Kate Summers 03-Behind Her Mind 3
LEVI
FULLER
A Suspense Mystery Thriller
Behind Her Mind
3
ALSO BY LEVI FULLER
ALMA NOVELS
Sound of Fear
Eye of Fear
Vision of Fear
Taste of Fear
Game of Fear
ISLE OF BUTE NOVELLAS
The Scent of Bones
The Secret of Bones
The Unburied Bones
The Missing Bone
Hide The Bones
LUKE PENBER NOVELLAS
Bend The Law 1
Bend The Law 2
Bend The Law 3
Bend The Law 4
Bend The Law 5
NANTAHALA RIVER
The Reticence 1
The Reticence 2
The Reticence 3
The Reticence 4
The Reticence 5
TURQUOISE VALLEY
The Kay Sister 1
The Kay Sister 2
The Kay Sister 3
The Kay Sister 4
The Kay Sister 5
KATE SUMMERS
Behind Her Mind 1
Behind Her Mind 2
Behind Her Mind 3
Behind Her Mind 4
Behind Her Mind 5
AUDIO BOOK
Sound of Fear
Eye of Fear
Copyright ©2021 by Blue Scallop Digital LLC. – All rights Reserved
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any similarity to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of the copyright owner.
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Contents
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1
There is always a trail—a bit of fiber that doesn’t belong, a few bugs or plants that have no business in that environment. As long as you keep your eyes open and don’t shut your mind to the possibilities, you’ll find it. It never truly vanishes, even if the hands of time or a sea of ash makes it harder to find. Patience, determination, and a willingness to see what others cannot is needed.
Kate Summers groaned at her reflection. Her dark blonde hair was tousled, her intelligent brown eyes sporting dark circles under them. Ever since she had arrived at Kyle’s house two days before, to find it being swept by police, she had spent every spare moment trying to get his suspension overturned. The man himself was of no help. After a period of shock, he had flown into a rage, defaming everyone from the commissioner to the witness who said he was weaving all over the road, and she had made precious little headway. But the trail was there; she knew it.
Kate and Jack, Kyle’s detective partner, had known that he was innocent. He had never been a full-blown drunk like much of the town believed him to be, though he had, on occasion, drank himself to sleep when the guilt got too much. The reason they were so certain he would never do something like that now, was because she had helped reopen the case that was the source of his guilt, giving him a shot at much-needed redemption.
Kate tore her eyes from her reflection, which seemed to be mocking her, and began roughly pulling a comb through her hair. Kyle’s fall had come at the exact moment of her success. She was in—now being a member of Commissioner Olsen’s team looking into the fire that killed Ben and Mae Summers, her aunt and uncle. She believed it to be linked to the similar deaths of her parents twenty years ago and was determined to find that link, if it existed. The irony was that finally breaking into Olsen’s ranks had come at the worst time. She was on two weeks’ probation to ensure that her emotional ties to the victims would not impede her duties, and he was making her life as hard as possible, giving her a mountain of mundane tasks, each well below her skill set. She would have been happy to grit her teeth and bear his venting of personal frustration over her victory, but it had meant she had next to no time to help Kyle, to prove his freedom and get him back on the force where he belonged.
She looked back at the mirror, pulling the now knot-free strands into her customary short ponytail. She had never been the sort of girl to wear makeup, but suddenly wished she had some foundation somewhere to help cover those dark circles. Kate shrugged. Maybe she could borrow some from Dr. Adams when she got to work.
Dr. Linda Adams was the head of the forensic division here, just as she, herself, was back in New York. In her fifties, she was the sort who could be a formidable ally or foe, depending on how you played your cards.
Kate held her own gaze. Olsen wouldn’t defeat her. He’d see. She would play his stupid game and have Kyle cleared. Something shifted in her brown eyes, and she smiled, then jumped at a knock on the door.
Kate laughed at herself and moved to open the hotel door. “Jack.,” she said in surprise, as his shock of ginger hair, green eyes, and tall frame were revealed. “You didn’t say you were coming.”
Jack gave her a crooked smile. “No, but I figured I should—and looking at you, I’m glad I did.”
Kate glared at the insult, but stepped back and allowed him inside. “Do you have something?”
Jack had been tasked with the bulk of recreating Kyle’s trail, as he was far less busy than she. The fire she was investigating had taken place in the early hours of the morning. There was precious little in the way of witnesses or those kinds of leads.
“Kind of—but first, here.” He held out a tube of foundation.
Kate burst out laughing. “Seriously?”
Jack tilted his head to the side. “Olsen was already making snide comments yesterday that you were looking overwrought. You actually think he’d give up on an opportunity to blame your sleep-deprived state on nightmares resulting from your bonds with the victims?”
Kate stared, then shook her head in defeat. “You’re right. That is exactly what he’d do.”
