Forgotten Witness (26 page)

“That’s disconcerting. Make a note to ask Amelia specifically which patients she asked Reynolds about,” Stephen suggested.

Before Josie could answer her phone rang. She held up a finger. Stephen waited patiently but listened closely as she spoke. It did not sound like a good conversation.

“Has your man run off with another, then?” Stephen inquired when she hung up.

“No. He saw one of Hannah’s drawings in the coffee shop near where he’s staying,” Josie answered. “He’s going to hang around and see if she comes back in.”

“That should be good news but your expression says otherwise.”

Josie pocketed the phone again. “It seems my mother was never officially considered a missing person. No one filed a report.”

“No one?” Stephen asked.

“No one,” she answered. “Not even my father.”

Everything is possible, nothing is impossible. There are no limits. Whatever you can dream of can be yours. –
The Secret

CHAPTER 18

“Don’t look like that, my girl. The report might have been filed with civilian authorities.” Stephen suggested.

Josie shook her head. “He checked with Kileen – that’s the closest town to the base – and with Austin PD. Nothing.”

“Perhaps he used the wrong date. You yourself said it took your dad three days to get back home. Who was the first person you told? Perhaps they reported it. Have your man check from that date and see if he comes up with anything.”

“Archer covered his bases, Stephen,” Josie snapped.

“All right, then.”

Put in his place, Stephen left her to stew, trailing the smell of bad coffee after him. He was almost through the office door when he peeked behind to see if she was with him or going to wallow for a bit on her own.

She wasn’t wallowing but she also wasn’t ready to work. Josie had paused by the wall of glass in the living room and was looking out onto a day that had turned windy and cloudy. The waves would be blown out so the girls wouldn’t be surfing. Nor would they be coming home. They would go into Lahaina to do whatever young girls without a care would do. The fact that they once had great cares caused Stephen to take a moment and think fondly of them. Josie was no different than his girls; she needed a soft place to land. Since Stephen believed he was a most brilliant man when it came to women, he knew enough not to interrupt Josie Bates’ thoughts.

Hers were not so different from Stephen’s. She was thinking the girls were simply versions of Hannah. Being around them made her long for Hannah and Archer and Max. Strangely, Josie did not long for her mother and it was that knowledge that grieved her. Outside, the trees bent to the wind, the clouds skated on it, the waves were brushed by it, and here she was, standing in the eye of a perfect-storm.

“Methinks you’re not quite all here, my California friend.” Josie heard Stephen but stayed silent. That didn’t stop him. “Are you thinking about your dad?”

Josie shook her head, “I was thinking about Archer.”

“Then there’s more to your introspection than just needing a hug. Pity, if that’s all it was then I am a fine stand-in.”

“Contrary to evidence, I really don’t like things to be complicated. That’s why I love Archer. What you see is what you get.” Josie smiled.

“Psh. Lawyers thrive on complication,” Stephen laughed.

“Until the complication is personal and then we’re wimps,” she admitted. “I’m just not sure I want to know the truth.”

“Can’t fault you there, darling. It’s appearing that the picture won’t be pretty when we’ve got it all together.”

“My gut tells me that report never existed.” She looked over her shoulder and the light in the room cast shadows over her eyes making her look cat-like and mysterious. “If my father knew where my mother was and that’s why he didn’t report her missing that would make me a fool.” Josie opened the glass door. The warm, moist breeze blew in. She threw her head back and breathed deeply. “A stupid, little girl of a fool who was lied to her whole life.”

Outside, beyond the jungle of trees, the sea was serrated with the kind of waves Stephen Kyle hated to sail upon. Josie hated them because when you swam in water like that the waves stung you, and slapped at you, and the pain was unremitting, and exhaustion was inevitable. Josie’s personal sea was now full of them and she wanted someone to pull her out of the water.

“It’s hard to breathe, Stephen. I want go home and get married and live with Archer and find Hannah. I wouldn’t think of my mother anymore because…” Josie paused. “Because I would be happy.”

Reluctantly she closed the door, wandered to the center of the room, cupped her hands over the back of the sofa, and pushed up on to her toes as if to prove that standing taller would make her stronger.

“I miss Max, too.”

