Brian Freeman - The Burying Place

Outside Denise's house, Serena and Valerie wandered to the end of the block and on to the middle of the bridge that crossed over the river. Flurries landed in their hair, and the cold raised a flush on their faces. Valerie leaned on the railing and stared at the dark water. She knit her fingers together.

'I owe you an apology,' she said.

'Why is that?'

'The first time I saw you, I told you that you couldn't understand how I felt because you didn't have children. It was a stupid thing to say.'

'Don't worry about it.'

'Well, I felt like an idiot after you left. I'm sorry. I'm the last person who should make another woman feel bad about not having kids. I tried for three years before I got pregnant, and it was the worst kind of hell for me.'

'I'm sure it was.'

'I'd like to tell you that Marcus was a comfort in all of it, but I'm afraid that's not his specialty. It's funny, isn't it? Marcus is in a healing profession, and Tom sells insurance, and which one is a better listener?'

'Denise and Tom look like they're having problems,' Serena said.

Valerie nodded. 'They've been sweethearts since high school, but somewhere along the line, Denise forgot that they were supposed to be in love.'

'What about you and Marcus?' Serena asked.

A sad smile drifted across Valerie's face. 'We've never been the best of couples. I thought having a baby would bring us closer together. Or maybe I wanted a baby to give me the kind of love that my husband couldn't. Not that I blame him — that's just the man he is. But three years of trying and failing? The longer it went on, the more desperate I became.' She gave Serena a sideways glance. 'I don't come across as a desperate woman, do I? Honestly, if Callie hadn't come along, I don't know what I would have done. She saved me.'

'I have an unpleasant question for you,' Serena said.

Valerie turned around and leaned against the railing. She stared at the cold blue sky. 'Those seem to be the only kind of questions you have.'

'I know. I'm sorry.'

'That's all right, go ahead.'

'Do you know a nurse at St Mary's named Regan Conrad?'

Valerie looked down at the water. 'Is that her? Is she the one that Marcus…?'

'Yes.'

'I'm sorry, no, I don't know her. She must not be in orthopedics. I know all of the staff where Marcus works.'

'She works in maternity,' Serena said.

Valerie turned her head sharply. 'Maternity?'

'That's right.'

Valerie cupped her hands over her nose and mouth. She shook her head. 'I knew it. I knew she was there.'

'What do you mean?'

Valerie brought her hands down to her chin, so it looked as if she was praying. 'I went into the hospital on New Year's Eve,' she told Serena. 'There were only a few other women in the ward that night, and one of the babies was in distress, so most of the nursing staff weren't really focused on me. We were waiting for my doctor to get there from a party, and they had me on an epidural. I was drifting in and out a lot of the time. I remember, it must have been right after midnight. There was a lot of noise, people blowing those little horns, shouting about the New Year. I woke up, and I was alone, but I knew she'd been there. I smelled her perfume. It was the same perfume I'd smelled in my bed all those times. Ever since then, I thought it was my imagination, but she must have come to see me.' Valerie shivered.

'Was Marcus with you at the hospital that night?' Serena asked.

'Off and on,' she replied, with a hint of defensiveness. 'I told you, I slept a lot because of the drugs.'

'Of course.'

Valerie shook her head. 'She was there in my room. On that night of all nights. My God, tell me he didn't…'

'What?'

'Nothing. It's nothing. Why did you want to know about Regan? Do you think it's possible she could have taken Callie?'

'I honestly don't know. I'm trying to find out everything I can about her. It looks like she was in the hospital on Thursday night when

Callie was abducted, but that doesn’t necessarily mean she wasn't involved. She had a key to your house, too. She also knows — well, she also knows Migdalia.'

'She knows Micki ? Oh, Jesus. I knew it. I never trusted her.'

'It doesn’t mean that Micki was involved in what happened to Callie,' Serena said. 'But we're looking at both of them.' She added, 'Did you know that Micki lost a baby last year?'

'Micki? I had no idea.'

'Your husband helped her. Regan was the nurse.'

Valerie spun away. She bent so far over the railing that Serena was afraid she would throw herself into the river. 'Marcus did that?'

'Yes.'

'Was it his baby?' she asked, her voice bitter.

'Micki says no.'

Valerie opened her mouth and closed it again. She hugged herself, shivering. 'I'm sorry, what does any of this mean?'

'We're not sure. It may be nothing at all. But I have to tell you, I'm concerned that Marcus has been keeping things from us. He never mentioned his relationship with Regan, and he concealed the fact that Micki was with him on the night Callie disappeared.'

'You think he was involved, don't you?' Valerie asked. 'You think he did something to our daughter.'

'I'm not saying that,' Serena told her. 'But we're going to ask him some hard questions, and we want him to take a polygraph.'

'I can't believe this.'

'Valerie, people hide things for all sorts of reasons. Don't leap to conclusions. If we can use a polygraph to prove that Marcus wasn't involved, we can shift our focus elsewhere. We can take a closer look at Regan and Micki, too.'

Valerie pushed past Serena on the bridge. 'I have to go.'

'Please, wait.'

'I'm sorry. I can't deal with this right now.'

Serena called after her, but Valerie kept walking, not looking back. She walked with her head down and her hands in her pockets. At the end of the bridge, she began to run, with her long blonde hair flowing messily behind her. She ran until she disappeared behind the pine trees lining the street, where Serena couldn't see her anymore.

At midnight on Sunday, Stride turned off the lights in the war room. Standing in the dark office, he glanced at the streets of Grand Rapids, which were empty under the glow of neon signs and stop lights. The flurries had lasted most of the day and left behind a dusting of snow on the grass. He shrugged on his leather jacket and locked the office door as he left. As he waited for the elevator, he ran both hands through his wavy hair, massaging his scalp. He had a fierce headache and wanted nothing more than a few hours of sleep.

The elevator doors opened, but before he could go inside, he collided with a short, skinny woman barreling through the doors.

'Oh!' Blair Rowe chirped. 'Lieutenant Stride! They told me you were still here.'

He shook his head. 'I'm not here, Blair. This is a recording. Leave a message, and check back with me in the morning.'

She giggled. 'That's funny. You're cute. No, I've got something for you. You have to see this.'

'How'd you get up here, Blair?' Stride asked. 'I left shoot-on-sight orders downstairs.'

'Funny again! But don't forget, I went to high school with half the cops in the building.' She held up a circular cookie tin. 'Plus, my mom made peanut butter blossoms. No man can say no to these babies. You want one?' 'No.'

'Oh, lighten up, Lieutenant!' Blair scolded him. 'I'm doing my part. I'm keeping you clued in. This is going to be on Headline News in the morning, but I thought you would want to see it first. See? I'm a team player.' She dug into the pocket of her navy blue trench coat and waved a DVD at him.

'What is it?'

'It's hot. You know how they say everything that happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas? Not this time. One of our reporters found a stripper who says she sleeps with Marcus Glenn on his trips to Sin City. She's got some juicy quotes.'