I See You

by Burton, Mary

  “No. I knew her, and I worked for her father, but we didn’t date,” he said.

  “How long did you work for Prince Paving?” Vaughan asked.

  Jason scratched the back of his neck. “About a year. It was a good job, and Larry was a decent boss.”

  “You quit a couple of weeks before Marsha Prince vanished,” Vaughan said.

  “My leaving had nothing to do with Marsha. I simply got a better job offer in Florida. I liked Larry, but he didn’t pay top dollar.”

  “Hadley was with you when you were arrested for speeding,” Spencer challenged.

  “We had dinner once,” Jason said. “That night, as a matter of fact. We didn’t see each other again.”

  “If I ran a DNA test, would yours match as Skylar’s biological father?” Spencer’s gaze was as blunt and direct as her question.

  Jason’s intake of breath was slow as he stared at the glowing tip of his cigarette. “If I had a one-night stand with Hadley, so what? That was eighteen years ago. It has nothing to do with now.”

  “It might have something to do with Skylar and Hadley’s disappearance,” Vaughan said.

  “I don’t see how it could,” Jason said.

  “Have you been communicating with Skylar through a secured phone app?” Spencer asked.

  “That’s not against the law,” Jason said.

  “No, it’s not,” she said. “Did you?”

  Jason inhaled deeply. “Yeah, Skylar and I started texting in the spring.”

  “Do you have any idea where she might be?” Vaughan asked.

  “No.” He exhaled. “Have you asked her dad where the hell she is?”

  “Where would Skylar go if she were in trouble and wanted to hide?” Vaughan asked.

  “She’s got that boyfriend, Neil, wrapped around her little finger. You should ask him.”

  “We did,” Spencer said.

  “Ask again. If Sky was going to reach out to anyone, it would be that pencil neck.”

  “When did Skylar find out you were her biological father?” Spencer asked.

  “The kid is very smart. She always knew she wasn’t like Mark.”

  “How so?” Spencer asked.

  “Temperament. Interests. Apparently, kids like Sky sense when they don’t exactly fit into a family.” Another inhale and exhale of smoke. “Anyway, she tested her DNA against Mark’s, and it proved her instincts were right.”

  “Did she ask her mother?” Spencer inquired.

  “No. Like I said, Sky’s no fool. She knows Hadley would never come clean with her. Sky dug around in Hadley’s old papers in the attic and found a picture of Hadley and me. The kid looks like me. There’s no getting around that. I came out of work one day, and the kid was standing there. She asked me to dinner. We hit it off.”

  “Why did you come back to Virginia after your release from prison?”

  “It’s where I grew up. It’s home, for what it’s worth.”

  “Can you account for your whereabouts over the last forty-eight hours?” Vaughan asked.

  “Working mostly. You met the boss. Steve doesn’t like giving much time off. And he’ll tell you I arrived at work yesterday about 5:00 a.m. and worked straight through until 6:00 p.m. The security cameras picked up me arriving, working, and leaving. Steve will give you a copy.”

  “Why did you approach Hadley back in July at the hardware store?” Spencer asked.

  “I recognized her. Is there something wrong with talking to an old friend?”

  “She looked a little spooked in the video footage.”

  “I’m sure I startled her. It’s been eighteen years.” He checked his watch. “If you don’t wrap up this interview soon, my pay is going to be docked.”

  “If my kid were missing, I’d be pretty upset,” Vaughan said.

  “I’m worried. But I learned in prison not to wear my heart on my sleeve.” He flicked the growing ash off the tip of his cigarette and inhaled again. “Sky is a tough kid. And I’ll say it again. She’s smart. She’ll turn up.”

  “Speaking of tough, we found Hadley Foster’s body this morning,” Vaughan said with no emotion. “She was stabbed to death.”

  Jason dropped his cigarette butt to the asphalt and ground it with the tip of his worn boot. “I’m sorry to hear that. I didn’t wish her any harm. Did you find Skylar?”

  “Not yet,” Vaughan said.

  Relief softened his features.

  Spencer’s expression was unreadable. “Hadley moves back to Virginia in January. You find out you had a daughter with her. Marsha’s body is discovered. You confront Hadley, and a month later she’s murdered.”

