Full Tilt

Epilogue

Soft 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.