He was stunned. He turned around to look out the back window an instant before the man disappeared around a corner. The cab caught the light green and they were soon a block past the man.
“What is it, Tanner? Did you see something odd?” Sara asked.
“You might say that. I just saw a man that I killed twenty years ago.”
“What? He must have been a look-alike.”
“That has to be it,” Tanner said, but he knew what he’d seen, and he remained unconvinced.
19
Memories
TUCSON, ARIZONA, MARCH 1998
The bands playing during the free concert weren’t to Cody’s liking, but he enjoyed being around Barbara. Romeo loved the bands, as did Monique. The two of them danced during several songs.
As they were leaving the park, Cody noticed Barbara looking around, as if she were hoping to see someone.
“I thought Anna might show up here. She met a guy at the laundromat this morning and he asked her out. I was so glad she had a date. I would hate to think of her sitting alone at home while Monique and I were having a good time.”
“I’m glad to hear you’re enjoying yourself. I wasn’t sure about that,” Cody said.
Barbara smiled.
“You’re fun to be with, I just didn’t like that music very much. Too loud and fast for me.”
“Same here.”
The couples stopped for a late lunch at an Italian restaurant that boasted they served Chicago pizza. Cody and Romeo had never had it before, but immediately approved of the deep-dish style.
As they dined, the couples shared a table. After the meal, they decided to walk a block down to a movie theater.
Romeo and Monique took the lead as Cody and Barbara followed along behind them. As they walked, Cody reached over and took Barbara’s hand. Meanwhile, Romeo had draped an arm over Monique’s shoulders, and the girl laughed often as they walked along.
As Cody and Barbara talked, she mentioned that she spoke Spanish and that her grandparents on her mother’s side were originally from Puerto Rico. When Cody began speaking to her in Spanish, she laughed and replied in the same language.
“You’re full of surprises, Xavier, and what’s that accent I hear? Is that south Texas?”
“You have a good ear.”
“I hope so, I’m going to school to become a linguist.”
Cody suppressed a smile as he asked, “Can you guess where Romeo is from?”
“Oh, he’s easy. He’s from California, somewhere on the coast, you know, like Malibu or Venice Beach.”
Cody shook his head.
“He grew up around Dallas, Texas.”
“Get out of here. Are you serious?”
“It’s true.”
Barbara stared at Romeo. “I thought he was a surfer dude.”
“He is at heart,” Cody said.
If asked, Cody would have had a difficult time telling anyone what the movie was about. He had spent most of his time in the theater kissing and fondling Barbara.
After the film, the couples returned to the girls’ basement apartment. Cody followed Barbara into her room as Romeo did the same with Monique.
As Cody sat on the side of her bed, Barbara made them each a rum & coke from supplies she kept in a mini-fridge. After handing him his drink, Barbara sat beside him on the bed.
“What was it like growing up in Texas?”
“It was great. I lived on a ranch that’s been in my family for generations.”
“What were your parents like?”
“My mom died when I was young, but I still had my dad.”
Thinking of his father caused Cody to recall the deaths of his family members. The change in his expression was not missed by Barbara.
“What’s wrong? Did you have a bad childhood?”
“Something like that,” Cody said.
Barbara kissed him. “My childhood wasn’t all fun and games either, but enough talk, hmm?”
Cody set his glass on the nightstand, then began unbuttoning Barbara’s blouse.
The boys were back at the restaurant later that night to give the girls a ride home and found them both distracted by Anna’s absence.
Anna should have been at work, but she hadn’t called in sick or gotten in touch with Barbara or Monique.
“This isn’t like her,” Barbara said. “Anna is very considerate. She would never just blow off work this way.”
“Maybe she’s back home by now,” Romeo said.
“If she is, she’s not answering the phone,” Monique said.
The girls arrived home that evening to find that Anna still hadn’t returned.
“What was the name of the guy she went out with,” Cody asked.
“Anna said his name was Ray and that he had a tattoo of a teddy bear, but we never got to meet him,” Barbara said.
The boys spent the night with the girls. Cody awoke at first light after hearing Barbara leave the room. When he followed her, he found her standing in the doorway to Anna’s room. She was crying quietly.
“I’m so worried about Anna, Xavier. Even if she stayed with the guy last night, she would have called and let us know. I’m getting a bad feeling about all this.”
Cody embraced Barbara as more tears fell from her eyes. He said nothing, for he didn’t know what to say. He knew better than most that there were human predators walking among us. If the shy and beautiful Anna had crossed paths with one, the odds were good she was dead.
Cody led Barbara along the hall and into her bedroom, where he held her until she drifted back to sleep.
20
Right Crimes, Wrong Face
NEW YORK CITY, JANUARY 2018
After returning home, Tanner went online to research an old story about a young man named Ray Hoyt, whom he knew had murdered at least four teenage girls.
It took him longer than he would have thought to locate the story on the internet, but then he reminded himself that it had been twenty years and that the story had only been big news in Arizona, where it had occurred.
