Simon Says_. Walk (Kate Morgan #6)(9)
Author: Dale Mayer

 

“Right,” Kate acknowledged. “But if her kidnapper knew Patricia, had used her services from a few years ago,” she pointed out, “he might see her as nothing less than disposable because of the work she was into. Definitely need to go over and talk to her myself.”

 

Rodney immediately joined her. “Any chance we can stop and pick up food on our way over?”

 

“Good idea.” She nodded. “I haven’t eaten either.”

 

At that, Owen told the two of them, “Definitely get food. You know what this job’s like. It’ll burn you up and spit you out. Therefore, keep strong and keep everything flowing, meaning, eat regularly and get a good night’s sleep.”

 

They grinned at him and walked outside, with Rodney offering to drive.

 

“What’s the matter? You don’t trust my driving?” Kate asked in a joking manner.

 

“Nope, nothing like that, and yet maybe I should be,” he quipped, “but this way I get to choose where we go for breakfast.”

 

That startled a laugh out of her. Now in a surprisingly good mood—that she hadn’t really felt since she woke up—she got into his brown hybrid vehicle. “That’s fine by me. Are you buying too?”

 

He snorted at that. “Hell no. Neither one of us makes enough money to start that.” He looked over at her, as they settled in. “What’s it like to date somebody who’s got megamoney?”

 

She shrugged. “I don’t really see it at all ’cause he’s not the kind to throw it around,” she shared. “So I can’t really answer that question.”

 

He laughed. “Of course you’re not one to spend it, are you?”

 

“No, sure not,” she confirmed, with a smile. “I don’t need more than what I’ve got anyway,” she murmured.

 

“Nobody needs a lot of what they’ve got,” Rodney declared, as he pulled out of the police parking lot. “The thing of it is, people still want it though.”

 

“Right. Of course that want is enough to mess up all kinds of things,” she stated, nodding. “If people would just not want quite so much, they’d probably get a whole lot more of it faster.”

 

He shrugged. “I hope you don’t go too philosophical on us,” he pointed out. “We’re still adjusting to the Kate we’ve known in the last few short months. You start giving us words of wisdom,” he said, with a chuckle, “we’ll really have trouble keeping up.”

 

She stared at him, not exactly sure what he meant by that, and she didn’t really have a chance to figure it out now, as he pulled into a restaurant almost immediately. “Wow, we could have even walked here and picked it up.”

 

“Ha, I knew you would say that, and I wasn’t up for the walk.”

 

Instead of entering the restaurant, he moved to the drive-through. She added her order to it. They paid separately, and, by the time they were back on the road, she was digging into her food. “The problem with this is, we have to eat while we drive.”

 

“Well,” he replied, glancing at her, “in spite of all the jokes otherwise, I am quite capable, as an adult male, of multitasking.”

 

“Sure, and, if we have an accident,” she countered, “hopefully you’re also capable of multitasking your way out of that one.”

 

He laughed. “Haven’t had an accident yet,” he declared, with a bright smile in her direction, as he bit into his egg sandwich at the stoplight. She nodded and really hoped that his good driving streak stayed that way; they often took her car for all intents and purposes, sometimes with him driving, and she liked her car very much. It was paid for, and no amount of insurance doled out would replace that vehicle for her.

 

By the time they reached the address that Kate had on file for Patricia, they had both finished their fast-food breakfast and sipped away on coffee now.

 

Rodney looked over at her. “You want to talk to her first?”

 

“No, I want to get a lay of the land, take a look at the neighborhood.”

 

“Well, this is a pretty average family-centered neighborhood,” he noted, as he pulled up front into a visitor parking spot. “This apartment building is geared to, I would say, the working-class, so not exactly a ton of money.”

 

“But,” she pointed out, “also not likely to be streetwalkers.”

 

“That’s also possible,” he agreed, with a nod. “Although some of them do well enough that maybe, while they might not work here, this neighborhood is where they retire.”

 

“And I would hope that,” Kate replied, “if they do that work, at least it’d be nice if they had a safe place to do it.”

 

“Still not work I would want my sister doing,” he pointed out.

 

“No, me neither,” she acknowledged, “but sometimes people are happy doing this. Also people can be so entrenched in a way of life that they can’t see another way out of it. Regardless, let’s keep them safe, while they sort themselves out and hopefully find another way to move forward in life.”

 

“You say so because you’re a softy,” Rodney said, “but you need to be prepared for anything. That way, you would stay on the job a little longer.”

 

“Yeah, well,” she murmured, “I’ve been on the job for a while and have seen quite a bit. Yet I still want to believe in people.”

 

“You might want to believe in people,” Rodney replied, “because you do believe in the law, and that is one of your saving graces.”

 

And, with that, she veered off from him and headed for the residents’ parking lot.

 

“Hey, wait,” Rodney said behind her. “Where are you going?”

 

“Here.” She pointed out the nearby covered parking garage, marked for the residents of Patricia’s apartment building. “We need a good look around here first.” Kate walked around the concrete lot. “A wide-open parking lot. Unmanned. Doesn’t have very good up-to-date security, but locks are on the doors, plus a few cameras.” She pointed them out as they went by.

 

“So this guy, Patricia’s kidnapper, cased the place, knew about the cameras, and still managed to snag her.”

 

She frowned at that. “I don’t think Patricia’s still in the business anymore.”

 

He frowned at Kate. “What would give rise to that big supposition?”