Unseen. Part 24

"She knows about that?"

"Yes. Your boss called the apartment and left a message for you. She figured it out."

"Where is she now?"

Mina shook her head.

"Mina! Where is Jenna now?!"

"She asked to take the rest of the day off to go to an appointment. She wans to get this done before it turns into more than just a blob of tissue."

Jake's mouth hung open. He felt like he was coming apart at the seams. "She's a child, Mina. Our child. She's beautiful, and she's talented like her mom." He choked back the emotion. "And she notices things, things other people miss. She's quiet and gentle..."

He looked at Mina who was trying to understand what he was saying, and a realization washed over him. Jenna didn't understand either. She didn't know what she was doing. She hadn't seen what he had seen. She had no idea the beauty she would be destroying. All she was thinking was that her future was going to be destroyed by a baby she wasn't ready to have, and she wanted to stop it before it was more than just a blob of tissue!

Jake grabbed Mina by the shoulders. "Where is her appointment, Mina?"

Mina pulled back, wide eyed. "She's probably not there yet."

"Then where is she?"

"She said she was going home first."

He started for the door.

"Please," she said, "if there is any way, don' tell her I told you. Tell her you figured it out on your own. I can' bear to lose her as a friend."

"No matter what happens, Mina," he yelled over his shoulder, "you did the right thing!"

Chapter 42.

Angela Grant's belly grumbled as she clicked through the clinic records. The bureau in Washington was given a new angle to check, and they were crunching the numbers while she searched locally. If Gary Carter was running scared, as she suspected, then the real killer had to have contacted him in the last three years. There had to be a phone record, an e-mail, something. It could be someone from one of the branch clinics he visited on trips, or someone working at the clinic in Sunbury. Whoever it was, he had revealed himself to Carter, and Carter refused to be a part of it. That was her guess.

She had spent years studying the behavior of serial killers. If Carter was the Cape murderer, he wouldn't have left evidence from his victims in his place of work, or made searches for serial killers on his computer. There would have been no connection at all to his secret life. At work, he would have been a different person, not even allowing thoughts of his secret sin to enter into his mind. It would be as if he were two people, living two separate lives. Whatever role Carter played in all this, he wasn't the Cape murderer, that much she was sure of.

But was Carter a victim? Did the killer prey upon him for some resource only he could provide? A name of a victim? Miss Paris' name? The clinic records indicated that Holly Paris had visited the clinic when she was fourteen. Was there a connection between that visit and her selection as a target? If so, that brought up another question. Why was Gary Carter dating Holly's roommate? Perhaps the killer had convinced Carter to help at first, but Carter got cold feet?

Perez tapped Angela on the shoulder and sat on the desk next to her. "We got a hit."

Angela swiveled in her chair.

"Carter's sister owns a camp on a lake just south of Sunbury. According to a neighbor, the camp's supposed to be empty, but there was a mysterious pin point of light in the bas.e.m.e.nt window last night. We went by there yesterday and left a card, so they called us. Local law enforcement checked it out this morning. The window is covered with cardboard, and someone has been there recently. There are tracks on the path up to the door that would have been washed away by last weekend's rain."

"That's sounds promising. Have they set up a perimeter?"

"Yeah. They have local police, SBI, and forest rangers on site. They're waiting for the go ahead."

"How far is it from here?"

"Thirty minutes."

"Tell them to hold tight. I want to be the first to question him if he's there."

"There's more." His face scrunched. "Holly Paris is making calls to local news agencies claiming that something big is going to happen at 2:00 on the 395 overpa.s.s."

She sat back in the office chair with a squeak. "Hmmm."

"Two officers have been dispatched to question her."

"Do you think the killer is in contact with her?"

He shrugged.

"I want you to go over and check it out personally while I head up to the camp. If what Holly says is true-we're running out of time."

Chapter 43.

Jake ran up the stairs toward the lobby of the theater, digging out his phone as he climbed. He punched Jenna's number in and put it to his ear. It rang four times then dumped him to voicemail. "Jenna I know what you're doing, and I understand why you think you have to do this, but please, call me. I really need to talk to you." He ended the call as he crested the stairs.

Downtown was congested with lunch-hour traffic, and Jake's temper was hot. After several near-misses and a number of angry honks, he tore into the parking lot of The Schoolhouse and ran inside.

"Hold the elevator!" His arm snagged on the metal post between the double doors at the entrance of the building, drawing blood. He wobbled to regain his balance and ran toward the closing doors of the elevator. "Hold the elevator!"

A hand appeared in the crack and the doors started to open back up. Jake got in and turned to see his red-haired neighbor standing toward the front corner.

