Page 22 of Bone Echo

“Come on. Come on.” He moved to the next stack of boxes. He should have labeled the damned things. But organization had been the last thing on his mind as he packed up to leave L.A. and their old life behind.

He opened the final box in this latest stack and the folder on top froze him to the spot. It wasn’t just that it was labeled The Learning Institute, the school Ella had attended. It was Liz’s handwriting. The bold, fluid strokes. A smile tugged at his lips…at his heart. He traced the words with the tips of his fingers. He should have been a better husband. That idea would haunt him for the rest of his days. Just another of those echoes that would never be silenced.

He lowered onto his knees and began the search for anything related to Dr. Josef Lawler.

There were documents authorizing testing that Liz had signed. Contracts for Ella’s participation in certain classes and for attendance at the school. Progress reports. Test results. Ella had always been a really bright child. Straight A student. Neverreally had to study. Not like her dad at all. He smiled sadly. But very much like her mom.

There were notes from teachers with glowing remarks about Ella and her progress. More testing.

The next folder wasn’t actually a folder. It was a large envelope for mailing documents. He opened the flap and shook out the contents. Photographs. A good many. Mostly four by six. Judging by the quality probably taken by a cell phone.

Lots of photos of the area around the school. There were students in some. Adults in some. He didn’t spot Ella among the kids…but he did spot Lawler amid some. Kurt stared more closely. He was ninety percent positive it was the guy. What the hell was he doing at Ella’s school when he supposedly had worked at Beverly Hills High?

He kept that photo separate from the others and continued searching the remainder. More photos included Lawler. Some were of him talking to students. Others were of him leaving the building or entering. Getting out of his car. Getting into his car. Then there was the real shocker of him going into a house. Maybe his own house. No way to be sure.

Why would Liz follow the guy around and take these photos? Or had she hired a PI to follow Lawler? She never mentioned either to Kurt or any reason she would have needed to. He’d noticed she was a bit more edgy those last few weeks of her life but he’d just thought it was because of the miscarriage.

That was another of his regrets. He should have been there for her more after the miscarriage. They had really wanted a second child but by the time Ella was ten they’d given up the idea. Then, suddenly a couple months after Ella’s eleventh birthday Liz realized she was pregnant. Four months later it was just another sad memory. Knowing how Liz documented everything, he imagined that in one of these boxes there was probably the first ultrasound images of that lost child.

The next file he withdrew held several documents and a couple of photos. On top was a copy of a letter Liz had written and signed. Kurt read the typed paragraphs, his respiration and heart rate building with each word. Liz had written a letter to the school board and copied the medical clinic’s oversight committee. The complaint was about a Dr. Meltzer and his seeming obsession with Ella. His demands for more and more testing and more careful observation. The letter also included her plans to withdraw Ella from the school.

Why hadn’t she talked to Kurt about this? Or maybe she had tried and he’d just been too focused on work to properly listen. He looked at the photos, more of Lawler, one outside their home. What the hell? He had been stalking Ella even then it seemed. Except the doctor Liz mentioned was named Meltzer. He turned the photo over and on the back in black marker was the name Meltzer.

Kurt stared at the letter as a realization settled deep into his bones.

Lawler was Meltzer and he had followed them from L.A.

CHAPTER TWELVE

Ella had wanted to chew the duct tape until her hands were free but the gag prevented her from doing so. She had worked on the duct tape around her ankles until she’d gotten it loose. She had make her way around the space that was her prison. The room was a rectangle, longer on two sides. There was a door but it was locked.

There wasn’t a window. At least not one she had found. But what she had discovered was a bucket. It felt like plastic and was empty. It wouldn’t really be any help unless there were shelves above her head.

Only one way to find out. She would have to stand on the bucket and reach up.

It sounded risky but it was necessary.

He would be here soon.

She knew it. Felt it.

As a kid she had felt things like this lots of times but never anything so clear as the days before her mother died.

Murdered.

She hadn’t just died. She was murdered.

Ella would never forgive herself for not telling her mother about that feeling. That made her death Ella’s fault.

She should never have listened to her pediatrician. Her teachers. They had all insisted she must never tell anyone about those feelings or the special tests, not even her mother. She wasn’t allowed to talk to anyone. But some of the tests hurt so she’d ended up telling her mom. Her mom had gotten really upset. It wasn’t long after that when she died.

So really it was Ella’s fault on two counts.

She’d been so careful since. She never told her dad about the feelings. Never. He was all she had left and she could not lose him.

Never, never, never.

Besides, she had pretty much learned to ignore them. But she couldn’t ignore the feeling she had about Brian. Something really bad was going to happen. She hoped he was okay.

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