Simon Says_. Walk (Kate Morgan #6)(68)
Author: Dale Mayer

 

Simon began, “I would say that they were old, not very well kept, seemed to be scarred wood but not a nice hardwood, just beaten up over the years.”

 

“Which is quite possible, depending on what care anybody might have taken for it,” she murmured.

 

“It’s still not helpful though,” he stated.

 

“Everything is helpful. What would make it really helpful is if it was connected, and we had a way to know that. It could be yet another side case, like Samantha’s.”

 

“You don’t think Samantha’s connected, do you?” Simon’s voice gained in volume at the thought.

 

“I’m not saying it’s not connected,” she said immediately. “I don’t know yet, and I don’t have any way to prove it, and that would help a lot if I could. But again a man going up the stairs.”

 

“It feels as if I’m always tossing you tidbits, and then, when you ask me the first question about it, I can’t tell you anything.”

 

“And that’s apparently the way it is these days,” she confirmed. “If anything else happens or comes to you, then let me know. If you come up with anything other than old beaten-up wooden stairs, also let me know. This may or may not be important, but every tidbit helps us to put it into place. And if you hear anything connected to my current cases …”

 

“Right, I will also let you know.” And, this time, a note of humor was in his tone.

 

She smiled. “How is the head?” she asked abruptly.

 

“It’s fine,” he snapped.

 

She grinned. “Sounds like it.”

 

“It is, honest.”

 

“Uh-huh. It’s not that I don’t believe you …”

 

“Yeah, sure you don’t.” Then he groaned. “Not even sure I thanked you for coming and rescuing me.”

 

“No, but you would have when you thought about it,” she said in a cheerful tone. “Besides, it’ll still be a while before we’re even on that score.”

 

“You know I don’t care about that, right?”

 

“I know you don’t, but it’s nice to know that I won’t always be the one in your debt,” she added, with a laugh. “Anyway … I have to get back to work. I’ll talk to you in a bit.” She disconnected and headed back into the office.

 

As soon as she stepped in, there was silence. She looked around and frowned.

 

“Well,” Rodney guessed, “presumably that was lover boy.”

 

She rolled her eyes at the phrase. “What are you, still in high school?”

 

He gave her a flash of a big smirk and nodded. “Sometimes, yeah.”

 

She sighed. “Yes, it was Simon. I was checking on his condition, after last night’s attack. And, of course, he got some weird-ass vision today.”

 

Immediately everybody snapped to attention, and she shook her head. “I don’t even know what to make of it. I don’t know that you guys will either.”

 

“You can always give us a chance,” Rodney suggested, with a note of humor. “Tell us what’s going on and what he came up with.”

 

She explained the stairs, the belt, and the rest to her team, and they all sat there and stared at her. She nodded. “Which is why he’s frustrated, and I’m a little frustrated after that call too because we get tidbits but nothing that can help.” Kate nodded, as Rodney opened his mouth. “And we’re stuck, trying to come up with answers for everybody out there looking for us to solve this. So good old-fashioned police work has to always be first, and, when we do get something that’s valuable from Simon, then we’ll apply it.”

 

Rodney nodded. “In the meantime, he’s connecting to somebody, and we don’t know who.”

 

Kate frowned. “I didn’t ask him if it was Samantha.”

 

“That would be good to know,” Lilliana added.

 

“It would be good to know because I’d hate to think that we have yet another victim out there,” she said, with a wince.

 

Everybody nodded.

 

Lilianna spoke up. “Still, we know what this is like for our world out there. And right now, in any given place, at least one if not one dozen women are held captive daily.”

 

Rodney added, “Whether it’s the sex-trade workers or something else altogether, it’s the way the world around us operates. It sucks, and we know that, and we’re doing what we can to fix it. If Simon can figure out if it’s the same person in this latest vision, that would help.”

 

Kate pulled out her phone and quickly sent him a text. “I’ve done that much, so we’ll see if and when he gets back to me.” Her phone buzzed almost immediately. She looked down at it and frowned. “He can’t tell for sure.” At that, everybody groaned, and she nodded. “Which is why we don’t depend on these things,” she muttered. “He does what he can do, and, when he has something to share, he’ll pass it along.”

 

She sat down to check on the reports from the black-and-whites assigned to look for any information regarding Simon’s attack. When she didn’t see one, she quickly picked up her phone and called one of the cops assigned to it.

 

He answered her on the first ring. “We’re back out again, but nobody saw anything. It’s so damn frustrating. Somebody gets assaulted in daylight, and, whether it’s the truth or not, nobody’s willing to admit to anything.”

 

“Nobody wants to get involved is what it is,” Kate noted. “I guess it’s understandable, if you live in that corner. Anyway, keep at it and let me know if you come up with anything.”

 

After that, she double-checked the city cameras for the surrounding area, looking to see if anything was happening near that corner. A few blocks away, she accidentally caught sight of Lisa, walking back home again, so that certainly confirmed Lisa’s earlier statement. It frustrated Kate that no street cams covered that particular corner, where Simon had been dropped.

 

Of course not, that would be way too simple.

 

Groaning in frustration, she searched her inbox, looking for any reports from Smidge. When she found nothing, she hesitated but then called the coroner’s office to check.

 

“I don’t have anything new,” Smidge grumbled. “Do you?”

 

“No, not enough. Simon, that friend of mine,” she added in an abashed tone, “who’s also kind of involved in this case, was attacked last night, dropped where he stood, while he was talking to me on the phone.”