She reached out to take the makeup, and the long sleeve of her pale-blue sweater pulled up at the motion.
“What the hell happened?” Jack said in alarm, snatching her hand and pushing her sleeve up further, revealing more of the angry red welts on her forearm.
Kate managed a small chuckle and pulled her hand free, covering the letter-like marks again. “Have you forgotten? I have dermatographia.”
Jack nodded, but his frown didn’t vanish. “I remember. But I also remember Kyle’s tale of how Aunt Mae used to hound you all the time to get you not to scratch yourself so that the scratches wouldn’t become open wounds or require antihistamines to resolve the swelling.”
Kate almost smiled. “A legacy she carried on for my mother.”
“So?”
Kate shrugged. “It worked, mostly. I very rarely do this to myself anymore, knowing how bad the reaction can get. Over the years, it was usual
ly linked to times of stress. I’ve also learned to be extra careful about scratching my skin on anything.”
She turned away, hoping her casual, unconcerned tone would keep him from asking anything further. She had a shower not twenty minutes ago and was certain that there was nothing on her arm. Had she scrubbed too hard? Or somehow scratched herself getting dressed? She resisted the urge to pull up her sleeve and examine the marks. It was not unusual for her symptoms to appear like writing on her skin. In the past, right after the death of her parents, she would actively scratch their names into her skin, though she couldn’t have said why. One day, the results had landed her in the hospital. That was when Aunt Mae decided to take up her sister-in-law’s initiative to try and coax Kate from that habit, and then ensure she was careful at all times.
Instead, she turned to the mirror and began applying the concealer beneath her eyes, erasing the dark circles.
“Have you made any headway with Kyle?”
Jack raised an eyebrow, not missing the deliberate change of subject, then shrugged. “My gut tells me the witness is lying, but I found nothing to back me. They say they can’t do anything about the blood work.”
“So it is all up to me,” Kate interjected, capping the tube and turning back. “Don’t worry. I’ll find something. Dr. Adams already agreed to let me do some real work today, as long as it has nothing to do with the fires.”
Jack whistled through his teeth. “I never thought Dr. Adams would actually take a real liking to someone.”
Kate scoffed. “Liking? No, no. She just understands that forcing a high achiever to do menial work without pause or reward is bad for the lab as a whole.”
Jack chuckled, then pointed at her arm. “You sure we don’t need to swing by a pharmacist and get you something for that?”
Kate shook her head, but avoided meeting his eyes, as she reached over for her bag. “No. It should go away within half an hour or so.”
“If it doesn’t?”
Kate threw him a level look. “Then I can take care of it myself, Jack Carson. The important thing is getting Kyle out. You keep working on that witness. Get me a time line of his whereabouts throughout that day. And get me one for Olsen too.”
Jack’s eyes flew wide at her last demand. “Are you insane? If he finds out . . .”
“Then don’t let him find out.”
“Why do you think he has anything to do with this?”
“Mostly my gut.”
“Jesus, Kate. Look, no offense, but I’ve known Olsen longer, and while he hates Kyle, he wouldn’t sabotage his own unit.”
Kate shrugged. “Maybe not. But when I arrived at Kyle’s house, Olsen didn’t look annoyed or even vindicated. He looked like he was having the time of his life.”
Jack loosed a long breath. “Fine. I’ll see what I can do.”
“Good. I’m going to sweep the bottles found. It’s a long shot that Kyle never drank from them, but you never know what I might find.”
Jack nodded and opened the door. “If only they hadn’t botched the blood work.”
Kate cast him a despairing glance. “Like that was accidental.” She shook her head. “Don’t worry, I have a plan for that too, just waiting for a colleague to get back to me.”
Jack looked back at her and then seemed to think better of asking the obvious question.
Good boy.
2
Kate entered the Ashville police department for her morning check-in with Olsen and Dr. Adams, before she and the latter would then head off to the lab, situated in a different building altogether.
Her mind suddenly longed for the New York office, where everything was central, where the team, no matter their specialism, worked together under one roof, and the unshakable leader that was Commissioner Kirk.
She shook her head. Unfortunately, unlike the case she’d gotten Kirk to reopen for Kyle, the cases of her family members had no ties to any state, to any city, but this one. So Olsen was who she was stuck with.
“Morning,” she offered, as she stepped through the doors, giving Dr. Adams a small smile and Olsen a defiant grin, as he checked the clock and then looked her over critically.
“I have read your progress report,” he said, taking his eyes from Kate and locking them on Dr. Adams, “and it is woefully short.”
Adams cast him a look that would have defeated a lesser man. “You gave me the staff I said I needed to make progress, then hamstring them, but still expect results.”
Olsen’s cheeks colored faintly, but he didn’t flinch. “I have to make sure she isn’t going to break before you come to rely on her too much.”