When at last he’d found the story he wanted, it was from a local Tucson newspaper that had folded since the time the story was run. There was also a photo of the newspaper headline, but it was blurry, as was the picture it contained of Ray Hoyt.
Blurry or not, the photo of Ray Hoyt did not match the face in Tanner’s memory. There was a general resemblance, yes, but it wasn’t Ray Hoyt.
He became further perplexed when a caption mentioned Hoyt’s age as having been forty-one. The Ray Hoyt Tanner knew had been no more than twenty-two in 1998.
None of these discrepancies had come to his attention at the time of the murders. He and Romeo had left Arizona for Mexico a short time later and had failed to read the newspaper accounts.
Tanner closed his eyes and recalled the face of the man he had spotted walking along the street earlier. Again, he was certain that the man he’d seen was Ray Hoyt, or possibly a look-alike. The face had been older, the hairline receded, but he’d had Hoyt’s regal nose and the swaggering gait had been the same. Ray Hoyt had been nothing if not cocky.
If Hoyt had somehow escaped death all those years ago, Tanner was convinced that the psycho hadn’t changed his ways. He must still be killing women, and he could have been doing so for the last twenty years.
Tanner began a new internet search, but then stopped after realizing what a waste of time it would be. He was thinking of searching to see if any teenage girls had recently gone missing in New York City, but of course they had. Several hundred thousand women went missing every year in America and many of those disappeared in big cities like New York.
If it had been Hoyt Tanner had seen, and if the man was still killing teens, the odds of him being caught by the police weren’t good. Missing teens would be considered runaways, and even if murder were suspected, most homicides went unsolved.
Tanner left the computer and walked out onto his balcony, where he had an astounding view of the city. After taking o
ut his phone, he dialed a number he had memorized, to speak to a man named Duke.
“Hello?”
“It’s Tanner. I need information on something that occurred in Tucson, Arizona, this was back in 1998. Is that a service you provide?”
“I know a guy,” Duke said. “Tell me what you need, and I’ll try to have it by tomorrow.”
Tanner explained what he was looking for, then ended the call. If Ray Hoyt were still alive somehow, Tanner decided that he would hunt him down and kill him.
He walked off the balcony, locked the sliding doors, and headed toward his bedroom, where Sara awaited.
21
Plays Many Parts
TUCSON, ARIZONA, MARCH 1998
When Anna still hadn’t phoned or shown up for her shift a second night, Barbara and Monique called Anna’s parents in Scottsdale, Rebecca and Stan Hopewell.
Anna’s parents stated that they were about to call the girls because they had not heard from their daughter for two days. It concerned them, since Anna was in the habit of speaking to her mother daily.
The police questioned Barbara and Monique about the man named Ray that Anna said she was going to meet. The only detail they remembered other than Anna’s mention of a tattoo was that Anna had also said Ray had dark curly hair.
The owner of the restaurant where Barbara and Monique worked volunteered to have flyers printed up with Anna’s picture on them. Cody and Romeo told the girls that they would tag along the next night when they walked the streets to hand out the flyers.
In order to be free the following night, the girls arranged to work the early shift, so Cody and Romeo spent the day with Spenser.
Spenser had been out on a date of his own. When he heard about the missing Anna, he shook his head in disgust.
“Some sick bastard must have gotten his hands on the girl. It seems like more women go missing every year.”
Cody explained that he and Romeo would be out that evening with Barbara and Monique as they handed out flyers hoping to get a lead on Anna’s whereabouts. Spenser reminded them that his meeting with the go-between was taking place the next day and that they had to leave early.
“I thought you weren’t meeting him until after noon?” Romeo said.
“True, but we need to arrive early so that we can check out the area where the meeting will be taking place.”
“You think this guy might set you up or sell you out to the police?” Cody asked.
“Not really. I’m just taking basic precautions.”
“What if the cops arrive right after we get there?”
“It won’t matter, they won’t see us, and once they get tired of waiting for us to show, we’ll leave.”
“What do you mean they wouldn’t see us?” Romeo asked.
“I plan to hide my truck. I’ve used this site for meetings before and have taken precautions. You’ll see what I mean once we get there.”
“It sounds cool, but I bet I could spot your hiding place, now that I know you’ll be hiding,” Romeo said.
“You wouldn’t find me, Romeo. I’ve been trained too well. You would only see me if I wanted you to see me.”
“What’s that mean?” asked Cody.
“First, tell me where you’re going to be tonight.”
“In the downtown area, but no particular place.”
“I’ll give you a demonstration tonight while you’re out handing out flyers. I’ll walk right up to you without you noticing me until I want you to.”
Romeo cocked his head. “Are you going to wear a disguise, like a phony beard and glasses?”
Spenser laughed. “My face will be in plain view, but you still won’t notice me. I’ll be using a technique called role camouflage which I’ll be teaching you in the coming months.”
“Have you ever used it when you were fulfilling a contract,” Cody asked.
