by Kate Kessler
It was creepy, him sitting against the same boulder that had obscured Tala’s body. Had he known? Had he been the one to put her there after stabbing her with his father’s knife? Or had he simply figured it out? Maybe he’d visited the scene before this. Maybe he’d visited Tala’s body there over the winter.
There were a lot of maybes that Kyle Granger would never confirm or deny. There was no point in speculating until she got the autopsy results. But it certainly looked like the kid had committed suicide.
Neve batted at a fly that buzzed around her head. One of the rookies had done that thing where he put Vicks VapoRub under his nose to help counter the smell. His upper lip glistened in the sun. He looked like he might barf at any second. Huh. If he thought this was bad…
“Someone really ought to tell him using that stuff only opens the nasal passages more,” Charlotte remarked, following her gaze.
Neve didn’t know if that was true or not, but she’d take Charlotte’s word for it. Personally, she found the only way to get through the smell of death was to get acclimatized to it ASAP and deal. There were worse things than decaying flesh—like porta-potties baking under the hot sun.
She left Charlotte and walked onto the bridge to where Audrey and Alisha stood. “You okay?” she asked the girl.
Alisha was pale, but she nodded. “His eyes were open.”
“Yeah, that happens.” She didn’t know what else to say, except, “I’m sorry you had to see him like that.”
“Me too.”
“What were you doing back here?”
The girl blinked, as though she had forgotten. “Oh, it’s stupid.” Neve met her gaze and waited. “I was feeling guilty for getting together with Luke and I wanted to apologize to Tala. For some reason I thought this was the place to do it.”
“That makes sense,” Audrey offered, shooting a narrow glance in Neve’s direction. “I sometimes visit the place where Maggie was killed.”
Was that a dig about Bailey, or was Neve just PMSing way too hard? The thing that kept her and Audrey from being really good girlfriends was that they were always so on guard and defensive with each other. It hadn’t always been that way, but then Audrey killed Clint and Neve became a cop and there was no way either of them could be totally at ease with each other, no matter how much they might wish otherwise.
“How long has he been here?” Alisha asked, her attention fixed on the corpse just feet away.
“Our death investigator figures he’s been here since last night at least.”
“Poor Elle,” Audrey remarked. “After Kendra’s overdose, this is going to be so hard on her.”
“Losing a kid is hard, period.” Neve frowned when Audrey winced. What the hell was that about?
“Have you notified her yet?”
Neve shook her head. “I’m not looking forward to it.” She’d take Vickie with her. Telling parents their child was dead never got any easier. She supposed if it ever did, it was time for her to quit.
She’d go see Elle once they took Kyle away. She wanted to be able to tell the woman that it looked like an accident, because Elle was going to ask. They always did.
“Were there any other cars in the lot when you arrived?” Neve asked.
Alisha shook her head. “Just one. It was his, I guess.”
She nodded. The plates were registered to Kendall. “And you didn’t touch anything?”
“God, no!” The girl looked horrified at the idea. “I got to the edge of the bridge and I could tell he was dead. I didn’t go any closer. I called you from where I’m standing right now. Believe me, I wanted to run the fuck away. Sorry.”
Neve gave her a little smile. Now that she’d let Luke off the hook, Alisha seemed to think better of her if she was apologizing for swearing in front of her. “You did exactly the right thing. Go ahead and go home now. I know where to find you if I have any other questions.”
“Are you okay to drive?” Audrey asked. “Or do you want to come with me, and we’ll get your car later?”
“I want to go with you,” Alisha replied. As grown-up as she sometimes seemed, she looked every bit a kid at that moment.
Neve said good-bye and watched the two of them walk away. Alisha had certainly been around a lot of death this past year. She hoped it didn’t have an adverse effect on her. Hopefully Audrey would notice if it did, and be able to help.
