Page 31 of The Accomplice
Kate moved quickly back down the stairs, leaving Harry in the main bedroom. She went outside.
No one around the back at the pool. Daniel Miller’s sportscar was still in the garage beside Carrie’s. These were the only cars Kate had seen on the property during her first visit. She set down the case files on the porch, took her phone from her purse and called Carrie Miller’s cell.
It was switched off.
‘She knew we were coming this morning, right ?’ said Harry as he reached the bottom of the staircase in the hallway.
‘I told her last night. Maybe she took a cab to the store ?’
‘This isn’t the type of neighborhood where people use cabs, or Ubers. If she was going somewhere, and didn’t want to drive, she’d call for a town car. But why ? Why not use her own car ? And why isn’t she here ?’
‘I’ll call Peltier,’ said Kate.
He picked up straight away.
‘Otto, we’re out here at Carrie’s house. Both cars are in the garage. The front door is open and she’s not here.’
‘I don’t like the sound of that. Have you tried her cell phone ?’
‘It’s turned off.’
‘Shit, do you think … ?’ But he didn’t finish the thought. The lawyer sounded rattled. There was genuine concern in his voice.
‘Do I think the Sandman took her ? I have no idea what’s going on.’
‘Maybe we should call the police ?’ he said.
‘No,’ said Kate. ‘Not yet. There’s no sign of forced entry. And it’s a condition of her bail she resides in this property. If the cops think she jumped bail they’ll get an arrest warrant.’
‘An arrest warrant is one thing, but Carrie could be in danger. I saw the papers today. The Sandman killed two people yesterday. One of them an FBI agent.’
Kate had spoken to Eddie last night, after Delaney’s body was found. He also got a brief mention in one of the news articles she’d read that morning. ThePostrecorded that Eddie Flynn and two private investigators, Melissa Bloch and Gabriel Lake, were at the scene of the murder last night, but it wasn’t known if they had any official involvement in the investigation. There was even a picture of the three of them coming out of Delaney’s building.
‘I know, she was a friend of Eddie’s. He’s been up all night with the FBI.’
‘Oh my god, this is so terrible. I’m so worried, Kate. This is not like Carrie. I think we have to call the police. I’d never forgive myself if something has happened to her …’
Kate didn’t know what to think. She heard the genuine concern in Otto’s voice. He seemed to put the same passion into his cases as Kate did. It was one of the things that first warmed Kate to Otto.
‘Maybe she just went out for a breath of air around the development. The case is all over the news again. Her husband is back and killing people. That might be a lot to take in for her.’
‘I suppose that’s right. She’s been through hell. When she was indicted, every one of her friends dropped her. She is utterly alone and of course she’s completely innocent. The one thing she had was that Daniel was out of her life. She thought he’d be gone for good. Into hiding. This must be devastating for her.’
‘Then there’s no need to call the cops and make everything worse by having her arrested for breach of bail. She’ll come back. Let’s give her some time before we call the cops. I’ll have another look in the house and I’ll call you back,’ said Kate, then hung up.
‘The closet is still full of clothes. There’s a set of pajamas on the bed. Maybe she did just go for a walk around the neighborhood and lost track of time,’ said Harry.
‘Yeah, I’m sure that’s all,’ said Kate, gripping her cell phone tightly, then letting her teeth dig into her lip. She didn’t like this situation. An innocent woman, in charge of all her senses, about to go on trial for multiple homicide, doesnotmiss an appointment with her legal team. That just doesn’t happen. Even if her serial killer husband made a sudden reappearance in New York last night.
Harry stepped out of the house, put his gun away and shielded his eyes from the sun as he looked around the grounds and took in the view of the neighborhood.
‘She must be on the road somewhere, there’s no way she’d make it past those protestors on foot. If she wasn’t going far then that might explain leaving the door open. I went out last week and left my apartment door open by mistake,’ said Kate.
Harry looked at her, incredulous.
‘The latch on the door is faulty. Unless you really slam it, the door won’t close properly. I told the super, but he hasn’t gotten around to fixing it. I thought I’d closed it last Tuesday, but when I got back my door was open and my TV was gone.’
‘You never mentioned this,’ said Harry. ‘I’m old, but I wouldn’t forget a thing like that.’