"Thanks," he said, gulping for air, and wiping the sweat from his face. He looked around for her daughter, but she was conspicuously missing. "Where's your daughter?" he said, hoping to make light conversation and take the attention off his obvious emergency.

She turned to him, stunned, and her face took on an air of disgust. "What's that supposed to mean?"

The doors of the elevator sealed them in together, and immediately Jake wished he had taken the stairs.

"Is this some kind of sick joke? Do you think this is funny?" Her posture became threatening.

Jake took a step back and threw his hands up. "I- didn't mean anything. I was just curious where she was."

"Oh, just curious where she was? What are you, some kind of an activist? Have you been following me?"

"No! Why would I follow you?"

The elevator dinged, and the door began to open.

"Look, moron," she said, driving a finger toward him. "Stay out of my business!" She stomped off the elevator and down the hall to the left.

He had no idea what he had just stepped in, but clearly there was something going on with his neighbor and her daughter. Probably an ugly custody battle. That would explain what the little girl had said to him earlier. She knew her mother was giving her up, and she wanted him to let her know that she forgave her. Jake had clearly messed up the chances of that happening. There was no way that fiery redhead was going to let him get anywhere near her now.

The door slammed, but it sounded a mile away. Jake had already given up worrying about his neighbor's plight and was in a full run down the hallway to his own apartment.

"Jenna!" he screamed as he entered. "Jenna!" He ran through the living room and brushed past the recliner. The door to the bathroom was open, he could see that it was empty. The bedroom was also empty-and some of Jenna's drawers had been left open. He cursed and flew back down the hallway. At the threshold of the living room, Jake came to an abrupt stop. In its center stood Aiyana, quietly gripping her sketch pad.

"She's not here," she said with a mouse of a voice.

"Can we catch her? Did she just leave?"

"We are in the car together. At the lights."

"Where?"

"I don't know. I'm sorry." The corners of her mouth squeezed down, and her chin tightened.

"No, don't cry. It's okay. We'll catch her." He s.n.a.t.c.hed her up in his arms and started for the door. "You said you're in the car with her?"

"Yes."

He pushed through the door without closing it behind him. "You can be with her and me at the same time?"

"Yes."

"Good. Can you see outside the car?" He ran to the elevator and pushed the b.u.t.ton.

"There's a sign with flowers."

"Is there a big yellow flower?"

"Yes, and little purple ones."

"You're there right now?"

"Yes."

"That's good. That's just up the hill."

"We're moving again," she squeaked. "I'm scared."

He pounded the panel on the elevator. "Come on!"

Ding. The doors took forever to open.

Aiyana clutched his shirt with her tiny hand. "I don't want to leave. Please don't make me leave."

Was she talking to him-or Jenna?

"I've got you," he said reflexively. "Everything is going to be okay."

Jake pushed on the doors to force them open, then started running for the side exit. He slammed through the door and raced down the concrete steps that lead to the parking lot.

"Don't make me go!" she squealed.

Suddenly he pa.s.sed through her as though she were mist. He skidded to a stop, alone on the stairs. He spun and looked for her as though she had been taken by physical means. The shock of losing her played tricks on his mind. There was no attacker. There was no escape route. It was him, alone on the stairs.

Get a grip, Jake! He thought.

She wasn't dead. She was still alive with her mother in the car! He just had to catch up with them. He vaulted over the railing, slid down the gra.s.s to the parking lot, and ran to his car. He ripped his phone out of his pocket and punched Holly's number into it. It was busy. He called Dan instead.

"Yellow?" said Dan.

"Oh, thank G.o.d, Dan. Are you with Holly?"

"She's kinda busy."

"I need her, Dan."

"She's on the phone, man."

Jake peeled out of the parking lot and headed up the hill toward the florist. "I know she's on the phone, that's why I called you!"

"One second." He heard him talking to her.

The phone rumbled, then Holly spoke. "This is a bad time, Jake."

"Holly I need your help."

"Like I've needed your help? Where've you been?"

"I'm caught up in something-I've been checking in. Ask Dan. If anything new came up with Gabe I would have been there. Something is going on with Jenna, and I need you!"

Holly was quiet, but he could hear her frustrated breathing. "What do you need?"

"I found out that I'm going to be a father, Holly. But Jenna's going to the clinic to abort her."

"What?"

"I don't know where it is, and I'm trying to catch her. I'm at the florist on Center Street. Do you know where that is?"

"Yeah. Across from the pizza place, right?"

"Yes. I'm there now. How do I get to the clinic from here?"