I see that, now. It’s taken me a long time finally to see who I am. I won’t shrink away from it any longer. This is about
me
now.”

» » »

It was getting late in the day and Detective Avery had pulled several files that fit the criteria. There was nothing that stood out; nothing that would indicate any similarities with Katie’s case, except one.

“That’s her.” Katie pointed at the screen.

“Who?”

“This girl. I remember seeing her on the news and thinking how similar we looked. Her long brown hair, stick straight, a little on the gangly side, those big, bucktooth front teeth. She reminded me of what I looked like when I was a kid. I remembered thinking how sad it was that she was missing and how many times I had gone around on my bike in my neighborhood without a care, not even considering the evil that was in this world.

“That was when I started having the nightmares. For a long time, it hadn’t even occurred to me that she was the catalyst. Spencer was studying for his bar exam; we had a lot going on and I thought I was just stressed out. God, that seems so long ago, but it wasn’t.” She paused, considering how much her life had changed in such a short time.

“If this is too much, Kate . . .” Marshall said.

“No, it isn’t. My point was that she looks very much like me. Do you think that could be something?”

“I don’t know. We need to see the file. This one happened up in McCloud. Certainly the vicinity we’re looking at. It’ll take me a day or two to make contact and get the case file. I’ll have to come up with some reasonable explanation. I think that’s enough for today, anyway.”

“I agree with you on that one. I’m feeling a little burned out.” Katie stretched her arms, letting out a small yawn.

“If it’s all right with you, I ‘d like to just follow you home tonight and check out your place, just to be on the safe side.”

“That’s not necessary, Marshall.”

“Just humor an old man, okay?”

“Old?” Katie started laughing. “You don’t look a day over forty-five.” She knew very well how old he was, only thirty-seven, but she took pleasure out of giving him grief about it.

“Hey, thanks for the ego boost.”  Marshall led her out of the station, which was still bustling for 7 o’clock on a Tuesday night. San Diego was a big city with big problems and Katie knew hers was only one of many.

» » »

Upon arrival at Katie’s apartment, Marshall followed her upstairs. “Let me go in first, okay?”

“Really, you don’t have to do this. Weren’t you the one who told me not to worry?”

“Yeah, well. I’d rather err on the side of caution if it’s all the same to you.”

“See? It’s still locked.”

After Katie unlocked the door, he pushed it open.

He held a hand up to quiet her and walked in. The summer sun was only just beginning to set as the season got into full swing, but her apartment was filled with its dusky light when they arrived.

“All right, you can come in. Everything seems to be in order.”

“Thank you. Do you want to stay for some dinner?”

“No. I’ve got a lot to catch up on. We’re handing over the rest of the files to the DA on the Thompson case. I’m gonna head back to the office and wrap that up.”

“I’m sorry for taking you away from your real job. You don’t have to do this, you know. I can coordinate with Chief Wilson.”

“I want to help, Kate. If we get enough solid evidence to reopen this thing, the captain will be happy to take the credit anyway.” Marshall started to leave. “You’ll be okay?”

“I’ll be fine. Goodnight, Marshall, thank you.”

“Goodnight. I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”

Marshall was walking out the door when Spencer appeared on the landing in front of him.

“Spencer?” His unexpected presence startled Katie.

Marshall glanced at her, appearing confused, but waited for reassurance that it was still okay to leave.

“Hi, Katie.”

There was no reason for the awkwardness that followed, but it was there, nonetheless, and everyone seemed affected. Katie felt as though she was staring at two different chapters in her life. Before the dreams and after.

“Kate, you okay?” Marshall asked.

“Yeah, of course. I’ll talk to you later.”

Marshall continued on his way, extending a polite nod to Spencer.

“Did I interrupt something?”

“No. What are you doing here?” They hadn’t spoken since last Saturday night and he’d already cleared out his things. She was angry with herself, more than anything, but was projecting it onto him.

“Can I come in?”

Katie stepped aside and let him in.

“I heard they charged the guy who killed Isabelle Thompson and I just wanted to make sure you were okay. I know you were working on that. Is that why Detective Avery was here?”

A loaded question, if there ever was one. Katie was surprised he still believed there was something going on between the two of them. “No. Why are you here?” she asked again, trying unsuccessfully not to sound defensive.

“I left a few of my law books in the office and I wanted to pick them up, if that’s all right.”

“Sure, yeah, feel free.” She sat down at the dining table as Spencer collected his books. Feeling awkward and hurt, she didn’t really know what to say and only watched him walk around the apartment as if he was a stranger.

He placed the books on the table and sat down next to her, taking hold of her hand. “I miss you, Katie.”

“I miss you too, Spencer.” The sincerity in those words was very real.

“How have the dreams been over the past few days? I mean, I figured you’d be under a lot of stress with everything that’s been going on.”

“I haven’t been losing too much sleep, thankfully, but I appreciate you asking.” That probably didn’t come out right, judging by the look on his face. “Where are you staying?” Changing the topic would allow her to avoid having to tell him about the letter, the existence of which she wasn’t sure whether or not to reveal to him, but it hung heavy in her mind.

“With Kevin. I’ll probably start looking for a place soon, maybe after the firm removes my temporary status. I’m sure he doesn’t want me hanging around too long. And after the team won this last case, it’s looking pretty good that I’ll get my permanent salary and benefits.”

“I’m sure you won’t have any problems there. You’re very good at what you do.”

“Thanks. Of course, I thought I’d be looking for a house with you, not another apartment.” Spencer gripped her hand more firmly. “Please Katie, can we just get back to where we were?”

“I don’t think I can be who you want me to be anymore. Too much has happened.” She was still vacillating about the letter. It would only serve to prove his point that she should have just let it go. Now there was the possibility that she could be in real danger.

“It isn’t too late. We can still move on.” He pleaded.