Chapter 25

"I'm fine, Steven. I am." Kim insisted, even knowing that she was failing to keep the shakiness out of her voice. It was bad enough that she was probably overreacting by calling her brother in the first place; she wasn't ready to admit out loud to him that she was scared to death.

Steven's response came back across the line, firm and reassuring, telling her to go to her car and wait for him in the parking lot.

She nodded her head, though she knew that he couldn't see her. "Okay, I'm going now. I'll see you when you get here." She pushed the disconnect button on her phone and immediately a surreal sense of aloneness settled over her.

She, always so determined to be independent, so sure that she didn’t need her big brother’s help, that she could handle any situation now felt completely at a loss. For the briefest of moments, she wasn’t even sure she knew when her car was.

“Stop it,” she told herself, whispering the words out loud. Now she really was overreacting. Running a hand through her bangs, she did another quick visual circuit. It couldn’t hurt.

As she focused outward, the faint hum of a the field’s giant flood lights reached her ears. It would be dark before too long. "Jerry, where are you?"

There was no response to her question, only the continuation of fading light. When she found Jerry, he was going to be dead meat. Jerry please be okay so I can kill you.

As she finished her circle, straining to examine the thinning number of people as they headed toward the parking lot, she saw a figure that sent her heart racing.

Ray.

She set off toward him at a half run, afraid of breaking eye contact lest she lose sight of him. She’d heard Ray’s voice coming from that maintenance building, along with another man’s – not Jerry’s. But when she’d called Jerry’s name, all had gone quiet. Jerry – who she thought she’d seen – hadn’t answered her. But neither had Ray. She didn’t know why that was, but maybe he could help her find him.

Ray turned when she called to him, looking half-surprised to see her. “What’s up? I would have thought you’d be long gone.”

“I-I’m looking for Jerry. Have you seen him?” She came to a halt a few feet away from the scowling undercover cop.

“He’s a big boy,” Ray responded in typical fashion. “He can take care of himself.” He turned on his heel and headed off.

“Wait!” Kim ran the few steps to catch him, snatching at his arm.

Ray turned on her, his expression hard and calculating before it relaxed into his usual look of disinterest. His posture matched his expression, but Kim thought she noticed something about his eyes. “Is there something you’re looking for here?”

Kim locked gazes with him. “Help. I need help. Jerry’s missing. Can you help me find him?”

Ray seemed to study her for a long time before coming to a decision. “Where did you last see him?” he asked, his entire demeanor changing. He even seemed to stand up straighter.

Kim blinked at the transformation, before gesturing off toward the maintenance building. “I thought I saw him going over there, but when I called his name he didn’t answer. And . . . .” She paused, not sure she should tell him that she’d heard him talking to someone.

“And what?” Ray prompted.

“And . . . I should tell you that I talked to Roper.” When Ray just stared at her, she continued. “I wish someone would have given me a heads up before now. It would have been nice to know in case something happened and I needed to protect the ch--”

“Not your job,” Ray cut her off. “Look – I want you to go directly to the parking lot, get into your car and lock the door. Don’t get out until I come tell you to.”

“What are you going to do?” Kim stood her ground in the face of this new take charge, no longer slightly-sleazy Ray.

“What do you think? I’m going to go find Dumas.”