Tracie Peterson (15 page)

No, not alone,
Cara thought.
A God who sees a sparrow fall surely stood beside Teri in her hour of need.

“You really should try to get some sleep,” Melissa said, breaking the stillness. “Harry will be here at five-thirty to take you to the airport. That’s going to come around awfully early.”

Cara knew the truth of her words. “I can’t imagine being able to sleep with what I know.”

“But what do you really know? We may be all wrong about this.”

“No,” Cara said, meeting Melissa’s gaze. “I know Robert Kerns is responsible, and I won’t rest until that baby is found and he answers for Teri’s death.”

****

By the time Harry knocked on the door the next morning, he’d given Teri’s death more than a little thought. He’d spent hours talking to friends in the sheriff and police departments, but answers were scarce.

“Ready?” he asked as Cara opened the door to him. She was dressed smartly in a dark green woolen suit, but her sleepy expression and puffy eyes told him she’d not had a very restful night.

“I guess so.” She picked up a suitcase, which Harry immediately took from her.

Melissa came to stand behind Cara. Resting her hands on Cara’s shoulders, she said, “I suppose it’s no good telling you to have a nice trip.”

“And completely futile telling me not to worry,” Cara said, patting Melissa’s hand. “But I’ll do my best anyway. Thanks for being here for Brianna and me.”

“Anytime.”

Cara looked at Harry with eyes that seemed to plead for him to tell her it was all a mistake—Teri’s death had never happened and Bob Kerns had never forced her into the campaign. How he wished he could ease her worry.

“Here, don’t forget this,” Melissa called out. She brought Cara’s purse and overnight case. “You’d be hard-pressed without these.”

“True, and I’d look worse than I do now without my makeup.”

“You look just fine,” Harry said.

Cara tried to laugh. “Are you sure you can see well enough to drive? I caught my reflection in the mirror this morning and even I was frightened.”

Harry put the suitcase in the trunk of his car and came around to open the door for Cara. “I happen to like what I see, beyond the lack of sleep.”

“Spoken like a true knight in shining armor,” Cara whispered in reply.

Harry grinned. “My steed awaits,” he said and motioned to the car with a sweeping bow.

Cara took her seat with a smile.

Harry thought she looked so much younger than her years. He worried about what the campaign trail would do to her that it hadn’t already done. There was a high price to pay for public exposure, and he hated to think of it wiping away Cara’s innocence and joy.

Taking his place behind the wheel, Harry was halfway to the airport before he spoke. Cara seemed immersed in her thoughts, and he wondered if she’d even hear him.

“Cara, if you need me this week, I want you to call me. I’ll take vacation time if necessary. I’ve already explained to the governor that I have a strong connection to the opposition. There’s another pilot who’ll fly him around the state this week, and I’ll be in Topeka. You have my work and beeper numbers, right?”

Cara nodded affirmation, still seeming to Harry to be in a world all her own. When the light turned red, Harry stopped the car and reached to take hold of her hand.

“Cara, I care a great deal about you and Brianna. I don’t want to see either of you hurt.”

Cara looked down at the hand engulfing hers and with slow deliberate action took her free hand and placed it on top. “I’m glad you care.”

The light turned green, but Harry refused to go. He felt a desperation to suspend the moment. He looked deep into Cara’s eyes and found an unnamed fear that he wished he could take from her.

“God is still in control, Cara. He knows what happened, and no matter who is responsible, they will answer to Him for their actions.”

“I know,” Cara whispered. “I guess the human side of me wants them to answer to me as well.”

Harry smiled. “But the human side isn’t in charge, is it?”

Cara averted her eyes and looked out the window, noting that the traffic light had turned red again. “I’m trying not to let it be, but it’s very hard.”

“I know and I’ll be praying for you,” answered Harry. There seemed to be little else he could say. He wanted to tell her that it would be all right and that God would bring Kerns to justice. He wanted to assure her that nothing would harm her or Brianna. He wanted to kiss her and hold her close until all fear melted away. Instead, he took his hand from hers and waited for the light to turn green again.

