Worth Any Price Read online

  “I saw it all the time, but I was too busy studying. I had to get in and get out, my family didn’t have the money for me to party.”

  “Yeah, mine either. But I did manage to find the time to do a few things I wish I hadn’t.”

  “Well, I didn’t say I didn’t have any regrets about my actions,” Kel said with a hearty laugh. “There was this hot chick in one of my criminal justice study groups . . . mmm, if library walls could talk.”

  Ben snickered. “Tame. If that’s your wildest time to date, your sex life is pretty tame.”

  Kel looked down at his drink, closed his eyes, and quietly sighed. Oh, no, that definitely wasn’t his wildest time to date. He could have told Ben about Laura, but something in his heart kept their time together sacred.

  “Hey, I did think of another thing I wanted to mention to you.”

  Kel snapped out of his memories of the moments he’d spent with Laura in that motel room and looked over at Ben. “Yeah, what’s that?”

  “The guy you’re looking for is probably pathetic in bed. He’s focusing on looking at women, not touching them. And, as I said, he can’t be too attractive or he wouldn’t have to go to these lengths to get a woman interested enough to disrobe for him. His self confidence may have taken a bashing somewhere along the line, I’m betting on a mother, as that’s usually the case, but it could be an old girlfriend or wife. This guy’s got loser written all over him.”

  Kel sat and thought about that as Ben stood. “Hey wait, I almost forgot,” Kel said as he handed over a copy of the note that had been pinned to Kayla’s overalls when she was returned. “We just got this yesterday. It was attached to the child who was returned.”

  Ben took the paper in his hand and sat down again. Kel watched as his eyes scanned the page, then went back and scanned it again.

  Congratulations Laura. You passed the test. It seems you love your daughter more than yourself. So few do. I will enjoy my memories of you, clothed or naked you are a very beautiful woman. And now, a proven mother.

  He slapped the page with the back of his hand. “I knew it! They all have problems with their mothers! Why are there so many bad mothers out there?”

  “What’s it mean?”

  “It means his mother didn’t love him or didn’t show him love in any real way. Now he’s challenging the mothers of his victims to pay what he deems the ultimate price, or choose to be selfish and only concerned with themselves.”

  “So his mother was not a good mother.”

  “No, she probably wasn’t, and maybe he believes that there aren’t any perfect mothers. This may be his way of finding out who they are, if in fact there are any.”

  “Well according to this, he thinks Laura is.”

  “Yeah. I’d be especially careful with her. He’s liable to try to get to her again. In his mind, she and the other women who complied are perfect women and mothers, a combination he may have doubted existed before all this began. He might want to substitute them for his, either in his mind or physically somehow. I just don’t know, this one is weird.”

  “He masturbated in her bra and left it behind.”

  “Oh shit, Kel. He wants her. And I don’t think he just wants to look at her.”

  They were both silent, staring at the sports memorabilia on the restaurant walls.

  Kel fingered the palm tree stirrer that he continued to carry in his jacket pocket. The ribbon rose that had come from Laura’s panties had started to show some wear from his attentions, so he had placed it in his night stand drawer. “I fucking hate this,” he whispered. “I feel absolutely helpless. He’s going to keep doing this, and I can’t stop him.”

  “Something will break Kel, with these kinds of cases, it always does.”

  “Yeah, well, from what I’ve read that can take ten or twenty years sometimes.”

  “It can. But this time I don’t think that will happen.”

  “And why the hell not?” Kel asked sarcastically.

  “He’s doing it too often. And, The City of Wilmington has you, you won’t give up. You’ll see a pattern, discover a clue, or pick him up on a traffic violation with a kid in the back seat.”

  Kel scoffed and then smiled. “Thanks for the encouragement. I think I needed that more than anything.”

  “Well, I have to go. Let me know how this pans out. And good luck to you Kel. I know this can’t be easy for you. Christ, killing kids for sex, ugh. What a miserable job we have.”

  Kel ran his thumb over the etched design in his glass and simply nodded as Ben walked off.

  “Yeah,” he said to himself a full two minutes later.

  Chapter Twelve

  It was late in the afternoon and Kel was wondering why the hell she hadn’t called as he’d requested. Called to let him know she and Kayla were all right. Called to let him know where the hell she was.

  He spoke to each officer that was on shift when she’d left the house on Masonboro. None of them knew where she’d gone, only that she had headed north after pulling out of her drive and onto the main road. One officer, the one sitting beside Kayla watching cartoons this morning, had heard her mention the names of a few beach houses, but he couldn’t recall any of their names now.

  He finally remembered that one of the officers had mentioned that he’d heard her half of a phone conversation. Something about having her own keys for a rental unit and nixing maid service. She had told him this morning that she could arrange to stay at one of her parents’ rental houses on Wrightsville Beach. Would she have done that the way she was feeling about her family, or would she have just found a place on her own? He knew she had the means to do whatever she wanted. She could easily get on a plane and get far away from the nightmare her life had become. Part of him hoped that she had, the part that was now worried for her safety, hers and Kayla’s. The other part wasn’t ready for her to walk out of his life, and if protection was something she needed, he wanted to be the one to provide it.

