Chapter 11
Katie Goren had grown up around cops. She knew a lot of them. She knew a lot of accomplished detectives. She wasn't sure her parents would want her to study Nicole Wallace. So she turned to another source: Fin Tutuola.
Fin had worked with her Dad in narcotics, and though they weren't in constant contact, she had seen enough of him to know he was a friend. She dialed the number.
"Tutuola."
"Detective Tutuola, this is Katie Goren."
"Katie Goren," he said, a smile on his lips. He tried to remember how old she was now. "How are you, girl?"
"I'm fine. Uhm, Detective Fin, I was wondering if you could help me with something."
"That depends. Is it something that will get you… or me… in trouble?"
She laughed. "No, no. Just a project for school. My psychology professor wants us to do a case study, and I wanted you to pull some files for me."
"Professor?" Again he tried to remember how old she was.
"Yeah, Professor Harbough. At Yale."
Suddenly, Fin felt very, very old. "Oh, yeah, Yale. Of course."
"So can you help me?"
"Why don't you just ask your Mom to do it?"
"Oh, she's really busy right now. You know, Captains have all that extra paperwork."
"All right Katie, what files do you want?"
"Everything you can find on Nicole Wallace. Mom and Daddy investigated her a few times when they were in Major Case."
Fin had a funny feeling about this. "Are you sure your Dad's okay with this?"
"Detective Fin! I'm in college now. I'm not a baby anymore!"
He paused and gave it some thought. "All right."
"Great! I'll drive up tomorrow and pick them up."
Bobby and Francine had traced Nicole as far as New Jersey, but then the trail went cold. She had slipped away again. She met with her Captain, who then invited him in. Bobby shook the man's hand.
"Mr. Goren, we appreciate your input on this, but it looks like things have slowed down. We'll give you a call if things heat up again."
Disappointed, Bobby shook their hands. It was strange to work a case and have to leave it in the hands of someone else when the creek went dry. It had been three days since Andy left the hospital, and Nicole had disappeared without a trace.
He left the station, the knot still sitting in his stomach. She was out there. She was embarking on a new campaign for him. His mind reeled, wondering what her next move might be.
Katie was coming home for the weekend. At least he would know she was safe.
"Girl, look at you… all grown up." Fin stood back and admired her, noticing how some things about her: her eyes, her curly hair, the dimple in her cheek had never changed.
She gave him a hug. "Hello, Detective Fin."
"Katie, just Fin, please." He motioned to a chair by his desk and she sat down. "Coffee?"
"No thanks."
"How's your Dad?"
"Oh, you know, he's fine. He retired, you know, and he's trying to work as a consultant now."
"I'd heard that."
"I think he's having a hard time changing gears."
"Yeah, this is a hard job to retire from. And your Mom?"
"Great, she's really happy being a Captain."
"She's not going to retire then?"
"Not for a while yet."
"And you're at Yale. Wow."
She smiled proudly. "I'm trying to work hard, earn that scholarship money they gave me."
"Good for you."
"How are you?" She asked politely.
"I'm fine. I'm just working, waiting for my chance to retire."
She giggled. "Somehow I can't picture you retired."
"I'm going to move onto a cruise liner, and sail the world," he joked. "I got that information you wanted," he said, seriously. "It's an awful lot of material."
She perked up. "That's okay, that's good. Uhm, that's why I picked her, so I'd have lots of information for my report," she lied.
"You'll need help taking it to the car," he said, and handed her a banker's box. Fin picked up another, heavier one off the floor. "Lead the way," he said.
It wasn't often Katie used her car. It was an old Nova that her Dad had got her and Lewis had fixed up. All her life, she'd loved to be around Lewis and her Dad and old cars. It was a fine day when they gave her the Nova. The fact was, she just didn't need it when she was home, and at school she usually didn't stray too far from campus. So it was nice to have the chance to drive it, let it flex its muscles a little.
She parked on the street behind the apartment and locked the doors. Nicole's whole life was tucked away safely in her trunk. She couldn't risk studying the information at home; she'd have to wait until she went back to school.
After greeting her parents, she dropped her bag in her old bedroom. It was comfortable to her, but now when she slept here it felt a little foreign, too. Katie supposed that was part of growing up. Katie heard the doorbell and went out to see who it was.
The Logans shared happy greetings, and Katie gave Andy a hug. Almost immediately, she invited him back to the privacy of her room. "Are you okay?" she asked him. She saw that the scars on his face were mostly gone.
He grinned. "Yeah, I'm fine. Darren's arm is going to take a while to heal, but he's okay too."
Katie sat on the bed, and Andy sat down beside her. "I've decided something, Andy."
"What?"
"I'm going to help them… catch her."
"Her, who? HER?!" He jumped to his feet and tried very hard to keep from raising his voice. "Katie, my Dad told me about her. She's a killer. Even your Dad has never been able to catch her."
"Oh, my parents caught her, lots of times."
"But she always got away."
"She's smart. She knew how to cover her tracks, how to play the system."
He shook his head, worry written all over his face.
"Andy." She waited until he looked her in the eye. "I'm smart too."