Page 16 of Dark Memories
“I’m not her anymore, Zach. I’m Harry, just one of the guys in Major Crimes. A cynical detective who has seen too much of the dark side of humanity. The softness inside me has been sandpapered away.”
“One of the guys, hmm?” He put his hands on her shoulders, then coasted his fingers down her arms, goose bumps following in his wake. “Sorry if I don’t see it.”
He was violating her no-touching rule, and she should tell him that, but here in the moonlight, just the two of them, she wanted his hands on her, if only for a few minutes.
“I’ve missed you.” He linked their fingers. “Every single day.”
“Zach—”
“Don’t say anything. I just wanted you to know that.” He let go of her hands and stepped back.
She turned and leaned against the window frame. He stared at her a moment, then walked away. “I’ve missed you, too,” she whispered when she was sure he couldn’t hear. He’d headed for the kitchen, and she followed him.
“I can’t sleep,” he said when she entered.
His back was to her as he stood, staring into the refrigerator. She was barefoot and hadn’t made a sound. Was it the same for him, that he could sense her presence? Leaving the door open, he walked to the microwave and turned on the light, then went back to the fridge and closed the door.
He got a glass from a cabinet, filled it with tap water, then drank half. “You want something? Water, coffee, something stronger?”
“No thanks.” She should go to bed but couldn’t bring herself to leave him. Not when he was hurting, and she could see in his eyes that he was. Her gaze skimmed over him, and in spite of wishing she didn’t, she liked what she saw. In his expensive suit, crisp white shirt, and the blue and red tie he’d worn earlier, he’d looked like what he was. A billionaire CEO of an international company. He wore the look well.
In the soft, low-slung jeans, gray T-shirt, and barefoot, though, he was more like the man she’d once known and loved.Still loved. But that was neither here nor there. Her heart was a closely guarded thing, had been for the last eight years, and she didn’t know how to undo that. Until today she’d been just fine without him. Seeing him again, being near him, was messing with her mind, and that didn’t make her happy.
“What if…” He shook his head.
She knew what he couldn’t bring himself to say. “Kali is hurt the way Abbie was?”
“Yes, that.” He scrubbed a hand through his hair. “Every time I closed my eyes and tried to go to sleep, I saw her in some dark room. She’s reaching out to me, not understanding why I haven’t come for her.” He lifted eyes overflowing with agony to hers.
Harry planted her feet to the floor to keep from going to him. “I don’t think it’s the same thing. The man who took Abbie was a sick fuck. It was a random thing. He was looking for a young girl, and Abbie just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.”
“How do you know it’s not the same? The thought of horrible things being done to her is killing me.”
“Because this was planned. For one, there were two of them. They studied Kali’s routine and knew when to strike. Within a few hours of taking her, they texted you, warning you not to contact the police. The kind of man who took Abbie would never have contacted you. He wouldn’t have risked confronting a bodyguard to get to her. This is for ransom, Zach.”
“Okay. Right. They want money. They won’t hurt her because if they do, they get nothing.”
She prayed that was true.
* * *
Kali cuddled the little dog, hoping the woman didn’t notice he’d come into the room and jumped in bed with her. She didn’t know who the people were, but they scared her. She could hear them talking in the other room, the two men and the woman. She tried to listen, but their voices were muffled and she only caught a few words. They were talking about her because she’d heard her name.
She wanted her daddy. “He’s trying to find me, Oliver. I know he is,” she whispered to the dog. The woman had called him Oliver, so she knew his name. Oliver licked her face. How would her daddy know where to find her? She didn’t even know where she was. They’d put a blindfold on her after taking her away from Larson. She was worried about him. They’d shot his leg and she’d seen all the blood. She’d asked God to save his life, but she’d thought the words and didn’t know if God could hear things she said in her head.
The two men were scary with their black masks. When they’d brought her into this house, they’d put her in a small bedroom and in mean voices had told her to behave if she didn’t want them to hurt her. She didn’t know how long she’d been in the bed with the covers pulled over her head when the woman had come in. At first she thought the woman was there to save her, but she’d been mean, too.
Kali had tried not to stare at her hair, but it was hard. She was sure it was a wig, but it was really ugly. It was long and looked like black straw, the kind of hair like she’d seen in pictures of witches. The glasses the woman wore were black and big, and they were ugly, too. Kali asked the woman what her name was so she’d know what to call her.
“Jane Doe,” the woman said.
Kali wasn’t sure why, but the name sounded familiar, like she’d heard it before. “I want to go home, Miss Doe. Please. My daddy will miss me.”
“You’ll go home when your daddy does as he’s told. Now keep your mouth shut or you won’t like the consequences.”
She wanted to know what her daddy was supposed to do and what consequences meant but was afraid to ask. It didn’t sound good, though, so she kept her mouth shut. And after the woman left her alone, she pressed her face into the pillow and cried, trying hard not to make any noise.
Sometime later the woman returned and gave her a baloney sandwich. After she ate, Miss Doe let her go to the bathroom. When they were going back to the room, a little dog had followed them in and jumped on the bed.
