What She Found, page 7
Connor seems to tell him everything.
I leave them to their private murmurs and follow my friends back to the house.
Chapter Nine
The man who introduced himself to us as Detective Donahue knocks on the door to the guest bedroom, filling most of the doorway, height and width, as he enters.
I chose it when we were all told to separate ourselves because it’s the room I sleep in while looking after Ryan when Odilia’s away. Derek’s even been here with me before, and he got along with Ryan so well. With everything Ryan’s been pulling lately, Liz and Arland decided not to tell him about Derek and me yet. He hasn’t asked why I come alone now, or why I haven’t been around in a while. He’s got his own troubles, but selfishly, I’m glad he hasn’t seemed to notice.
“Tabitha Carpenter?” the detective asks.
I step away from the window and my view of the search dogs with their officers in the back yard below and stare up at him. He’s Arland’s height, or taller maybe, if he didn’t slouch so much, and unlike Arland’s thick head of hair, Donohue is bald.
“You have a seat.” He points to a chaise in the corner before taking a few steps and a seat on the bed. It quakes and squeals beneath his weight.
I sit and tuck one leg beneath me as he pulls out his recorder and presses play.
He frowns. “I was told you all wanted to help us find the young lady who came upon your rental house a week ago. I just want to ask you some questions, but first, I was hoping you could tell me in your own words what happened that night?”
“Like, after Karina showed up at the door?”
“Anything you believe is relevant.” He slouches over and rests his hand with the recorder on the top of his thigh.
I nod and rub my sweaty palms on the top of my jean shorts. “Well, we were all playing cards around the table, having some drinks, just hanging out when a knock at the door startled us. We saw this figure in a raincoat out there, and when Matt answered the door, and let her in, it was Karina.”
“Did you know her?”
“No. I’d never seen her before. She didn’t tell us much about herself besides her name and the fact that she wasn’t married, didn’t have kids, but was in a complicated relationship.”
And she also told me not to trust anyone, didn’t she? She must have been hurt in the past, not have friends like I do to rely on. Maybe her complicated relationship is abusive.
“Did she say with whom?”
I shake my head and fold my hands in my lap. “So, she comes in, and she wants to charge her phone so she can call her friend, or whatever he was to her, and she has a cut on her forehead, so Cassy was treating that because she’s a nurse. Her husband, Matt, he’s good with cars, so he went out to see if he could fix it.” I take a breath, and he nods, reassuring me I’m doing okay. “She was dressed nicely. A black dress, heels, and full face of makeup. I don’t know where she was coming from or going to—”
“Mrs. Hunt said Karina was going to see this friend of hers.”
“Oh, right, yes. Okay, so some of our friends went to bed shortly after…” I pause when he twists his lips. “What?”
“Who went to bed?”
“Umm, Connor first, and then Liz and Arland.”
“And did you think that was odd? A stranger arrives, after her supposed accident, and she’s injured, and some of your friends just…went to bed?”
I frown. “No, it didn’t seem weird—they were tired.” But it was, wasn’t it? “We’d been drinking all day, and Connor’s a lightweight, so no surprise he was ready for bed early. Then Liz and Arland had a tiff.”
The look on his face tells me it’s new information. No one else mentioned it. Why did I have to tell him that? Right. To prove it wasn’t weird they went to bed.
“What was the fight about?”
“It wasn’t a fight,” I quickly correct. Maybe too quickly. “They’re just having normal parenting issues, stress, and it was a weekend away without their son, so Liz wanted to call him, but Arland just wanted to enjoy the trip.”
“So,” he raises his brow, “that was all?”
“Pretty much. So after that, I stepped outside with Wesley…”
“And you had just met that weekend?”
“Right. So, we were outside for a little bit, just getting some air, and Matt comes back and lets us know it’s not just the tire, but the battery’s dead, too. He came back to say he was going to try to jump it.”
“And what did Karina say?”
“Umm, she didn’t seem to want help from any of us, so she said she’d call her friend to come and get her and have the car towed, I think.”
“You think?”
“I don’t remember exactly what was said, but that’s the best I got.”
“But she was injured. No one suggested taking her to the doctor? Calling an ambulance?”
“Well, we would have called an ambulance if it were more serious. She didn’t want us to call anybody, and then we’d all been drinking…”
“All?”
Right… Matt drove his car after he’d been drinking to try to jump hers. Why didn’t I realize at the time? Because I was drunk too.
I stare at the detective, and he leans forward, resting his forearms on his upper thighs. “Mr. Montgomery told me he wasn’t drinking.”
“Who?”
“Wesley Montgomery.”
I let out a sigh and nod. “Right, no, he wasn’t.”
“Seems a little strange that you were all at a vineyard, and he didn’t touch a drop.”
“Nope.” I stare him straight in the eye and raise my brows.
“Okay, continue.”
“Well, Cassy went to get Karina some meds for her pain—”
“She was in pain?”
“Well, we thought she was because she wanted a drink. Cassy wouldn’t let her, and she went to see about the meds.”
“So, who was with Karina at the time?”
