Worth Any Price Page 8

Kel put his arm around his friend’s shoulders as he led him out of the room. “Okay, I’ll put this another way. Let’s go to your house, where I’ll sit down with you and Jill, and we’ll all watch tonight’s drama unfold. I guarantee you that once she’s seen me in action, no matter who’s currently ‘entertaining’ her, I’ll have top billing in her fantasies from then on.”

  “Ah, c’mon. That’s not so.”

  “When was the last time you did more than diddle her before plowing her?”

  “Got a point there. I really should watch your performance. I could use some pointers.”

  “Not a chance Bud, not a chance. Get a book and a vibrator.”

  They were clomping down the main steps now, heading for Kel’s car at the curb.

  “So, how did you know what to do? You know, to make the video?”

  “Unfortunately, I had a list,” Kel said with remembered anguish. “A fucking to-do list.”

  Chapter Seven

  Laura woke to the sounds of car doors slamming in the circular drive and then she heard the raised voices of people arguing. Her sleep-fogged eyes immediately went to the child sleeping tucked into her side, and she drew Kayla’s warm body against her. Kayla, her baby. She was safe and she was here. And she really didn’t care who was in the driveway. Unless, oh God . . . it couldn’t possibly be her parents or her brother yet, could it?

  She scooted on her side to the edge of the bed, careful not to wake Kayla or disturb her I.V., then she eased out of the bed and went to the window that looked out over the front lawn. As soon as she parted the curtains, she saw cameras raise to capture the action. Immediately she let the filmy sheer curtains fall back into place and then she reached for the long rods that drew the drapes together. The room became dark and the only thing she could make out was shadows. She brushed the touch lamp on one of the night stands and a soft glow illuminated the room.

  She heard an angry voice using a bullhorn telling the reporters that they were trespassing and that if they didn’t get back into their cars and vacate the premises immediately they would be arrested. Moments later she heard car doors slamming again and then she heard tires crunching on the gravel drive. She peaked through the drapes in time to see two news vans and several trucks disappearing between the trees. Her eyes moved down to the drive by the front door and she spotted two police cruisers, their doors open, effectively blocking the entrance to the house. She looked at the officers hoping to spot Kel, but he wasn’t among them.

  She looked over at Kayla and bent to brush a kiss on her soft cheek, then went into the master bath to freshen up. She couldn’t bring herself to close the connecting door. Regardless of what she was doing, she wanted to keep her eye on Kayla. She knew that eventually, she’d have to leave Kayla’s side, but that day wasn’t going to come for quite a while.

  She grabbed a pair of jeans and a sweater from her closet and dressed in the bathroom. She desperately wanted a shower, but today, she wasn’t going to let Kayla out of her sight. She’d get one when Kayla woke, when she could sit her on the floor of the bathroom with some toys. At the dresser she ran a brush through her hair and quickly twisted it up into a bun. Then she gently woke Kayla and unhooked the empty I.V. bag the way she had been shown the night before. She picked her up and carried her down to the sofa in the family room. Sunshine was streaming in through the tall windows, lighting up the wood flooring and creating gossamer shafts for the dust particles to ride.

  She was on her way to the kitchen when she heard another car pull up out front. Confident the police would dispatch whoever it was, she jumped at a soft tap on the front door. She turned and looked at the glass side panel and saw Kel leaning over to peer in. Her bare feet flew across the foyer and she hurried to unlock the door.

  His smiling face greeted her and she gave him a glorious smile back. Then she stepped back and let him in. God, he was tall. Or was it just that she was in her bare feet and was shorter than usual? The top of her head barely came to his chin and she was conscious of having to look up into his ruggedly handsome face. His grin was so wide that she became instantly aware of deep-set dimples in unshaven cheeks and eye crinkles at the corners of twinkling blue eyes—blue eyes red with fatigue.

  “I have great news!”

  His smile was contagious and she couldn’t help smiling back. “You got the tape!”

  He grabbed her in a bear hug, lifted her off her feet, and spun her around. “I got the tape!”

  Her hands were on his shoulders and she was looking down into his ecstatic face. It seemed the most natural thing in the world to wrap her arms around his neck and hug him back.

  “Mommy? Who’s that man, Mommy?”

  Kel turned his head at the same time that Laura turned in his arms to look down at a very sleepy Kayla. Kel set Laura down, enjoying the lingering feeling her warm body sliding slowly down his had left in its wake. He watched as Laura knelt to gather her daughter into her arms.

  “This is Detective Vain, sweetheart. He helped Mommy get you back. Don’t you remember him from last night?” The little girl in her nightgown shook her head and laid it on Laura’s shoulder. Laura carried her into the kitchen. She set Kayla on a bar stool at the counter, kissed her cheek, and stroked her hair. Her face still bore the red streaks from the tape, although they were fading.

  “Would you like some breakfast, sweetie?”

  Kayla nodded and pointed at the cabinet across from them. “O’s.”

