Chapter 23
Kenzie’s face twisted with sorrow. The tears streamed, and her throat tightened. Her mother rushed to greet her and gave her a hug.
A rocker-type guy was with her. I figured him for her boyfriend. Sleeved in tattoos with medium-length black hair, black fingernails, and a few skull rings. He wore tight jeans and a faded concert-T with the sleeves cut off. Dark sunglasses covered his eyes. He looked ridiculous at this hour.
"I'm so sorry, baby," Audrey said.
Kenzie just sobbed in her mother's arms. “Is he going to be okay?”
“Keep praying. He’s in surgery now.”
It was hard to watch. We’d seen too many families broken apart, and it never got any easier. I hoped Doug would pull through.
After they'd had a moment together, I addressed Kenzie and made introductions.
"I’m Tyson Wild. Special Crimes," I said. "I’ll be conducting the investigation.”
She nodded and looked at me with a stiff face, full of shock.
"Can you think of anyone who expressed an interest in the book recently?"
Kenzie shook her head.
"Was it something you ever talked about with your friends? Did anyone know about it or what it was worth?"
She shook her head again. "No. I don't talk about that kind of thing with my friends.”
"I’m looking for anyone who had access to the house and knew about the safe."
"I don't know. I don’t live there anymore. Like I said, I really don't talk about the book to my friends. I haven’t thought about it in years."
"Your mother said you live in the Nautilus. Have you been at your condo the entire evening?” I asked, trying to make it sound like a casual question.
"Yeah, why?"
"Just curious. Do you live alone?"
She shared an awkward look with her mother.
"I live alone, but Hayden was with me."
He nodded.
Kenzie looked at Audrey, "No, he's not living there.”
Hayden stayed out of this. It was obviously a bone of contention.
Audrey raised her hands innocently, not looking for a fight.
I handed Kenzie a card and told her to get in touch if she thought of anything helpful.
I asked Audrey for the security footage, and she pulled it up on her phone. She handed the device to me, unable to watch. It was too fresh and too painful.
I scrolled through, exported the clips, and sent them to my phone.
Neither the driveway cam nor the camera at the courtyard gate caught an image of the assailants.
I figured they must have left through the back door and exited via the canal behind the house.
It was the easiest way to slip into the posh neighborhood unnoticed.
Under the cover of darkness, a small rigid inflatable with an electric motor would be unobtrusive.
At this time of night, they probably slipped in and out unnoticed.
Fortunately, the camera in the living room captured a brief glimpse of the assailants as they moved across the patio.
Just as suspected, the assailants infiltrated the home through a window in the guest bedroom downstairs.
From this angle, the camera captured a view of the open concept kitchen, living room, the large window walls that opened to the patio and the pool, and the hallway that led to the guest bedroom and guest bathroom.
It was high definition footage, but still dark and grainy.
Motion-activated, it captured the figures for an instant as they moved from the hallway into the foyer.
As Audrey had described, there was a big guy, a guy with a medium build, and a svelte woman with a backpack wearing red shoes. It seemed like an odd crew.
I asked Audrey to text me the contact information for the maid and the contract workers who had been to the house recently.
She did.
It was late by that time, or early, depending on how you looked at it. The sun would be cresting the horizon soon. It would be a long night for Audrey and Kenzie. I told her to let me know if there was anything I could do during this difficult time.
After a few more questions, I left and headed toward the station to fill out after-action reports.
I texted Isabella along the way and asked her to see if she could put any cellular devices at the Caldwell residence during the crime.
I doubted the assailants were that stupid, but they certainly weren’t geniuses.
I figured Isabella would get the message in the morning, which was fast approaching.
But she could be a bit of an insomniac at times.
I called Jack as I pulled into the lot at the sheriff’s department. “What’s the scoop with our fugitive?”