  Jason flashed a grin and wagged his finger at her. “None of that has anything to do with me, Agent Spencer.”

  “I’m bothered by your proximity to the sisters who are both now dead,” Spencer said.

  “Mark also knew both the Prince sisters. Mark might appear to be a saint, but he’s not. Five will get you ten; he finally had it up to his ears with Hadley’s spending, whining, and whoring. He just shut her up for good.”

  “What was Marsha Prince like?” Spencer asked.

  “Pretty. Smart.” A smile flickered on his lips. “She was the sweeter of the two Prince girls.”

  “Did Marsha get along with Hadley?” Spencer asked.

  “Hadley was not fond of her sister.”

  “How do you know that?” Vaughan asked.

  “She made it pretty clear when the two were in the office at the same time.”

  “Any idea who would have killed Marsha?” Vaughan asked.

  Jason sniffed. “None.”

  Steve appeared at the side door and tapped his index finger on his watch.

  Jason raised a hand. “On the way, boss.”

  Vaughan handed him his card. “If you do hear from Skylar, call me.”

  “Yeah, sure.” He turned. “I can’t lose this job, or my probation officer will send me right back inside.”

  “Do you care about Skylar?” Spencer asked.

  He blew out a breath. “Yeah, I do. She’s my flesh and blood, and I’m proud of her.”

  “How did you feel when you realized Hadley and Mark had kept your daughter from you for all these years?” Vaughan asked.

  “I wasn’t thrilled. If I’d known about her, maybe things would have been different for me.”

  “I’d have been pissed,” Vaughan said.

  Jason shrugged. “Not much I could do about it.”

  “But it still bothered you, didn’t it?” Vaughan pressed.

  “I got better things to worry about than Hadley’s lies.”

  Vaughan studied him a moment, seeing the subtle tension in his jaw, before he shrugged and broke eye contact. “If she contacts you, let us know,” Vaughan said.

  Jason nodded. “Same. Tell me when she’s found.”

  Vaughan watched as Jason returned to the garage and turned his attention back to a car on the lift. He and Spencer found Steve and obtained the security footage before heading back to his car.

  Vaughan fired up the air-conditioning as she hooked her seat belt. “If Nate were missing, I’d be tearing this town apart.”

  The cool air felt good against her hot skin. “I sensed pride when he said she shared his blood. She carries his DNA, and that matters to him. And I would bet money he was furious when he found out about Skylar.”

  “He has a solid alibi for yesterday morning.”

  “Yes, he does. How does Veronica figure into this?” she asked.

  “Veronica looked like Hadley. So did Galina. Maybe whoever took Hadley and Skylar was just practicing on Veronica and Galina.”

  Nikki McDonald had left her apartment early this morning, knowing the drive north to Baltimore could take extralong in the morning commute. As much as she had dreaded the predawn drive up I-95, she had set up an interview in a coffee shop with Rose Howard, Hadley Foster’s first cousin. Rose and Hadley had gone to high school together, and Rose’s mother, Julie, had been Larry’s o
lder sister. The family had left the Alexandria area six months before Marsha’s murder.

  She ordered a large coffee and found a seat in the back corner so she had a good view of the front door. When the front doorbells jingled, she noticed a woman who shared many of Hadley Foster’s features. She was shorter and not as lean as her cousin, but the blue eyes and full lips were almost identical.

  Nikki stood and crossed the room. “Rose?”

  The woman was dressed in a dark suit and carried a leather briefcase. “Ms. McDonald.”

  “Yes.”

  “I don’t have a lot of time.”

  “Understood. What kind of coffee do you like?”

  Minutes later, they were sitting at a corner table, each stirring sweetener into their coffees.

  “It was weird seeing Hadley’s face on the television,” Rose said.

  “You weren’t any more shocked than I.” She sipped, knowing this fourth cup would send her heart rate into overdrive. “I was trying to find Marsha’s killer, but it blew up in this awful mess with her sister and her family.”

  Rose tapped her manicured finger on the side of the cup. “I’m ashamed to say I’d almost forgotten about my cousin. It’s been so long. Why do you care?”

