Coaster (7 page)

"When did that happen
, Roger?"

"About eight months ago."

La Rosa was scribbling furiously. "So eight months ago there was a restructuring and a lot of older employees left. Were they fired?"

"I think a lot of the
m were given a package. The ones I talked to were."

La Rosa raised an eyebrow. "A good package?"

"Not good enough." He followed where she was going with this.

"How many people that you knew were laid off?"

"About a hundred."

"A hundred
? That's a lot of people."

"Yep, and most of them had been here over ten years."

La Rosa looked intently at him. "So, it's safe to say that there was some unrest in the rank and file?"

"Yes. It's safe to say that."

"What about your department. Anyone long-term laid off?"

Roger shook his head.
"No, I have a lot of young guys. I'm the oldest and I'm in charge."

La Rosa paused again and seemed to remember something. "Did this restructuring only happen here?"

Roger shrugged his shoulders. "I'm not sure. I think when we restructure it's across the board, but don't quote me on that."

La Rosa wrote some more in her book for a minute then she looked at Roger.
"And the people you have working for you, you've known them a long time?"

"Detective La Rosa, none of my guys had anything to do with this. I can vouch for each of them."

"I understand, but I have to ask. How long have your guys been working for you?"

"The least amount of time is five years. Most have been here for more than that."

"What about regular employees. Would it be hard to get to the roller coaster?"

Ro
ger thought a moment. "Probably. If someone really wanted to they could. They would have to do it after hours since before and during park hours the coasters are monitored."

"Mr. Merit...Roger. Thank you for your cooperation.
I know this is a pain. And remember what I said about getting some counsel. This is going to get worse here. But I didn't say that." La Rosa smiled.

Roger felt his heart skip a beat or two
. "I will."  She was a beautiful woman even when she was grilling him.

                                                                      ****

Chapter Nine

It had been three days and Lindy still could
n't breathe right. Her doctor had prescribed her pills to help her sleep. An added perk was they helped her feel nothing and that was much better than being so sad. Her mom was worried about her. Her dad was hovering. But she didn't care. She stayed in her room looking out the window and thinking about Heather and Megan. Their pictures were scattered all over. When she got up to go to the bathroom she had to maneuver so she didn't step on their smiling faces. Her arms and legs felt heavy and not part of her. She hadn't eaten in three days; instead she poured the soup her father brought her in the toilet. When she closed her eyes she would see their faces and she woke up to the sound of their voices saying her name.

                                                                                    ****

The days
crawled by. The old woman felt every bone in her body ache. Her loss was truly physical. She'd put the pictures of the grandchildren away because seeing them was more than she could take. She didn't really walk through the house, she merely shuffled. She knew her husband was worried about her, but she couldn't help her behavior. Her daughter Rachel had been so beautiful. The children were always her pride and joy. Now they were gone. Gone. She'd never hear their voices again. The realization hit her and her gasp was so loud her husband came in from the next room.

His face was grey. "Are you okay?"

"No. I'm not." Her stare was angry.

He nodded and
slowly left the room.

                                                                      ****

Getting up to check on
her had taken a lot of effort, but he was trying to rally. He had made himself get up and walk through the neighborhood this morning. They both had to move forward. Rachel, Mitch, the kids...they weren't coming back. But they had to keep going. The rabbi was coming today. Hopefully he could bring her back. His wife - he was very worried about her. She seemed to be losing her grip on reality, although he couldn't blame her for doing that. She took the pictures down of the kids. He'd found them in the cupboard and put them in his closet so he could look at them when he wanted. While she didn't want to be reminded, he needed to see their faces. It was a fine line he was walking. It felt a little like if he didn't see them he might erase them. He didn't want to but he couldn't help it. It was so hard to know that they were....he couldn't forget. He couldn't do that to Rachel.

             
                                                                      ****

The
couple didn't know how to act because their life was about absolutes. Diana couldn't cry anymore. She didn't know what to do with herself. They had to stay to try to get some answers about what happened. But she knew that answers weren't going to come in a few days. This was going to be a long investigation and they couldn't stay here forever. James had been on the room phone all morning to England which was going to be a fortune on their bill. Not that it mattered; they had a fortune to spend. She paused and felt her breath catch. She would never see her children again and she began to sob. This many emotions were foreign to her. Diana was always in control of everything in her life. Now she felt utterly confused, distracted, and unable to contain the emotions she had. She thought about Anne's smile. How Anne's spark and thought process both frustrated and thrilled Diana. Anne was going to be different. No matter how much pressure James and Diana had put on her, Anne told them she wanted to be an artist. Diana lay down on the bed and let the tears come.

                                                                      ****

James paused in his conversation.
He heard his wife sobbing again from the next room and felt his voice catch as he responded. The man on the other end was saying his name.

"Yes, I'm here." The
conversation proceeded.

W
hile he listened he kept thinking about Christopher and Anne. They were such perfect children. They were smart, good-looking, and both were going places. Anne was beautiful. She looked exactly like her mother. And Christopher was....

