Intrusions (Carpenter/Harding Book 4) Read online

  Intrusions

  (Carptenter/Harding #4)

  Barbara Winkes

  Copyright © 2016 by Barbara Winkes

  All rights reserved.

  This book is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or locales are purely coincidental.

  This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the expressed written permission of the author except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  For D. Always.

  Chapter One

  It was a slow morning for Officer Kate McCarthy at the front desk, her mind wandering more than she would have liked. Perhaps this was the calm after the storm for all of them.

  Time didn’t heal any wounds. It was all about what you did with that time. She had raged and cried, grieved, questioned, and eventually picked up the pieces, and so had everyone around her.

  Today, Jordan and Ellie would be back to work after their vacation. Kate was happy for their friends and their ability to deal with the aftermath of a traumatic situation. She could also admit she was jealous of them, just a little bit, because their relationship seemed so…urgent, unavoidable. She had wondered if that’s what she and Jensen had been, and with each day passing, Kate felt more unsure and guilty about that question.

  She was moving forward, if not moving on. It was much too early for that.

  Moving into an apartment with Ellie had been a good idea, but she worried how long that could last.

  Then there was Derek. She wasn’t looking for a Happily Ever After. Especially not with another cop, after having seen how quickly those plans could be crossed out by a maniac with a gun. He made her laugh, and that was something Kate needed most at this point in her life. She held on, even though there was talk behind her back. There had been talk about Jordan and Ellie too. Eventually, people moved on to the newest gossip.

  “Here. If you need something to pass the time.”

  Libby sounded sympathetic as she put a tall latte in front of Kate. The front desk wasn’t anyone’s favorite, but every once in a while, it was your turn.

  Libby had been there during the ambush, injured, one of the last people to see Jensen alive. Sometimes, Kate envied her friend for the latter, but she never said it out loud.

  “Thanks. I guess a lot of people are still on vacation. It’s pretty quiet around here.”

  “Yeah. Actually, I don’t mind quiet for five minutes. Have you seen Ellie yet?”

  “I picked them up last night. She should be here any moment. I don’t think she wants to be late on the first day after vacation.”

  “No, that that’s not like her,” Libby agreed.

  The door opened, and a middle-aged woman walked inside, looking tired and uncertain.

  “At least it looks like I’ll have some work after all,” Kate commented.

  “All right. See you later.”

  Kate nodded to her friend and turned her attention to the woman. “Good morning. How can I help you?”

  “I…I hope this is the right place to do this, but I don’t know what else to do.” The woman’s eyes were welling up. “I need to report my daughter missing. I know something happened to her.”

  “You’re in the right place,” Kate assured the woman, wondering why she had thought there might be any other place for a missing persons report. “When did you last see your daughter?”

  “Last Thanksgiving.”

  Kate’s disbelief must have shown, because the woman hurried to explain. “She’s in college in Iowa, and she doesn’t have the money to come visit often, but we chat all the time. Well, at least we used to.”

  While Kate was sympathetic, she was also hopeful that this mother’s worries could be eased soon. Away in college, kids did a lot of things their parents would not have imagined. It was only natural that their attachment would loosen with time and distance.

  “I know what you’re thinking, but something strange is going on. She sent this back.”

  She held up a bracelet for Kate to see. “It was her grandmother’s. Not worth a lot, but she loved it and hardly ever took it off. I tried to talk to some of her friends on the phone. No one knows anything. It seems like she’s just gone, but no one cares.”

  “Did you try to contact the local police?”

  “I thought about it, but the reason I’m here is that Jennifer should have come home last night for her aunt’s funeral. I last spoke to her when she left for the airport. She never arrived. Please, you have to help me find her.”

  “We will do everything we can,” Kate said. “I need some more information from you, and we can talk to our colleagues in Iowa.”

  Perhaps this wasn’t a simple story of a freshman testing her new freedom. In any case, Kate preferred helping others to trying to figure out her own life. She hoped Jennifer Beaumont’s case wouldn’t be quite so complicated.

  * * * *

  Jordan woke the same way she had in the past two weeks, her arms around Ellie, breathing in the scent of her skin. There was something wonderfully serene and perfect about this, even on the occasions that nightmares had followed them into their sleep. Hers, Ellie’s. It didn’t matter in the long run, as long as the mornings started like this.

  The only difference was that in the past two weeks, mornings hadn’t started with an alarm and a ringing cell phone at the same time.

  Since she was closer to the offending objects, Ellie turned off the alarm and picked up Jordan’s cell phone.

  “It’s Kathryn,” she said. “She left a message. Do you want to…?”

  “No.”

  Of course, with the two of them being home for more than twenty-for hours, her birthmother felt the need to pick up her efforts to rekindle their relationship. Not that there was anything to rekindle, as far as Jordan was concerned. “Five more minutes,” she whispered.

  Ellie didn’t protest, just laid down the phone and snuggled back into the place where she’d been before.

  “We’ll be late. I really wanted to get breakfast before work.”

  Jordan made a non-committal sound. Food didn’t hold much of an appeal this early in the morning, and for sure, Ellie’s naked body was a lot more tempting to her under any circumstances. Ellie had a point though.

