Kasey got dizzily to her feet. Distantly, she heard the thumping of his footfalls on the stairs, getting further away. She felt the pressure in the house change as the front door was ripped open.
He was gone. Everything fell silent again, except for the twisting of the blinds.
Kasey realized that she couldn't run away from him. He wouldn't let her. That was her last thought before she passed out.
Chapter Fourteen
As Serena hunted for Regan Conrad's home on Lismore Road, a black van approached from behind at extreme speed. One headlight was broken, but its single remaining beam grew blinding in her mirror like a searchlight. As the van careened past her Mustang in the adjacent lane, a rush of air pushed her toward the shoulder. The van continued east into the no-man's-land of farm towns like Stewart and Buckthorn, leaving her alone on the two-lane highway.
She slowed to a crawl at McQuade Road and scouted the numbers posted on the mailboxes on the opposite side of the rural road. Half a mile later, she spotted the address for Regan Conrad and turned into the nurse's long driveway. The houses in the countryside were built far back from the road, with several hundred yards of fields and trees separating neighbors. When she reached the house, she was surprised to find the kind of luxury country home that local professionals like doctors or lawyers afforded. Not nurses. A swimming pool, now closed for the season, sat amid a sprawling expanse of brown lawn. A multi-level redwood deck was built off the side of the house, with access from dual sets of French doors.
The living-room window was brightly lit with a broad bay window, but she didn't see anyone inside. She parked beyond the house, where the driveway ended, and got out. As she walked to the front door, she spotted two cars parked in front of the garage. One was a black Hummer. The other was a 1980s-era Ford Escort.
Serena rang the bell and waited nearly a minute before Regan Conrad opened the door a few inches and studied her suspiciously.
From inside, Serena heard the bluesy strains of a soul singer on the stereo.
'May I help you?'
'Ms Conrad? My name is Serena Dial. I'm an investigator working for the Itasca County Sheriff's office on the disappearance of Marcus Glenn's daughter.'
Regan's mouth twisted into a frown. Her lipstick was so dark that her lips looked purple. 'What does that have to do with me?'
'I'd like to ask you some questions.'
'Why? Do you think I swooped in and stole the baby and I'm hiding her here in my house?'
'I don't know,' Serena said. 'Did you?'
Regan didn't answer, but a ghost of a smile flitted across her ivory face. She invited Serena inside with a flick of her hand. She led the way to the living room on her right, where the bay window overlooked the yard.
'I'll be back in a minute,' Regan told her.
Serena ran her hand along a sofa that had a plush, almost velvet finish. 'This is quite the place,' she said. 'Did you win the lottery?'
Regan stopped in the doorway and folded her arms over her chest, it was my break-up box, courtesy of a corporate lawyer from Minneapolis.'
She disappeared.
Serena examined the living room. Regan liked blown glass; there were several multi-colored bowls shaped like flowers. An original oil painting, abstract with thick squiggles of color, hung over the fireplace. From somewhere inside the house, the volume of the music increased. Serena realized there were hidden speakers in the living room. She recognized the singer now; it was Duffy belting out 'Mercy'. Just as the volume went up, she thought she heard something else, like a faint echo from another room. The noise didn't recur, but she wondered if the music was meant to drown it out.
She thought she had heard a baby crying.
Serena was on the verge of investigating when Regan reappeared in the doorway with a glass of red wine. 'Do you want something to drink?' she asked.
'No.' She added, 'Did I hear a baby?'
'Only if you brought one with you,' Regan replied. 'Come on, we can talk in the library.'
Regan led her out of the living room into the foyer. Walking beside Regan, Serena finally had a chance to study the nurse up close. She wasn't as tall as Serena, and she had a gaunt but attractive face. Her skin was paper white and appeared even paler against the dark make-up on her eyes and mouth. She had a pierced lower lip, four earrings in her left ear, and three in her right. She wore a black tank top that hung straight down, barely swelled by her small breasts, and Serena saw an elaborate serpent tattoo stretching down her forearm to her bony wrist. The head of the snake poked out of Regan's shirt near her neck. Her black hair was short and spiky with strands of blue highlights. Serena guessed that she was about thirty years old.
'Do I look like a biker chick?' Regan asked, catching Serena's eye. 'Or just white trash?'
'More like a goth Kate Moss,' Serena said.
Regan smiled.
'You live out here alone?' Serena asked.
'That's right.'
'I hope you're careful.'
'I sleep with a shotgun by my bed,' Regan told her. 'I know how to use it.'
She led Serena into a small den and used a remote control to replay 'Mercy' on her iPod dock. She mouthed, 'Yeah, yeah, yeah' along with the background vocals on the song, and she did a slithery dance across the carpet and then settled into a leather recliner.
'You like Duffy?' she called over the music.
Serena nodded, but she winced at the volume. Regan pushed a button that muted the sound. The silence was startling.
'Better?'
'Thanks,' Serena said. She eyed the books on the shelves and saw a collection of homeopathic medical reference guides and cookbooks devoted to vegetarian and organic foods. The furnishings in the library, like the rest of the house, were upscale.
'I left most of the rooms the way my dickstick lawyer decorated them,' Regan explained. 'I like the idea that he and his fat wife spent years getting the house just the way she wanted it, and then he had to hand me the keys.'
'That's a pretty nice consolation prize for a busted affair,' Serena said.
'Well, if you're going to play fast and loose with your client's money, be careful who you tell. He liked to whisper secrets in my ear when he was fucking me.' She added, if you're a museum piece like Valerie Glenn, men want to make love to you. Me they like to fuck.'
'I heard you and Marcus Glenn were having an affair,' Serena said.
'That's not a secret.'
'I also heard he dumped you.'
'So what if he did?'
'Were you angry?' Serena asked.
'What do you think? I was furious. But I'm not exactly the girl you show off at the country club on Saturday nights.'
'People at the hospital call you unstable,' Serena said.
'Unstable? That's rich. His wife is the one who's unstable. Clinical depression. Meds.'
'Where did you hear that?'
'I told you, men like to tell me secrets. Marcus included.'
'You didn't look surprised to find the police on your doorstep,' Serena said.
'I'm not stupid. Exactly what is it you want to know, Ms Dial?'
'I want to know if Dr Glenn gave you a key to his house.'
Regan shrugged. 'Oh, I understand. No forced entry. No broken windows. Very suspicious. It must have been the crazy, jealous nurse.'
'The key,' Serena repeated.
'Why does it matter? I was nowhere near the Glenn mansion on Thursday night. I was working. Lots of people saw me.'
'So I hear.'
'Then why are you bothering me?' Regan asked.
'You blame Marcus for your break-up. You work with babies. A baby is missing.'
'I spend my life with moms and babies,' Regan retorted, jabbing a finger at Serena. 'I'm a nurse. A midwife. A counselor. I help women, Ms Dial.'