Sarah Woods Mystery Series (1-6) Boxed Set Page 34

  “I remember.”

  “Well, I was lying. I don’t really believe there is such a thing. Justice is an illusion designed to fool people into thinking there is some kind of equality in the world. But there isn’t and there never will be.”

  I detected a deeper personal meaning behind his profound statement. “What happened to make you feel that way?

  “I’m a classic example of the failures inherent in the judicial system, Sarah. I was a victim of child abuse at an early age. My father was a drunk. I’m still convinced it was his mission in life to torment me. It took nearly five years and multiple visits to half a dozen different emergency rooms before the courts intervened. My father got six months. They called it justice.”

  “I’m sorry. That must have been so awful. But if you don’t believe in the system, why practice law?”

  “I figured if I could make a difference in just one life, it would all be worth it.”

  “So have you?”

  O’Malley smiled. “We’ll see.”

  At that moment something caught the corner of my eye. It was Dr. Sanborn walking towards us. I turned around and braced myself for the worst. Max, Carter and Richard came to join us. “How is she?” I asked.

  “She’s going to be okay,” he said and gave us a faint smile.

  I let go a huge sigh of relief.

  “Would you be willing to tell us what happened?” Richard asked.

  The doctor lowered his head. “Jessica had a miscarriage.”

  His words hung in the air for a few moments.

  “Did anyone know she was pregnant?” I asked.

  The doctor wiped his brow and looked at me. “Not to my knowledge, but it’s all starting to make sense now. I had attributed the lack of appetite and mood swings to the stomach ulcers. She’s a pre-med student, so I figured her self-diagnosis was accurate when I wrote her that prescription for Cytopec. That being said, she also knew that Cryopec is contraindicated for pregnant women, as it often results in miscarriages.”

  “So she never had ulcers to begin with?” I asked.

  “No, but she knew exactly what she was doing. She did this to prove a point. It’s her way of telling me I’m not in control any longer.”

  The room got quiet and Dr. Theo started pacing. “I’m making arrangements to fly us back to Boston tomorrow afternoon. She needs to get home to familiar surroundings. I contacted her therapist. He’ll be available around the clock to help her through the next few weeks.”

  “Is there anything more we can do?” Richard asked.

  “Jessica almost died today. I think it’s important we all take a break before this situation completely ruins her.”

  Richard nodded. “I understand.”

  “Don’t get me wrong, Richard. I’m very grateful for the work you’ve done here. You and your team went above and beyond, but my daughter needs help. She needs to start moving on with her life.” Dr. Theo smiled and extended a hand. “Why don’t you and your friends stay a few extra days at the house? It’s paid for ‘til the end of the week.”

  “That’s a generous offer, but we all have lives we need to get back to. I, for one, have a wife who is very upset with me for coming to Hawaii without her.”

  The comment stimulated some quiet laughter from the group, but O’Malley wasn’t interested. He seemed withdrawn, staring off into space, oblivious to the conversation.

  When Dr. Theo announced he was returning to the house to start packing, O’Malley snapped out of his reverie and shook everyone’s hand.

  His eyes locked briefly with mine. He turned away and joined Dr. Theo. Moments later they were gone.

  “I guess I can submit the surveillance tapes to the police now,” Richard said. “Let them figure things out. If they determine Cunningham’s death was a homicide, the cops can track Brenda down. It’s out of our hands, now.”

  “You gave it your best shot,” Carter said, squeezing his arm. “That’s all anyone can ask for.”

  After a few seconds of silence, Richard clapped his hands together. “Is anyone else hungry?”

  “I could use a beer,” Carter said.

  Max glanced down at his watch. “I could eat something. How about you, Sarah?”

  Everyone stared at me, waiting for a response. I was still a bit out of sorts. “Sure,” I said. “Whatever you guys want to do.”

  I had mixed feelings about Jessica’s miscarriage. While I was relieved that she was okay, the flip side left me wondering whose baby it was. This was Jessica’s second pregnancy. She seemed like a mature responsible young woman. How could she be so careless as to dismiss birth control when it was obvious she didn’t want to have a baby?

