by Harper Shaw
“This is where she said she would be.”
“I’m just saying maybe she messed up. Or you did.”
“No.”
“Then I don’t know!” He wrang out his shirt. “What were you shooting at, anyway?”
“What do you think?”
“The… Shroud?” He looked reticent to say it, like he was admitting he believed in UFOs or something.
“Pretty sure.”
“Didn’t you see it?”
“It was dark! But who else would it be?” she barked at him.
“So, what is this?” he snapped back. “A setup?”
“Obviously it was a fucking setup, Dennis!”
“Hey, back off!” He held up his hands to ward off her verbal assault. “I’m on your side, remember?”
“Are you?” Even in the dim moonlight, she could tell that hurt him. She pressed on. “All I know is I was chasing the Shroud and then—conveniently—you show up!”
“To save your life! Why would I do that if I was the Shroud?”
“Because you don’t want to kill me. I’m not like Chad. You and Bruce and Jennifer know my death will look more suspicious. So, you’re trying to scare me.”
“Do you have any idea how paranoid you sound?”
“You know, what some people call paranoia, some cops call instinct!”
In disbelief, Dennis gave a sharp bark of a laugh. “You’re a piece of work,” he grumbled. “Look, you’ve just been through a lot. Let me just take you home.” He extended his hand.
Rebecca slapped it away. “I’m not going anywhere with you.”
“Some people in your position would say thank you. For saving your damn life and all.”
She threw the bloody bandana at him. “Thanks.”
He stared at her in disbelief for a long moment. Then he dropped the bandana on the sand and walked away. She didn’t move until he was out of sight and she heard his car start in the distance and then drive away.
Then she took what felt like the first decent breath she’d had since the latest chase with the Shroud had begun.
Her chin was still bleeding, so she grabbed the bandana, shook the sand off it, and pressed it to the gash again.
She stopped off at the shed to get her gun and see if there were any clues to be uncovered. All she managed to find were the bullet holes she’d shot in the shed’s wall and floorboards. Fortunately, the bullets had probably ended up in the water. Even if the owners called the cops, Faruq wouldn’t be able to trace the ballistics to her Ruger.
Thank God for small miracles, she thought.
Knowing it was fruitless but knowing she had to do it, Rebecca set off looking for Jennifer’s yacht. At the very least, the walk would give her time to dry off.
A long search up and down the length of the docks revealed nothing. She wasn’t surprised. She was also too exhausted from her latest brush with death to be disappointed. Her chin had stopped bleeding during the search. She nearly threw Dennis’s bandana into the water, but for some reason she just stuffed it into a pocket.
Finally, she trudged back to the parking lot. As it came into view, she realized something was different.
The guard was back in the security shed. Just her bad luck he’d been gone earlier.
No, not bad luck, Rebecca realized. Jennifer must have paid the bastard off. Told him to make himself scarce so they could get the drop on me! Jennifer probably didn’t even take a dent to her bank account in bribing him, either. How much could a rent-a-cop like this make?
Rebecca crept up on the shed and got a good look at the guard. He was basically a kid—maybe twenty-one or twenty-two—and his uniform was too big for him. The way he swam in it made him look even younger, not to mention incompetent. It was easy to see how Jennifer could get to him. Maybe she didn’t even use money to convince him.
Rebecca snuck up to the shed and tapped at its plastic window. The kid gave a shout and leapt a foot off his stool.
She flashed her badge at him and then slipped it back in her pocket. She doubted the kid had any idea what the difference was between a Hilton Head and El Paso detective’s badge. It was a cheap trick but effective. His eyes bugged out of his head.
“Got a few questions for you,” she said in her best “just the facts, ma’am” voice.
“Umm…”
“Good start. I came by here earlier. Where were you?”
“I… had to use the bathroom?”
You didn’t need to be a detective to tell he was lying. “Could you step out of there, please?” she asked.
