Convergence - The Last Science #2.1 - In Plain Sight

B2: Chapter 17 - Career Path - IV

  They drove silently most of the way. Jeremy didn't bother to ask Hurwitz any more questions. He doubted the man had any real answers, and even if he did, Jeremy would rather hear them from the real source. Hurwitz was never in Rallsburg. They could place him at his work up until the day of the incident. By the next day, he'd vanished, presumably along with his daughter and her mother, who'd also vanished that same day despite having a scene to shoot for a cable show. All three in the family, gone in an instant.

  Those details had never been released to the public, because they couldn't definitively link them in any way. Jeremy had kept an ear out, just in case, but Rachel and her parents had been thorough. None of them had ever surfaced in the public eye even once, visibly or financially. He wondered how they were getting by.

  "You didn't call her to ask," he commented.

  Hurwitz didn't answer, staring at the road ahead. They were driving off to the opposite end of Vancouver, as expected. Even their pharmacy location was calculated.

  "'Cause you already knew what she would say, right?"

  "...Yes."

  Jeremy shrugged. "You'll both get it eventually. I really don't care about you. I'm just tryin' to find Jackie and make sure she's okay, and get some answers."

  "She was the last time I saw her."

  "Yeah, I can't just take your word for it. After the shit I've seen, I need to talk to my old partner."

  Hurwitz finally glanced over at him. "You were partners?"

  "Eight years, Seattle homicide. Way back in two thousand. Best partner I ever had, and the last time I ever really cared about the fuckin' job."

  "Oh."

  "You saw her, though?" Jeremy prompted. "When?"

  "...That night."

  "That'd be Tuesday the fifteenth, back in May?"

  "Yes."

  "And she was okay?"

  "...Honestly?"

  "That'd be why I'm fuckin' askin', yeah. Honestly."

  "She looked scared."

  Jeremy frowned. "...Bullshit. Jackie didn't get scared."

  Hurwitz braked a little too hard at a red light as he shook his head. "You weren't there that night. First Andy calls me, saying that our daughter's in trouble and that we might have to get out of town. I start packing. Then, about twelve hours later, I get another call from God knows who. Some girl with a weird voice, who tells me to go to Issaquah under a fake name, meet Andy, and get ready to go into hiding." He stepped on the gas a bit too hard. Jeremy's head smacked against the rest as they jerked across the line. "And I did, you know? I dropped everything, called into work, and I was there for my family. But when I saw them that night... If you saw Will, you'd understand."

  "I did."

  "What?"

  "They took photos of him at the hospital when he checked in. Pretty standard in a case like that when the victim can't speak for themselves. Just in case they need to pursue a criminal case."

  He shuddered. "Your partner looked haunted, that's all I'm saying. And from what Rachel's told me, she had every reason to be."

  "...When did you see her last?"

  "She left right after we settled down, about a week later. Never saw her again."