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“You shouldn’t have come,” Marcy said. “This has nothing to do with you. Where’s Cal? Do not lie to me, Kara.”
“I’ll tell you where Cal is if you tell me where Hazel is.” Kara had immediately determined that neither Hazel nor Jamie was in the great room, where they were standing. The room was spacious, two-story windows looking out onto the deck and the water, trees shooting up to the right and left of the house. A spiral staircase went up to what Kara assumed was the loft—if the girls were there, there was no way Matt and Michael could get to them. There were no external windows in the loft that opened. But Kara could stop Marcy from going up.
A narrow hall was to the left, five doors all appeared closed. From Cal’s drawing: bedroom, den, bath, closet, and secondary kitchen door. The kitchen was to the right of the hall, open, but Kara couldn’t see everything. On the other side of the great room was a short hall with one door. Master bedroom and bath.
“I’m not negotiating with you, Kara. Where’s Cal?”
“She’s three years old, Marcy. She’s not part of this drama.”
“Hazel is sleeping, so keep your voice down.”
Kara hoped she was. There were only two bedrooms in the house, though the den was also an option. But, with any luck, Jamie would be sleeping with her. Probably drugged... Drugged was better than dead.
“It’s five thirty. Why is Hazel napping so late?”
By now, Kara expected that Michael and Matt would be in position to run the heat-sensing equipment to determine exactly where in the house Jamie and her daughter were. Now Kara just had to delay.
“Where is Cal?” Marcy demanded.
“I wouldn’t let him come.”
“Really?” she said flatly. She held up her phone. “So this text was from you?”
“He was on his way when I came by his place, and he couldn’t lie to me about what was going on. I worried about his safety. So I convinced him that I’d let him go, told him to send the message, and then I handcuffed him and left him there. If he came, he would only get in the way.”
“Ineedto talk to him! You don’t get it.”
“Why Cal? I mean, you could do better.” Catherine had said that Marcy admired her, wanted to be like her. Maybe Kara could convince Marcy that she didn’t want Cal, that the whole premise of a relationship with Cal was ridiculous. Play to her ego.
Marcy’s eyes briefly met hers. “The other day you said something that made sense.”
Kara tensed. She’d said a lot of things, and she didn’t always think about what words came out of her mouth. She usually spoke the truth, but some things were better left unsaid.
“I usually make sense. What wisdom did I impart?”
“That a lot of women are single moms. And I started thinking, there’s no stigma to it anymore. I don’t need a guy to support me—I have a good job. Fat savings account. Great insurance. I don’t need anyone else.”
“Then why do you care where Cal is?”
Marcy didn’t answer that question. “I heard on the police scanner that Damon was arrested.”
“Yeah. He’s in custody, asked for a lawyer. Typical. Nearly got me killed.”
“What? He attacked you?”
“He set a fucking bomb in his closet.” Kara had to make Marcy believe thatshebelieved Damon was the bomber. “I thought I was a goner. Bomb was in a box, I didn’t know, picked it up, accidentally triggered the fucking thing. If my partner hadn’t been there I’d be in a million pieces.”
“I’m so sorry.”
“Yeah, well, I’m not in a million pieces, so I’m pretty happy tonight. I’d be happier if you and I were sitting down at the Fish & Brew having a couple beers right now.”
“Why’d you come here? You didn’t tell anyone on your team?” Marcy sounded skeptical, but didn’t outright call Kara a liar.
“I came because I was worried about you. I didn’t know what was going on with you and thought maybe you needed someone to talk to.”
“And you didn’t tell your boss?”
“I’m not FBI. He’s not my boss.”
