Simon Says_. Walk (Kate Morgan #6)(60)
Author: Dale Mayer

 

“Can you find her?” Kate asked in delight.

 

“No,” he replied immediately, squashing her joy. “I had an inkling that I should be going in a certain direction and that it’s possible she was in that direction.”

 

“Hang on a minute. You mean, you got a direction as to where Samantha could be, and you’re following that up?”

 

“That’s a good way to put it, yes,” Simon said.

 

“Thank God for that. Even that much is a help.”

 

“Not really,” he countered, “because I’m standing downtown, close to the Pacific Center Mall, and absolutely nothing is here.”

 

“Maybe it’s on the other side of the harbor.”

 

“Maybe, but I came over here from this side of the river.”

 

“Ah, then I don’t know what to say.”

 

“Neither do I,” he admitted.

 

She heard the frustration in his voice. “I’m sorry. I know what it’s like not to have answers.”

 

He gave a small laugh. “Now that is very true. You certainly do. I thought that, if I could find something useful, then I wouldn’t always be horrified to sleep at night in my comfortable bed, while this poor woman was being held prisoner in some godforsaken attic.”

 

“Why an attic?’

 

“Because there are no windows, no light,” he replied. “When the guy comes in, she can hear him coming upstairs. Otherwise I’d have thought basement.”

 

“What if it’s an apartment? With a bedroom loft?”

 

“I hadn’t thought of that,” he said, as he turned and looked up at a bunch of the apartments, where he’d been directed to. “I’m standing here, staring up at all these apartments, thinking there wouldn’t be an attic.”

 

“True, but, if he didn’t want her to sense light, which would keep her very disoriented, then all he had to do was block off any windows.”

 

“You have a scary train of thought sometimes.”

 

“Yeah, I’m pretty sure that’s what Rodney told me just today.”

 

Simon laughed. “It does make you a good investigator though.”

 

“Says you,” she muttered. “Right now I’m sore and tired.”

 

“Hard day?” he asked sympathetically.

 

“Yeah, and then I went and worked my ass off in the dojo.”

 

“Ah, that would have been a hard one too. You don’t recover as fast when you’re beat down like this.”

 

“No, and yet I needed it.”

 

“A penance?” he asked, his voice sharp.

 

She stared down on her phone and frowned. “Dammit, I didn’t even think of that. Why do you have to bring shit like that up all the time?”

 

“I don’t,” he murmured. “I’m not trying to bring up a discussion where you don’t want to go, but it instinctively came out of my mouth.”

 

“Why would that come out of your mouth?”

 

“Because you feel guilty that Samantha is out there, held captive, and that somebody may be out there, if not a captive, being targeted, and that some asshole is killing people connected to me because of me. You want to solve it even more because it’s who you are. You want to solve it in the worst way possible, and you can’t make any headway, so you feel guilty.”

 

She glared at her apartment, her eyes wide, and didn’t say anything.

 

“So as I said,” Simon repeated, “I’m sorry for bringing it up, but you have no reason to feel guilty.”

 

“Really? And how do you feel about it?” she snapped. “Are you telling me that you don’t feel guilty?”

 

“That’s different,” he stated immediately.

 

She snorted.

 

Silence. “Right, fine, okay. It’s not different,” he admitted sadly, “which is why I’m out here, walking the damn streets, trying to get some compass reading off my stupid abilities, whatever they are, and have it make sense. Yet my rational mind knows it doesn’t make sense.”

 

She smiled, feeling better at having tweaked his goat too, and she sighed. “We’re a hell of a pair, aren’t we, Simon?”

 

“That we are,” he agreed. “I’m walking around the corner up here, and, if I can’t get any reading, I’m coming back.”

 

“Okay, while you do that, I’ll crash. I need some sleep.”

 

“Did you eat?” he asked, his tone sharp, and she heard his footsteps, as his boots clicked on the pavement, as he turned the corner.

 

As she went to answer him, she heard a hard oomph, and then a crash and a bang, as his phone maybe hit the ground.

 

“Simon,” she roared. “Simon.” But there was only silence on his end of the call.

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter 15

 

 

 

 

 

“Simon!” Kate screamed into the phone. “Simon, can you hear me?”

 

But she was already throwing her boots back on and grabbing her jacket and her keys. She kept the call live, as she raced to her car and headed downtown. She tried to remember the few landmarks he’d given her earlier in their conversation, but it wasn’t much. Matter of fact, it wasn’t enough in any way or form. She hesitated calling in 9-1-1 because she didn’t have a location to give them. And yet nothing else came to mind. She quickly parked in the general location and started running.

 

She called into the phone, “Simon, Simon.” Finally a female spoke near the phone. “Simon?” That was not Simon.

 

“This is Simon’s phone,” the woman said on the other end.

 

“Who is this?” Kate barked.

 

The other woman hesitated. “I’m Lisa. Lisa Sands.”

 

“I’m Kate, Detective Kate Morgan,” she barked, with authority. “Where is Simon?”

 

“I found him, Detective, and he’s been attacked.”

 

“Is he alive?” she asked, her voice choking.