“But you sound positive she cheated.”
“Look, you know what this place is like; a tiny seed of gossip tossed out in the morning grows into an oak tree by noon.” She exhaled loudly and then admitted, “Could be I just chose to believe it.”
Another dead end. I rubbed the back of my neck and sighed.
“Hang on a second,” Kim told me and then I heard her arguing with a man over a price. After a minute she came back on the line, “You won’t believe how much it costs to get a damn muffler fixed. You’d think the thing was made of gold or something.” She muttered a few choice curse words.
“I’m running out of options here,” I told her. “What about Lois? What was their relationship like?”
“Roscoe never met Lois, as far as I know. She was locked up the entire time he was together with Alice and she only got out after he was the one behind bars.”
“Good to know but I meant Alice. What was her relationship like with her half sister?”
“Alice didn’t give a rat’s ass about Lois. She was glad she was locked up.” Kim sounded perturbed. “She once told me that she never even knew about Lois until just a few weeks before that girl murdered her dad. Alice was devastated when her dad was killed.”
“Maybe that’s why she got close to your stepdad. She was looking to have that relationship again.”
“It was mutual. Dad loved Alice.”
“Did that bother you?”
“Nah. He was just getting soft inside because of the cancer. The man treated me like crap for years. I had no interest in making nice-nice with him just because he was dying. Now Alice’s dad was a good guy. His death bothered everyone.”
“Everyone?”
“Of course! You know Alice’s dad was well-liked around here. He was a stand-up guy. He started the soup kitchen for God’s sake.” She exhaled loudly. “The man was a friggin’ saint.”
“Who beat his kids,” I said dryly.
“Who told you that?” Her voice sounded shrill. “God, just because you had a crappy upbringing didn’t mean the entire world did!”
The venom in her voice caught me by surprise so I didn’t reply right away.
“I gotta go,” Kim said.
The call went dead, leaving me with a lot of questions. Mostly, I was annoyed with myself for not standing up for Alice. I should’ve told Kim that I knew Alice had been beaten as a child. I’d seen the marks firsthand. I’d also seen the haunted look in her eyes.
“Doesn’t matter,” I told myself as I drove out of town. “I believed you, Alice. Who cares what anyone else thinks. I’ll settle this for you.”
With new determination I got on the highway, making my way south toward Bellingham. When I arrived at the office building where Lois worked, I parked around back near the rear entrance. It was still over an hour before she was due to start her shift. I was exhausted and I lowered my seat nearly flat, closed my eyes and nodded off nearly immediately.
The sound of a car door slamming nearby woke me. For a second I had no idea where I was, and it only dawned on me as I raised my seat to the upright position and saw the back of the building. Staff were leaving and getting into their cars.
I scrolled through my phone to find the picture I’d found of Lois online. I’d taken a screenshot and now enlarged it to get a good look. Midforties, hair cut extremely short around the ears and longer and tussled on top, eyes hard like they were daring you to try something.
Almost on the nose at three an older tiny pickup truck with squealing brakes backed into a parking spot a few stalls over. A woman got out and made her way to the back of the building. Her hair was a bit longer than in the pictures. She was wearing navy cargo pants and a white polo shirt with the name of the janitorial service embroidered on the back. It was definitely Lois.
“Hey!” I hopped out of the Jeep and slammed the door shut behind me.
Lois turned, and at the sight of me, rolled her eyes so far back in her head I was sure she could see her gray matter.
“You just don’t take no for an answer!” She crossed her arms and scowled. “I don’t want to talk to you.”
“If you ever cared at all about Alice, you will tell me what you know.”
“Wow you go straight for the jugular.” She laughed mirthlessly. “Look, you are just turning this into a three-ring circus. Alice deserved better than that.”
“Sorry. I don’t want to do anything but find her. She was...” I stopped short of saying my friend. I had a feeling Lois would see right through that. “We had a connection in school.”
“Because both of you lived in homes where you were getting the shit kicked out of you on a daily basis?” she sneered. “What do you call that? Blood sisters?” She tilted her head. “Does that make us besties too? After all, you killed your own friggin’ grandpa, right? And I killed my dad. Only difference is, I went to jail.”
“It was self-defense,” I blurted.
“So. Was. Mine.” She punctuated each word with a pointed finger at my face. “Years of him using me as a punching bag and...and worse.” She swallowed. “But I hadn’t seen him in years because I was the bastard kid his mistress spat out. One night I got just angry enough to find him and his family. Drove to his house to confront him for everything he’d done to me when I was a kid.”
Someone walked out of the back of the building and we both became silent. The man didn’t spare us even a glance as he walked to his car but we didn’t speak again until he’d driven off.
“I take it that your confrontation didn’t go as planned,” I said quietly.
“He didn’t answer the door but I could hear him beating on someone. I could hear the screams and the sound of his fists on flesh.” She swallowed and her eyes looked miserable as she lowered her voice to a mere whisper. “I went around to the back of the house and the door was open. I walked inside to see him with his hands wrapped around Alice’s throat. I didn’t even know who she was at the time but I grabbed a beer bottle and smashed it over his head. He went down like a sack of wet cement and never got back up. I didn’t mean to kill him.” She ran a shaky hand through her hair. “Or maybe I did. God knows he deserved it. All I knew was I had to make him stop. I’ll never forget the fear in Alice’s eyes. I guess she thought I was about to kill her next. She took off running. I called 9-1-1 and tried to tell them it was self-defense but nobody bought it.”
