Simon Says_. Walk (Kate Morgan #6)(81)
Author: Dale Mayer

 

“And presumably they got that help,” Rodney noted, “but we also must question as to whether that help, more or less, came with some strings.”

 

She stared at him. “I don’t understand.”

 

“No, I don’t either,” he admitted, with a wave of his hand. “We also don’t know whether this is related to Samantha or something else.”

 

“I can’t help but think that they’re connected,” Kate mentioned again. “It’s possible that Simon can connect to more than one case at a time, and he may have more in common with this Samantha case than any others, but the bottom line is …” With a sudden awareness of a possibility that she hadn’t looked at—up until now and honestly didn’t want to look at—she switched over to the cameras closest to the women’s shelter. She needed to get that cam checked as soon as she could.

 

Only that cam didn’t show the rear door that was regularly used. Stumped, she sat back.

 

Rodney looked over at her. “What are you thinking?”

 

“It’s around the corner from the women’s shelter,” she pointed out. “I had this sudden thought that maybe this guy had a connection to there as well.”

 

Rodney winced and nodded. “Of course Simon can’t offer us any help on that either, can he?”

 

“No, only that, in his most recent vision, this person is being told to walk and then not walk, as Patricia had mentioned too.”

 

Rodney added, “But we also don’t know that it’s connected to Samantha.”

 

“No,” she admitted in frustration. “It’s possible Simon’s connected to two different cases. He’s never had it happen before, but this is all so new to him anyway that there’s no way to know for sure.”

 

Rodney pondered that for a long moment. “Of course Simon couldn’t figure out where he was or anything in that last vision of his.”

 

“No, just that his feet hurt like crap,” she modified. “And that the woman …” She stopped, frowned. “He didn’t technically say the victim was a woman. I have to remember that. Otherwise it could just be my interpretation. I’m not sure if Simon actually knew.”

 

“Right, also a valuable point to remember.”

 

“Exactly.” Kate sighed. “So much is going on that we can’t be sure.”

 

Rodney nodded and didn’t say anything for a long moment. “So what’s next?”

 

“Forensics would be a big help, even if just to say nothing is here. That in itself is information,” she muttered. “Then I can stop checking my email every two seconds to see if they’ve contacted us.”

 

He flashed her a smile.

 

“We also know that we’re in for a shit deal very, very quickly,” she added, “in that … the timing will be off, and we’ll get another huge case on our plate, and I won’t have the time to spare. Plus I don’t want to face Patricia’s brother,” she admitted.

 

“But you need to. One way or another. He has to be considered a suspect or be taken off the list. He’s a wild card, but is there any proof he’s involved?” Rodney asked Kate.

 

“Damn,” she muttered, but he was right. She picked up the phone and quickly phoned Patricia’s brother. When he answered, such hope filled his voice that she winced, and that was, in a way, too much for her; they were actually putting him on the suspect list. “No, I don’t have answers for you. I have more questions.” He swore at that, and she kinda got the sentiment. “I understand. We’re just as frustrated, and that doesn’t help, and I’m so sorry.”

 

“What is it you want to ask about?” he prompted her, his tone brisk.

 

“We know that Patricia was asking to get some drugs to handle her kidnapping ordeal,” Kate began.

 

“And I didn’t know about that,” he stated, a certain level of bitterness in his voice. “But, damn, that sucks.”

 

“Can you tell me anything about her friends, boyfriends at the time?”

 

“Her latest was an asshole. He found out about her previous occupation, and I guess you could say that he held it against her. Considering that it wasn’t all that long that she’d been off the streets, so maybe it’s understandable,” he said, a weariness to his voice. “He made a couple nasty comments about used goods and things that really hurt her, so I’m not sure what that would have done to her.”

 

“Yet, when I asked about boyfriends before, … you didn’t tell me about him.”

 

“That’s because they were already broken up, and he didn’t want anything else to do with her. That’s the only thing I can think of anyway.”

 

“Okay, good enough,” she noted. “At least that answers that question.”

 

“I guess that’s all you can do is keep asking questions and poking and prodding into people’s pain,” he said, with a level of bitterness that, although she could understand, it still was hard when it was directed at her.

 

“Yes, exactly,” she declared, with a clipped tone.

 

She spoke with him for another few minutes. When she rang off, she looked over at Rodney, and, as she updated her notes, she explained what had come up.

 

“He should have told us about that boyfriend in the first place,” Rodney said in a disgruntled tone. “It gives us somebody else to look at.”

 

“I do have a name and contact information, so I’ll just call him outright.” While it was still relatively calm in the office, with Rodney here beside her, she called this Francois Colbert guy. When he answered, his tone was distant, as if he were busy. She quickly identified herself, and a surprised cough came on the other end.

 

“What the hell are you calling me for?”

 

“Patricia Blinkers.”

 

“Ah.” Then he snorted. “That’s old news. We didn’t have anything to do with each other, once I broke up the relationship.”

 

“And the breakup was caused by what?”

 

“Because of the fact that she’s a fucking whore,” he grunted. “It’s one thing if it was ten years in her past, and she had fully recovered and was leading a nice, solid life.” He blew out a disgusted sigh. “Yet I sure as hell wasn’t up for somebody still such a mess from drugs and her lifestyle.”