  “Cheerios it is!” Laura practically sang as she grabbed the box of cereal from the cabinet and began pouring it into a bowl. She was so happy to have her daughter safe at home that she couldn’t contain her joy.

  “I was just getting ready to make some coffee, would you like some?” she asked Kel.

  “I would love some. I haven’t been home yet. I had to tell you I got the tape off the Internet before I did anything else.”

  “Do you know if there were any copies made?”

  “I don’t think we’re ever going to know that. All we can hope for is that whoever has seen it hasn’t downloaded it, or if they have, that they have no idea who you are.”

  “This is going to be like waiting for the other shoe to drop . . . forever.”

  “I know and I’m sorry. A full report will shield you from any moral recriminations later, when and if it ever becomes public, or you can try to hide it and hope for the best.”

  “What do you recommend?”

  “Honesty while avoiding specifics, since there’s no telling what the media will eventually turn up. I probably wouldn’t alert them just yet though, they’d only knock themselves out trying to find our little peep show if it’s still out there somewhere.”

  Kayla sat at the counter, holding her little spoon and crunching on the cereal that managed to make it into her mouth. She was watching Kel as he paced the kitchen.

  On one of his passes, he stopped by her chair and ran his fingers through her curls. “You’re quite a Cheerios fan I see. I used to eat Cheerios when I was your age. I wonder, do they still taste the same?”

  Without any hesitation, Kayla took her loaded spoonful and offered it to him. He smiled at her and helped himself to two Cheerios with his fingers. He popped them into his mouth and grinned at her. “Mmm mmm. Boy, are they ever good. I had forgotten how good they were.”

  “Would you like your own bowl?” she asked in a soft, sweet voice.

  Kel looked down into her face and studied the red marks where the tape had been beside her mouth, and at the cuts at the corners of her mouth. He wanted to hurt somebody over what they’d done to her.

  “Are you sure that would be all right with your mom?”

  “Mom, can ‘tective Vain have some O’s, too?”

  “Of course he can.”

  “He can use my
Barney bowl.”

  “Would you like that ‘tective Vain?” Laura asked with a brilliant smile.

  “I surely would!”

  Laura and Kayla sat while Kel stood on the other side of the counter. All were munching on Cheerios. Kel watched Kayla as she carefully pushed the Cheerios onto the tiny Minnie Mouse spoon. He marveled at the miracle of her and how unaffected she seemed right now despite what she had been through.

  Then Kayla asked to be excused and crawled down off the stool to go watch TV in the family room. Kel took Kayla’s seat and he and Laura sipped their coffee in silence, listening to the cartoon sounds and watching Kayla’s curls bounce whenever she clapped her hands.

  “She needs counseling,” Kel stated.

  “I know. I’ll make some calls today.”

  “The department can make some recommendations.”

  “I’m sure her grandfather will insist on doctors he knows.”

  “Be that as it may, you’re her mother and this isn’t something to mess with. She needs someone who has experience with this kind of thing. She seems fine right now, but that only means she’s dealing with it some other way.”

  “You’re right and I know that.”

  “You could use some help in that department, too.”

  “And just what would I call my problem?”

  “I’m not saying you have a problem. You just need someone to talk to, someone who can keep it all in perspective for you when the shit hits the fan.”

  “And when’s that going to happen?”

  “My men can stay on for a few days to keep the media away, but sooner or later you’re going to have to go out and Kayla needs to go back to school.”

  “No. It’s just pre-K, she doesn’t have to go back.”

  “Isn’t she going to miss it?”

  “I don’t care. I’m not taking any chances, I’m not letting her out of my sight.”

  “Laura . . . don’t let him win.”

  She looked over at him and her eyes were sad. Was there anything sadder than doleful baby blues, stripped of their confidence?

  “You did everything you had to. You were perfect. You were strong, don’t let him beat you now.”

  He watched as she gathered and began to rinse their breakfast dishes, admiring her slim figure as she stood at the sink. Then as she stooped to place the bowls in the lower rack of the dishwasher, he watched her rounded bottom. He remembered his hands touching her there and he had to clench his fingers into his thighs under the counter to keep from jumping up and grabbing her.

  He stood and tucked the stools under the counter. “I have to go write my report and tear down that motel room to see if there’s anything else there. The child psychologist the department’s using, the lady Kayla spoke with last night, will call this morning to see if Kayla remembers anything more. I’m going to check out Victoria’s Secret at the mall and question some people at the Hilton. Will your parents be here soon?”

  “I have no idea. I have hundreds of messages on the answering machine. For all I know they could be on their way here from the airport now.”

  “I don’t like leaving you alone like this.”

  “I have Kayla now, I’ll be just fine.” She walked him to the door and smiled up at him. “Besides, I think I’d rather be alone than deal with them, or my brother. Or my ex for that matter, he’s bound to show up.”

  “No one is going to be harder on you than you.”

  “You don’t know my family.”

  “They always appear to be charitable.”

  “Looks are deceiving.”

  “Charity doesn’t begin at home?” he asked.