He eased himself out of the shed. Rebecca prepared herself to put his feet to the fire. Then she caught a whiff of him. He reeked of marijuana. She looked at his dilated eyes. This kid wasn’t part of a conspiracy to get Rebecca killed. He was just stoned out of his mind.
“Wanna tell me where you really were?”
“I was, uh…” Way too high to even try to come up with a cover story, he opted to just confess. “I was off behind some dunes smoking a jay.”
“So, you didn’t even hear anything? Earlier?”
“Like what?”
“Like shouting? Gunshots?”
“Gunshots… Shit, man, naw…” He gestured into the shed and Rebecca saw his Walkman and headphones sitting on the desk. “Am I in trouble?” the kid asked.
He really shouldn’t have been away from his post. It was her civic duty to put a little fear into him. “I’ll let you off with a warning this time, young man.” She did her best to look stern. “But this is a serious job. Understand me? Do this again and you could get fired. I might even have to call Chief Bradshaw. Got me?”
“Yeah! Totally! Got it!” He gave her a lopsided grin. “Thanks.”
“Don’t mention it.” She started for her car but then a thought occurred to her. She turned back to the guard. “Hey,” she called. “How much you got left?”
She deserved something to calm her nerves.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Pulling up to Jennifer’s house the next day, Rebecca was still determined to find the girl. Having almost gotten killed by the Shroud wasn’t making her feel any kindlier toward Jennifer, but something about how she wasn’t there at the docks last night made Rebecca anxious to know where she was. Who knew, maybe Jennifer was the Shroud or something.
All Rebecca needed to know at this point was, oddly enough, that Jennifer was okay and would live to make her life a living hell tomorrow. Sure, she knew a part of her was crazy for caring even one bit about Jennifer after all she’d tried to do to Rebecca in the past, but she couldn’t help but worry for some reason.
Exiting her car, she closed the door quietly (in case Jennifer was listening, as she wanted to catch her by surprise and possibly get some answers, too), and slowly slunk up the steps to the home’s Spanish-style door. She rang the doorbell and settled her hips to the side as she waited.
One minute passed and then another. It was probably around the third that Rebecca was losing count of the seconds and starting to get suspicious. Turning around, she examined the street to see if anyone else was outside in their front yards and could possibly see her. It was pure daylight, after all. Not seeing anyone, she turned back around to the door and rang the bell one last time as she pulled two bobby pins out of her back pocket.
It didn’t take Rebecca long to pick the lock, and soon she was entering Jennifer’s home. Hoping to pretend that the door had already been unlocked if she were caught, Rebecca stuck the bobby pins back into her pocket and plastered a confused look on her face.
“Hello? Jennifer?” she called a note too quiet. “The door was already unlocked, and I’d been knocking for a while, so I thought I’d come inside. Is that okay?” She shut the door behind herself and locked it back. “Just locked it for you, Jen,” she said sarcastically.
Realizing Jennifer at least wasn’t in the front of the house, she went further inside and headed down the hall to the master bedroom. The bedroom door was wide open, and she cou
ld see the sunlight shining into the room.
“Jennifer,” Rebecca sing-songed as she peeked her head in. When she didn’t see Jennifer there either, she came further inside and began snooping around the bedroom. Wherever Jennifer was, it seemed like she left in quite a hurry.
Clothing was strewn all across the floor and a half-packed suitcase lay on her bed. Rebecca couldn’t be sure if Jennifer never got a chance to finish packing or just changed her mind on the second case after all. Since she couldn’t find the other case in the pack, she decided it may have been the latter.
“Hey, is anyone in here?” Walking into the bathroom, Rebecca glanced at herself in the mirror to make sure no shadows were creeping up behind her. She noticed the bathroom was in a similar condition to the bedroom, products having rolled under cabinets and medications spread all over the counter. Where was Jennifer, and where was she trying to go that she didn’t get to finish packing?
After she approached the counter, Rebecca took a survey of the medication bottles. She saw a few that she knew were used as common antidepressants, a valium prescription similar to her mother’s, and a few other medications she didn’t know the names or purposes of. Setting the last bottle down, Rebecca knew she needed to look deeper into this.