  “It’s an unsolved mystery,” Nikki said. “It’s bad enough being murdered, but to be forgotten and have the guilty walk free is unforgivable.”

  “I don’t see how I can help you,” Rose said. “I was Hadley’s cousin but had next to no contact with my uncle Larry, his wife, or the other kids.”

  “The families didn’t get together at the holidays or birthdays?”

  “No. Larry and Mom had a falling-out long before I came along. I never told Mom I hung out with Hadley, because I sensed she’d have been pissed.”

  “What was Hadley like?”

  “Like any other teenager. Selfish. Funny. Full of life.”

  “What was she like with Mark?”

  “I think she liked him well enough, but at the time, he served a purpose.”

  “And what was that?”

  “A ticket out of her house. Her father approved of him, and Larry didn’t like many of the guys she brought around. And his family had money. Hadley liked money.”

  “Was there anyone who threatened Marsha? Was she afraid of anyone?”

  “I think there were several guys who worked for Larry who weren’t the best. The asphalt business was damn hard work and attracted a bunch of roughnecks. Men who could work long hours in horrible heat. They weren’t choirboys.”

  “Marsha and Hadley both worked in his office.”

  “They did. Their father paid them less and worked them harder, seeing how they were the owner’s family. Marsha accepted it because she was getting a good education. Hadley really started to resent her father after he told her she wouldn’t be able to go off to college.”

  “Was Hadley angry enough to kill her sister?”

  Rose sat back, shaking her head. “I want to be fair to Hadley. My goal is not to trash her now that she can’t defend herself. I know how the media can be. But she could be really selfish and petty at times.”

  “What about Mark? The cops think he might have stabbed Hadley. Could he have also killed Marsha?”

  “Mark was always the nice guy. He wanted to protect Hadley. Besides, he was away at some kind of football camp when Marsha vanished.”

  “I know Hadley was dating another guy the summer her daughter was conceived,” Nikki said.

  “Yeah, Jason.” Rose sat back, eyeing Nikki. “You’re good at doing your homework.” She sipped her coffee, as if trying to figure out how much to tell, and then, with a small shrug, said, “Hadley was stepping out on Mark with Jason. It wasn’t a lot, just once or twice. I think she liked the idea he was edgy and dangerous. For a while, she had a tiger by the tail, and she liked it.”

  “Can you spell Jason’s last name for me?” Nikki asked.

  “Dalton: D-a-l-t-o-n.”

  “Right, that’s what I thought,” she lied. “When Marsha went missing, Hadley said nothing to the police about Jason,” Nikki said.

  “If she had, then Mark would have found out about Jason, and she didn’t want that to happen.” Rose tapped the side of her cup, hesitating about what she was going to say next. “Once, Marsha told me she kept a diary. She kept it hidden under the floorboard of her bedroom closet. Maybe you should go look? It might still be there.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

  Wednesday, August 14, Noon

  Alexandria, Virginia

  Twenty-Nine Hours after the 911 Call

  Zoe and Vaughan arrived at the medical examiner’s office, and within fifteen minutes, they were gowned up and standing in front of a stainless steel gurney with the draped remains of Hadley Prince Foster.

  The room was thick with the scent of death and decay. Some cops liked to put Vicks on their upper lips to mask the smell, but Zoe had learned over the years that there was no escaping death. Keep breathing it for a few minutes, and the body’s olfactory system would adjust and block out the smell. The trick was not to get a big lungful up front and then fight it.

  Baldwin adjusted his eye protection and mask as he moved to the head of the first table, where a sheet-clad body lay. He pulled back the sheet to reveal the pale, slim body of Hadley Foster. Ravaged by the August heat, rodents, and insects, her skin barely looked human. The eyes, hooded by drooping lids, were milky white. The jaw gaped open in an odd deathly expression of surprise.

  “I’m going to autopsy this afternoon and do a complete workup. I also can tell you with almost certainty that the knife wound to her neck severed an artery and caused her to bleed out in minutes.”

  Like Galina, she’d suffered an irrevocable injury that a doctor could not have fixed in time. “Any signs of drugs? Sexual assault?” Zoe asked.