She waited until Kyle’s body was carried across the bridge and up the path to the upper parking lot, where the ambulance waited. Then she walked back to her car and got in. She sat there for a moment, with the windows down, trying to breathe in enough pine and damp to wash away the scent of death. When she could finally breathe without seeing Kyle’s cloudy eyes, she started the engine and signaled for Vickie to follow her.
Then she went to tell yet another mother that her child was dead.
Alisha wanted to be alone, and Audrey didn’t push it.
“Call me if you need anything.”
“I will. Mum will probably be here any minute.”
The resort that Jake owned and Yancy managed was only a mile or so farther back the road—right on the beach. It enabled Yancy to pop home when necessary, and there was usually someone there who could cover for her during the tourist season.
“Thanks for coming when I called.”
Audrey smiled. “Anytime.” They hugged and Alisha got out of the car. Audrey waited until she was inside the house to back out of the yard and drive away.
As soon as she got home, she checked for voice mail. There was one from Dr. Aaron. Heart hammering, she called the office. She was put on hold for a few minutes, and then a familiar voice picked up.
“Hello, Audrey. How are you today?”
“I’m fine, Dr. Aaron. Did the blood test results come back?”
“Yes, they did. Normally I would have you come in to the office, but I’m leaving for a bit of a vacation tomorrow.”
“That’s fine. What did the results show?”
“You’re pregnant.”
Audrey couldn’t speak.
“Audrey?”
She made a squeaking noise. Jesus, this was ridiculous. “Okay.”
“Are you all right?”
“I’m fine. It’s just…it’s a bit of a shock. I mean, we’ve taken precautions.”
“Sometimes there’s no denying biology. I’d like to send you for an ultrasound so we can determine just how far along you are. I know you told the nurse it had been at least a month since your last period, but based on what I felt during the exam, I’d say you’re close to eight weeks along.”
There was a roaring in Audrey’s head that made it difficult for her to understand what Dr. Aaron was saying, even though she heard it perfectly well. “Okay.”
“I’ll have the clinic call you to make an appointment, all right?”
“Yes, that’s fine.” Eight weeks. Fuck. Could it really have been that long since her last period? Why the hell hadn’t she been paying better attention? How could she have missed that? Was she stupid? Whenever she heard of women not knowing they were pregnant until they were a couple of months in, she always thought they had to be dumb not to notice; now she realized all you really had to be was busy. Busy and arrogantly confident in your choice of birth control.
“Audrey?”
“Yes?”
“Are you sure you’re all right?”
“Yes. If you could have them call me for an appointment that would be great, thanks.”
“Okay. We’ll follow up after that. If you need anything, Dr. Fischer will be filling in for me while I’m gone.”
Audrey mumbled something, said good-bye, and hung up. She stood there for a while, staring at the telephone as if it were somehow to blame for all of this.
And then she put her hand on her stomach, trying to see if she could feel the thing inside her. Maybe her belly was firmer, rounder. She couldn’t really tell. She braced one hand on the wall by her head and took a breath. What were they going to do?
<
br /> At one time the choice would have been easy. A thirty-something woman should not be struck with terror when she finds out she’s pregnant, should she?
She wanted to call her sister, Jess, and talk to her about it, but she couldn’t. Things were still a little strained between them, and this…this was a personal decision. Jess was a good mom, but as the oldest she would tell Audrey what she thought she should do, and Audrey didn’t want to know what that was. This was her decision. Well, her own and Jake’s. It was bad enough her father knew.
She picked up the receiver and dialed. He picked up on the second ring. “’Lo?”
“Hey, Dad.” Her voice cracked.
There was a pause. “I’ll be right there.”
Audrey woke up in the middle of the night to find herself alone in bed. Jake’s side of the bed was empty, though he’d been there when she fell asleep.
“Jake?”
No reply. He wasn’t in the room or the en suite.
Frowning, she got out of bed and walked out into the hall. He wasn’t in any of the additional bedrooms, so she went downstairs. There was a lamp on in the living room, so that was where she headed. As she entered the room, she opened her mouth to say something, then closed it again.