  “Let’s just say, I don’t expect them to be very ‘charitable.’ They’re going to rake me over the coals.”

  “Don’t let them. Just remember one thing.”

  “What’s that?”

  “You’re my hero. And the most devoted mother I know.” He playfully tapped the end of her nose and then opened the door. There was a young officer standing at the door ready to ring the bell.

  “Detective Vain?”

  “Yes?”

  “We found this in a bush down by the water.” He was holding up a lilac lace bra by a pen threaded through the shoulder strap. It looked fairly new except that there was a grayish-white stain in one of the soft cups that any man would recognize as semen.

  Kel turned to Laura. “Is that one of yours?” His eyes told her that he knew it was.

  Laura’s face paled. “Yes,” she whispered.

  He turned to face her and she saw his expression grow hard. His eyes closed tightly and his lips thinned as his rugged jaw set firmly—the planes of his face had instantly grown harsh. In clipped tones, he barked an order to the officer about getting an evidence bag for the bra and sending it to the lab. When the young man skittishly ran back to the cruiser, Kel turned and looked at Laura.

  “You get a security company over here to install an alarm system this afternoon or I will.”

  She just nodded.

  “That looked like the one you wore last night.”

  “It was.”

  Chapter Eight

  Kel and Laura stood staring into a half-filled laundry basket that was sitting on the cement floor at the end of a laundry chute. The last time Laura had seen that bra, she had been pushing it through the little swinging door in the master bathroom wall. It had ended its journey in this basket in the utility room. That had been at four something in the morning. The utility room was on the ground level, sandwiched between the double garages on both sides of the house, two levels down from the master bedroom. It was a room designed for storage but it also housed the washer and dryer. The maid was the only person other than Laura who had access to the storage area. As it did not connect into the house, Laura honestly didn’t know if the outside door had been locked or not.

  “So why didn’t he take your panties?” he asked as they stared at a scrap of material on top of the pile that was the exact same color as the bra.

  “They weren’t there for him to take,” she murmured. Then turned from him and stared at the wall behind the washing machine.

  “Why not?”

  “The panties had some blood on them, I was soaking them in the sink. I just put them down the chute a little while ago.”

  “Why was there blood on them?” he asked, concern etching his face as he turned her back to look at him. “Did I hurt you?”

  She lifted her head and met his piercing blue eyes with hers. “No, it’s just been a long time.”

  He cursed as he ran his fingers through his hair, then he turned from her and hit his fist on one of the wooden pilings holding up the house.

  Neither said anything. When the silence grew unbearable, he ground out, “He was here. He was here when I fucking left!” His fist hit the piling again. This time it made a cracking sound from the impact, but it was too significant a piece of timber to be structurally affected by the blow. Still, Laura blinked.

  “He was here. And I left,” he whispered in horror.

  “Kel, don’t do this to yourself. You left your men. They checked everything twice, once before you left and then again after. Nothing happened, we’re still safe.”

  He was so angry that he barely managed to grit the words out between his clenched teeth. “He got your bra, he took it and then he masturbated in it, probably right here in this very room. And then he left it in a bush for us to find so we’d know he was here watching you.”

  “I’ll take Kayla and I’ll leave.”

  “You shouldn’t have to do that!” His voice was strained and she could see the frustration in his eyes.

  After another stretch of silence, he said, “But I have to agree w
ith you and say that’s probably a good idea at this point. I don’t have a handle on this pervert. Not a single clue as to who he might be or what he’s capable of next. Unless we get a DNA match, which could take weeks, we’re stymied. And the fact that he so purposefully left his ‘sample’ for us, tells me he’s probably not in any registry.”

  “My parents have several rental properties on Wrightsville. I’ll just pack a few things and go live on the beach until you find him.”

  He turned to face her, his angry eyes flashing as they roamed over her face before settling on her parted lips. He couldn’t believe the incredible urge he had to kiss her. He blinked his eyes hard and when he opened them again he forced his attention on the tiny frown lines that were forming between her brows. “Don’t tell anyone where you are. Except me. I have to know. I will have to keep assuring myself that you’re safe, especially after this. God, Laura, I’m so sorry.”

  She touched his arm. “Kel, don’t do this. It’s not your fault.”

  “The hell it’s not!” He spun on his heel and opened the door before turning back to say, “Let me know when you’re settled. And don’t forget to pack the O’s,” he managed as an aside. Then he shrugged and flashed her a lopsided, self-deprecating grin.

  Laura stood staring down at the tiny purple scrap on top of the pile of laundry. Then she began rubbing her hands up and down her arms. Goose bumps rose along her pale skin. He could have taken Kayla again, she thought. Then her mind instantly flitted to the gun Kel had left in her night stand drawer, and she shook her head. No. No, he couldn’t have taken her again. She wouldn’t have let him.

  She flicked off the light and left the dark little room and went back to the family room. Kayla was still sitting on the sofa watching cartoons with a policeman, another policeman standing by the front door could be seen smoking a cigarette through the glass side panel.