“Me. Just me. Then she asked for a tampon, so I went to get it, and Cassy didn’t have any meds, so I grabbed them for her too, and when I came back, Karina was gone.”
“And where was Cassy?”
“She went to bed.”
“She’s a nurse, the only person who could have physically helped Karina, and she went to bed?”
Yeah, a little strange, but again, explicable.
“She didn’t want Matt out there, so she was upset he’d gone out in the bad weather to try to help when Karina wasn’t being easy to deal with. She was actually kind of rude to Cassy. I don’t think she wanted our help.”
“No?”
I shrug. “I’m just telling you the impression I got. I think she just wanted to charge her phone and call her friend.”
“And where was Wesley?”
“I’m not sure. Out having a cigar, I think, because when I came back down and Karina wasn’t there, Wesley came inside shortly after and told me he’d seen her out on the porch, making a phone call.”
“Uh huh.” He scratches his brow. “And did you see her again?”
“No.”
“Did you go out to look for her? Look for her inside after that?”
I shake my head. “I’m not proud of that. I’d been drinking, too, and I was feeling sick. It wasn’t a good decision.” I rub my hands on my jean shorts again, feeling his eyes on me, and tears well up in my eyes as I hang my head in shame. “I should have stayed with her, or at the very least, tried to find her.” I clear my throat and look up at him, trying to focus through the blur of restrained tears. Waves of guilt wash over me as he continues to stare.
“Well, it seems no one tried to find her after that. Did anything else strange or memorable happen that night?”
He’s questioning us like suspects. He wouldn’t understand unless he was there. Unless he knew my friends like I do.
I shake my head and take a breath to ease my desperate ache to be believed. “I saw Matt’s car pull into the driveway right before I went to sleep. I assumed he knew where she was, but it’s led to this, and now I just want to find her… And I want to know why her car was out on this property. It doesn’t make any sense.”
“Well,” he licks his lips and tucks the tape recorder back in his pocket. “I appreciate your candor, Mrs. Carpenter.”
“Miss… or Ms.,” I stutter with confusion. I hate this in between part. “I’m separated, but not legally. Not yet, anyway.” I fold my arms over my chest. “Just call me Tabitha.”
“Oh-kay.” He gives me a slow nod and stands. “If you think of anything else that could help, I want you to call me at this number at any time.” He hands me his card with his big, thick fingers. Detective Brian Donohue.
“I will. Detective, can I ask where she’s from?”
“I can’t divulge any information at this time.”
I guess I’ll find that out on the news then. “I’ve just been wondering… Why was she all the way out there?”
“I can’t discuss that with you, Tabitha.”
“Well, I’m sure she’s got people who miss her a lot, and who want her home safe. If there’s anything I can do to help that happen, I will.”
“Good to know,” he says, passing me on the way to the door. “Oh.” He turns and stops by the dresser. “Did you have any reason to believe Karina was in any sort of danger before or during her stay with you?”
“Not danger, no, but things with whoever she was seeing were complicated. She seemed hopeful, though.” Should I tell him about the note? I don’t even know if it was from her, but maybe it meant happiness. Don’t stop until you find happiness. “I found something written on a notepad in my purse the morning after. It said don’t stop until you find it. I know my friends’ handwriting. It wasn’t from one of them.”
“May I see it?”
I nod and take it out of my purse. He takes long strides across the room, and I hand it over.
“May I keep this?” He stares down at it. “The whole notepad.”
“Sure.”
Maybe he’ll test it against her handwriting.
“So, she didn’t seem scared of this man she was calling?”
“Not scared, but something was off. After her initial shock from the accident wore off, she seemed like she had things under control. She didn’t want our help. She just wanted to have that person, whoever they are, come and get her and take her home.”
It’s all I would have wanted, and it would be Derek I’d want to take me home. Now who would I call? Who would go all that way for me? Who’d make me feel safe?
“Tabitha?” he asks, and I shake out of my daze.
“She wanted to feel safe.”
“Huh.” He nods his head back and presses his lips together.
“What?”
“Well, Cassy and Wesley both said you got Karina a blanket and some water. That you stayed with her when everyone left, and by your own account, you were the only one to come back for her with more things you thought might help, only to find her gone. Aside from Matt, perhaps, you were the one who was there for her most.”
That’s sad.
“Some help I was.” The words are a chore to say, and my chest feels heavy even after I expel them. He presses his lips together and squints at me.
I was too self-involved, only thinking of my own wants and issues. I have been since Derek told me he didn’t think he could remain married to me any longer.
“Okay, well, thanks for talking, and thanks for this.” He holds the notepad up and walks out the door.
I’m at the window again, peering out into the wide-open backyard. The dogs are gone, and so are the other handful of officers who searched the property. My friends are scattered through this house, and so are the answers we’ve given the detective.
Maybe I forgot some things, or purposely withheld them, but surely we’ve given the police enough to go on. They could trace her cell phone calls and find out who she was talking to. That’s the person they need to speak with.
If something else happened, she’s out there, dealing with it alone. I’d be alone too, if it weren’t for Reese and my friends, and I’ll protect them at all costs.
