Last Run (22 page)

‘It’s the machine,’ Cathy said to Kez.

‘Leave a message,’ Kez told her.

‘What if something’s wrong?’ Cathy ended the call.

‘It’s not the middle of the night.’ Kez sounded irritated.

‘Sam’ll have gone to work,’ Cathy said, ‘but Grace ought to be home.’

‘Gone shopping,’ Kez suggested.

‘Too early,’ Cathy said. ‘Not Grace’s thing.’

‘Taking a shower,’ Kez said. ‘Walking the dog.’

‘Could be, though that’s usually Sam first thing.’

‘First day back,’ Kez said. ‘He probably left earlier than usual.’

‘I guess Grace could be walking Woody or taking a shower.’ Cathy paused. ‘She sometimes makes house calls too, pre-school.’

‘There you are, then,’ Kez said. ‘No need to worry.’

‘I’ll leave a message.’

Cathy called again, waited a moment.

‘Hi, everyone, it’s me. Hope Saul’s doing well – hope you’re all OK.’ She considered apologizing for staying out, then decided against it. ‘I just
wanted to let you know Kez and I are going to Naples for a couple of hours – yeah, I know I just got back, but we have to go see something important. If there’s any news, any change
with Saul, can you please, please call me right away.’ She paused again. ‘Love you.’

She ended the call, tucked the phone back in her bag.

‘Better?’ Kez asked.

‘I guess,’ Cathy said.

She had stayed in hiding in the restroom, going in and out of cubicles, washing her hands when other women came in and then, when she was alone again, opening the outer door a
crack now and again until she was sure they had all gone.

Sam first, then Grace, then David.

She waited while Dr Khan went back into Saul’s room, came out again, wrote up some notes at the nurses’ station, handed over a folder, then disappeared into one of the elevators.

And then, while all was quiet, she slipped into the room.

Saul was sleeping.

Terri sat down quietly on the visitor’s chair nearest his bed.

Watching him. The tubes and electrode pads, the padding and bandages around his neck, the whole dreadful, life-saving picture.

Her mind was almost numb. Not numb enough.

The machines droned and beeped, Saul’s chest rose and fell, and Terri began to realize how tired she was, and if he didn’t wake again soon she was going to have to rouse him, and she
hated to disturb his rest, but this might be the only time she had to be alone with him and she needed that so badly.

Saul opened his eyes.

They smiled as soon as he saw her, warming her through.

‘Thank you,’ she said.

His left hand moved to the tube in his neck.

‘Leave that, baby,’ she told him gently, took his hand in hers and held it.

He made a sound, from some place between his throat and chest.

‘It’s OK,’ Terri told him. ‘You’re going to be OK.’

He closed his eyes briefly, and when he opened them, they were filled with tears.

‘I’m so sorry,’ she said. ‘I need you to understand how much I mean that. I love you so much, but it’s all my fault, I know that.’

Saul shook his head as well as he could, and another sound, more like a moan, escaped him.

‘It’s true.’ Terri bent her head over his hand, kissed it, held it to her cheek. ‘If I hadn’t walked out on you, if we’d been together, this wouldn’t
have happened to you.’

Saul pulled his hand away.

‘You hate me,’ Terri said, ‘and I can’t blame you. And if you hate me for ever, I’ll understand, but I need you to understand how much I love you, baby.’

She realized suddenly that something was happening.

Saul had not just withdrawn his hand out of anger.

He was pointing. Past her.

‘What is it?’ Terri asked. ‘Something you need?’

He made another sound – of effort, she thought – pointed again, and Terri half rose from her chair.

‘Want me to find someone?’

He shook his head again, and now she saw that he was pointing at her bag, at the shoulder bag she’d dumped on the floor when she came in.

‘My bag?’ she asked. ‘Something in my bag?’

She got up, went to fetch it, held it out in front of him.

Saul pointed again.

‘This?’ Terri took out the
Miami Herald
, rolled and sticking out of one corner of the canvas bag. ‘Is this what you want?’

He flattened out his hand.

‘OK.’ She laid the newspaper out on the bed. ‘Like this?’

Another grunt of effort and he was pointing again, his eyes straining.

‘Closer?’ Terri moved the paper further up the bed, wary of the tubes, conscious too of the risk of infection, certain that if a nurse or Dr Khan were to come in right now, they
would kick her straight out.

