Running Blind (3 page)

“Actually, I would.”

“I'm going to have to insist.”

“I'm sure you are, but I'm not going anywhere until Jenna's family arrives.” Nikolai pressed a hand to Jenna's back, urging her to the chair.

She sat quickly, her head spinning from the movement. “Do you have news, Agent Bradley?”

“I'm afraid that's why I'm here.”

Afraid?

That meant the news was bad. “You've found Magdalena?”

“The Mexican police found her body. She was shot execution-style and left on the side of the road about twenty miles from where you were being held.”

Dead.

Magdalena was dead.

The words echoed through Jenna's mind, and she took a deep breath, trying to silence them. “You're sure it's her?”

“Her husband is flying to Mexico to identify the body, but we're confident it is.”

“I see.”

But she didn't.

How was it possible that Magdalena was dead? That a mission of mercy had turned into a death sentence?

Nikolai squeezed her shoulder, his hand resting there as Agent Bradley continued. “I'm really sorry to have to bring you this news, Jenna, but we're hoping that something you know can help us find your friend's killers.”

“Magdalena was one of the kindest, most selfless people I've ever known. I can't think of any reason why someone would want to harm her.”

“Would it surprise you to know we found thousands of dol
lars worth of cocaine hidden inside the lining of her suitcase and purse back at the hotel room you shared?”

“Nothing would surprise me at this point.” She stood, pacing across the room, away from Agent Bradley's questions and Nikolai's gentle support.

“Did you know it was there?”

“Of course, I didn't. Neither did Magdalena.”

“It seems unlikely that Magdalena didn't know what was hidden in her things,” Bradley responded, a hint of impatience in his voice.

“I've told you what I know and what I believe. I'm not sure what else you want me to say.”

“Who did she spend time with when she wasn't working at the clinic?”

“Me. A few of the other medical professionals who were on the mission trip with us.”

“She didn't go on errands alone? Perhaps take a few late-night strolls?”

“We were only there a couple of days, and she never went anywhere alone during that time.”

“How about phone calls?”

“What about them?” Jenna's temper rose, washing over her in a wave that drowned out fatigue and pain and sorrow.

“You sound upset.”

“Of course, I'm upset. My best friend is dead. Murdered. And you're accusing her of being involved in drug trafficking.”

“I'm not accusing. I'm questioning.”

“I don't see the difference.”

“We need answers, Jenna. I'm sure you understand that.”

“I'm giving them to you, but I get the impression you'd rather me tell you a fantastic tale about late-night phone calls and strange disappearances than the truth.”

“The truth is that your friend was executed by the Mexican Panthers. The truth is it wasn't just a random act.”

“It had to be.” Jenna bit back her temper, knowing it wouldn't help. Losing control never made things easier, and it certainly wouldn't convince Agent Bradley that she was telling the truth.

“Did you miss the part where I told you that Dr. Romero had thousands of dollars worth of illegal drugs in her suitcase and purse?”

“Someone else must have put that there. Magdalena was absolutely opposed to illegal drug use.”

“Who would have done that? When?”

“I don't know. I just know that it wasn't hers.”

“You
think
that it wasn't, but—”

“It's your job to find the truth, Agent Bradley, so perhaps you should go do that.” Nikolai broke into the conversation, and Bradley stiffened.

“Part of finding the truth involves interviewing people who knew the deceased.”

The deceased.

He said it as if Magdalena were a faceless, nameless body. Someone who had lived and died and whose life no longer had value.

“The
deceased
was a woman of integrity. The
deceased
had a son and a husband who loved her and hundreds of patients who respected and admired her. The deceased was a dear friend of mine, and if you think that I'm going to roll over and play dead while you accuse her of drug-related crimes, you've got another thing coming.”

“All I'm asking you to do is think back over your time in Mexico. See if there's something that stood out as odd or out of character for Magdalena. Perhaps she was pressured into carrying those drugs. Perhaps someone on the team pulled her into something she didn't want to do.”

“She wasn't like that. She couldn't be pressured into doing something illegal or immoral,” Jenna said, but knew Agent Bradley wouldn't believe her. Did it even matter? They could
argue all day and it wouldn't bring Magdalena back. That thought was a splash of ice water that cooled Jenna's temper, stole the energy that had pulsed through her. Her legs went weak, her body numb, and she wasn't sure how much longer she could stay on her feet.

“Is it possible that she—”

“I don't think I'm up to this, after all. Maybe we could finish the interview another time,” Jenna cut him off, dropping onto the edge of the bed.

“It's imperative that we get as much information from you as soon as we can.”

“She said that she was done.” Nikolai spoke before Jenna could, stepping between her and the agent and bending down to look into her eyes. “Would you like me to call the nurse?”

“No. I just need to close my eyes for a while.” What she really needed was to be alone with her thoughts so that she could wrap her mind around what Agent Bradley was saying, what he was accusing Magdalena of.