James nodded and said,
"Yes, that's true, Howard."

The musing ended. James
had to stay focused. If he thought about them he wouldn't be able to keep on top of his business. Diana had completely lost focus and their foundation had begun to suffer. Thank God for Regina. She had taken control. Regina, the thought of her made his dick hard.
Damn, how can I be thinking about this? I'm a monster. My children are dead. My wife is having a breakdown in the next room. And I'm thinking about Regina
.

                                                                      ****

The man was smiling. He'd
been savoring his victory for the last three days. The event wasn't plastered everywhere now. That was the problem with the media today, they were fickle. By the third day the story was still at the top of the news hour, but he didn't see it on every channel. His joy hadn't faded though. He'd been monitoring the stock market and this had hit the corporation hard. Their stock had fallen almost twenty points. He rubbed his hands together. He was checking out in two days. So far there had been no indication they had any idea who had done it. In fact, the news was still speculating on the facts.

"What a bunch
of boobs." He murmured feeling clever.

                                                                      ****

Roger
heard the alarm going off. He'd forgotten to turn it off before he went to bed last night. He walked into the bedroom from the kitchen with a cup of coffee in his hand. He still was not sleeping well. He'd been up since three in the morning watching infomercials and trying to think how he was going to handle everything. He'd contacted his ex-wife yesterday and asked for a recommendation for a lawyer. She told him which partner in her firm he should talk to. Being a legal secretary gave her insight to all the partners and she knew exactly what type of lawyer Roger needed. Their conversation was still playing in his mind.

"This is gonna cost you, Rog. Do you have that kind of cash?"

"No. I don't. But I'm gonna do a second on the house."

Trish sounded concerned. "Listen, I'm doing fine
so just do the child support, okay?"

"
Trish, you don't have to do that, but thanks. I appreciate this. I'm worried 'cause these guys seem bound and determined to make me the scapegoat. I don't want to think about what that means. I don't know how far they're willing to go with this, especially with the right muscle behind them. If they pursue me I won't stand a chance." Roger paused, "Are you sure about the money?"

"Rog, I make
more than you do." Trish took a deep breath. "I know our marriage wasn't bliss, but I've always liked you. I don't want to see you railroaded. From what you've said, they're gonna make you their patsy. That's not fair."

Roger smiled. There was nothing Trish ha
ted more than an underdog getting beaten up by the big guys. "Okay, thanks Trish."

                                                                      ****

La Rosa and Kincaid were driving in her car. They'd spent the morning with the Feds downtown going over each other's notes. It was weird working together w
ith them and it was obvious that the Feds had much more money and technology than they did. Thankfully the guy in charge, Gordon, seemed to be okay about working together and that made the other Feds toe the line.

La Ro
sa was doing what she did best - thinking. She kept going back to what Roger Merit had said about people working at the park and how it wasn't hard to get access as an employee.

"Kincaid?
" La Rosa spoke finally.

"What?" Kincaid was quiet too
, but La Rosa was pretty sure he was replaying his night spent playing online poker rather than the facts of their case.

"You know what the mechanic said about getting a job at the park. That has to be the way this guy got access to the roller coaster."

"Probably."

"Let's run the files and see all the new employees in the last year. Then we can go through them all and narrow it down to see if it's possible that he worked at the park."

Kincaid dialed his phone and in a second he was relaying the message to their staff at the precinct.

"I feel
for the mechanic. They are totally gonna Shanghai him for this. "

Kincaid nodded.
"Yeah, he's definitely shit out of luck."

"I'm just spit balling here. Trying to think things through. If you were a disgruntled employee, what would you do? Saying that you're slightly crazy, of course."

"Of course." Kincaid paused. "Well, you'd want them to pay. To suffer."

"Right.  And what better way to do that than take the money away?"

Kincaid shrugged
. "Obviously."

La Rosa stopped at the light and looked at Kincaid. "How long have we been doing this job? Isn't the obvious answer usually the right one?"

             
                                                        ****

Chapter Ten

It was dark out. She
didn't know how late it was, but Lindy could hear her dad snoring from his room. She tiptoed down the stairs being careful to miss the one that creaked. She had to hold onto the wall because she was groggy from too many pills and weak from no food. She made her way into the kitchen and caught her reflection in the microwave door. Lindy looked like hell. Her face was pale, her cheeks sunken, and her eyes looked like they belonged in a skull. She tried to smile at herself, but oddly her mouth wouldn't form the curve.  She opened the freezer door looking for the vodka her dad always kept chilling. It was half full and she felt the cold bottle in her hand like an alien object. She looked on the counter for her sleeping pills and didn't see them. She searched the counters and cupboards sure that her dad would have left them down here in the kitchen. After a few minutes she had to set the vodka down because her hand was hurting. Lindy paused.
He must have them upstairs with him. He's probably concerned I will do exactly what I am planning on doing
. She paused and considered if she should try to go into his room while he was sleeping or if she should just wait.