Read Online And Then There Was One by Patricia Gussin - Free Book Online Page A

“come back. Can you locate Mr. Monroe and bring him in here? Then could you keep an eye on Jackie?”
    A few moments later, Scott walked into the conference room with Jackie. He already looked like all the life had drained out of him. And now, she had to deepen his anxiety. What she was going to tell him would not be the problem, it was just that he’d be hearing it for the first time, and she and Scott had vowed never to harbor secrets between them.
    “You okay, Mom?” Jackie asked. “Do you want one?” She held up a melting Eskimo Pie. “Dad said not to get you one. That it would just melt, but I wanted to.”
    “No, sweetie.” Katie knew she should smile, but only a grimace appeared.
    “Katie, what’s wrong?” Scott asked. “Something about Cutty?”
    “No,” Streeter answered for her. “He hasn’t left Tampa. We’re still looking for his ex-companion, Adam Kaninsky.”
    “I still can’t understand why you just don’t arrest him,” Scott’s voice boomed louder than usual, then lowered as Jackie left with Agent Camry. “Guy like that, you have to put the pressure on. If he knows where my daughters are —”
    “Scott,” Katie said, “I —”
    “Those are my daughters out there, man. Some sick fuck has mylittle girls and what are you all doing, strutting around, talking into your walkie-talkies, typing on your computers. You need to
arrest
that bastard.”
    “Scott,” Katie interrupted again. “I need to tell you and Agent Streeter about something — someone —”
    “Mr. Monroe, let’s hear what your wife has on her mind.”
    Streeter leaned back into his chair and waited. He had a new line of questioning for Dr. Monroe, too, but he’d hear her out first.
    Katie began, “Scott, what I have to say — it could be important. It’s about an old boyfriend, Keith Franklin.”
    Scott’s eyebrows rose, he twisted in his chair, but he said nothing.
    “Before I met you, I dated a guy, Keith Franklin. The one in some of the family photos at Mom’s. I dated him in high school and all through college. He was good to me, but he turned out to be a drug dealer. He tried to involve me in hiding drugs, and I testified against him at his trial.”
    “Good lord, Katie, how terrible for you.” Scott looked puzzled, but agitated, too. “What does that have to do with Sammie and Alex?”
    “I received an e-mail from him. A couple of weeks ago.”
    Streeter reached into a folder and pulled out a sheet of paper. “Yes,” he said, “I was about to ask you about that. We found it on your hard drive, deleted, but we found it. He pushed it across the table, centering it between Scott and Katie. Katie squeezed her eyes shut as Scott read silently.
    Katie,
    I think about you every minute of every day even though it’s been twenty-four years. I made such a stupid mistake and I lost you, the only good thing that ever happened to me. My mother sees your mother and keeps track of where you live and what you’re doing. I know that you are still married to that white baseball player and I’m sorry that I sent you that one note. I have nothing against the man, except that he has you and I don’t. I know that you have three daughters and I want you to know that I have three sons. Katie, I’ve changed.
I need to be with you. I’ll leave my wife. I’ll take care of your daughters. All I think about is you. Please say that you’ll have me back. I love you and I can’t forget you and what might have been.
    Yours forever,
Keith
    As they read silently, Scott’s face turned a bleached shade of white. Streeter noticed that he squirmed just a fraction of an inch away from Katie, and he kept his eyes focused straight ahead.
    No one spoke for a moment. Streeter finally said, “Katie, start at the beginning. Tell us everything you know about this man. And why he is appearing in your life again.”
    Katie spoke in a husky monotone. She began with her senior prom where she’d first met Keith Franklin. She’d gone