So, she headed out of the master bed and bath and into the kitchen. The disorder in the kitchen seemed routine, usual. Some bottles of wine were out, seemingly typical of Jennifer since she was a nightcap type, along with some half-empty containers of foam takeout containers. What intrigued Rebecca was the plastic Tupperware that seemed to have a mold or something in it. But by the cute pink container and the plastic straw next to it, she figured it was some beauty or digestion cleanser Jennifer had picked up.
When Rebecca opened the fridge, she saw it full of half-drunk bottles of water, fruits and veggies, and a couple of skinny teas—way too much to suggest Jennifer was going out of town soon. After all, these foods were going to go bad in a couple of days. Rebecca was beginning to think this trip may not have been so planned.
For a moment, Rebecca considered calling Dennis and even headed toward the phone, but when she remembered last night’s events, she decided it was probably best to deal with things on her own until she figured out who Dennis was really doing this for. With the way things lined up last night and for all Jennifer knew, Dennis could have taken Jennifer out, too.
“I don’t need him anyway,” she said to her reflection in the mirror above the phone table. “I can handle this myself. Can’t I?” She set the undialed phone back down. “Sure can.” Rebecca made sure she left the rest of the house the way it was supposed to be and decided the next location on her list would be Bruce’s shop. If anyone had done anything to Jennifer, it was probably him. It was typical of crazed fans.
She couldn’t tell if it was just in her mind or reality, but the drive to Bruce’s shop ended up being a fast one, and Rebecca was soon jingling the bell connected to the store’s door. It wasn’t too crowded, being the middle of the day and all, so she was able to pick Bruce out of the rows of comic book shelves pretty easily.
Having caught his eye, Rebecca noticed Bruce looked up at her before she got anywhere close to him. He smiled, which she didn’t expect. Was it an act?
“Hey, Rebecca. You look kind of mad…” Bruce set a book back on the rack and turned fully toward her. “I hope you’re not still upset about that prank thing. It really was a joke—”
“What did you do to Jennifer?”
“What?” Bruce fumbled with his glasses.
“I said what did you do to Jennifer?”
“With Jennifer? What do you mean? Did something happen to her?” Bruce’s face crinkled as it grew concerned.
“Yeah, you happened to her. Tell me the truth, Bruce. What did you do?”
“I didn’t do anything, Rebecca. Tell me what happened.”
“I don’t have to tell you what happened. And even if I wanted to, I can’t. I’m still figuring it out, but I know it was you.”
“But it—it wasn’t me, Rebecca. Why would I do that? We’re friends. She’s missing, though? How do you know? Are the police looking for her?”
“Stop playing dumb. I know it was you.” Rebecca crossed her arms.
“It wasn’t me, though.”
“It was. Stop lying.”
“I’m… I’m not.” Bruce’s eyes glistened with what must have been tears. He raised his glasses to fist at his eyes. “Something happened to Jennifer,” he muttered to himself, a sniffle building up behind his words. Rebecca didn’t have time for these games. Who else had access to Jennifer’s house and had a motive?
“Listen, if you just come clean right now and tell me what happened, I’m sure we can make this a lot easier on all of us.” The first part of her sentence came out softer than the last, but she hoped it would still work. “Even if you made some mistakes that we can’t fix, it’s better for you to come clean about it now, okay?”
“Come clean? I didn’t do anything.”
“Bruce—”
“Rebecca, please leave. Just go.”
“No, I’m not leaving until you tell me what happened with Jennifer.” Rebecca didn’t even like the girl, but she could tell Bruce was hiding something, and she wasn’t leaving until she got the truth.
“If you don’t leave, I’m calling the police.”
“Oh, are you going to show them that little shrine you built for Jennifer in your back office?”
Bruce’s eyes widened.
“Yeah… Didn’t know I knew about that. Did you? Just tell me where her body is.”
