Beside Still Waters (Psalm 23 Mysteries)

  “No, nothing like that,” Jeremiah said.

  “Are you sure?”

  “Yes. Why, did she mention me?”

  “No.”

  Jeremiah was surprised at the conflicting feelings that brought. Mostly he felt relief but it was tinged with something else. It felt like jealousy. He squashed it down. No time for complications like that.

  “You took her out to dinner and then brought her back to her hotel Sunday night?” he guessed.

  “Yes.”

  A retort about that not being very professional came to his lips but he bit it back. All he knew was that Cindy needed to stop going to dinner with guys, it got her into trouble.

  More like I don’t want her to go to dinner with other guys, he thought, frustrated with himself.

  “How soon until we get there?” he asked.

  “Ten minutes. We’re lucky, very little traffic this time of night.”

  “Good.”

  “You know. Lots of people extend their vacations on a whim here. We’re probably going to find out that’s what’s going on. It will be a big waste of your time and mine.”

  “Time well wasted to find out that’s all it is,” Jeremiah said.

  “Why you don’t think so?” he asked.

  “It’s not like her. Plus, she didn’t change her plane reservation.”

  Jeremiah noticed that a moment later they were barreling down the road even faster. He didn’t say anything and the two settled into silence. Jeremiah struggled not to count the minutes. He needed to clear his head. If Cindy was in trouble she would need him to be able to perform at his best.

  By the time they parked at her hotel he had achieved mastery over himself. One way or another he would have answers shortly and until then there was nothing he could do but wait and prepare.

  They took the escalator up to the lobby and approached the front desk.

  “Aloha. Can I help you?” the lady behind the counter said.

  Kapono pulled out his badge. “We need to know if Cindy Preston has checked out.”

  “Let me look that up for you,” she said, eyes widening slightly. She typed the name into her computer. “No. She was scheduled to check out this morning, but she hasn’t yet.”

  “We’re going to need a key to the room,” Kapono said.

  “Of course,” she said, hastily moving to make them a keycard. She handed it to Kapono seconds later. “Is there anything else?” she asked.

  “Not now.”

  They moved to the elevator and once inside Jeremiah watched as Kapono rocked back and forth from foot to foot. He was getting anxious.

  The hallway looked like any other. There was no one else around. They found her door and opened it. Kapono flicked on the lights. “Cindy?” he called.

  There was no answer and he stepped over the threshold, posture tense. Jeremiah followed. Once inside Jeremiah stopped abruptly.

  The place had been ransacked. The contents of her suitcase were spilled all over the room and the bag itself tossed in a corner.

  “Wow, I didn’t think she’d be so messy,” the detective commented.

  “Cindy didn’t do this,” Jeremiah growled.

  “You seem pretty sure of that.”

  “Very sure,” he said. He stepped all the way into the room and looked around. He wouldn’t touch anything but he needed to get an idea of what had happened. “Someone was looking for something.”

  Kapono pulled a pair of gloves out of his pocket. “We’re sure she didn’t do this?”

  “I’d stake my life on it. And I think whoever did this took her.”

  Kapono looked at him sharply. “What makes you think that?”

  “Besides the fact that she’s not back home right now? Her purse is here,” Jeremiah said, pointing to the corner. There, crumpled underneath a standing lamp was Cindy’s purse. They moved over to it. It’s contents had also been dumped on the floor.

  Kapono picked up the cell phone and depressed the button. “Battery’s dead,” he said.

  He put it down and looked at the rest. “Driver’s license, credit cards.”

  “Look at the purse,” Jeremiah said.

  Kapono picked it up. The purse had been slashed, the lining cut out. The detective whistled. “I think you’re right about one thing. Someone was definitely looking for something.”

  Jeremiah walked slowly around the room, eyes roving over everything. Cindy’s royal blue shirt that he loved was crumpled on the floor by the closet next to her tennis shoes which had had the inner lining removed from them as well.

  Then his eyes spotted a reflection off something shiny that was partway under the bed. “Over here,” he called.

  Kapono joined him and he pointed. The detective bent down and retrieved a rectangle of plastic and held it up.

  “Her room key,” Jeremiah said.

  Kapono pulled out his cell phone. “I have to call this in, get a team out here to go over everything.”

  “Look,” Jeremiah said, crouching down and pointing to a scrap of fabric on the floor about two feet from where the key had been. “I’d be willing to bet you’re going to find something like chloroform on that.”

  “Oh man,” Kapono said, running a hand through his hair.

  Jeremiah stood slowly. “I’m right.”

  “I can’t argue with you. I think she’s been kidnapped.”

  ~

  Cindy tried desperately to sleep. Every time she closed her eyes, though, all she could hear was the blare of the television which had become like a drum beat thrumming in her head.

  They’re trying to drive me crazy with the sound, she thought. Sleep deprivation could make a person say things they shouldn’t and they were probably hoping to use that against her.

  Suddenly a new thought hit her. What if something had happened to Mr. Black? What if he had been arrested or killed? What if he was unable or unwilling to tell anyone where she was? She could starve to death waiting for help to come.