She could see that Saul was having some problems focusing on the front page, was at a loss to know how to help him – but suddenly his index finger was straight out, shaky but pointing at
one of the headlines.

‘This?’ She motioned to it with her own hand.

He shook his head again, and the cardiac monitor sent out beeps, and Terri knew that any minute now a nurse would come in, but there was nothing she could do . . .

And then she realized he was pointing at a single word in the headline.

KIDNAPPER

‘Kidnapper?’ She said the word out loud.

Saul shook his head yet again, pointed again.

At the first letter.

‘K?’ Terri asked.

A nod at last, another wince and his finger was travelling to the right, so shakily that it took another moment for Terri to establish which letter was next.

‘E?’

Saul let his hand drop, exhausted.

‘K.E.?’ Terri was perplexed. ‘Is that it?’

His eyes were moving, roaming over the whole front page.

‘OK,’ she encouraged him. ‘You’re looking for more, right?’

Back and forth, up and down, and Saul was paler, sweating, and Terri cast a glance back at the door, willing medics and nurses to stay out just a little longer.

His hand lifted off the covers again, finger back at work targeting one more letter, finding it, it seemed, in a piece about a drowning.

Down to one word again.

CAPSIZED

One letter.

Z.

His hand dropped down again and he lay back, drained.

‘Z?’ Terri said.

Spelt it out.

‘K.E.Z.’

Realized what she had said, forehead creasing, bewildered.

‘Kez?’ She stared at Saul, scarcely able to believe it. ‘Is that it? Is that what you’re telling me?’

His eyes told the rest.

‘Oh dear God,’ Terri said.

Chapter Twenty-three

Grace was back home in her office, had just finished playing back her messages when a new call came in from the hospital.

She listened briefly, heard the caller tell her that Saul was in an increasing state of agitation and that Dr Khan now felt that it might be helpful if one of the family could return to Miami
General.

‘Of course,’ Grace said. ‘I’ll contact my husband and Dr Becket right away, and we’ll be there as soon as we can.’

‘Can I help?’ Lucia came through the door, Woody still at the end of his leash, tail wagging after their walk – often Lucia’s first chore of the day – as Grace got
back to her feet. ‘Is it Saul?’

‘Nothing terrible, don’t fret,’ Grace told her. ‘But I need to call—’

‘I heard.’ Lucia bent to unclip the leash. ‘Shall I make the calls for you?’

Grace shook her head. ‘I can do it on the way.’

They went out into the hallway together.

‘I didn’t see Cathy’s car outside.’ Lucia said. ‘Would you like me to get hold of her? I’d like to be of some use.’

‘There’s no point.’ Grace picked up her keys from the hall table. ‘I just had a message from her saying she’s en route to Naples with a friend, so I think I’d
rather wait a little while before I yank them back, see how Saul’s doing first.’ She opened the front door. ‘God knows Cathy could use a day away.’

She caught Lucia’s expression just before she turned away.

Barely veiled disapproval, reminding her strongly of how Dora had been in Cathy’s early days with them. And though Grace realized that Lucia’s only sin was in feeling that
Cathy’s place right now was with family, not friends, the look annoyed her nonetheless. It seemed to her, as she got back in the Toyota and slammed the door, that where Cathy was concerned,
even some of the nicest people – people who ought, therefore, to know a damned sight better – still tended to judge her.

Which frankly made Grace even more glad that Cathy had found someone she cared about and who, she hoped with all her heart, cared about her in return and would not let her down.

Terri sat in her car, thoughts whirling.

What to do first?

Find Cathy, tell her.

Can’t tell her if she’s with Kez.

So just
find
her.

She scrolled through her phone book, called the Becket house. The machine picked up – Grace’s voice, giving her cell phone number in the message for emergencies. Terri tried that
number, got voicemail, cut off again.

What she needed was Cathy’s cell phone number. What she had to do was find out where she was and if she
was
with Kez. One-two-three. Find her, get her away from Kez, then take it
from there.

Not the right approach for Officer Teresa Suarez, of course. The right approach, the
only
one, for her as a cop was to pass this on – to Sam, first, she guessed, or maybe to go over
his head to his sergeant or lieutenant, maybe even higher.