“But Alice could’ve testified to that.”
“But she didn’t. She said she was at Roscoe’s all evening, and he verified that, so...” She shrugged. “I did a dime and now I’m out.”
“I’m sorry.”
She shifted her weight from one foot to the other. “So, as you can see, having only just briefly met Alice before going to prison, there’s nothing I know about her that could help you.”
“She never came to visit you?”
Something crossed her face and was gone.
“When it hit the news and she found out I was her half sister, she wrote me a couple times. Even offered to come by and visit. I didn’t want her to see me locked up.” She looked at her feet. “But the prison let us Skype and we scheduled a few of those. She told me how sorry she was about not standing up for me, and even thanked me for saving her. We made plans to try and be a family once I was out.” Then she raised her eyes to mine. “We emailed back and forth for a bit. She was...” Lois closed her eyes. “It was a difficult time for her and Roscoe. They were scrapping in the courts and preparing for divorce. Alice said she wasn’t in a good mental place to spend any sisterly time together but I told her I wanted to be there for her. I felt I owed her that. We’d seen each other in person exactly twice before that nutjob killed her over a damn dog.”
“What about Alice’s mom and your mother? Did they testify about the abuse?”
“Alice’s mom was in the hospital having some kind of surgery the d
ay it happened. She acted like I was insane. Said that he’d never laid a hand on her or Alice. The second that man was in the ground, though, she hightailed it to Florida to shack up with some guy. My mother...” She laughed mirthlessly. “When I was twenty she died with a needle in her arm.”
It must’ve been hard on her. No family. No one to stand by her side. I knew what that was like.
“I know you’ve got to get to work but—”
“I can give you another minute,” she said. “Not like their trash cans are going to disappear before I get inside to empty them.”
“Okay, I know you believe Roscoe’s the murderer but if—and I know this is a big if—but if someone else did it, who would that someone be?”
She raised her palms up in the air in an elaborate shrug.
“From what I hear, everybody loved Alice. Except Roscoe because she took his damn dog. She had no enemies.” The rain started up again and we stepped into the overhang of the building. “Of course, it’s not like I’d known her long, right?”
“Yeah, everyone I’ve talked to had nice things to say about her except...” I intentionally let my voice trail off to bait her into questioning me.
“There’s someone who has something negative to say?” Lois stuffed her hands into the pockets of her sweater and narrowed her eyes. “Who?”
Lois looked like the type who’d find a way to hurt someone for the wrong remark so I wasn’t going to throw Kim or Barb under the bus.
“There were rumors that Alice cheated on Roscoe and that’s why they split.”
A shadow of worry crossed her face and was gone. “Did that asshole tell you that?”
“No.” Which was weird. “Roscoe never mentioned it.”
“There you go.” The strange look on her face was gone as she added, “And we both know if he could’ve tossed her to the wolves and pointed the finger at some lover during court, he totally would’ve done that.”
“I heard Alice didn’t have any money when she died, but can you think of any way that someone could benefit from her death?”
“Nope. Like you said, she had no cash so that wasn’t a motive. Roscoe’s dad bought her boots and a coat the year we had all that snow. She couldn’t even afford to dress herself properly.”
“Sounds like she was close to his dad.” That explained why he wanted to fund the finding of her body even after his death.
“Yeah, they got along. She liked both his mom and dad. They were family.” Lois shook her head slowly. “I’m glad she had that kind of connection. She deserved it.”
“What about Kim? She mention being close to her?”
“No, but that doesn’t mean nothing.” She took a step back toward the door. “Now I really gotta go.”
“Thank you for talking to me.” I dug out a business card and handed it to her. “I know you don’t like that I’m working for Kim and Roscoe, but in reality they might be paying my bill but they aren’t my true client. I’m working for Alice because she deserves to have her body found. She needs a decent burial.”
Lois took the card in both hands and stared at it wordlessly.
“Please send me a message if you think of anything that could help me find her.”
She gave me a sharp nod and then disappeared inside the building.
No matter what Lois said, the anxious look on her face when I brought up Alice cheating told me more than the words that left her lips.
After leaving Bellingham, I wound my way back north with the dowsing rods on my lap. Rachel Wu had been found with me just driving by, and I didn’t want to take the chance that I’d go past Alice without even realizing it. There were a number of secluded areas that would make easy body dumps. Bush areas behind rest stops, trails, parks and vacant commercial buildings. Every time I racked my brain to come up with another place to try, I was disappointed with the outcome. I was no longer looking for just someplace that lazy Roscoe could’ve tossed Alice from the bed of his truck. There was now a possibility that some secret lover had done her in and set Roscoe up by using his pickup truck and his sword. It was nearly impossible for me to imagine where some unknown person could’ve dumped her. I needed to get a finger on who this person was, and unfortunately, I was getting the feeling that meant another drive to Ozette Corrections.