Twenty-Two

Danielle Kerns buttoned her jacket against the blustery October breeze and hurried toward the student union building. The weather had taken a sudden wintry turn, leaving Danielle rather unprepared. Tomorrow she’d remember her coat.

Sometime in the night, her mother and father had returned from their week-long campaign trip. She’d heard them arguing in the hall and then again later from behind their closed bedroom door. There was little doubt in her mind that her parents would have liked to divorce. Her father wouldn’t allow it, however, because his political career would be complicated by such an action. Sometimes Danielle thought he simply enjoyed inflicting pain too much to let her mother go.

Nearly tripping up the steps to the building, Danielle hurried through the doors and down the stairs to the bookstore. She hoped to find a newspaper in order to pull together a last-minute current events assignment. She had it all planned in her mind. She’d get the paper then go upstairs for some coffee and spend her short break between classes searching for an appropriate article.

“Do you have today’s paper?” she asked the first clerk she saw.

“Right over there. You can choose from local or otherwise,” a girl about Danielle’s own age replied.

“Thanks.”

Danielle saw the stack and immediately fingered through them.
USA Today, The Wall Street Journal,
and
The Topeka Capital-Journal
were all the choices left to her. She started to reach for the last copy of
USA Today
when something from the local paper caught her eye.

“
Autopsy Reveals Heroin Overdose,
” she read. Scanning the article, Danielle nearly dropped the paper at the sight of Teri’s name. “
Cause of death has been concluded to be an
overdose of heroin. Teri Davis, 19, was found dead Friday afternoon. Law enforcement officers discovered her body floating in the Kaw River. The coroner put the time of death to be between the hours of eight o’clock Thursday evening and six o’clock Friday morning.
” The article continued with irrelevant information that blurred before Danielle’s tear-filled eyes.

Danielle began to shake so fiercely that the paper rattled in her hands. Teri was dead, and if the paper had reported it correctly, she had died the same night they were to have met. Barely able to get her breath, Danielle paid for the paper and ran to the nearest pay phone.

Awkwardly she dialed her home number and hoped her father would have slept long enough to bear up with her interruption.

“Kerns residence, Mrs. Gleason speaking.”

“Grace, I need to talk to Dad. Is he awake?” Danielle questioned in a near-frantic voice.

“He’s in the study with Mr. Owens, and I don’t believe he wanted to be disturbed.”

“Grace, this is life and death. I have to talk to him now!”

“Are you all right, Danielle?”

“Yes . . . no, not totally. I just found out Teri Davis is dead.”

“Oh, my.” The housekeeper sounded quite shaken. “I’ll go see if your father will take the call.”

Danielle waited the painfully long moments until her father’s voice sounded on the telephone. “What is it, Danielle?” He sounded irritated.

“Dad, I just read the newspaper. Teri Davis is dead.”

“I heard about that. I guess that answers your questions about her disappearance.”

Danielle ignored his lack of compassion. “Dad, I was supposed to meet Teri the same night she died. I was at her house by the river, but she was gone.”

“What are you talking about?” Her father seemed suddenly interested.

“She called me and told me that she wanted to explain about our year apart. She said she had something very important to say and that I should come to her house at eight o’clock that night.”

“And did you go?”

“Yeah, but I didn’t get there until nearly ten. That was the night someone slashed my tire and I had to go to the service station with the tow truck driver.”

“I seem to recall your mother saying something about it,” her father replied.

“Dad, this is horrible. I can’t believe Teri is dead. I know she wouldn’t use drugs, but the paper says it was a heroin overdose that killed her.”

“Well, we can’t always know what a person will or won’t do. Teri was out of your life for a long time, Danielle. She could have been robbing banks for all you know.”

“No, Dad,” Danielle insisted. “I know she wasn’t like that. She’d been hurt too much by things in the past that involved drugs and alcohol. She wouldn’t have used heroin. Besides that, I think she had a baby.”

“A baby?”

Danielle thought her father sounded even more upset. “Yes. When she called me, a baby was crying in the background, and when I went to her house, I found an empty baby cereal box and disposable diapers in the trash can.”

“I see. What makes you think it was her baby? Maybe she had a roommate.”

