The Dark Tide Free for a Limited Time by Andrew Gross Read Free Book Online

seemed to drift to a photo she kept on the shelf. She and Charlie, dressed up formal. At her cousin Meredith’s wedding. Karen always loved the way the two of them looked in that picture.
    She smiled wistfully. “Eighteen years together, I don’t even get to kiss him good-bye.”
    For a second they just stood there, she wishing she hadn’t said that, he shifting on the balls of his feet, seemingly contemplating something and a little strained. Then he said, “On 9/11, I was working in the city at the NYPD’s Office of Information. It was my job to try and track down people who were missing. You know, presumed to be inside the buildings, lost. It was tough. I saw a lot of families”—he wet his lips—“in this same situation. I guess all I’m trying to say is, I have a rough idea of what you’re going through….”
    Karen felt a sting at the back of her eyes. She looked up and tried to smile, not knowing what else to say.
    “You’ll let me know if there’s anything I can do.” He took a step to the door. “I still keep a few friends down there.”
    “I appreciate that, Lieutenant.” She walked him through the kitchen to the back door in order to avoid the crowd in front. “It’s awful. I wish you luck with finding this guy. I wish I could be more help.”
    “You have your own things to be thinking about,” he said, opening the door.
    Karen looked at him. A tone of hopefulness rose in her voice. “So did anyone ever turn up? When you were looking?”
    “Two.” He shrugged. “One at St. Vincent’s Hospital. She had been struck by debris. The other, he never even made it in to work that morning. He witnessed what happened and just couldn’t go home for a few days.”
    “Not the best odds.” Karen smiled, looking at him as if she knew what he must be thinking. “It would just be good, you know, to have something….”
    “My best to you and your family, Mrs. Friedman.” The lieutenant opened the door. “I’m very sorry for your loss.”
     
    O UTSIDE, H AUCK STOOD a moment on the walkway.
    He had hoped the name and number in AJ Raymond’s pocket would prove more promising. It was pretty much all he had left.
    A check of the phone records where the victim worked hadn’t panned out at all. The call that he’d received— Marty something, the manager had said—was designated a private caller. From a cell phone. Totally untraceable now.
    Nor had the girlfriend’s ex. The guy turned out to be a low-life, maybe a wife beater, but his alibi checked. He’d been at a conference at his kid’s school at the time of the accident, and anyway he drove a navy Toyota Corolla, not an SUV. Hauck had double-checked.
    Now all he was left with were the conflicting reports from the two eyewitnesses and his APB on the white SUVs.
    Next to nothing.
    It burned in him. Like AJ Raymond’s red hair.
    Someone out there was getting away with murder. He just couldn’t prove it.
    Karen Friedman was attractive, nice. He wished he could help in some way. It hurt a little, seeing the strain and uncertainty in her eyes. Knowing exactly what she would be going through. What she was going to face.
    The heaviness in his heart, he knew it wasn’t tied quite asclosely to 9/11 victims as he’d said. But to something deeper, something never very far away.
    Norah. She’d be eight now, right?
    The thought of her came back to him with a stab, as it always did. A child in a powder blue sweatshirt and braces, playing with her sister on the pavement. A Tugboat Annie toy.
    He could still hear the trill of her sweet voice. Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily…
    He could still see her red, braided hair.
    A car door slammed at the curb, rocketing him back. Hauck looked up and saw a nicely dressed couple holding flowers walking up to Karen Friedman’s front door.
    Something caught his eye.
    One of the garage doors had been opened in the time since he’d arrived. A housekeeper was lugging out a bag of trash.
    There was a copper-colored