Kate gritted her teeth. This was another of Olsen’s barbs. He spent their morning brief, which he’d insisted be daily—despite the utter lack of anything to say—and then spent the few minutes talking about her to Adams as if she wasn’t there.
“Then you’ll have to wait on those results, Commissioner. In the meantime, read these. They should cheer you up.”
Kate pressed her lips against a smile, recognizing the folder.
“What is this?”
“All the cases Dr. Summers has closed in the two days she has been working with us.”
Kate felt triumph swoop through her chest and stomach, suddenly needing all her concentration to stop herself grinning as Olsen’s expression of disinterest quickly became one of genuine surprise.
She didn’t blame him. After Adams realized what his plan was, she’d asked Kate if she was really willing to deal with that. Kate had smiled and offered this suggestion. She wasn’t allowed to dig into the case properly yet, only being allowed to verify what others had found, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t dig into other unsolved cases. Like most cities, there was a fair amount of these, and in the past two days, she had found what was needed to close six of them.
Olsen looked up and must have caught a hint of her smug expression, because his eyes turned to steel. “Is this a means of coping with the mental trauma of dealing with your relative’s case, Dr. Summers?”
Kate felt her cheeks heating, but kept her eyes locked on his. “Not at all, Commissioner, but surely even you must know that it is worth a lot to be useful to a team.”
She knew he hadn’t missed her barb, and had to fight down another smile. For years, his efforts had been deemed worthless until Kyle lost his fiancée and went off the deep end.
Dr. Adams had clearly spotted the storm brewing in his eyes at Kate’s comment because she intervened. “I have had no reason to think Dr. Summers’s work within the case that seems to concern you so as anything other than professional. Unfortunately, however, the level of tasks you have so far cleared her for is far beneath her capabilities. It leaves her too much spare time. I don’t like idle hands and minds in my lab.”
Olsen reluctantly took his eyes off Kate, and turned them to Adams. Kate held her breath. The heat from that gaze left her with no doubt that she was about to pay for her return insult.
“It makes for too many opportunities for mischief,” Dr. Adams continued, although Kate was certain that she had seen Olsen draw breath to speak. “I’d rather have her occupied solving unrelated cases, which will keep her wits sharp, than goofing off with her friends.”
Kate swallowed the sudden urge to laugh. Adams was brilliant. She had just delivered the one phrase that was guaranteed to make Olsen rethink any attempts to make her life more miserable.
She watched it happen. Watched Olsen realize that if he forbade her from meddling in cold forensic cases, she’d have time to help Kyle. As she watched, she caught a glimmer of something she hadn’t expected, following on the back of annoyance—fear. Kate felt one side of her mouth begin to curl upwards. An innocent man would have no reason to fear her digging into Kyle’s case.
“I suppose you have a point, Dr. Adams,” Olsen said at last, and Kate quickly schooled her expression. “Go then. Get back to work, and see that Dr. Summers incites no mischief by being left idle.”
****
“Don’t look so smug about it, Summers.”
Kate glanced over at the older woman. “He’d really do anything to keep Kyle away, wouldn’t he?”
Adams shrugged. “His dislike for your friend runs deep, but Olsen isn’t a bad man. Just an embittered one. Now get to work. Let’s see if you can beat your own personal best of cases closed in a day.”
Kate grinned and moved off to her little nook of this lab system. While she liked the one- house feel of the New York branch, she couldn’t say this separation was all bad. Here, everything was laid out for this realm of work. The area looked impressively futuristic with all the stainless steel counters littered with microscopes, centrifuges, and other glittering machines, along with vials of chemicals, beakers, and pipettes. Around all this were the personal office spaces for each employee, all made entirely of glass, so it didn’t break up the clean lines of the aesthetic. She sat at her computer and first pulled up the menial and pointless tasks Olsen had assigned her for the day, then glanced over a couple of the cold cases. There had been two she felt she had cracked yesterday, but had wanted to spot-check a couple of things. She’d do all this first. It wouldn’t break her record, but thanks to Olsen’s slip, she needed to get into Kyle’s stuff now. The bottles had been logged only as evidence, not primed for a forensic sweep, but that didn’t mean they couldn’t be, if she could find a reasonable cause. She glanced at her phone and dialed up Matt.
“Hello?”
“Matt, it’s me. You got anything yet?”
“Why hello, Dr. Summers. It is so good to hear from you. How are you? I’m fine—thanks for asking.”
“Cut the crap, Matt. You know full well how I am, and thanks to my previous contact with you, I am in no mood for games.”
She heard her young underling sigh. Matt had been what she had been to Kirk. A brilliant, but for various reasons, unwanted forensic analyst. She, like Kirk, had decided to ignore those factors, taking him on. Now, those less-than-legal connections were needed.