Jake slouched on the sofa, his head against the back cushions, mouth slightly open. He was asleep. In his lap was an open photo album. Another lay on the coffee table. Silently, Audrey approached.
The album on the table was old, open to reveal pictures of Jake, Lincoln, and Yancy when they were little—before their mother left their father. One of the photos showed the three of them sitting on the old porch swing, toddler Yancy between her big brothers. Audrey smiled at the sight of Jake in his shorts and T-shirt, his bangs cut crookedly. He looked so cute. So serious for a little kid. Lincoln, on the other hand, had a big grin on his face and looked as though he was missing a tooth.
She turned her attention to the album in his lap. The photos in it were newer. There was one of her taken shortly after she got out of Stillwater. God, she looked so young. So tough—in that way that only truly vulnerable girls could look.
Carefully, Audrey eased the book away from him, lifting it so she could better see. Next to the picture of her was one that made her heart skip a beat. It was Jake—long-haired and barefoot—sitting on the old sofa in that very room, holding a baby. He would have been about seventeen when it was taken. She didn’t have to remove the photo and check the back to know that the baby was Alisha; she could tell from the expression on Jake’s face. Even then, at such a young age, he’d looked at his niece with such an expression of love and loyalty. She’d seen him look at the girl the same way so many times, but something about the photo made it difficult to swallow. She didn’t need her PhD to figure out what.
Jake holding a baby. Not just any baby, but one he loved.
Audrey blinked her burning eyes. Earlier that evening, when she told him that she was indeed pregnant, he’d told her that whether or not she had the baby was up to her. She’d torn a strip off him for it, and then burst into tears. Talking to her father earlier hadn’t helped. He told her that he and her mother had been terrified the first time they got pregnant—and the second, and the third. He had told her that he’d never wanted to be a father until he became one. And then he’d reminded her of just how much like him she was.
She had assumed that because Jake had helped raise Alisha that he already felt like a father. She assumed that was enough for him. She assumed being an aunt was enough for herself. She never really pictured herself as a mother. Really, she didn’t think she’d be a very good one. But…
But seeing Jake with a baby made her want to bawl. She also wanted to brain him with the damn album and scream at him for making her so emotional. She wanted to blame him. Wanted him to wake the fuck up and tell her what to do, because she didn’t want to make the wrong decision.
She didn’t do any of these things. Instead, she lowered herself to the couch beside him and curled against his side. He stirred slightly when she put his arm across her shoulders and pulled her closer. She stared at the photo for a few minutes longer, then turned the page. The rest of the album was a chronicle of Alisha’s childhood and Jake’s involvement in it. Birthdays, Christmases, first days of school and class photos. Jake’s hair changed, and both of them got older, but the love on his face when he looked at the kid always stayed the same.
Eventually, her eyelids grew heavy and started to close. Audrey leaned her head against Jake’s shoulder and breathed in the scent of his skin mixed with clean cotton. The album was spread open across both their laps, to a page of photos of him teaching Alisha to play guitar, and taking her fishing.
Audrey bent her arm and twined her fingers with the ones that hung over her shoulder. She fell asleep with one hand holding Jake’s, the other against her stomach, and the unanswerable question growing there.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
Kendall Granger, dazed and grieving, was all too cooperative. He showed Neve where he kept his knives, opened the box. When she showed him a photo of the knife used to kill Tala, he confirmed that it was indeed one of his. They dusted the display for prints to compare to those taken from the dagger chest in Luke’s closet.
“Did my son kill Tala?” Elle asked, numbly. She had the look of a woman who was heavily medicated. She was probably blaming herself for this, and Neve had no way of making her feel better.