“I'm sure Agent Bradley understands that.”

“I'll come back in a few hours. I'm sure you'll be feeling well enough to answer more questions by then.” There seemed to be a threat behind the agent's words, and Jenna was still letting it sink in as the sound of footsteps and voices drifted in from the corridor.

“Ms. Dougherty?” A nurse stepped into the room. “You have another visitor.”

A tall, masculine figure appeared behind her. “Hey, sis. Sorry it took me so long to get here.”

“Kane?” She wanted to say more, but her voice caught.

“Who else?” He hurried across the room, his dark hair and familiar face so welcome, Jenna blinked back tears of relief.

“Magdalena is dead.” She said it without thinking, the truth bursting out and into the air, hanging there.

“I know. I heard on my way here.” He sat beside her, putting an arm around her shoulders.

“I should have tried harder to keep them from taking her.”

“You did everything you could.” He smoothed her hair just as he had when she was a kid and had run to him with a scraped knee or a bruised ego.

She didn't respond, just closed her eyes, fighting back tears, knowing that if she let them fall, she'd never stop crying.

“I'll come back in a few hours.” Agent Bradley spoke quietly, and for the first time since he'd entered the room, he sounded compassionate rather than businesslike.

“I'll walk you out,” Nikolai said, and Jenna forced her eyes open.

“Will you be coming back?”

“Do you need me to?”

It was an odd question, and despite the fact that Kane was sitting beside her, Jenna almost said yes. “I guess not.”

“Then I'll leave for the airport. I've got some business to take care of in Houston.”

But not the business he'd spoken of before. There would be no effort to cross the border, no desperate search for a missing woman. Magdalena had been found, and the truth of her death settled deep into Jenna's heart. A tear rolled down her cheek, and she brushed it away, closing her eyes again, and turning her face so that the men wouldn't see. Footsteps sounded on the tile floor, and someone leaned close. She could feel his warmth, smell the mint that seemed to hang on the air around Nikolai. A warm finger traced the path her tear had taken, but she didn't open her eyes. Couldn't. Not without letting everything she was feeling out.

“It will be okay, Jenna. You will grieve, and then you will go on. That's how life is.” Nikolai echoed the words he'd spoken earlier, his voice seeping into Jenna's self-imposed darkness.

She knew she should respond, but what was there to say? Magdalena was dead. Words couldn't change that, so she kept silent, listening as Nikolai said goodbye to Kane and walked away.

H
undreds of mourners picked their way across rain-soaked earth, following the pallbearers to a large tent covering the open grave. Black umbrella butted against black umbrella, the drip of rain and rustle of fabric mixing with hushed conversation and the slosh of feet on wet grass. Nikolai followed the crowd, his eyes on the vibrant blue umbrella near the head of the pack. It had been a week since he'd seen Jenna, but he had no trouble conjuring up an image of her face. He'd thought about her often in the days since he'd left her at the hospital.

Too often.

He'd wondered how she was doing. Worried that her vision hadn't returned the way it was supposed to. He'd found himself calling Kane to check in on a daily basis, had almost given in to temptation and gone to the airport the day Jenna and her family had flown in for the funeral. That annoyed him. He was, after all, a confirmed bachelor. A guy who enjoyed freedom from the trappings of family and relationships.

At least he had been.

Things had changed in the past year. He'd reconnected with the sister he'd thought had been lost to him forever. He'd accepted a job working for Information Unlimited. He'd found himself with family ties and career ties, a small apartment in Houston and a church family that prayed for him when he was on assignment.

And now he found himself attending the funeral of a woman he didn't know, offering support to someone he barely knew.

For sure he was changing, and he wasn't sure he liked it.

He skirted past a young couple carrying a crying toddler, bypassed several older couples and found a spot a dozen yards from the gravesite. Rain splashed onto his head and dripped down his face, but he didn't bother wiping it away.

Under the tent, the pastor began to speak, his deep voice carrying across the cemetery, the words meant to comfort. How, though, could one find comfort in death? Even knowledge of God and Heaven did not take away the sting of goodbyes said too early. Nikolai had said enough of them to know that.

Magdalena Romero had been shot in cold blood. The truth of that tainted the victorious message of everlasting life that the pastor offered. Had a woman so admired by so many been involved in drug trafficking? That seemed to be the angle the DEA was pursuing. Nikolai had heard the same from the Mexican police he'd spoken to.

Yet Jenna was convinced of her friend's innocence.

Either way, a young mother was gone, her son childless, her husband a widower.

The pastor finished speaking and family members placed pink and white roses on top of the casket. One by one, the mourners who'd braved the weather did the same. One by one, they said their goodbyes, shook the rain off their shoes and got back into their cars. A dark-haired man ushered a toddler away from the grave. The little boy splashed in a puddle near one of the limousines. Was he Magdalena's child? If so, he was much too young to understand the finality of his mother's death and burial.

