Authors: Rick Mofina
Full Tilt (30 page)
Epilogue
S
oft breezes carried the giant iridescent soap bubble skyward and over Central Park’s treetops before it popped.
A warm memory floated over Kate as she, Grace and Vanessa watched the street artist create another swirly sphere.
It’s like when Vanessa made bubbles in our backyard. Now we’ve got another new memory.
It had been six weeks since Vanessa’s rescue and they’d been taking her recovery day by day. Kate was still shaky from her close call with Zurrn and had taken a leave from Newslead. Together, they were working through the healing process as they moved on with their new lives.
The new bubble lifted off, Kate’s phone rang and she answered it.
“Kate, it’s Ed Brennan.”
Since the search for Zurrn had ended she’d only heard from him a few times.
“Hi, Ed.”
“How are you two doing?”
“A step at a time, you know.”
“Listen, I’m in Manhattan meeting with the FBI. I would like to see you and Vanessa, give you an update. Would that be okay?”
“Sure. Say, three at my place?”
“See you then.”
* * *
Later on the subway home, Kate wondered about the update. After Zurrn’s death, Brennan had been working steadily with the task force tying up loose ends of the case in Rampart, New Jersey, Chicago, Minnesota, Colorado and Alberta.
Sorin Zurrn was definitely dead.
Of that, Kate was certain. Divers had retrieved his corpse from the car and she’d insisted on seeing his autopsy photos. He had no family to claim him so the city took over disposal. His body was put in a pine coffin and buried on Hart Island by convicts from Rikers Island who were tasked with such work. There was no marker to draw twisted fans to the grave of one of the nation’s most notorious murderers.
They’d found more remains at the barn site near Rampart, so the known number of people Zurrn had killed, including the Chicago schoolgirl who’d taunted his mother, was twenty-one. The identities of twenty had been confirmed. Across the country in the cities and towns where his victims had lived, people held candlelight memorial services, set up foundations, charities and scholarships.
Starting in Minnesota, with the state patrol, various groups in other states planned to honor Vanessa and Kate as heroes for saving lives because their actions had helped locate and stop Sorin Zurrn. Vanessa and Kate agreed to participate in a Minneapolis award ceremony in three months where Ashley Ostermelle, the teen Vanessa had freed, would be present to thank her.
All of the events were valid, positive steps in Vanessa’s path to recovery. But one of the most significant aspects of her healing was Grace, her niece, Vanessa’s psychiatrist had said.
Two weeks after her rescue, Vanessa had requested Kate bring Grace to the hospital so that they could meet for the first time, something the psychiatrist supported. Prior to that day, the psychiatrist talked to Grace, to let her know that it was okay to be nervous, even a little scared, but it would be all right.
Their first meeting involved lots of hugging and joyful tears.
Afterward, the psychiatrist told Vanessa and Kate that because Grace mirrored their ages during the tragedies of their young lives, she would be something of a therapeutic anchor for them, a strong focal point for their healing and a reflection of the unbreakable bond of their love. Understanding that would help them move on, would help them put the past in its proper place, to reach through the worst moments of their lives to connect with the best, and hang on.
* * *
After three weeks in the hospital, Vanessa had been discharged to live with her and Grace.
Kate had given her sister her own room. Initially there were rough moments with nightmares, anxiety attacks, fears of trust, of things not being safe. Gradually, those episodes diminished. The psychiatrist had said that Vanessa had emotional scars and that some would take longer than others to heal.
Nancy, with her nursing background, was a godsend to Vanessa, helping her adjust. Some days Kate and Vanessa would pore over old pictures of them. Eventually Kate arranged for a tutor to help Vanessa as an early step to help rebuild her life and Vanessa talked about maybe finding some sort of a job.
Since Zurrn’s death Kate and Vanessa had declined the wave of interview requests, but they agreed to representation by a firm to help them consider which of the numerous book and movie deal offers they’d received was the best way to tell their story.
And it was during those early weeks that Erich called to see how they were recovering. Kate invited him over and he arrived bearing two small gift-wrapped boxes topped with pretty bows. Inside were new cell phones for Kate and Vanessa.