  “No. She did have intercourse shortly before her death, and we were able to collect DNA. It’s been sent off for processing. We’ll let you know if there’s a match.”

  “Do you have an estimate for her time of death?” Vaughan asked.

  “Based on her liver temperature, I’d say between 4:00 and 9:00 a.m. yesterday,” Baldwin replied.

  “Mark Foster placed the 911 call at 7:00 a.m.,” Vaughan said.

  Zoe felt a sense of relief when the doctor pulled the sheet back over the victim. She could handle death but was never truly comfortable with it.

  “As you have likely noticed, Hadley Foster’s knife wounds are not similar to Veronica Manchester’s and Galina Grant’s. In the first two cases, the knife wounds were deeper, as if they were more aggressive, and in each case, there is a distinct neck wound. Hadley’s wounds, though deadly, weren’t as deep, and the cut to her neck appeared to be a glancing and not a direct blow. All her significant wounds center around her heart.”

  “Different people?” Zoe asked.

  “Maybe,” Baldwin said.

  “Or different circumstances,” Vaughan said. “The killer was alone with the first two, but he had Mark and Skylar to contend with in Hadley’s case.”

  “Why open himself up for a challenge?” the doctor asked.

  “Assuming it’s the same perpetrator, I would say he’s raising the stakes to keep his adrenaline rush,” Zoe said.

  “What about the type of knife?” Vaughan asked.

  “Similar knives were used in the first two killings. They were serrated, wide, like a hunting knife. But the knife used on Hadley Foster was smooth, long, and narrow.”

  “Similar to the boning knife missing from the block in the Fosters’ kitchen.” Zoe pulled up the pictures taken of Mark Foster’s injuries at the hospital yesterday. “These are the wounds the husband sustained.”

  Baldwin examined them. “His wounds are even narrower, suggesting a smaller knife than the one used on his wife.”

  “You’re saying the knife that killed Hadley is not the same one used against Mark Foster?” Vaughan asked.

  “I can’t say with one hundred perc
ent certainty, but the wounds vary enough to make me suspicious,” the doctor said.

  “Anything you can tell us about Hadley Foster we don’t already know?” Zoe asked.

  “Not really. She was healthy and in peak shape, just like the other women.”

  “What about a toxicology screen?” Zoe asked.

  “Blood’s been drawn and sent off, but that’ll take a couple of weeks,” Baldwin replied.

  “We don’t have weeks,” Vaughan said. “Skylar has been missing almost thirty hours, and the golden hours have long passed.”

  “I wish I could tell you more,” Baldwin said.

  “Thanks, Doc,” Zoe said.

  Vaughan’s phone rang, and Captain Preston’s name appeared on the display. “Captain.” He listened, his frown deepening. He ended the call.

  “Mark Foster just showed up in Captain Preston’s office.”

  “What does he want?”

  “He wants to tell us what really happened yesterday.”

  Nikki pulled into a parking lot and around the side of the building across from Jason’s garage. After removing an ice pick from her purse, she drove it into a tire and, when the air hissed out, smiled. Back in the car, Nikki circled the block a couple of times, and when the tire light lit up her dashboard, she drove toward the auto shop.

  She parked in front and walked into the main office. A man behind the counter looked up, and she explained, “I have a flat. I don’t know if I picked up a nail or what, but it’s going flat fast, and I have a meeting out in Fairfax in an hour. Can you help me?”

  “Sure, pull around back to the last bay on the right. I’ll get Jason to change it for you.”

  “Perfect.”

  She maneuvered the car around to the back and edged toward the empty bay; she shut off the engine but left the keys in the ignition as she waited. She had done some reading on Jason Dalton. He was on probation and had done time in Florida for assault charges after a bar fight. He had put a guy in a coma. He had been sentenced to twenty years, but thanks to budget cuts and his demonstrated remorse to the parole board, he had been released early.

  When he came around, his head was ducked, and he was wiping grease from his hands, but the instant she saw him, she had to admit he was a fine-looking man. He was long, lean, and muscled, and the tattoos on his arms and the thick shock of hair gave him a bad-boy look few women could ignore.