“You are a collector of orphans,” Stephen answered.

“We’re two of a kind, Stephen.”

She settled on the rolled arm of the sofa, one leg crooked and the other resting on the floor. When she spoke again she sounded tired, as if she had climbed one too many mountains and couldn’t face the next one.

“I have a professional history I’m not so proud of. When I got to Hermosa Beach I was licking some pretty bad self-inflicted wounds. It took a lot to reconstruct a life in a place I love, with a man I love, and a dog, and the beach outside my house. Then Hannah came and it was all good.” She chuckled. “Sounds like a commercial, doesn’t it?”

“You’ve got everything but granny at the table,” he agreed.

She bit her lip, taking a moment to choose exactly the right words. It wasn’t Stephen’s sympathy or absolution she wanted. Josie wasn’t sure if she even wanted him to listen, she just needed to speak the truth and try it on for size.

“I’m forty years old and I’m tired of having issues with my parents. I think I’m done.”

“Criminey! That’s no good,” Stephen blustered. “You’re still in a bit of shock. Not to mention your hand. Don’t forget that little bit.”

Josie looked at the well-wrapped gauze, the neatly placed clips. She could feel the skin pulling tight beneath. It was healing. Healing always hurt.

“Curiosity is different than masochism. All I ever wanted was for her to tell me why she left. I’ll never get the answer, so why bother with all this?”

The rain came again, pounding for only a minute on the flat roof. Josie spoke first when it let up.

“I have to ask myself if I want to be Emily’s guardian because I’m arrogant and controlling or selfless and loving. Think about it. What will I really accomplish if the court sides with me?”

“You’ll be able to care for her,” Stephen suggested.

“The people at Ha Kuna House do that,” Josie said. “What happens when I get her back to Hermosa Beach and the novelty wears off? I’d have to hire a day nurse so I could work. I’d have to care for her at night which would affect my relationship with Archer,” Josie went on. “And let’s talk about Hannah.”

“Ah, yes, Hannah. The wayward, reckless woman-child.”

Stephen tired of leaning against the doorjamb so he sidled to the bar, heaved himself on to a stool, slid open the door, and rattled the bottles. When he came up for air he had a bottle. A generous slug of his favorite scotch landed in his coffee. He was settled in the front row of the theater and so far the first act was quite intriguing. He couldn’t wait for the second.

“I promised Hannah a home, not a rest home. Bringing Emily back would change everything. And there’s Archer. Can you imagine four people in a small house?” Josie punctuated her frustration with a sound that was half laugh and half groan.

“Bigger houses can be had,” Stephen suggested.

Josie would argue that her house was her home. Archer and Hannah were willing to make it theirs, but Emily couldn’t make a choice. She would be moved and set down like a beautiful, uncomfortable piece of furniture, a perpetual guest who couldn’t recognize her host. Yet, there was more to it than that.

“I don’t know if I love my mother, Stephen.”

He tilted his head but didn’t respond. What was there to say to someone like Josie? Those beautiful blue eyes of hers were bigger for the shock of bangs hanging messily across her brow. Her wide-necked t-shirt fell off one shoulder revealing just a hint of a fragile collarbone. Her long legs were bronzed and smooth, her shorts sexier because they were worn with such casual disregard. She looked young and vulnerable until one looked closely and saw that age and experience were the details that made her beautiful and substantive. She was an Amazon without her shield and bow, and the arrows loosed by the foe had pierced a skin Josie did not know was so thin. If Stephen had been another kind of man he would have swooped her up into his arms and into his bed with promises that he could do the impossible; love away her pain. Pity he was a righteous man.

“That little confession calls for a bit of a different fortification.” He reached under the bar again. Josie joined him as he poured two tumblers full of whiskey and slid one her way.

“If I took Emily with me I’d never know if she wanted to be with me. Maybe she was running away from me.”

He drained his glass, and while he poured again he said: “You’re afraid, my girl. That’s the long and short of it.”

“I am,” she admitted and Stephen thought that was a courageous thing. He put his hand over hers.

“Give it a bit more effort, Josie. She’s your mum.” His hand slid away but Josie caught it and held it.