  Chapter 36

  The hotel bar was buzzing with activity. We found a table for four and I immediately ordered a Mai Tai. My stomach was still a bit queasy, but what the hell; it was my last night in Hawaii and I could use a drink.

  While we waited for the first round to be served, I asked a question that must have been on everyone’s mind. “Why do you think Dr. Theo is so eager to get Jessica back home?”

  Richard shrugged. “What he said made sense to me.”

  “Really? I don’t understand why he’s giving up the investigation. There’s still so much we don’t know.”

  Our drinks arrived and Richard took a healthy swig of his rum and coke. He seemed to be ignoring my question.

  “And what about Sal Hutchins?” I persisted. “If we could find him---”

  “Sarah.” Carter placed a hand on my arm to stop my incessant fidgeting. “It’s over. The job is done. We have to let it go. The police may or may not continue to investigate Cunningham’s death. Either way, it’s no longer our concern.”

  “Not our concern?” I said. “How can you stop caring just like that?”

  Carter looked hurt. “This is part of the job, Sarah.”

  “Which reminds me,” Richard interjected. He reached into his briefcase and withdrew three envelopes. He passed one to each of us. “Payday.”

  Max folded and tucked the envelope into his back pocket. “I agree with Sarah. It doesn’t feel right to give up without knowing the truth.”

  Richard leaned back in his chair and sighed. “Look guys, my hands are tied. Dr. Theo wants to move on.”

  “I have an idea,” I said, finally taking my first sip of the Mai Tai. “Alex O’Malley told me the story about the malpractice suit filed by one of Dr. Theo’s patients. Turns out the guy is a scam artist and wanted to sue the doctor for big money. His name was Smolinski. Well, what if the guy wanted to get revenge in the worst possible way? He could be the person behind the abduction.”

  Richard and Carter looked at me then looked at each other. “Okay, but how does Cunningham fit into the equation?” Richard asked.

  “Maybe Smolinski offered him a cut of the money. It’s a brilliant plan if you think about it. Perhaps Cunningham had no idea of the guy’s intentions to harm his son and agreed to the plan.”

  “It’s an interesting theory,” Richard said, polishing off his rum and coke with two large gulps. “The guy gives Cunningham a cut of the ransom money to leave town, thereby diverting the authorities.”

  “It would certainly explain Brenda’s story about how Cunningham was too devastated to even speak of how his son died,” Max added.

  I looked at Richard. “Maybe Smolinski found out you were in Hawaii and hired Sal Hutchins to kill Cunningham before he ran his mouth about the whole thing.”

  “It’s a long shot at best. But, maybe I’ll do some digging concerning this Smolinski guy. Who knows, you might be on to something, Sarah.” Richard lifted his drink to Carter and said, “You were right about this girl. She’s got potential.”

  Chapter 37

  Richard had finished his fourth rum and coke by the time we were halfway through dinner. He was getting more obnoxious by the minute.

  I picked at the remainder of the grilled salmon on my plate and was about to finish off my first Mai Tai, when Richa
rd bellowed from across the table. “So Sarah, Carter tells me you have a husband. What’s his name again?”

  “Daniel,” I said, averting my eyes, hoping he’d get the hint that it was a sore topic. I felt Max squeeze my knee, his hand concealed by the tablecloth.

  “So,” Richard continued in the same boisterous manner, completely oblivious to my hesitance. “What does he think about you getting involved in doing undercover work?”

  “I haven’t really told him yet.”

  Richard’s eyes filled with excitement. “Wow. You’re better at this shit than I thought.”

  Carter turned to his friend and said, “Knock it off, Richard. Why don’t you finish those fish tacos? They’re starting to stink.”

  Richard pretended not to hear him, keeping his eyes on me. “And your teenage boy? He doesn’t have a clue, either?”

  I shook my head.

