Page 77 of Special Agent Murphy

Chapter Forty-six

Kayti called Mark the minute she got back to her car to warn him she’d be out of town for a while and to make sure he’d settled in.

“Hi, Mark. How’s everything there?”

“Yo, Kayti. I’m good. I’m watchin’ TV.”

“If you get bored, I have a Samsung tablet in the kitchen you can mess around with. There’s nothing personal on it, haven’t had time to set it up yet. I figured if you could get into my phone, you must have some skills.”

She heard him chuckle. “Yeah, I have a knack with those things. A foster mother taught me some stuff.”

From the disgust in his voice, Kayti had to suspect she’d taught him more than working with a computer. “I’m calling because I’ll be heading to Fairfax County for some time. Just wanted to make sure things were cool there.”

“Fairfax County. I have an uncle lives there. We spent some time with him last summer, till he kicked us the hell outta there when my old pa kept drinkin’ all his booze.”

Interest flared and Kayti broke in, “Do you know the lake district up there?”

“Sure, Uncle Sid owned a fish and tackle shop. It’s a run-down old store where he makes his own lures and sells incidentals and convenience food to the cabin owners. He had rooms in the back.”

Thinking quickly, Kayti asked, “You up for a ride to Fairfax with me. I have reason to believe that a sixteen-year-old kidnapped girl I was telling you about might be held in a cabin somewhere in Fairfax County, somewhere near a lake.”

“You mean Misti Bond? The Senator’s daughter they talkin’ ‘bout on TV?”

“Yes. I’m ten minutes away from you, and I’m leaving now.”

“I’ll be waitin’ for you outside.”

At first, when Kayti pulled up in front of the apartment building, she didn’t see Mark. Not until she stopped, and he popped out from behind the bush in front of the building. He jumped into the front seat beside her, his ragged old jacket looking cleaner than the last time she’d seen it.

As if he saw her surprise, he lowered his head and admitted, “Hope you don’ mind. I used your washer and dryer so’s I could clean my jacket.”

“Mind? Of course not. You did good thinking about it. I’m glad.”

“Me too. It stunk bad from my pa spillin’ his whiskey on the sleeve. Then he got sick all over me. I washed it twice.”

“Good thinking. As soon as we get time, I think Santa might come early and take you shopping for some new clothes,”

“Look out!”

Kayti slammed on her brakes and stopped two inches from the bumper ahead of hers.

Mark waved his hand toward the front of the car. “I know that guy stopped fast, but you almost hit him.”

“Sorry, I shouldn’t be watching you when I’m driving in so much traffic. There’s a lot of crazies on the road. Lately, it seems to be worse.”

Mark sucked in his breath. “Kayti, that guy has his turn signal on. He wants to cut into traffic… Kay-ti!” The second Kayti sounded loud. Very loud. “Okay, so he’ll have to come behind us.”

“I’m sorry, Mark. I get nervous driving when there’s so many aggressive drivers on the road.”

“Maybe, it’s because you’re not going the speed limit. Here’s the turn-off. If we go this way, we’ll be on side streets away from the main highway.”

The little screech he made when she turned might have seemed funny if the boy hadn’t curled into a fetal position with his hands over his head.

“Are you messing with me?” Kayti’s short fuse lit. Her nerves were kicking in. She didn’t appreciate Mark’s antics. His yelp really messed with her. She started feeling strung out. “What are you doing?”

“Hiding my eyes. You cut that guy off.”

“What guy?”

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