“And Hannah? What do I do about Hannah?”

“Your man’s got that covered.” Stephen lifted her hand and kissed it. Then he gave it a nice pat and said: “Come on. We’ve a lot of work to do.”

Josie was about to tell him that she was done with it all, that she was tired of working on an unsolvable mystery, when something flashed in her brain. It was quick and unclear like a word on the tip of her tongue, so she scrambled after it before she lost even that much.

“Stephen. What’s the name of the man who bought Ha Kuna House?”

“What?”

She clasped his hand tighter and gave it a shake. “You know, the guy who bought the place for fifty grand? You saw his name on the title.”

“Robert Cote.” He peeled his hand away from hers so he could refill his glass. “Why?”

“He’s the guy who signed most of those forms Amelia gave us.” Josie got off the bar. “Including my mother’s. And guess what? I’ve seen it somewhere else.”

Josie hurried toward the office. By the time Stephen got there, she was already rifling through the pile of paperwork and notes she had accumulated.

“Good grief, what are you doing, woman? I thought you were giving up?”

“Guess not.”

She shot him a grin and went back to what she was doing. Finally, she whipped a sheet of paper out of the pile. Josie shoved the court order committing Emily Bates to Ha Kuna House at him. Stephen squinted. She pointed.

“Right here. Look on the back. It didn’t register when I first saw it. I was more concerned with the order itself.”

“Damn hard to read. Ink’s faded. Ah, I’ve got it. ICE. In case of emergency. A phone number and initials. RC.” Stephen read out loud and then pulled back. “I would say that is just too strange a coincidence. It’s one thing to sign admission papers or buy a piece of property, but quite another to have the power to commit a person. Bit of a conflict of interest, wouldn’t you say?”

“Let’s find out, shall we?” Josie picked up the phone. “Read the number to me.”

She dialed as fast as he read. The phone was answered on the fourth ring. Josie gave Stephen a thumb’s up, but her smile faded when she heard:

“Department of Homeland Security, how may I direct your call?”

“
C or K on Cote? –
Archer

“C. C-o-t-e.” –
Josie

“I’ll check when I get home. Day after tomorrow I’m headed out.” –
Archer

“No sign of her or Billy?” –
Josie

“It was a long shot. People only need so many pictures. She’s trading them for food so she’s probably moved on where the pickings aren’t so slim.” –
Archer

“I suppose.” –
Josie

“Sorry, babe. I don’t have anywhere else to go with this.” –
Archer

“I know.” –
Josie

“I’m not giving up.” –
Archer

“I know.” –
Josie

“I love you.” –
Archer

“Back at you.” –
Josie

CHAPTER 19

The
No Problem
cut through the water with Josie at the helm and the absolutely gorgeous boat hand, Danny, kicking back, waiting for the wheel when she tired of fighting the waves. Stephen was below nursing an ‘upside down tummy.’ Josie had suggested that he stay on Maui but he was determined to be her moral support. He lasted all of ten minutes before the choppy sea got to him. She would have gone back, but she was late for her scheduled visit with the social worker and the ferry wouldn’t get her to Molokai on time. With the sound of the wind too loud for her to hear Stephen’s moans and laments, Josie let her thoughts wander to Mr. Robert Cote.

He was not employed by Homeland Security as she assumed. Rather, he was retired from the Department of Defense. The phone number had simply been taken over by Homeland Security as they expanded into the offices of the DOD. It took twenty minutes of talking and checking for the woman on the other end to make the connection, but eventually it was made. Sadly, Josie couldn’t get the woman to tell her:

Mr. Cote’s Department of Defense designation in 1986.

Where Mr. Cote resided.

Whether Mr. Cotes was alive.

Or, what connection Mr. Cote might have to Ha Kuna House.

Despite the lack of information, Josie was satisfied. She found her purpose once more. She put her self-doubt behind her and Emily’s welfare at the forefront. Archer would start a background on Mr. Cote, Stephen would talk to the old timers on Molokai who might have known him, and Josie had already drafted a petition for Judge Mohr to include Robert Cote’s employment records from Ha Kuna House, MPS, and the Department of Defense in his orders. Sadly, it would all take time and Josie was becoming impatient.