  Richard slapped the table. “Damn, I’m impressed. You could teach me a few things.”

  Carter gave Richard a stern look. “Enough.”

  Richard started laughing. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to offend anyone. I just think it’s an interesting coincidence, don’t you Carter?”

  What was Richard talking about? Maybe it was an inside joke, but Carter wasn’t laughing.

  Richard noticed the lack of response from Carter, so he cleared his throat and turned toward me and Max. “Did Carter ever tell you about his daughter?”

  Carter had a daughter? This was news to me. Carter had never really shared anything personal. “I don’t believe he has,” I said, noticing Carter’s strained features.

  “Drop it, Richard. No one cares about this stuff. It’s way in the past.”

  “Okay,” Richard said. “But I think your friends would want to know.”

  “Look,” I said trying to muster a smile. “Let’s just drop it.”

  Richard hiccupped, bowed his head, and hiccupped again. “I gotta use the head. Be right back.”

  Carter looked at Max and me and shrugged. “He tends to exaggerate when he’s had a few.”

  “It’s okay,” I said, casually tapping my fingers on the table.

  Carter exhaled a long breath, looked around, and leaned back in his chair. “Richard is right about one thing. You guys should probably hear the story.”

  “You don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to.”

  Carter took a sip from his beer, swallowed hard, and took another. “My daughter, Clair, went missing about five years ago when she was eighteen. At first I thought she had run away with her boyfriend like so many times before.”

  Max’s hand was still in my lap. He gently squeezed my knee, but I couldn’t take my eyes off Carter. His voice was so low I had to strain to hear him over the other voices in the restaurant.

  “After a few weeks without even a phone call, I started getting worried, and a little pissed-off.” Carter took another sip of beer, swirled it around in his mouth, and swallowed. “One day I was filling up at the gas station and her boyfriend pulls up in the car next to me. I tore him a new one. Told him he’d better tell Clair to call me. He looked at me like I was on crack.”

  “He didn’t know where she was?” I asked.

  “Not only did he not know, he proceeded to explain that they had been broken up for over a month.”

  “Oh shit,” I said.

  “Oh shit is right. She’d been missing for almost two weeks. By then, her cell phone mailbox was so full I couldn’t even leave her a message.”

  I swallowed hard, took a sip of my watered down Mai Tai, and waited for him to continue.

  “Few days later, a call comes in … it’s a number I don’t recognize. I almost didn’t answer it. It’s a good thing I did because it was Clair. I could tell by her voice that she’d been crying. I demanded an explanation. All she could say is she’s sorry. Before I could find out where she was, she hung up.”

  Fully engaged in what Carter’s saying, I glanced sideways at Max’s face. The expression he wore confused me for a moment. Then I remembered: he already knows this story. The very same story he refused to tell me a few days ago on the beach.

  I held my breath and looked back at Carter. He was shaking his head as if the memory was too painful. He licked his dry lips and said, “I tracked down the phone number she used to call me. Turns out the call came from a run-down motel three blocks from our home. I went down there and explained to the desk clerk that my daughter was in trouble. He refused to give me any information. Wouldn’t even tell me what room she was in. I stood outside the damn motel for almost an hour, calling that number over and over again, in the hope she’d pick up. I finally went back inside and rearranged a few of the desk clerks fingers. He gave me a copy of her room key.” Carter paused and massaged his temples. “By the time I got into her room it was too late. She had overdosed.”

  My jaw dropped with no idea what to say.

  “The hour I wasted trying to reason with the damn motel clerk, likely cost me my daughter’s life.” Carter downed the rest of his beer and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. “I guess it doesn’t take a master’s degree in psychology to figure out why I do things the way I do.”

  No wonder Max was hesitant about telling me the story. “I’m so sorry, Carter. Did you ever find out what compelled her to get caught up in that world?”

  Carter shrugged. “After talking to some of her friends, I managed to piece things together. The kid she’d been seeing broke up with her for another girl. She was depressed and started with the booze and taking pills. She was probably ashamed to face me, so she checked into the motel and was living there. I’ll never know for sure if she intended to kill herself, but the last phone call she made to me that day --- a cry for help --- makes me believe she did.”

