The Investigator by Chris Taylor

Author:Chris Taylor [Taylor, Chris]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Australia
Publisher: LCT Productions Pty Limited
Published: 2014-04-25T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 17

Riley watched as Kate switched on the laptop with fingers that were far from steady. The motel room was comfortably warm, the central heating blitzing its battle with the icy air outside. He propped his hip against the counter, close to where she sat, and watched her fingers as they fluttered over the keyboard in the room’s muted, golden light.

“So, how was Darryl? I take it he handed the laptop over without a fight?”

She glanced up at him. Shadows darkened her eyes. She touched her hair with a grimace. “Not exactly, but I got it anyway.”

A desktop image came into view and Riley’s gut instantly tightened. The wallpaper was a black and white photograph of a smiling Kate in a light-colored bikini, posing at the side of a swimming pool. Other children dressed in bathing costumes could be seen in the background. Kate looked about thirteen or fourteen, but even at that young age, her body revealed a promise of the womanly curves to come.

Kate’s hands stilled. “That was taken during the summer before my fourteenth birthday.” Her voice was soft and detached. “About six months before I left.”

“Your mom took the photo?”

“Yes. She loved taking photos. It was one of the things she could do from her wheelchair.”

Riley thought back to his conversation with Bill Cannington. “Did she get out much?”

Kate shook her head. “Not really. Not as much as she wanted to. Watervale didn’t have a disabled taxi back when I was a kid. She was dependent upon Darryl to take her places and he always seemed too busy.”

“I guess as the LAC, he had his hands full most of the time.”

Anger flashed in Kate’s eyes and Riley could have kicked himself for his lack of sensitivity.

“Yeah, right,” she scoffed. “This is Watervale. The biggest thing to happen when I lived here was when old Mr Warwick wandered out of the nursing home in his pajamas and got struck by a motorbike.”

“Was he hurt?”

“Only a few grazes and a dent to his pride, but it was the talk of the town for weeks.”

Riley tried on a smile. “I can imagine.”

Her face didn’t soften. “Don’t make excuses for Darryl. He’s a selfish son of a bitch. Always was and always will be. And that’s the least of his sins.”

It was a throw-away line, muttered under her breath, but it snagged his attention. Before he had time to ponder what she meant, she turned back to the screen and began typing passwords.

Riley frowned. It seemed odd that Rosemary had protected her computer in that way, given that Darryl apparently didn’t even know how to switch it on. It took Kate three attempts.

“What was it?” he asked, curious.

“My birth date. I tried hers and then Darryl’s. Mine was lucky third.” She tapped away at the keyboard and moved the mouse, opening windows and closing them. He watched as she opened her mother’s email account and then frowned.

“What is it?” he asked.

“There’s nothing here. Not a single message, new or old. Not even the ones I sent her when she stopped contacting me.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.