“I don’t know,” she replied honestly. They still had to check his prints, compare Kyle’s blood to that found on Tala’s glove. It didn’t look good, given that he had access to the murder weapon and the drug found in Tala’s system. The only thing he seemed to lack was motive. Had he killed her because she only used him as a booty call? It didn’t seem to make sense, but like Audrey was always saying, people had killed for less.
“Kendra’s evaluation is tomorrow,” Elle announced. “I haven’t told her yet, but she’s going to find out. I don’t know how she’ll take it. I’d so like to bring her home.”
After the scene in her room, Neve wasn’t so certain Kendra would be getting out anytime soon. “I’m so sorry for your loss.”
The other woman merely nodded, then turned and walked away like a zombie. Neve was frankly all too glad to be dismissed. As they left the house, she turned to Vickie. “I’m getting pressure to put this case to bed. There are going to be those who want to pin this on Kyle Granger and wrap it up in a neat little box.”
“You don’t think it was him?”
Neve glanced at her as she opened her car door. “Kyle’s never been in Luke’s room. Unless he had an accomplice, it wasn’t him.”
Vickie’s eyes widened. “You think one of the girls did it.”
Neve pursed her lips. “I think it was someone who could get close to both Luke and Tala, and that wasn’t Kyle. Let me know as soon as you run those prints.”
Vickie’s phone blipped. She checked it. “Kendra’s blood matches the type found on the glove. They’re running a DNA comparison.”
Neve swore under her breath. “Okay. Sit on that until we get Kyle’s results. If we’re going to put these people through more grief I want to be certain.” She didn’t particularly like the Grangers, but that didn’t mean she got off on causing them pain. Which was almost too bad, because she had a feeling she was going to cause them a lot more before this was all over.
After school, Alisha drove immediately to Luke’s house. He’d been released from the hospital and she was anxious to see him. The minute she rang the doorbell, however, a rush of awkwardness filled her.
What was she supposed to say? That she was glad he hadn’t killed anyone? That Kyle’s death was cosmic retribution? Maybe she could promise to be his one girlfriend who didn’t seem to be fucking nuts? Was she stupid for even hoping their relationship had a chance?
Linda answered the door with a huge smile. “Alisha! We thought that might be you. Come on in.”
It wasn’t the first time she’d been in Luke’s
house, but it felt like it. It was the first time she was walking in as someone he was interested in. His girlfriend? God, his mother knew they’d had sex! Alisha wasn’t sure she could look the woman in the eye.
“Luke is in the living room. Can I get you anything? A soda?”
“I’m good, thanks.” Slowly, she walked to the living room and peeked inside. Luke was on the sofa in a T-shirt and sweatpants, watching TV. He still looked pretty rough, but she thought he was beautiful.
He turned his head, as though he felt her presence, and grinned. “Hi.”
She smiled back—stupidly. “Hi.”
“Are you going to come in, or just stand there?”
“Oh, right.” She laughed self-consciously as she approached. Was she supposed to sit in a chair or beside him? Beside him, she thought, and carefully sat down on the sofa.
“I’m not made of glass,” he joked. “You’re not going to break me.”
“Aren’t you still sore?” she asked. “’Cause it looks freaking painful.”
“If I tell you I’m fine, will you think I’m tough?”
“I’ll think you’re a liar.”
“I still hurt pretty friggin’ bad.” They shared a grin. “I’m glad you’re here.”
“Me too.”
His smile faded. “Do you think Kyle killed her?”
“I don’t know why he would. But he was pretty messed up.”
“We’re all messed up. Doesn’t seem to be a good reason to kill anyone.”
“No,” Alisha agreed. She looked down at her feet. What was she supposed to say? That she was glad if it was Kyle, because that meant it was over? She wanted to ask where they stood. If he wanted to be with her. All she could do, though, was sit there like an idiot.
Warm fingers curled over hers. She started, but didn’t pull away. Instead, she lifted her gaze to Luke’s. He was smiling at her, though it was hesitant.
“We’ve been doing this kind of backward,” he said.
She nodded.