“They’re the very best on the market,” he said.
“No spy stuff installed?” Kate asked.
“They’re as private as they can be.” He winked.
“Thank you, Erich.” Kate hugged him. “For all that you did.”
“You’ve got my number, so don’t be a stranger, Kate.”
* * *
It was two forty-five when they got home.
Some twenty minutes later, Brennan got there.
“I got tied up with the FBI,” he said at the door.
Nancy had taken Grace to her apartment. Kate directed him to the sofa where Vanessa greeted him with a hug. They’d met before when Brennan had questioned her at the hospital and she liked him.
“So, what’s the update, Ed?” Kate asked, offering him coffee, which he declined.
“Since I was the first to talk to you when the case surfaced, I wanted to be the first to tell you that it’s closed.”
“Thank God,” Kate said.
“The reason it took so long is that we had to work with the US Attorney to be sure that no other person was criminally connected to Zurrn, that he’d acted alone when he’d committed his crimes. That took time.”
“What if other victims are found?”
“If that happens, those cases will be investigated individually, of course. They’re done searching the Rampart scene. It looks like there was nothing more in Minnesota, and he never got started in Montana. So for our purposes, the case has been cleared.”
Vanessa was nodding but not smiling. She’d clasped her hands together so tightly her knuckles had whitened.
“That’s not the only reason I’m here.”
“What else is there?” Kate asked.
“This.” Brennan reached into his pocket for a small box, passing it to Kate. “These are yours and I’m happy to return them to you.”
Kate opened the box to two tiny guardian angel necklaces, with their names engraved.
One charm was battered and charred, the other was glistening.
* * * * *
Acknowledgments
Throughout history we’ve seen horrific cases around the
world of real abductions where people have been held captive before their rescue
or escape.
Those who survived their ordeals are true heroes.
Those who didn’t must never be forgotten.
Full Tilt
is a work of fiction about two sisters
separated by tragedies. In telling their story, I took liberty with geography,
police procedure, jurisdiction and technology, so please bear that in mind. I
would also like you to bear in mind that if you thought this was a good story,
it’s because I benefited from the help of many people. I would like to thank the
following for their hard work and support:
My thanks to Amy Moore-Benson, Emily Ohanjanians and the
incredible editorial, marketing, sales and PR teams at Harlequin and MIRA Books
in Toronto, New York and around the world.
Wendy Dudley, as always, made this story better.
Very special thanks to Barbara, Laura and Michael.
It’s important you know that in getting this book to you, I
also relied on the generosity of many people, too many to thank individually
here. I am indebted to everyone in all stages of production, the sales
representatives, librarians and booksellers for putting my work in your
hands.
This brings me to what I hold to be the most critical part of
the entire enterprise: you, the reader. This aspect has become something of a
creed for me, one that bears repeating with each book.
Thank you very much for your time for without you, a book
remains an untold tale. Thank you for setting your life on pause and taking the
journey. I deeply appreciate my audience around the world and those who’ve been
with me since the beginning who keep in touch. Thank you all for your very kind
words. I hope you enjoyed the ride and will check out my earlier books while
watching for my next one. I welcome your feedback. Drop by at
(
www.rickmofina.com
), subscribe to my newsletter and send me a note.
Rick Mofina
We hope you enjoyed this Harlequin ebook. Connect with us on
Harlequin.com
for info on our new releases, access to exclusive offers, free online reads and much more!
Other ways to keep in touch:
Harlequin.com/newsletters
Facebook.com/HarlequinBooks
Twitter.com/HarlequinBooks
HarlequinBlog.com
ISBN-13: 9781460349724
Full Tilt
Copyright © 2015 by Highway Nine, Inc.
All rights reserved. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical,
now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of publisher, Harlequin Enterprises Limited, 225 Duncan Mill Road, Don Mills, Ontario, Canada M3B 3K9.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental. This edition published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.
® and ™ are trademarks of the publisher. Trademarks indicated with ® are registered are registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office, the Canadian Intellectual Property Office and in other countries.