  There were over a hundred rental agencies in this beach town, too many some said. Everybody would know her though, especially now. Would she risk moving from one place where she was being hounded to another just as bad? No, she was a smart woman. She’d go with daddy’s firm, at least there would be the promise of anonymity, if not in actual reality.

  He flipped through the phone book and found the main office of Wyndham Realty. It was over on Wrightsville Beach, about twenty minutes away. He grabbed the keys to his cruiser and went out to the parking lot through the back door. There was still a contingent of reporters hanging around out front, hoping for a break in the case or a one-on-one with the lead investigator. And he had zip. The best lead so far was probably Laura’s bra, and the press didn’t even know anything about that yet. But DNA testing was slow and the databases to cross-reference were insufficient at best.

  On the way over to the beach he visualized Laura’s bra again. He had seen it on her, appreciated how her breasts were displayed above the lacy cups. He had touched it, pushed it aside, and if memory served, he had even licked it once or twice around the edges for effect. Wouldn’t that be a kick? His DNA on the damn thing! How was he going to explain that to the press? But as far as he knew, his DNA wasn’t on file anywhere.

  His thoughts mellowed and soon all he could envision was her smooth white breast poking over the satin edging, her budded nipple beckoning. He wanted desperately to hold her in his arms again, and the intensity of that feeling scared him. The feeling that he needed to be with her and that he wanted to hold her was shamefully foreign because he’d never needed a woman before, at least not for anything other than the most basic requirements. He didn’t even like hanging around when those were dispatched with. He was the original Wham-Bam kind of guy. Oh, he wined them and dined them and usually took three or four dates to bed them, but on
ce there, he rarely opted to return more than a few times. He didn’t need or want any attachments.

  So why the hell was he so gung ho on this one? Hell, he hadn’t even really bedded this one, at least not in the usual way. Their joining hadn’t been marked by time standing still; nothing existing in the universe but them; the release of tension and the quick trip to oblivion; the rejuvenation of mind and body. Their lovemaking, if that’s what you wanted to call it, had been none of those. Well, to be honest, it could have been all of those—if they hadn’t had so many other things to think about at the time.

  And just maybe, that’s what this was all about. Maybe he wanted another chance. A chance to do it right. To go from the meet and greet to the trip to the moon without an audience or a play book. But that was stupid, and irreverent. He didn’t even really know Laura Wyndham and here he was thinking of her as just some bimbo he’d met at a bar or a bike rally. He was thinking of her as some sort of physical event occurring in his life, and only a possible physical event at that. Under other circumstances, she probably would never even have gone out with him and he knew it.

  So why the hell did he feel like enfolding her in his arms and crushing her to him? Inhaling her sweet fragrance and lazily assaulting her sexy mouth?

  He turned into the realty company and somewhere between slamming his car door and going into the office he dared anyone to give him a hard time about where the hell she was.

  The middle-aged woman at the counter had a haggard look. A pencil was rammed into her bleached and frizzed, over-teased bouffant, and her lipstick had disappeared hours ago, leaving only the dark outline penciled in around the edge. Her eyes were bloodshot and weary, and she acted as if she was the most overworked person in the universe.

  “I’m sorry sir, for the third time, I can’t give you that information. And I really don’t care who you are.”

  “Lady, you have two choices here. Either you tell me what I need to know,” he pointed to his badge case open on the counter, “knowing full well I don’t have a nefarious intent, or I call for a warrant, take over your computer, and bring the whole damned department down here to go through each and every unit until I find her!”

  To her credit she didn’t flinch. “You don’t even know if she’s in any of these units.”

  “Well, I sure as hell have to start somewhere, don’t I?” he gritted out as he brought his police mobile unit to his lips. He had just pressed the button to speak when she closed her eyes tightly at something she saw over his shoulder through the window. Instantly her lips firmed and her color rose. He turned to see what she was looking at and saw a tall, thin, rakish looking man stepping out of a black Mercedes sedan. He looked familiar, but Kel couldn’t place him.

  Suddenly she threw a set of keys at him. “Number’s on the keys, it’s a mile and a half down on the left. Hurry and get there and tell Laura her ex just pulled in, looking meaner than I ever did see. He’s a partner. He’ll just come in and check the computer, if he doesn’t already know where she is.”

  “Thanks. I’ll take care of her.”

  And now why had he said that? I’ll take care of her. Like that was his job? His right? His duty? Well, he smiled to himself, he was a cop, and his duty was to protect and to serve. And regardless of whether Laura knew it or not, she needed someone to take care of her right now. That frazzled lady at the real estate office thought Laura needed protection from her ex. Why was that?

  After all that had happened, it would only be natural for Ryan Vardella to come check on his daughter. Kel’s first thought was that he would be intruding on a family matter, a reunion of sorts, if he stepped in. But because the lady in the office had changed her tune so quickly upon seeing Vardella pull up, he had an uneasy feeling in his gut about this. And not all of it had been caused by the receptionist’s icy reaction to the man who signed her paychecks.