I need to stop being so self-involved and start being a better sister and friend. I can’t let my carelessness ruin anything else.
A nagging thought creeps into the corner of my mind.
I was careless with my marriage.
I push the thought away as I descend the staircase I saw Ryan on earlier.
“No, she would have told us,” Connor says from behind the wall, in the living room.
“Maybe she didn’t remember,” Liz says. “It’s been a tough year, and she’s had a lot going on.”
I stop before the opening to the living room and lean against the wall on the stairs, pressing my ear to it.
“She was drunk,” Arland says. “You saw her at the winery. Twenty samples. I counted them. Twenty.”
They are talking about me.
“Cut her some slack,” Cassy says. “She’s dealing with the separation the best she can, and at least she came.”
“Yeah,” Matt says with a sigh, “I didn’t think she would.”
“If she saw where Karina went, she’d have already said,” Connor says.
“I only brought it up because she forgot Ryan’s birthday, and she’s never forgotten that.”
Shit. I forgot my Godson’s birthday.
“Well,” Cassy sighs, “things are different for her now. It doesn’t mean she’d forget what happened that night. If she says Wesley was the last to see Karina, then I believe her.”
“She’s just out of sorts,” Connor says.
“She didn’t seem out of sorts to me,” Wesley says. “She seemed level-headed, a little tipsy, but mostly grounded. In control.”
The stranger’s the only one sticking up for me. What is going on?
“Well, you don’t know her like we do,” Arland says.
“I was already worried about her,” Liz says. “And now this? I mean, she could have even seen her leave and forgotten. Or maybe Karina wanted to go somewhere her boyfriend wouldn’t find her, and Tabbie told her to come here, and now she doesn’t remember. When I spoke to her the next morning, she was having a hard time remembering what happened and when. She seemed confused about it.”
Is that what they think of me? That I’m losing it? That I forget things so easily?
“I really think she’d have remembered that,” Cassy says. Thank you, Cassy. “But maybe… maybe it’s possible.”
I’m not taking this anymore. I take the rest of the steps and grab my purse at the door.
“Tabbie?” Cassy calls.
I don’t turn around. My cheeks are hot, and I blink away tears as she joins my side and Liz sandwiches me at the other before I can reach the door.
“Are you okay?” she asks.
“Yep. Fine. I have to get back home.”
I am forgetful. I’ve forgotten important things, and I am out of sorts, but I don’t need them discussing it behind my back. I need them to believe me, but nothing I say matters.
“Oh, okay.” Cassy isn’t buying it, but she doesn’t want to question me either.
“Tabbie, if you heard any of that,” Liz starts, scurrying to keep up with me. “I’m sorry. I know you’d never purposely neglect someone, or lie, or—”
“You think I’d lie?”
“Well, I just meant if you forgot what happened, it would just be an accident. Just with the stress you’ve been under.”
I turn around toward the rest of the group, standing behind Liz and Cassy, staring at me with concern. They’re all against me.
I’ve forgotten things I’m embarrassed about, but not this.
“I should have stuck with Karina,” I say. “I should have been there for her and tried to find her, but I didn’t, and I’m sorry, but I don’t know anything else. I haven’t forgotten anything.”
“We all do, though,” Arland says, “and it’s okay.”
He pities me. They all do, and they’re making excuses for my perceived incompetence.
“No. It isn’t. You all just want to pretend I must have remembered things wrong about that night. You don’t want to admit that…”
That Connor wasn’t in bed like he says he was.
That everybody left Matt to deal with Karina’s car on his own. Let him drink and drive.
That we were all drunk, most of us in a bad mood or in a tizzy over something personal, and we all neglected to help as we should have. To be there for her in her time of need.
That everyone’s guilty, now that she’s missing.
No, I can’t. I can’t say anything else I’ll regret.
I shake my head and whip the door open, striding out and leaving them behind me as I march to my car. I take my keys out, and as I stop at my door, feet slap against the pavement behind me.
“Hey.” I turn, and Wesley stops just short of me as I try to catch my breath. “Listen, they’re all worried in there, and most probably feel guilty about what happened with Karina. I know I do. Don’t take it personally. They care about you, and they’re just trying to make sense of the situation.”
“By blaming me?” I scoff and twist my key in the keyhole.
“Yeah, exactly. By not being accountable, but some of us were trying to tell them they’ve got it wrong.”
“Oh yeah?” I turn and stare at him. “So what happened to her, then?”
He shakes his head. “I’m just as guilty. I left her alone on the porch.”
“Matt said you didn’t go and help him like you told me you were.”
He sighs. “I did leave, but he got back before I could get to him. Karina wasn’t here, and we thought you’d seen her off and gone to bed after I told you she was out on the porch.”
I shake my head.
“This is all one big misunderstanding,” he says. “She’ll turn up, and everything will have an answer.”
He believes it, or at least he’s convincing me he does with his faith, or maybe just hope. I take a shuddering sigh, and the fresh air soothes me as I unclench my fists.
“They probably feel terrible you heard them talking about you.” He shoves his hand into the pocket of his jeans. “And they’ll want to make it up to you. Let them.”