As I drove, I put another call in to Detective Larry. He answered on the first ring.
“Two questions. I assume you know about Alice’s half sister, Lois. Was she ever a suspect?”
“We looked into her but she was working all night when Alice was killed, and went out with a coworker after her night shift. Her alibi was iron clad and she seemed pretty shook up by Alice’s murder.” He paused. “What’s your second question?”
“I’ve heard rumors Alice was cheating. In all your digging did you find a lover?”
“Nope and we heard the same thing. Nobody ever saw her with a guy, there were no messages with any lover on her laptop or social media, and even more important, Roscoe was adamant she was faithful. I gotta say, I’ve never known someone up for murder who wouldn’t throw their ex under the bus to get themselves off the hook. I’m sure Roscoe would’ve pointed the finger at an affair or secret lover if one existed.”
He had a point. I ended the call and continued my drive.
After a couple hours I gave up crisscrossing the area in my car. Even though I’d had an impromptu nap in the car, I was suddenly bone weary. I got in the Jeep and pointed it south to home.
I had a phone call from Dr. Chen and sent it to voice mail. I’d canceled my next appointment with her and I knew she was wanting to reschedule. I was playing with fire not to see my therapist, but I needed some time to sort out everything in my head. And what was in my head was Wayland.
The sputtering neon behind the bar read Wayland Canteen but the W was fried and no longer lit up. The stranger grabbed my elbow to keep me from faltering and whispered something in my ear that sent cold shivers down my spine. I tugged my arm from his grasp and stumbled into the ladies’ room. I dropped to my knees in a filthy stall and vomited repeatedly so long and so hard that there was nothing but bile coming up. I flushed the toilet and went to the sink and stuck my head under the faucet to rinse my mouth with the tepid water, then scooped some water into my hands and washed my face. I caught a glimpse of my drunken reflection in the mirror. The room was tilting and spinning and I hardly recognized the woman looking back at me. Why? Why was I drinking? I’d been doing so good! Shame washed over me in a wave so hard it nearly buckled my knees.
The memory was so intense I pulled the Jeep to the shoulder of the highway, climbed out and dragged cold air into my lungs to clear my head. I looked out over farm fields and my gaze rested on a distant spot that was beyond my view but still iced my veins. Even from this distance I could zero in on the area I’d been raised, and it felt like a vortex of doom that wanted to drag me back.
I needed to get back to my home and broke the speed limit to get there. My heart hurt that Garrett wasn’t there because just being in his arms would take away so much sting from the day. I took care of Wookie and Fluffy, then spread out on the sofa for a nap. It felt like I’d just dozed when my phone began beeping with a flurry of texts from Tracey, who was worried about the date.
What should I wear?
Should I paint my nails?
Shave my legs?
Get a wax?
I yawned and sat up, realizing that I’d slept for over two hours. I texted a vague reply to my friend telling her she’d be fine and not to be too nervous. Then I lied and told her I was tied up and I’d have to talk to her after her date.
My stomach was demanding food so I made myself some soup. After I ate, I brought my laptop to the sofa and tried to do more research on Alice. In my gut I felt like I was missing something huge. The quicker I helped find Alice, the faster I could put the case and that entire town behin
d me. So far I was feeling like I’d only let Alice down.
“I’m trying,” I murmured to the empty room. “I could just use a clue or two, okay?”
I pored through Alice’s social media accounts, which remained active and were filled with people expressing their condolences. Beyond the pages of sympathetic friends posting comments and memories, I reached as far back as I could go but her privacy settings stopped me from seeing anything that wasn’t public. I made a note to ask Roscoe if he knew her passwords. I scrolled through her list of online friends and found we had a lot of mutual acquaintances. Not surprising since we grew up in the same area. I copied all the names into a document and printed it off. The people who called themselves her online friends were as good a place as any to start a list of contacts for me to reach.
The evening wore on and I finally shut down my computer. Garrett called just as I was preparing for bed.
“You sound sad,” he remarked.
“Not sad, really, just discouraged. I don’t want to keep going back to that town but I feel like if I don’t help find Alice, she’ll never be found.”
“This isn’t all on you. Let law enforcement handle it. You don’t have to—”
“I know I don’t. I just feel like I should.” I paused before adding, “I know I could sit back and let law enforcement try to find her, but it’s been a couple years and I doubt it’s high on their priority list since Roscoe’s already in prison.” I sighed. “It’s just that I knew Alice in school. We weren’t friends but we had similar home lives, if you know what I mean. Part of me feels I owe it to her.”
“I’m sorry she had it rough,” Garrett said. “But you still don’t have to take on this case. This is Alice we’re talking about. Not you.”
“But it could’ve been me,” I insisted. “A dozen times growing up I could’ve been murdered and thrown away. It was only luck and my own tenacity that I survived. I’d like to know that if I’d been killed, someone would’ve looked for my body. In Alice’s case, I just feel like that someone has to be me.”
“Okay.” His voice softened. “I get that but I’d be lying if I didn’t tell you that I’m worried about you.”
A Grave End Page 12