“Don’t you see, Dad? It makes so much sense. She disappeared because she must have found out she was pregnant. For some reason, she was ashamed and afraid of what we would think. I think she ran to keep us from finding out about the baby.”

“I think you’ve seen one too many movies, Danielle. Teri obviously had more problems than we realized. Just mark it down to experience and forget about it.”

Danielle was hurt by her father’s indifference. “Forget about it? Forget that Teri is dead? What about her baby?”

“As I understand it, there was no baby.”

“I don’t believe that and I’m going to find out the truth about it.”

“Look, you’ve got too much studying to do and the election is next week. We can’t cause anything to get in the way of that, can we?”

“I guess not,” Danielle replied half-heartedly, knowing that if she didn’t agree with what her father said, she’d face his wrath at home.

“That’s a good girl. Look, if it makes you feel better, I’ll have the thing privately investigated.”

“Really? You’d do that for me?” Danielle was stunned by his generosity.

“Sure. You just leave it alone and I’ll get Russell Owens on it right away.”

“Okay, Dad. Thanks.”

****

Kerns hung up the phone and turned to face the questioning expression of Russell Owens.

“It seems you were a bit sloppy in your duties. Did you know Danielle was to meet with Teri Thursday evening?”

Russell nodded. “That’s how I found her in the first place. I had your phone wired in case she tried to make contact with Danielle.”

“Well, it seems Danielle went to meet her friend and found evidence of a baby that doesn’t exist.”

Russell swallowed hard. “I combed the place as best I could, but it was pitch black.”

“The trash can is the first place investigators look for signature evidence of a character’s lifestyle. How could you be so stupid?”

“I went back for the trash. I just didn’t get there before Danielle did. That’s all. Look, she doesn’t have any proof.”

“No, but she has me and she expects me to answer her questions. She’s determined to prove Teri innocent of drug-related activities and to find her child.” Kerns’ voice was a deadly mixture of anger and disgust.

“I’ll take care of it,” Russell assured him.

“You’d better, and you’d better do it in a way that ensures no one ever finds even a single bit of evidence to suggest a baby ever existed.”

Russell nodded.

“I think, too,” Kerns said with very little emotion, “you’d better talk to the people who have the kid. I want to ensure absolute silence in the matter. Since you were stupid enough to leave the child alive, you’ll have to be responsible for the outcome.”

Russell nodded again.

Kerns eyed him with contempt. “Make sure all your bridges are burned and the evidence with them. If Cara gets wind of this, there’ll be no stopping her from ruining us both.”

Twenty-Three

Harry Oberlin ran down the preflight checklist and prepared the governor’s plane for the trip back to Topeka. They’d pushed hard these last few days and Harry’s mind was held captive with thoughts of Cara and the governor’s failing health. One thing or the other would have been more than enough on which to focus, but Harry couldn’t seem to balance the two without giving more attention to Cara.
You have a job to do,
he kept reminding himself, but his heart failed to heed the message.

Glencoe relied on him for safe transportation and sometimes even for advice. Harry thought of it as Glencoe’s man-on-the-street opinion, but he always seemed to listen and sometimes to even act on the things Harry mentioned. Cara, on the other hand, didn’t really seem to rely on Harry for anything—but he wished she would.

He knew he was falling in love, but he was torn as to how he should handle it. Cara already had a full slate of problems. If he suddenly announced his intentions and declared his love, she might feel the pressure was too much and push him away. Then, too, Harry wasn’t exactly sure Cara returned his feelings. He thought she cared a great deal for him. He’d seen her looking at him when she thought he was otherwise preoccupied. She seemed to assess him with the same interest that he held for her, but she never said so. She went places with him eagerly enough, and Brianna was always pleased to make it a threesome. They’d gone to the park and out to eat, and once they’d even managed to drive all the way to Kansas City to take a riverboat ride. The campaign limited them on just how much time either Harry or Cara could spare, but Harry was always determined to give them every available moment.

Now on pilot and personal security detail for the week preceding the election, Harry barely had time to telephone Cara. And even when he did call, Cara was usually unavailable. It left him feeling a great deal of frustration. How was Cara holding up to the last-minute pressures? Was she able to conceal her fears about Kerns and deal with the stress?