  She screamed at the top of her lungs for help, praying that someone, somewhere would hear her. She kept it up for five minutes until her voice gave out. Her throat was raw and parched.

  Maybe someone heard me. Maybe they’ll call the police.

  She dropped her head toward her chest praying for rescue.

  ~

  To their credit the police responded quickly to Kapono’s call. Once the crime scene investigators arrived Kapono barred Jeremiah from the room. That was okay. They were unlikely to find anything new. Still, he had to school himself in patience as Kapono refused to let him leave the area. Finally the detective emerged from the hotel room and grabbed his arm.

  “Let’s go get some coffee and talk.”

  He had known this was coming and he had been preparing himself for it. He knew that in a kidnapping the first 48 hours were crucial, but he had to operate under the assumption that she had been taken immediately after returning to her hotel from dinner with the detective. That meant that they were already well past the 48 hour mark.

  At this point all he had to go on was whatever he could glean from the detective about the murder that Cindy had stumbled upon. Ten minutes later they were sitting down at a table in Zippy’s.

  Knowing it would be a long conversation and a very long time before the opportunity to eat presented itself again, Jeremiah went ahead and ordered the teriyaki steak and a bowl of chili. The waitress gave him a huge grin and told him they were famous for their chili. He didn’t care. He just knew that it would stick with him for a while and it might be a long time before he ate again.

  “Okay. Now, I need you to help me out here,” Kapono said as soon as the waitress had left. “Who would have wanted to hurt her?”

  “Tell me who killed your restaurant owner and I’ll tell you where to start looking,” Jeremiah said.

  Kapono shook his head. “There’s nothing there, I told you. She didn’t see anything. She just found the body.”

  “And we’ll have a lot better chance of finding he
r still alive if you stop lying to me,” Jeremiah said, pinning the other with his stare.

  “I’m not lying to you.”

  “Well you’re sure not telling me everything.”

  The man sitting across from him was nearly a foot taller and half a foot wider than him, and was not used to being challenged. Jeremiah had dealt with men that were far more intimidating than the detective, though. He knew how to dominate and he didn’t have time to talk the other man around to his way of thinking.

  So he looked him straight in the eyes and let the tiger out of the cage. He let the mask of civility slip, for just a moment, and let Kapono have one brief glimpse of the real him. It was the him that no one back home had ever seen. Not Mark, not Cindy.

  Kapono responded on almost a visceral level to what he had seen, moving farther away from Jeremiah. The big man blinked rapidly as his conscious mind struggled to find words to explain what his subconscious mind had instantly understood.

  “Listen to me very carefully,” Jeremiah said, dropping his voice so soft that the other would have to strain to hear him. “I will find Cindy. Nothing, no one, will stand in the way of that.”

  Kapono nodded though he probably didn’t even realize it.

  “Good. Now, let’s get to work.”

  Kapono nodded again, thought quickening in his eyes.

  Jeremiah leaned back in his seat. “Tell me everything,” he said, bringing his voice back to a conversational volume.

  Kapono cleared his throat. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know she was your girl.”

  Jeremiah didn’t say anything. Better to let him think whatever he needed to in order to get the required results.

  An hour later he had eaten his fill and had gotten every last bit of information that Kapono had, even some details the detective probably hadn’t realized were important. Jeremiah took it all in, mind working to connect clues, to see everything. He knew every move Cindy had made that Kapono knew about.

  After a promise to be in touch after he had more information, Kapono dropped Jeremiah back at Cindy’s hotel where the rabbi was able to get a room. He needed a base of operations if nothing else. As soon as he stepped foot in his room his phone rang.

  It was Mark. He answered.

  “Thanks a lot for the babysitter,” he growled.

  “Hey, last thing I needed was for you to disappear over there and then I wouldn’t know where either of you were.”

  Jeremiah didn’t bother to acknowledge that.

  “So, anything?” Mark asked, voice tense.

  “Police have officially declared it a kidnapping.”

  He heard Mark suck in his breath. “Any leads?””

  “A few. It’s not a lot to go on. Apparently on Saturday she found a murder victim and called it in.”

  “Of course she did,” Mark said.

  “I know. Anyway, the police are tracking down their leads.”

  “What are you going to do?”

  Jeremiah hesitated. His first instinct was to lie to Mark. The truth was, though, they’d been through some harrowing experiences together and Mark had already bent the rules just to help Jeremiah figure out what had happened to Cindy.

  “You don’t want to tell me, do you?” Mark asked quietly.

  Jeremiah took a deep breath. “Not particularly.”

  “Look. We’ve never talked about what happened up at Green Pastures, when you were on that mountain with the kids. But somehow you got them all out safe even with assassins after you. Clearly you have...skills. I don’t know where they come from and frankly I don’t want to know. What I do want to know is whether there’s anything I can do to help.”

  “I’ll let you know if something comes up.”

  “Fair enough. And promise me one thing?”

  “What?”

  “Be careful. I really don’t want to have to go back to the department shrink.”

  Jeremiah hung up. He wasn’t about to make promises like that. Not when there was dark work to be done. Not when Cindy’s life hung in the balance.