  He found the house, but didn’t pull into the drive. Instead he drove up past a few more houses and pulled to the side of the road. He quickly got out of his car and used a beach access to approach the house from the back side. As soon as he turned the corner of the house, he saw Laura and Kayla sitting at a table on the top deck. At almost the same instant he saw her, she saw him. After a moment of uncertainty, and some confusion, she waved.

  He saw the look of puzzlement on her face, but when he smiled, she smiled. Then she stood and went to the rail and called down to him. “Come on up!”

  “You have company coming in about two minutes. The prickly lady at the real estate office sent me to warn you!”

  “Who?” she asked, and then she realized who he must mean. She’d already talked to her parents, and her brother had called to say he couldn’t get by. It was Ryan’s turn.

  “Oh no,” he heard her moan.

  “I’ll come up.”

  “No! No! That would only make things worse.”

  “How’s that?” he asked with a raised brow.

  “I can’t explain right now. He’s at the door.” She turned and grabbed Kayla from her seat and carried her into the house. From two floors below he saw the French door being pulled to, but he didn’t hear it close, and no lock clicked in place. He strained to see and noticed that it hadn’t been shut. It stood ajar by about six inches.

  Well, no decision here, he thought. He was going to see what this was all about. It wouldn’t be breaking and entering, after all, she had invited him up. He walked away from the worn beach pathway, stepped over some low bushes and onto the bricked-in walkway that led to the stairs going up to the deck. On the right he saw a built-in pool with a slide. Stepping softly, he climbed the series of steps to each deck, ending with the one he had seen them on. He made his way to the door, and hearing faint voices, eased his way in, allowing the breadth of his chest to slowly expand the opening.

  He could hear the voices better now, Mr. Vardella was doing most of the talking. Kel inched his way into the room and realized he was standing on a loft overlooking the main part of the house. The voices were coming from below. He looked over the edge and saw Laura standing a few feet from her ex, who from this angle was missing a small patch of dark hair at the top of his head. Kel looked down the hallway to the left and saw several doors. One of them was closed and he assumed Kayla was in the room behind it, as he didn’t see her anywhere below.

  “I can’t believe you did this!” There was a smacking sound and Kel leaned forward to see the man smacking his hand against a newspaper.

  “I had no choice! Kayla had been kidnapped! That was the ransom! I had no choice!”

  “You could have called the police!”

  “It wouldn’t have made any difference, and in a way I did.”

  “What that’s supposed to mean?” The man had a snarl that made him look like a ferret, otherwise he had a gaunt, Clark Gable kind of appeal.

  “I had some police help getting her back.”

  “I haven’t read that in the papers or seen that in the police reports.”

  “If God is with me, you won’t. Anyway, I did what I had to. I got her back and that’s all that matters. I don’t care about any stupid pictures!”

  “Well I do! This little escapade of yours is all they’re talking about in Raleigh. This could cost me the election!”

  “Escapade! Escapade! How can you call what happened to our daughter an escapade? She could have been killed!”

  “I just think you handled it all wrong, this wasn’t necessary.” Again, he tapped the paper. “And how the hell did you let her get taken in the first place? What were you doing? Why weren’t you watching her?”

  “I was sleeping! In my room!”

  “Alone?” he asked with some sadistic curiosity.

  “Of course alone, but why is that any of your business? You’re the one with the raging hormones, not me!�
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  “Well as far as I’m concerned that’s your fault, too. You neglected your wifely duties and I had to seek fulfillment elsewhere. Don’t you dare try to pin this on me. You were pitiful in bed! And if this comes back to haunt me in the election,” he stepped closer to Laura and grabbed her by the forearm, “if this costs me my seat in the House, you’ll pay, Laura, you’ll pay.”

  “She’ll pay what?” Kel called from above. “And take your hands off her. Now!”

  A shocked Ryan Vardella looked up at him and Kel drew his gun. He aimed it at Vardella’s head. “I don’t like your hesitation,” Kel snapped.

  The man dropped Laura’s arm and jumped back.

  “Who the hell is he?” he asked Laura, stunned that they’d had an audience he hadn’t been aware of.

  “I’m her bodyguard and next time you touch her you’re going to lose a hand.”

  “You can’t talk to me like that! Do you know who I am?”

  “I don’t care who you are. Touch her again and we’ll see who wins in court.” He flashed his badge and leaned over the rail. “I carry a bit of weight in this town and they like me in Raleigh, too. Now I suggest you leave before I see a bruise come up on her arm.”

  Vardella looked at Laura. “Are you going to let him talk to me like that?”

  “Yes,” was all she said. Then because she liked the way it made her feel, she said it again. “Yes.”

  Vardella flung the paper across the room, spun on his heel, and stomped out of the house, not even bothering to close the door behind him.

  Kel was walking down the steps when they heard the car start, and they could hear the sound of the car losing traction in the gravel drive before screeching when the tires met asphalt.