Page 27 of Question Everything

And then she knew, because she had one herself once.Who gave her a phone? Did she still have one? And if she did, where the hell was it?

CHAPTER 14

When they returned to his condo later that evening, Kyle waited for Sarah to fall asleep and went into his office to call the Chief. He had the older man’s cell phone number and dialed it. Once it connected, he said, “Walsh here, sir. How are you?”

“I’m good. The question is how are you holding up since we last spoke?”

“I’m hoping you can tell me. Do I have a reinstatement date yet?”

“I was going to get in touch. The unofficial date is December first. I’m just waiting on…”

Kyle interrupted his boss. “The paperwork, right?”

“Yeah. You know how this goes. That email should arrive any minute. But don’t worry about it. I have it on good authority that you’re good to go. You passed the range test and the psych eval. You’ll get your gun back and we’ll all be happy to put this whole incident behind us.”

Kyle felt as if the weight he’d been carrying around on his shoulders had been lifted.He was going back to work!“Thank you, sir. I appreciate having you in my corner.”

“Of course, Walsh. You’re one of my best detectives. We need you back.”

“Speaking of detective work, I’ve been trying to uncover the identity of a Jane Doe who had a car crash near Fenway a couple of weeks ago.”

“Yeah, Kelly and McCormick filled me in. She’s still with you?”

“Yes, sir. She has no recall as to who she is.”

“That’s awfully charitable of you, son. But knowing your family as well as I do, I’m sure you have extra hands around to help.”

“You know it, sir. But I do have a favor. There were a couple of guys in a car stalking her. They looked like pros. Investigators. And they were armed.”

“Plate number?”

Kyle smiled to himself. The chief knew him well. He repeated the numerals from memory, and he could hear his boss scratching his pen across the ever-present pad on his desk, noting them.

“I’ll see what we can find,” he said in the gruff tone of voice that Kyle knew meant business.

“Thank you, sir.”

“And Walsh. Nine am sharp on the first of December. Don’t be late.”

Kyle hung up the phone and let out the breath he’d been holding for months. He was finally going back to work. He couldn’t wait.

Kyle gave himself a few minutes to revel in the good news, then realized that they had a lot to accomplish before they could leave for the Cape the next night, so he did his best to put all his concentration into that project. Once he took Mia’s luggage out of the bedroom so that she could repack what she needed to bring, she went inside to feed the baby one more time andsettle her into the pack and play, which he’d moved in there days ago. He wanted to take a good look at her bags anyway. Maybe somehow, they’d been compromised and had a tracker somewhere within. Not wanting to violate her privacy, he waited for Mia to come back into the living room before getting started.

She was buttoning her blouse when she tiptoed out and joined him on the couch. “I’ll empty these and repack them,” she said, pointing to her luggage.

“Hang on. I want to check them over once they’re empty. If someone slipped something in here without your knowledge, it would explain how those goons found you.”

Wide-eyed, she nodded and leaned over to unzip the first bag. She had put most of her belongings into the dresser in the bedroom. He had cleared out two drawers for her when she first arrived. Aside from some warmer clothing for Sarah, there was nothing of note still inside the luggage. She grabbed the small pile and placed it on the couch. Then he lifted the bag, turned it upside down and inspected the seams, which were all intact and untampered, the pockets on the inside all empty.

“Nothing?” she asked.

He just shook his head. “Can I see the diaper bag and your purse, please?”

“Of course,” she replied, standing, and then bringing both back to where he sat on the couch.

Kyle opened the diaper bag first. It held what one would think belonged inside, spare diapers, ointment, some toys, and board books. He dumped everything out on the coffee table and checked the lining. It was factory fresh. Then he pointed to her handbag. “Is there anything in there you don’t want me to see? Anything personal? I know that Sibby guards her purse with her life. You could lose a hand if you open it without permission.”

She smiled at him. “Not that I’m aware of. I mean, I don’t know who I am, so if there’s anything in there to give it away, I haven’t found it yet.”

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