  “What about Clair’s mom?”

  “We were never married, and she didn’t have much to do with Clair. Mostly holidays and summer vacations. She had her own life.”

  Richard returned, oblivious to the now somber mood at the table. He let out a sigh. “Well, I’ve just been on quite an adventure. I was standing there taking a whiz when this guy with a shaved head propositioned me.”

  Carter glanced at him with mild interest. “Why? Did he take pity on you and offer you money to get a penis enlargement?”

  Richard’s eyes grew wide at first then he burst out laughing, apparently shocked by the unsuspecting jab. “Good one, my friend, but no. He offered to give me a blow-job.”

  Max and I burst out laughing.

  Carter shook his head. “Told you he likes to exaggerate when he’s drunk.”

  Chapter 38

  Richard’s last act of the evening was a gracious one. He picked up the tab for dinner before passing out atop his dessert plate. Carter went and fetched a wheelchair to get him back to his room.

  We said goodnight to Carter, and Max walked me back to my room. I invited him to stay.

  I showered, slipped into a sundress then joined him on the sofa.

  “Pretty sad story about Carter’s daughter, wasn’t it?” Max said, lifting my feet and placing them in his lap. He removed my sandals and started to press his thumbs into the balls of my feet. I closed my eyes and leaned back.

  “Now I understand why he has no qualms about stretching the limits of the law. Or breaking them altogether, for that matter.”

  “That’s life, isn’t it? Cause and effect.”

  “Speaking of cause and effect,” I said, opening my eyes to look at him, “what you’re doing to my feet is a major turn on.”

  He smiled. “What if I did this?” He lifted my foot up and wrapped his lips around my big toe.

  A delicious sensation throbbed deep in my stomach. “I love that kind of cause and effect.”

  Max smiled as he returned my foot to his lap. “Speaking of Carter, do you think you’ll do any more jobs for him back home?”

  “That depends on the job. If the next assignment takes us to Paris, how could I say no?”

  Max l
aughed. “That would be something. I’d have to make sure he needed a surveillance expert for that job, too.”

  “I’ve always wanted to see the lights of Paris from the observation deck of the Eiffel Tower. Does that make me the biggest cliché ever?”

  “It means you’re a romantic fool like me.”

  “You? A romantic fool?”

  “Sure.”

  “Prove it.”

  Max scooped me up and carried me into the bedroom.

  Chapter 39

  As I lay smothered in Max’s arms for the second morning in a row, a melancholy feeling came over me.

  We were flying back home, and I to a husband that I no longer loved.

  Everything had changed. I felt like a completely different woman with Max. No matter what the future held for us, I would always be grateful for this time with him.

  I slipped out of bed, showered, and started packing. I let Max sleep. I did sneak an occasional glance at his naked body, tousled hair, and stubbly face. My heart ached to think what would happen if he took the job offer in Chicago. I didn’t want to consider that a possibility, so I busied myself by stuffing wrinkled clothes and toiletries into my suitcase.

  I texted Brian with the details of my return flight and pressed send just as Max sat up in bed.

  He smiled and brushed a hand through his hair. “You’re very motivated this morning, aren’t you?”

  “Yeah, I’m not sure why. Our flight doesn’t leave for another four hours.”

  He extended his arm, beckoning me to join him. How could I resist? I took my time as I approached, trying to live in the moment.

  He reached up, took a fist full of my hair, and gently pulled me down until I was sitting on his lap. He placed a hand on my lower back as he pushed me harder into his lap.

  For the next half-hour I didn’t think about packing.

  Chapter 40

  It was another beautiful day in Hawaii. The skies had cleared, and the sun felt warm and wonderful on my skin. Max finished loading our luggage into the jeep just before noon. We were a bit ahead of schedule, leaving us extra time to stop by the Sanborn’s house en route to the airport.