  He closed his eyes and pictured her face in his mind.

  Hold on, Cindy, I’m coming for you.

  10

  “Is everything okay?” Traci asked, yawning as she came into the room.

  Mark sat staring at his cell phone. “No, it’s not,” he said finally.

  “What’s wrong?” she asked.

  He didn’t want to tell her, but she deserved to know the truth. He looked up. “Cindy’s been kidnapped.”

  All the color drained from Traci’s face and she clutched her robe more tightly around her as she sat down on the couch next to him. “Are you sure?” she asked.

  He hated the way her hands were starting to shake. He reached out and grabbed her free hand. It had been only half a year since Traci had been kidnapped. It had only been for a few hours but it had been the most terrifying hours of both of their lives. And Cindy had helped save her.

  “I’m afraid so. She was on vacation in Honolulu. Jeremiah’s flown over there to help find her.”

  “What has she gotten herself into now?” Traci burst out, voice thick with distress.

  “Another murder, it sounds like.”

  “Why can’t she leave these things to the police? She’s going to get hurt.”

  Mark squeezed her hand. He had felt the same way so many times in the past. But if Cindy never got involved, Traci might be dead. A lot more people, too.

  “I don’t mean that,” Traci said, hurriedly, as if remembering herself. “I just hope she’s okay.”

  “Me, too.”

  “Do you need to go over there?” she asked.

  He shook his head slowly. “I’d just get in the H.P.D.’s way. Jeremiah’s too, for that matter. Besides, I’m sure my bosses wouldn’t approve.”

  “But she’s your friend. They both are.”

  He was about to deny it, but then he had to stop and reflect for a moment. Cindy and Jeremiah had started out as citizens in need of his help, his protection. They had quickly graduated to pains in his posterior that needed protecting from themselves. He had grudgingly admitted at last that they were concerned citizens with incredible instincts and a penchant for finding trouble. At some point in there had they become friends? They must have. Otherwise, how else could he explain his behavior two months earlier?

  “The last time I thought of them, treated them as friends, I ended up torturing a suspect and nearly destroying us,” he whispered. It was still so hard to admit, to discuss, even with Traci who had been there with them, who had helped save him when he didn’t think he was worth saving.

  It was her turn to squeeze his hand. “Whatever you need to do, I’ll support you.”

  That was his Traci. Always there for him, his rock. He pulled her close and held her until they both fell asleep there on the couch.

  ~

  After hanging up with Mark Jeremiah left his room and made his way up to the next floor. The door to Cindy’s room was barricaded with yellow police tape. Once he had used the keycard he had lifted off of Kapono he ducked under the tape and entered the room, quickly closing the door behind him. The police had been thorough, but he needed to examine everything for himself.

  The detective had said that when he and Cindy were out to dinner she had been wearing a black dress and sandals. He quickly searched through the closet and the drawers and discovered a nightgown but no dress. He also found a pair of tennis shoes but there was no sight of the sandals either.

  Which confirmed the suspicions he’d had earlier when he’d seen the room key partially under the bed. She had been grabbed pretty soon after she got back to her room before she had a chance to change. Most likely it had been immediate since she hadn’t had a chance to put the room key away. That helped. It meant she had for sure been taken that night as opposed to later in the evening after going to a store or in the morning returning from breakfast.

  Whoever had kidnapped her had been waiting in her room while she was at dinner with the
detective. Although it was possible someone had seen them together at dinner and kidnapped her in some sort of revenge scheme against Kapono it was unlikely. No clear message had been sent to him and the kidnappers would have already had to know which hotel she was staying at.

  He had already dismissed Kapono as not being involved. The man was an honest cop and his concern for Cindy was genuine. He couldn’t have hidden either of those things from Jeremiah. He had always been able to read people incredibly well.

  Ironically it was a skill he had worked hard to suppress once he had come to America and became a rabbi. Ordinary people lied all the time, everything from the polite, white lies about things as mundane as whether a dress made someone look fat to the big, life shattering lies. They lied to themselves every day. They lied to him because they didn’t want him to know what they’d been doing on the Sabbath instead of reflecting on G-d. They also lied to him in therapy which was the saddest of all because only the truth could set them free.

  So, he worked hard to ignore the lies and the half-truths that people in polite society told so that everything would remain nice and neat and polite in their little worlds. When he wanted to, though, the ability was still there, just a thought away. He had to be ever vigilant about using it at inappropriate times but when he needed it, he could count on it.

  That was how he knew Kapono was telling him everything he knew. He grabbed a pair of gloves out of his pocket. He had gotten them from a box Kapono kept in his car. It was important that he look through everything and he needed to do so without leaving evidence of his visit.

  He found all the receipts that were scattered around the room. He studied each of them carefully, memorizing where she’d gone and the order in which she’d gone to them. The night of her arrival she’d had breakfast in the hotel. Unless her kidnappers were other hotel guests it didn’t make sense that there was any problem there.

  And if her kidnappers had seen her at dinner or breakfast the next morning what could she possibly have done or said that would lead to her being kidnapped? No, the logical answer was that her kidnapping had something to do with the body she’d found in the restaurant.