“I didn’t do anything to her. We were friends.” Bruce walked away from Rebecca, heading down the side hall to his office. She pursued him, staying a few steps behind. She watched Bruce pick up the phone, but she knew he was bluffing. Instead, she busted open the door to his back office and began tearing down the photos from the wall.
“I’m tearing another picture for every minute you don’t come clean, Bruce. And let me tell you, even though you have a lot of these, it still won’t take us long to tear this whole room down.” She heard the door shut behind her and rolled her eyes.
When she turned to let herself out, though, she found the door locked. She began banging on the door.
“Bruce, let me out now!” She continued yelling for the next ten minutes. But when the door opened, she was only met with a police officer.
Again?
Chapter Twenty-Seven
“I can’t believe we’re doing this again,” Rebecca’s mom said. Meanwhile, Rebecca’s father handed over a cashier’s check to the cop at the front desk. Rebecca was just glad her parents had agreed to bail her out. A part of her had been afraid they wouldn’t. Fortunately, they were too concerned with family appearances to let their daughter be in jail for an indefinite period. It was nice to know their vanity could be a convenience to her now and again.
Of course, that convenience came with its own price. Namely, her mother’s inquisitions. “What sort of cop ends up on the other side of the bars this much, hm?” she went on. “You tell me that!”
Rebecca said nothing. What was there to say? The truth was, she had spent much of the last twelve hours in her tiny holding cell thinking the very same thing.
At Bruce’s insistence, Faruq was charging her with an actual crime this time. Criminal trespass. Rebecca couldn’t believe it. She was shocked to discover how vengefully angry she had made Bruce feel. Jennifer had really unhinged the poor guy. If she had known the extent of his pathology, she might not have gone so far with the pictures and the accusations.
It was yet another one of her gambits that had gone awry. She was racking up quite a score in that department.
“C’mon, let’s go,” her father grunted. He headed for the exit.
“I can’t, Dad. I need to wait for my stuff.”
He gave a rather dramatic sigh, looking from Rebecca to her mother and back. “Fine. But I’ll wait in the car.” He waved a dismissive hand
at them. Then, shaking his head, he headed outside. The bright daylight swallowed him up and then the precinct door swung closed again.
Rebecca and her mother sat on some hard-plastic chairs and waited. She hoped they could do it in silence, but almost immediately her mother started up on a monologue. “Of all the things, Rebecca, really. You’re here to try and get out of a lawsuit, but all you’ve done is get into more and more legal trouble…”
Hoping to drown the lecture out, Rebecca leaned her elbows on her knees and put her head in her hands. Her thoughts drifted beyond her mother, beyond the precinct, beyond Hilton Head. They flitted to the life that was supposed to be waiting for her in El Paso. Would she ever be able to return to it?
She had worked so hard to get on the force. The training she’d put herself through to qualify. The determination she’d shown at the Academy. The relentlessness with which she’d pursued her career to reach Junior Detective as quickly as she had. The decision to get sober, the resolve she’d displayed getting through that first month…
Now here she was. Coming to Hilton Head and defending herself in this lawsuit was supposed to have finally closed the book on a past she had worked so hard to escape. Instead, the past was more with her than ever, and now it was putting her present and her future in jeopardy. Everything that had happened in the last few days served to undermine whatever progress she thought she had made in her life. She’d fallen off the wagon, nearly been killed more than once and was now charged with a crime.
If any word of her escapades from the last few days made it back to her captain in El Paso…
“Well, Rebecca?” Her mother’s voice cut through the din of Rebecca’s thoughts. The monologue must have finally ended, but Rebecca didn’t know how it had come to a close.
“Well what, Mom?”
“You never listen. I asked what you plan to do if the El Paso police force takes away your badge.”
It was uncanny, sometimes, the way her mom was able to blindly throw a dart that could somehow hit the very heart of Rebecca’s fears. “They won’t,” she told her mother. Thinking about the alternative was too much.