  Unable to stifle the smile, Jordan thought about waking up to an ocean breeze, making love before breakfast. Five minutes certainly weren’t enough for that.

  “We could have stayed at my place. It’s closer.”

  “It’s been a long time since I’ve had sex with someone when their roommate was only a room away.”

  Ellie laughed. “Come on, it’s not like Kate is listening. You’ll get used to it.”

  “Hm. Sure.” Jordan knew that she didn’t have a choice for the time being. After her abduction, Ellie had stayed with her for a while, but they had both agreed it was too early to talk about living together permanently. They both had made mistakes in relationships, getting involved too little or too much. This was different. This was for the long run, and so they were going to be cautious. It meant accepting the fact that Ellie now had a roommate who was dating Jordan’s partner.

  After two weeks in paradise, the honeymoon was over, time to go back to their everyday lives. It was the first time in probably a decade that she had taken this much time off, because she was passionate about her job—and frankly, there hadn’t been much of a reason. Things between her and Bethany hadn’t always been as bad as towards the end, but there was always something more important.

  Escaping to Hawaii with Ellie couldn’t have waited another day. She just wished it didn’t end so soon. The unsolved questions they had left behi
nd for a while were still here, waiting.

  “Five minutes are up,” Ellie reminded her gently.

  “I hear you,” she murmured and kissed her. Another five minutes passed before Ellie headed for the shower.

  * * * *

  Ellie, too, regretted having to leave the bubble she’d been in with Jordan in the past two weeks. After their first vacation plans were rudely altered by a criminal breaking into her apartment and abducting her, she had been near paranoid. They’d changed the location, the airline and, against all odds, made it to Maui. Like Jordan, Ellie hadn’t taken a real vacation in a long time, and she’d cherished every second of it. She was also happy to return to their circle of friends.

  The first one she saw was Kate, at the front desk this morning. They hugged quickly.

  “It’s pretty busy here, but how about I make dinner later, and you can show me all the pictures to make me jealous?”

  “That would be great. I’ve got to run now.”

  “Slept through the alarm?” Kate asked with a knowing smile.

  “Yeah, something like that.”

  There wasn’t much of a transition. A few minutes later she was on the way to answer a 911 call.

  Marjorie Perkins greeted her in the doorway, casting a worried look at the house next door that appeared eerily silent now.

  “A few minutes ago, there were was a woman screaming, loud music, things breaking. I’m afraid someone’s dead in there.”

  Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. It wasn’t how Ellie had hoped to start her workday. She knew from dispatch that a couple lived there, a man and a woman, no children. A couple of complaints earlier this year. There was at least one gun in the house.

  Casey pulled up on the other side of the street, the backup Ellie had requested.

  “Don’t worry, Mrs. Perkins. We’ll go check it out.”

  Marjorie Perkins snorted. “That’s what the other cops said, but it never ends. How about you arrest them this time?”

  “Would you please stay inside?”

  “Yeah, sure, whatever.”

  She closed the door, but stayed behind the window, prompting a sigh from Casey. “Sometimes I think they’re enjoying the show a bit too much, but in this case, she had reason to call. I’ve been here before. The woman seems okay, and they claim they’re just partying, but something is off. How’s the first day back?”

  “It’s like this.” Ellie sighed. “What’s their deal?”

  “Apparently, the house was empty for a long time, so the owners decided to rent it out. That’s what they got.”

  “Neat. Let’s go take a look.”

  They walked over to the front door, and Ellie rang the bell, wondering why her heart was beating fast all of a sudden. Enough with the nightmares already—this had nothing to do with her personally. She had gone back to work as soon as she’d received a clean bill of health, and then rescheduled her vacation with Jordan as soon as possible. Why the nerves, why now?

  “Ellie. Everything okay?”

  “Yes. Of course. I was—” She interrupted herself when the chain was removed on the other side, and a man opened the door just enough so they could see his face.

  “What’s the matter?”

  “I’m Officer Harding, and this is Officer Lyons. We received a complaint.”

  “Sure you did.” He made an exasperated sound, but didn’t open the door any further. “Are you hearing anything now? Of course not. I was working on something in the garage, and it was a little loud. It’s in the middle of the week! Some people need to get a hobby.”

  “Someone mentioned screams,” Ellie said. “Did you or anyone else hurt themselves? Your wife is home?”

  “No and no. Is that all?”

  Ellie realized that she was tempted to let it go, head back to her car and take the next call. Her mind was busy spitting out all kinds of worst case scenarios, the man pulling a gun at any point, a horror scene inside…She was aware of Casey’s surprised sideways look as the silence stretched on, and cleared her throat. “Would you mind if we came in for a moment, took a look around?”

  “You guys have a warrant?” he spat. “Didn’t think so. Well, in that case, I do mind.”

  “A witness heard a woman scream. Since you say your wife isn’t home, I’d like to know who that was. I can make the call right now and be back with a warrant, but if someone’s hurt, it would help you if you let us help them.”

  “Fuck you,” he said, but surprisingly yanked the door open. “Whatever. There’s no one here.”

