Bluegrass State of Mind(100)

She didn’t notice Will running into the room until he stopped in front of her and shook her.

“Kenna. Kenna. Answer me. Are you okay? What happened?”

All she could do was point to the shattered photo. She saw Will pick it up along with the note and then curse. He ran over to the phone and dialed a number. “Get over here now.” He hung up and dialed another number. “Yeah, it’s me. There’s been a package sent. Yeah, come to the new house.”

The rushing sound of blood started to recede, and she tore her gaze from the note lying on the floor. Will came over to her and crouched on the floor, pulling her into him. “It’s okay… It’s okay. We’ll take care of it. He’s too scared to come here himself so he had to send it.”

Kenna jumped when the front door opened.

Will stood up. “We’re in here.”

“Who is it?” Kenna asked.

“It’s Ahmed. Cole will be here in about twenty-five minutes.”

Kenna put a shaky hand on the counter and was about to pull herself up when she felt Will’s hand under her arm, supporting her as she stood.

“You okay?”

“No, but I will be.” Kenna took a deep breath and managed a shaky smile when Ahmed entered the room.

“Come over here and sit down,” Ahmed gestured to the kitchen table. “We’ll take care of this, Kenna. I promise.” He bent down to take a closer look of the photograph. “What is this photograph from? Take your time and tell me everything you remember about it.”

Kenna took a deep breath. “It was from my twenty-ninth birthday. That was my last night in New York. We were at a club called The Zone. Danielle and I had just arrived. Chad wanted the picture. He had already ordered my favorite drink, a sparkling peach martini. But for the picture, all three of us took a shot of Grey Goose vodka. Chad handed his phone to the bartender and threw his arm around both of us. He pulled us in close and said, ‘I want a photo with my girls.’”

“What had you and Danielle laughing so hard?” Ahmed quietly asked.

Kenna couldn’t take her eyes off the photograph. She felt as if she were still being oppressed by the hot sticky air of the club. She could feel the burn of the vodka shot she had taken. She could hear Danielle’s laughter. And she heard Chad ask the bartender to take a picture.

“Wait.” Kenna closed her eyes and brought herself back to the night. “He called the bartender by name. He said, ‘Hey, David. Do me a favor and take a picture of me and my two girls.’” Kenna opened her eyes and looked back at the picture of their faces caught in a moment of unguarded laughter. “Danielle had said, ‘If Chad knows that hot bartender so well, maybe he can introduce me. I'm always looking for a man willing to serve me a drink!’ And then we laughed because we always laughed at the thought. She had men falling over her constantly but she refused almost all of them. It was an inside joke that no man could actually last long enough to bring her a drink,” she explained after looking up and seeing that Will and Ahmed didn't seem to comprehend the irony of the joke.

“Okay, good. Agent Parker will be here soon. Let him collect it properly for evidence. I'm just going to take a picture of it and the note to see what kind of hits I can get. Cole and I have been working on this the past couple of weeks and he should have an update for us today.” Ahmed bent down and photographed the envelope, note, the UPS box, and the photograph.

Will sat down beside her and put his hand on her knee. “It’s okay, honey. We’re all here for you and we’ll find him.” He pulled her into his protective embrace and laid his cheek against the top of her head. Kenna took a couple of deep breaths and sank into him. His warmth chased away the coldness that had seeped into her bones the second she had looked in the box.

She heard the sound of a car door closing and boots on the sidewalk. She knew Cole had arrived. “Will, I know it needs to be done, but I feel so drained.”

“Don’t worry. I’ll take care of it. Sit there while I let Cole in and make you a cup of hot chocolate. I’ll answer as many of the questions as I can for you.” Will gave her knee a little squeeze before standing up and going to let Cole in.

Cole came in and swept the photograph, envelope, and note for fingerprints before placing them into clear evidence bags. He asked questions that Will and Ahmed answered while Kenna sipped her hot chocolate and fought the exhaustion that was setting in after the adrenalin had worn off.

“I'm going to help Kenna upstairs. I'll be back in a moment. Come on, honey. You’re about to crash. Let me help you upstairs.”