Page 156 of Dead Man's List

“Um…Nana? I think it’s going to get worse before it gets better.”

Mrs.Tindall stopped abruptly. “What’s going on, child?” She looked over at Kit and Connor. “You’ve delivered her. Thank you. Now, please leave. We’re grieving.”

Kit hadn’t expected to be so summarily dismissed. “We can’t leave just yet, ma’am. We need to speak with your son-in-law.”

Mrs.Tindall shot them another, even more disapproving look. “He’s asleep. Our doctor had to give him a sedative. You may return when he wakes up.”

“Mrs.Tindall,” Connor said authoritatively. “This is not a courtesy call. We must speak to your son-in-law. Go wake him up. Now, please.”

Mrs.Tindall looked like she’d tell Connor off, but her granddaughter interceded. “Please, Nana. It’s important. I’ll explain. And I’d like Detective McKittrick to stay with me for a few minutes.”

Kit hoped that was all it would take. The woman’s husband was far more approachable and less…rich sounding.

“Then come in,” Mrs.Tindall said. “I’ll go wake Pete.”

Kennedy’s jaw clenched. “Yes. Please do that.” She led them into the living room, where she settled on a sofa, patting the seat beside her. “Detective McKittrick?”

Kit took the place beside her and nearly moaned at the feel of the buttery soft leather against her skin. Okay, nowthiswas a rich person’s toy that she could appreciate. She was going to have to fight not to curl up and take a nap.

“Pete?” Mrs.Tindall’s voice carried from upstairs. “Pete? Peter? Where are you?”

“Shit,” Connor muttered, then took the stairs at a run. A few minutes later, he was back, fury snapping in his eyes. “He’s not here.”

Mrs.Tindall followed at a much slower pace, wringing her hands. “Where could he have gone? That poor boy. He’s devastated right now and may be wandering all alone somewhere. He was sedated. He might not even know where he is. He sleepwalks sometimes.”

Kennedy’s face was ashen. “That’s how he explained to my mother when she caught him wandering the hall near my bedroom. He said he was sleepwalking because he took Ambien. She believed him. He never took the pills. He just pretended to.”

Kit squeezed Kennedy’s hand. “We’ll find him. Try to breathe.”She wished Sam were there. He was so much better at getting people to breathe when they were freaking out. “Mrs.Tindall, did Mr.Shoemaker know Kennedy was coming home?”

“Yes, of course. We told him that we sent the company jet for her.”

“I told him I’d tell,” Kennedy whispered. “I told him I’d tell if anything ever happened to Mom, because it wouldn’t matter anymore.”

Which was why he couldn’t stay. With his wife dead, there was nothing keeping Kennedy quiet. “Stay here, honey,” Kit said. “I’ll be right back.”

She followed Connor outside, ignoring Mrs.Tindall’s sputtered outrage.

“How could he have escaped?” Kit asked Connor. “The back of the house butts up right against the bluff. That’s a two-hundred-foot drop.”

“Closer to three hundred,” Connor muttered, motioning for the officers to come talk to them.

The uniformed officers got out of the car. “We’ve been here the whole time,” one of them said. “Nobody left.”

“Well, he’s fuckinggone,” Connor snapped. “How could you have lost him?”

“We didn’t,” the other officer insisted.

“Unless he can fly, he had to come out this way,” Kit said logically.

“He rappels,” Kennedy called from the doorway. “Check the back for a rope.”

And, sure enough, there was a rope hanging from one of the bedroom windows.

“I don’t understand any of this,” Mrs.Tindall said imperiously once they’d regrouped in the living room. “What is going on?”

Duncan Tindall had joined them, sitting next to his wife on a love seat. “Yes, Detectives, what is the meaning of this? We are having a family crisis here and Pete’s missing. What are you doing to find him?”

“Trust me, sir,” Kit said. “We will find him. We posted a BOLO for him—that’s ‘be on the lookout,’ ” she added when Mrs.Tindall looked confused. “He took off on foot after rappelling down the cliff behind your house. Where could he have climbed back up to street level?”

---