It didn't take long for the gravesite to empty of all but a few mourners. The dark-haired man and the child were joined by an older couple, and the four climbed into the limousine. The driver slowly pulled away.

Jenna stood beneath the tent, her umbrella held loosely in
her hand. Kane and an older couple stood to her right. She said something, and the three walked toward a dark sedan parked nearby, leaving Jenna in front of the casket.

Alone, she seemed much smaller than Nikolai remembered. More fragile and less tough. In his memory, she'd been someone for whom losing would never be an option. Looking at her now, seeing her bowed shoulders and head, he had the impression of defeat rather than victory.

Grass and water sloshed under his feet as he crossed the space between them. The tent was nearly empty, the funeral home staff hovering a respectable distance away, waiting for the last mourner to leave. Hundreds of roses covered the gleaming mahogany casket, and the area surrounding the grave was littered with glistening petals. Nikolai lay his rose on top of the pile, saying a silent prayer for Magdalena's family.

“She would have loved this.” Jenna spoke quietly, and Nikolai turned, his breath catching as he looked into her eyes. He'd been wrong to think she was vulnerable, to believe that she was defeated. There was fire in her pale blue eyes, and a need for revenge that Nikolai understood only too well.

“You're Nikolai, right?” She smiled and took a step toward him, the scent of vanilla hanging in the air as she offered her hand.

“That's right.” He clasped hands with her, feeling the strength of her fingers and the calloused ridges on her palms.

“I thought so, but my vision wasn't that great when we last saw each other, and I wasn't sure.”

“I wondered if you'd recognize me.”

“I almost didn't. I wasn't expecting to see you again.”

“I wanted to pay my respects, and I wanted to see how you were doing.”

“Thank you. For both things.” She stepped past him, the scent of vanilla stronger as she placed her hand on the lid of the coffin. “She was much too young to die.”

“Isn't everyone?”

She glanced over her shoulder, offering a sad smile. “I suppose so, but Magdalena really was young. Just thirty. With a young son who needed her.” She shook her head, let her hand fall away from the casket. “It shouldn't have happened. I want to know why it did.”

“Your brother told me that when we spoke last.”

“And that's why you're really here? To make sure I don't go running off to Mexico in some mad quest for revenge?”

“I already told you why I'm here.”

“And it has nothing to do with the fact that my brother needs to get back to Washington and doesn't want to leave me here for a few days?”

“He mentioned that, but it's not my reason for coming.”

“No? So Kane never asked you to play bodyguard when he returns to Spokane?”

“Not in so many words.”

“I knew it. I'm going to have to have a talk with that brother of mine.” She would have walked away, but Nikolai put a hand on her arm, holding her in place. Despite the fire in her eyes and the calluses on her hands, she was very thin, her bone structure fine. He loosened his grip, not wanting to bruise her.

“Your brother simply asked me to check in on you a few times while you were in Houston. Since I live just a few miles from the hotel, it wasn't an unreasonable request.”

“You don't need to check in on me at all, Nikolai. I'm perfectly capable of taking care of myself.”

“That's what I told your brother.”

“Yet you're still here.”

“Would you rather I not have come?”

She frowned, smoothing a hand over her hair, her thick bangs parting to reveal the fading bruise on her forehead. “I'm sorry. I don't know what's wrong with me lately. Too many people asking too many questions that don't make sense, I
guess. But, then, none of this makes sense.” She gestured to the casket. “I still can't believe she's gone.”

“How are her husband and son holding up?”

“John is…stoic. There's been a lot of media attention surrounding the case, and I think he's trying to keep his emotions in check. Little Benjamin keeps asking when his mother is coming home. I don't think he can wrap his mind around the word
never
. He's too young to understand and too young to retain many memories of his mother.”

“He'll have you and his father and his family to remind him.”

“Yes. That's true.” She turned back to the casket, bowing her head, perhaps praying as Nikolai had done. Did she wonder, as he often did, how God could allow good people to die so brutally? Or did she simply accept that the world was a sinful and fallen place and that tragedy was not limited to those who truly seemed deserving of it?

The wind gusted, blowing rain under the tent and scattering rose pedals across the slick green grass. Jenna shivered. “I guess this is it, then. Goodbye, dear friend.” She kissed her fingers, set them on the casket one last time and turned away.

Nikolai fell into step beside her as she walked away, not speaking, knowing there was nothing he could say that would ease Jenna's grief.

The silence lasted until they reached the black sedan and the door opened, Kane stepping out into the rain. “Umbrellas are more useful when they're open, Jen. You'd better get in the car where it's dry,” he said, nodding a greeting at Nikolai.