No way she was going to do any of that, not yet at least.

For one thing, this was
it
at last, her big chance – the biggest she was ever likely to get – to prove herself. Besides which, slowing things down by calling it in, reporting
it to anyone at the department was not going to help Cathy if she was with Kez. Only finding her quickly was going to do that.

Anyway, after what had gone on in the hospital this morning, with Big Bro keeping his eyes glued to Saul’s face, checking out the way he reacted to her in
case –
that had not
been her imagination any more than the suspicious looks she’d been getting from Doc Grace lately – and Terri did not appreciate being treated that way, no ma’am.

No, sir.

Not Cathy’s fault, though.

She waited a moment, called Saul’s father’s house, not sure what she was going to say if he answered, not wanting to give him more heartache – of all of them, she had most time
for David, who always treated her with respect.

His machine was switched on, too, which made Terri wonder if maybe they’d all been called back to Miami General, which had to mean that Saul, having found a way to communicate with her,
wanted to do the same with them.

Which meant that the big detective was going to know about Kez soon enough, with or without Officer Suarez’s help.

Which was not going to stop Terri from heading over to Golden Beach right now.

Fast as the wheels of her Ford Focus could take her.

Sam, Grace and David were all back at the hospital waiting to go in to Saul’s room, because they’d chosen that time for their routine changing of IV and other bags
and dressings, and Sam was pacing.

‘Go on like that,’ David told him, ‘and you’ll be needing your own room.’

‘I’m fine, Dad,’ Sam said, and went on pacing.

‘Well, I’m not,’ David said. ‘I’m old and I’m tired and I need my son to be calm around me instead of aggravating my ulcer.’

‘You don’t have an ulcer, do you?’ asked Grace.

‘Not till this morning,’ said David.

No trouble getting into Saul’s house because the place was virtually hidden from Ocean Boulevard by its white stone wall, and because Saul had complained that his dad
never turned on the intruder alarm that Sam had put in for him, which meant it was easy for Terri to stroll around to the back and get in through the old sliding patio door.

Property Crimes had its uses, after all.

Inside, she didn’t hesitate, knew where to go, directly into the kitchen where she knew that David Becket kept his list of family numbers on the refrigerator door – and bingo, there
was Cathy’s cell phone number.

Which she called right away.

Heard it ringing.

A little way past the signs for the Miccusokee Indian Reservation, Cathy heard the phone ringing in her bag, dug it out and answered.

Heard Terri’s voice, and panicked. ‘Is Saul OK?’

‘He’s more than OK,’ Terri told her. ‘He’s awake.’

‘Oh my God,’ Cathy said. ‘That’s wonderful.’

‘Cathy, there’s something I. . .’

‘Call her back later,’ Kez said.

‘Terri, hold on.’ Cathy covered the phone’s mouthpiece and frowned at Kez. ‘I want to hear what she’s saying.’

‘And clearly what she’s just told you is
wonderful
, so now I’m asking you to wait a little while,’ Kez said brusquely. ‘Not so much to ask, is it? Just a
couple of hours alone together before we go back.’

Cathy put the phone back to her ear.

‘Terri, we’re on Alligator Alley on our way to Naples, but I’ll be back in Miami Beach later, so if you . . .’

Kez reached across, snatched the phone from her, looked at it quickly, hit the cut-off key, then opened her window and threw it out into the grass on the central reservation.

‘For heaven’s
sake
.’ Cathy couldn’t believe it. ‘Kez, why did you
do
that?’

‘I’m sorry.’ Kez closed the window, her eyes back on the highway.

‘Stop the car.’ Cathy couldn’t remember the last time she had felt so furious.

‘I can’t,’ Kez said.

‘Pull over and stop the
car
.’

‘Calm down,’ Kez told her. ‘I’ll replace your fucking phone.’

‘I don’t care about the phone,’ Cathy said. ‘I care about my brother and I care about what you just
did
.’

‘I know, and I told you I’m sorry. But Saul’s obviously doing better, which is great, which is why I’m asking you to put me first for a few short hours.’

Cathy shook her head, still seething.

‘But I guess,’ Kez went on, ‘if you’re not happy to do that for me, better I know that now, and I’ll turn around soon as I can and we can call this whole thing a
day.’