“Yes, on two occasions. Both men were dead before they realized a thing. Understand something you two, the element of surprise is the greatest weapon you’ll ever have. If you master deception and stealth, there will be no target you can’t get to.”
Romeo punched Cody on the shoulder playfully.
“I can’t wait to learn all this cool shit, can you?”
“I want to learn everything Spenser knows,” Cody said. “I don’t ever want to feel helpless again… like I did on the night my family was killed.”
Spenser moved closer to Cody and stared into his eyes.
“If you train hard and learn what I teach you, you may someday be defeated by superior odds, but you’ll never feel helpless.”
“What will I feel like?”
“You’ll be next to invincible, Cody, and you’ll bring death to anyone foolish enough to try to harm you or those you care about.”
“Like the guy who took Anna,” Romeo said. “I’d love to get my hands on that sick creep.”
Cody agreed with that sentiment, but he doubted it would ever happen. Anna was gone and the man calling himself Ray was likely off somewhere hunting down his next victim.
“Remember to look for me tonight,” Spenser said. “Although, you won’t see me until I want you to.”
“What if we spot you first,” Romeo asked. “Do we win anything?”
“No.”
“Bummer.”
That night, as they walked the downtown streets with Barbara and Monique, Cody and Romeo kept watch for Spenser. The girls handed out flyers inside bars and asked to hang a flyer up in other businesses. At a donut shop, they saw that someone else had already hung a leaflet on the wall about another missing girl. The teen’s resemblance to Anna was noticeable.
Barbara copied down the information on the leaflet so that she could pass it along to Anna’s parents. If the police thought that the same man had abducted both girls, perhaps they would pay more attention to the case.
A thousand flyers and several hours later they were done. The boys took Barbara and Monique to an outdoor café where they could have a late dinner and talk. It was a nice restaurant where all the waiters dressed the same. They wore black pants with white shirts and green aprons, while atop their heads were cheap red & white checkered hats that looked as if they were made of paper.
The girls were both saddened by the growing belief that they would never see their friend again, at least, not alive. Barbara reached across the table and took Cody’s hand.
“This is some fun date, hmm, Xavier?”
Cody gave her hand a squeeze.
“Romeo and I are happy to help out. I only wish there was more we could do to find Anna.”
“Seeing that other girl’s flyer in that donut shop was scary,” Monique said. “It makes me wonder if poor Anna ran into a serial killer or something.”
After eating, the girls got up to use the rest room. Cody watched them go, then looked around again for Spenser.
“I don’t see Spenser anywhere, do you?” Romeo asked.
“No.”
“He said he’d be camouflaged, maybe he’s hiding under one of these tables.”
Cody laughed, then noticed a waiter walking toward them. The man had his head down and was writing in a notebook. Assuming he was about to get the check, Cody reached for his wallet, and was surprised when the waiter sat down between himself and Romeo.
“Dude, no way,” Romeo said.
The waiter was no waiter, he was Spenser. Both Cody and Romeo had observed his approach without taking notice that it was him.
Spenser smiled at them as he removed the checkered paper hat and green apron. A waiter came over to take the hat and apron, and Spenser thanked him for loaning him the items, while also passing over a twenty-dollar bill.
As the waiter walked away with Spenser’s “costume”, Cody shook his head in wonder.
“I looked right at you. I mean sure, you had your head down, but I looked right at you.”
“The two of you saw me, but didn’t notice me, because in your minds I was just another waiter. That’s an example of role camo
uflage, and it gave me the element of surprise as well.”
“That’s some cool shit,” Romeo said.
Spenser stood.
“I don’t want to intrude on your date, but remember, we’ll be leaving early tomorrow.”
“We’ll come to your room at six,” Cody said.
“Make it seven,” Spenser said. “I have a late date tonight.”
Spenser walked off into the night. Leaving behind two impressed protégés.
“Do you think we’ll ever be as good as him?” Romeo asked.
Cody sighed.
“The next Tanner will have to be at least as good as he is, then he’ll have to get better. I don’t think it’s possible to be better than Spenser.”
“Maybe not, but I’m willing to try,” Romeo said.
“Me too,” said Cody. “There’s nothing I want more.”
22
One Hoyt Too Many
NEW YORK CITY, JANUARY 2018
While looking over the research Duke had supplied him with, Tanner recalled Spenser’s blending in with his surroundings at the restaurant in Tucson. He wondered if the man he’d known as Ray Hoyt had done something similar. Then again, perhaps it was his inexperience at the time that had allowed the man to evade him.
Through Duke, Tanner now had a better photograph of Ray Hoyt. While the man’s general size and shape were the same as the Hoyt Tanner had known, the face was different, although the hair was similar, dark and curly.
However, the Ray Hoyt in the photo was older, had a crooked nose, and a pronounced brow ridge that made him appear almost simian.
Even as a young man, Tanner doubted the face he was looking at could have attracted young women the way that the Ray Hoyt of his memory had done.
One article was detailed. It relayed how police had gone to a house in the Tucson suburbs after calls came in complaining of shots being fired in a residential neighborhood.
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