“A little rain never hurt anyone,” she responded, not bothering to do as he'd asked. “Will you be coming to the reception, Nikolai?”

“I understood it was only for close friends and family.”

“And their guests. There's no reason why you can't be one of mine.”

“It might be best if I leave the family to their privacy.”

“John is expecting 150 people. I don't think privacy is something he's worried about. Besides, I had a proposition I'd like to discuss with you.”

“A proposition?”

“A job.”

“What are you talking about, Jenna?” Kane sounded exasperated, and Jenna patted him on the arm.

“Nothing worrisome. I just needed some help doing some research. You said Nikolai does freelance work for you, and I thought he might like an extra job.”

“Does this have something to do with Magdalena?”

“What if it does?” She met her brother's eyes, the fire back in her gaze.

“The men who killed your friend are dangerous, Jenna. I don't want you going after them. Leave that to the police.”

“So far, the police haven't done squat. Will you come to the reception, Nikolai?”

The look Kane sent his way told Nikolai exactly what his answer should be, but he'd never been one to conform to others' expectations. Obviously, Jenna had a plan for finding her friend's killer. Obviously, she was going to keep searching until she found someone to help her. Nikolai wasn't sure he'd be the person to do that, but there was nothing wrong with hearing her out.

“Sure.”

“Good. You can follow us over.” Jenna's smile was brilliant, and Nikolai found himself smiling in return as she slid into the car and turned to speak to one of the occupants.

“You're not seriously considering helping my sister,” Kane asked quietly, and Nikolai's smile fell away.

“It depends on what she needs and what she's willing to pay.”

“That's rather mercenary, even for you.”

“It is what it is.” Nikolai shrugged, not at all offended by Kane's assessment. If he chose to help Jenna, he'd probably do
it free of charge. But that was his business and his decision, not something he planned to discuss with Kane.

“She's been through a lot in the past few years, Nikolai. Don't make things worse by stringing her along, promising her something you can't deliver.”

“If I promise her something, I'll deliver.”

Kane frowned, but didn't push the conversation any further. He'd been the one, after all, who'd called Nikolai when he couldn't reach Jenna by phone during her trip to Mexico. He'd been the one to call him and ask him to check on Jenna during her stay in Houston.

“Are you two done? We need to head over to the reception,” Jenna called out from the car, and Kane nodded, shooting Nikolai a hard look as he got in and closed the door.

Nikolai ignored it. He wanted to know Jenna's plan. Only if he knew it could he be sure that she wasn't going to put herself right back in the path of danger. He jogged the few yards to his GTO and climbed in, following Kane to an upscale neighborhood on the edge of downtown Houston. Executive homes stood on large lots, their mature landscaping speaking of a well-established community. Dozens of cars lined the street, and Nikolai found a parking spot and waited as the Doughertys got out of their vehicle.

“I'm glad you came,” Jenna called out as she walked toward him.

“It's not a problem.”

“I'm sure my brother asked you not to.”

“I did not,” Kane said as he and an older couple joined Jenna. “I don't think you've met my parents, Nikolai. Lila and Richard Dougherty, this is Nikolai Jansen.”

“Nice to meet you.” Nikolai offered each a brief handshake.

“We can't begin to tell you how grateful we are for all you've done.” Mrs. Dougherty pulled Nikolai into an unexpected hug, and Nikolai wasn't sure if he should pull back or let her have her way.

“Mom, give the poor man some room to breathe,” Jenna said, tugging her mother away.

“Sorry, but I've been waiting nearly a week to thank you.” Mrs. Dougherty patted his arm, and he smiled. Her eyes were the same pale blue as her daughter's, and looking at her gave him a glimpse into what Jenna would be like in thirty years.

“There's no need to thank me. I did what anyone would have, given the chance.”

“You went above and beyond, and we won't forget it,” Mr. Dougherty added, and Nikolai met his gaze, saw the worry there.

“Why don't you guys continue your lovefest inside?” Jenna broke in, her cheeks blazing.

“Good idea. Is that the house?” Nikolai gestured to a large Greek Revival that sat far back on a manicured yard.

“Yes.”

“It's beautiful.”

“It is,” Jenna agreed, but she didn't sound like she meant it.

“You don't like it?” Nikolai walked up the driveway with her.

“It doesn't seem like Magdalena's style.”

“What do you mean?”

“Big fancy house, big fancy lawn. She liked simpler things.”

“Yet she lived here.”

“John wanted something larger than the little condo they had downtown. This is the first time I've been to the house. The opulence surprised me.” She reached out to ring the doorbell, but before she could, the door opened and a young man ushered them inside.

He took their coats and umbrellas, then disappeared, leaving them standing in a large foyer. Marble tiles gleamed in light from an ostentatious chandelier, and a wide curved stair
case led to a second-story landing. Obviously, the doctor and her husband had been doing well financially.