Baltimore 03 - Did You Miss Me?

Beckett’s death certificate before he and Daphne had gotten so pleasantly distracted.
    But what the results said was that there was no death certificate for Wilson Beckett in the county or state records. He ran the search again, with the same result.
    On one hand, this was no surprise because Beckett wasn’t dead. Any certificate in the system would have been a fake. But the lack of its existence in the official system raised a different set of questions – where had FBI Agent Claudia Baker obtained the proof of Beckett’s death? And who’d created it to begin with? And if the death certificate didn’t exist, did Agent Claudia Baker?
    With a sigh, Joseph typed a quick email to Bo asking him to request the service record of Special Agent Claudia Baker, calling in favors if he had to. Joseph had requested it himself, but he didn’t expect an answer till morning. Bo should have connections that could access personnel records 24/7. Crossing his fingers, he hit send.
    I sure as hell hope Baker’s real . Because if she wasn’t . . . it was going to get very hairy. Because they’d be right back to the question of motive again. Beckett faking his own death had a clear payoff. But who would have motive to fake a federal agent? And what the hell could that motive be?
    Wheeling, West Virginia, Thursday, December 5, 12.30 A.M.
    Joseph took his laptop into his own hotel room and quietly closed the adjoining door before dialing Grayson on his cell phone. It was answered on the first ring.
    ‘Joseph,’ Grayson said. ‘What’s happened? How are Daphne and Ford?’
    ‘Daphne’s okay. Finally went to sleep. Ford’s okay, physically. Deacon’s with him. Daphne told Ford about Kim and he was about like you’d expect. He shut down. Shut her out.’
    ‘Poor kid. What’s happening with the search for the girl and the cabin?’
    ‘Called off for the night. It’s snowing here.’
    ‘Here, too. I could give you a full weather report, but I don’t think that’s why you called,’ Grayson said dryly.
    ‘No. Where are you?’
    ‘Just leaving the hospital. I went to see Stevie.’
    Something in his brother’s voice gave him pause. ‘I thought she was improving.’
    ‘She is. They took out the breathing tube. But she’s not talking. She’s not not talking, but she’s not complaining or giving orders or anything. She seems depressed, which I guess can be normal after an injury like this, but it’s not like her.’
    ‘Maynard wasn’t there?’
    ‘No, he’s with Paige at the wake for Zacharias. I’m on my way over there now to pick her up. Why?’ Suspicion had sharpened Grayson’s voice. ‘Why did you ask . . . No way. Maynard and Stevie? No. Way. Really?’
    ‘He’s got it bad, but it doesn’t sound like she does. I’m sure Paige can fill you in.’
    ‘Paige is a bit too discreet, I think. Luckily for me, JD’s a gossip.’
    Grayson’s words were pointed and Joseph thought of the lipstick on his face before the video call. ‘If you wanted to know, you could have just asked.’
    ‘Fine. What’s going on between you and Daphne?’
    Joseph was suddenly glad this was not a video call because the stupidest grin had just overtaken his face. ‘It’s good. Really good.’
    ‘Then I’m glad. I’m really glad. I’ve worried about you for too long.’
    ‘You can stop, because I’ve got more pressing things for you to help me think through.’ He filled Grayson in on Daphne’s story and how Beckett had terrorized her by ‘popping up’ from time to time.
    Grayson had grown very quiet, and when he spoke it was with deadly calm. ‘I hope that when you catch him, he tries to resist.’
    So that I can kill him . ‘I hear you. The bigger problem at the moment, though, is that there is at least one more victim and probably more in the almost thirty years between. I don’t think their suffering has completely filtered through her mind yet.’ And when it did, it would devastate her beyond what Joseph was able to imagine. ‘For twenty years she’s believed Beckett was dead on the say-so of the FBI.’
    ‘Obviously somebody erred. But Daphne can’t be held responsible for anything he’s done. She tried to turn him in, and believed he was dead.’
    ‘She’s more concerned with having to explain why she didn’t say anything before she thought Beckett was dead.’
    Grayson’s sigh was weary. ‘I wish I could say she’s worried about nothing. I don’t think anyone rational would blame her