  Ellie stepped over the threshold, her throat tight and her heart hammering. Those weren’t her instincts at work, just a whole lot of bad memories and imagination. Jonathan Darby. Josh Ward. One behind bars, one dead, but that didn’t mean there weren’t others like them.

  Casey followed her inside while the tenant, George Delaney according to dispatch, stood with his arms folded across his chest.

  “I do some carpentry from home, okay? I use a saw. It makes noise. There was no woman screaming.”

  “Could you show us the garage?” Casey asked after they had checked the surprisingly small inside of the house. There was no cellar or visible attic, two bedrooms, one bath, a kitchen that didn’t look like much cooking was happening here. It was modest, but there was nothing to suggest a crime had happened here.

  Ellie thought that if he had to clean up something, he had to have moved very fast. Feeling light-headed, she reached for the counter, steadying herself. Neither Casey not Delaney had noticed. He opened the door to the backyard for them, and they walked to the garage.

  Instincts? Flashbacks? It wasn’t fair, Ellie thought angrily. She was supposed to be better. Hawaii was supposed to have made everything better.

  She wasn’t sure if that was true anymore. In her first week as a rookie, she hadn’t been this scared…then again, lots of bad things hadn’t yet happened.

  Chapter Two

  The first people Jordan met were Detectives Waters and Doss—he certainly had no interest in vacation tales, and Maria Doss cast her a somewhat jealous look. It was amusing. In the past, Jordan had barely noticed when colleagues returned to work with a tan, nor had she cared much. It seemed like everyone else found a way to slow down sometimes. She had been restless and antsy when off from work, and her deteriorating relationship with Bethany hadn’t helped.

  Things were different now, with Ellie. She settled behind her desk and went through phone messages and emails left in her absence. She received a text from Ellie, informing her that they’d have dinner at Ellie and Kate’s apartment tonight, which made her smile. Even though the logistics could be a bit awkward, this was the best solution for the time being. Jordan was grateful for Ellie understanding that she needed that space, still, and it didn’t mean she didn’t want Ellie in her life.

  The next time the phone rang, it was Derek.

  “Apparently, Gerald Ashcroft has died. They called in the family doctor, and he notified the police. I’m on my way. See you there?”

  “Wait. Where?”

  “ What, you don’t know where the Ashcrofts live? I think your brain is still working on vacation time. Okay, write this down.”

  “Got it.”

  She was still wondering where Derek got the idea that she should be familiar with the place. Jordan had heard about the extremely wealthy family, but never given much thought to where they lived. Before she could leave, the lieutenant emerged from his office and called her.

  “You’re leaving for the Ashcrofts?”

  “Yeah. Anything I should know?”

  “It would be best if you solved this case yesterday. There’s a lot of pressure on this one, and the fact that the youngest son is the litigious kind, is the least of it. This family practically owns half of the city.”

  “Really? I wasn’t aware of that.”

  “You are now, Carpenter. Tread carefully, and make it quick.”

  “Did you give Henderson the same speech? No, don’t answer that. I�
�ll let you know as soon as we know more.”

  “I appreciate that,” he said and went back to his office as Jordan left the department.

  It was a half hour drive to the outskirts of the city to reach the sprawling Ashcroft estate. Uniformed officers guarded the gate, and she encountered another squad car on the driveway, before parking in front of an impressive mansion with huge marble pillars. Jordan couldn’t help it, she stopped and stared for a moment. It was rare for her job, or in general, to be confronted with such luxury.

  “Nice place, huh?” Derek had arrived as well. “I could imagine living here. Or driving that baby,” he said with regard to the Ferrari parked in front of the building.

  “Now’s not the time. Someone died in this nice place. Let’s do this?”

  He laughed. “I thought two weeks in a tropical paradise would make you less cranky.”

  Jordan chose not to comment on this assessment.

  “That’s a lot of police presence here,” she said instead. “Does anybody still think it was an accident? What happened?”

  “He fell down the stairs,” Derek explained. “By himself, or someone made it happen, we don’t know yet.”

  “How old was he?”

  “Seventy-two. In good shape.”

  They walked inside and into the grand entrance hall, a grand wooden staircase leading to the upper floors, a huge chandelier…The image was only marred by the body at the bottom of the stairs. Jordan noticed a man in his fifties and a slightly younger woman talking to uniformed officers.

  Officer Libby Marshall noticed them and came over.

  “Dr. Snyder, and the housekeeper, Mrs. Santos. She found him this morning when she went to get him after preparing breakfast. She called Dr. Snyder, and he called in the police.”

  “Okay, thanks. Let’s find out why she called the doctor first,” Jordan said to Derek. “If Ashcroft was alive when she found him, he might have been able to tell her something.” They joined the small group and introduced themselves. Up close, she could see that Mrs. Santos’ face was tear-streaked. The doctor’s gaze lingered a little too long on Jordan for her comfort. She assumed he didn’t consider her appropriately dressed to investigate the murder of a man this rich. Tough luck. He’d have to deal with her, while Derek carefully took the housekeeper aside.