Darkest Fear

by Harlan Coben

  "Oh, she would never. Papa didn't approve of most men. A married one would have sent him off the ledge."

  They crossed the street and into the mid-city wonder known as Central Park. The park was packed on this rather spectacular day. Asian sketch artists hustled business. Men jogged by in those shorts that look suspiciously like diapers. Sunbathers lazed around on the grass, crowded together yet totally alone. New York City is like that. E. B. White once said that New York bestows the gift of loneliness and the gift of privacy. Damn straight. It was like everyone was plugged into their own internal Walkman, each playing a different tune, bopping obliviously to his or her own beat.

  A yah-dude with a bandanna around his head tossed a Frisbee and yelled "Fetch," but he had no dog. Hard-bodied women skated by in black jogging bras. Lots of men with various builds had their shirts off. Examples: A guy thick with flab that looked like wet Play-Doh jiggled past him. Behind him, a well-built guy skidded to a stop and arrogantly flexed a bicep. Actually flexed. In public. Myron frowned. He didn't know which was worse: guys who shouldn't take their shirts off and do, or guys who should take their shirts off and do.

  When they reached Central Park West, Myron asked, "Did you have a problem with her dating a married man?"

  Sandra shrugged. "I worried, of course. But he told Melina he would leave his wife."

  "Don't they all?"

  "Melina believed it. She seemed happy."

  "Did you ever meet Stan Gibbs?"

  "No. Their relationship was supposed to be a secret."

  "Did she ever tell you about lying in court?"

  "No," she said. "Never."

  Sandra used her key and swung the door open. Myron stepped inside. Colors. Lots of them. Happy colors. The apartment looked like the Magical Mystery Tour meets the Teletubbies, all bright hues, especially greens, with hazy psychedelic splashes. The walls were covered with vivid watercolors of distant lands and ocean voyages. Some surreal stuff too. The effect was like an Enya video.

  "I started throwing her stuff in boxes," Sandra said. "But it's hard to pack up a life."

  Myron nodded. He started walking around the small apartment, hoping for a psychic revelation or something. None came. He ran his eyes over the artwork.

  "She was supposed to have her first show in the Village next month," Sandra said.

  Myron studied a painting with white domes and crystal blue water. He recognized the spot in Mykonos. It was wonderfully done. Myron could almost smell the salt of the Mediterranean, taste the grilled fish along the beach, feel the night sand clinging to a lover's skin. No clue here, but he stared another minute or two before turning away.

  He started going through the boxes. He found a high school yearbook, class of 1986, and flipped through it until he found Melina's picture. She'd like to paint, it said. He glanced again at the walls. So bright and optimistic, her work. Death, Myron knew, was always ironic. Young death most ironic of all.

  He turned his attention back to her photograph. Melina was looking off to the side with the hesitant, unsure smile of high school. Myron knew it well. Don't we all. He closed the book and headed to her closets. Her clothes were neatly arranged, lots of sweaters folded on the top shelf, shoes lined up like tiny soldiers. He moved back to the boxes and found her photographs in a shoebox. A shoebox of all things. Myron shook his head and started going through them. Sandra sat on the floor next to him. "That's her mother," she said.

  Myron looked at the photograph of two women, clearly mother and daughter, embracing. There was no sign of the unsure smile this time. This smile--the smile in her mother's arms--soared like an angel's song. Myron stared at the angel-song smile and imagined that celestial mouth crying out in hopeless agony. He thought about George Garston alone in that jaundice-lit study. And he understood.

  Myron checked his watch. Time to pick up the pace. He thumbed through pictures of her father, her brother, Sandra, family outings, the norm. No pictures of Stan Gibbs. Nothing helpful.

  He found makeup and perfume in another box. In another, he stumbled across a diary, but Melina hadn't written anything in it for two years. He paged through it, but it felt like too much of an unnecessary violation. He found a love letter from an old boyfriend. He found some receipts.

  He found copies of Stan's columns.

  Hmm.

  In her address book. All the columns. There were no markings on them. Just the clippings themselves, held together by a paper clip. So what did that mean? He checked them again. Just clippings. He put them aside and did some more flipping. Something fell out near the back. Myron picked up a piece of cream-colored or aged-white paper torn along the left edge, more a card really, folded in half. The outside was totally blank. He opened it. On the upper half, the words With Love, Dad had been written in script. Myron thought again about George Garston sitting alone in that room and felt a deep burn flush his skin.

  He sat on the couch now and tried again to conjure up something. That might sound weird--sitting in this too empty room, the sweet smell of a dead woman still hovering, feeling not unlike that tiny old lady in the Poltergeist movies--but you never knew. The victims didn't speak to him or anything like that. But sometimes he could imagine what they'd been thinking and feeling and some spark would hit the edges and start to flame. So he tried it again.

  Nothing.

  He let his eyes wander across the canvases and the burn under his skin started up again. He scanned the bright colors, let them assault him. The brightness should have protected her. Nonsense, but there you have it. She'd had a life. Melina worked and she painted and she loved bright colors and had too many sweaters and stored her precious memories in a shoebox and someone had snuffed that life away because none of that meant anything to him. None of that was important. It made Myron mad.

  He closed his eyes and tried to turn the anger down a notch. Anger wasn't good. It clouded reason. He'd let that side of him out before--his Batman complex, as Esperanza had called it--but being a hero seeking justice or vengeance (if they weren't the same thing) was unwise, unhealthy. Eventually you saw things you didn't want to. You learned truths you never should have. It stings and then it deadens. Better to stay away.

  But the heat in his blood would not leave him. So he stopped fighting it, let the heat soothe him, relax his muscles, settle gently over him. Maybe the heat wasn't such a bad thing. Maybe the horrors he'd seen and the truths he'd learned hadn't changed him, hadn't deadened him, after all.

  Myron closed the boxes, took one last, lingering look at the sunkissed isle of Mykonos, and made a silent vow.

  28

  Greg and Myron met up on the court. Myron strapped on his knee brace. Greg averted his eyes. The two men shot for half an hour, barely speaking, lost in the pure strokes. People ducked in and pointed at Greg. Several kids came up to him and asked him for autographs. Greg acquiesced, glancing at Myron as he took pen in hand, clearly uncomfortable getting all this attention in front of the man whose career he had ended.

  Myron stared back at him, offering no solace.

  After some time, Myron said, "There a reason you wanted me here, Greg?"

  Greg kept shooting.

  "Because I have to get back to the office," Myron said.

  Greg grabbed the ball, dribbled twice, took a turnaround jumper. "I saw you and Emily that night. You know that?"

  "I know that," Myron said.

  Greg grabbed the rebound, took a lazy hook, let the ball hit the floor, and slowly bounce toward Myron. "We were getting married the next day. You know that?"

  "Know that too."

  "And there you were," Greg said, "her old boyfriend, screwing her brains out."

  Myron picked up the ball.

  "I'm trying to explain here," Greg said.

  "I slept with Emily," Myron said. "You saw us. You wanted revenge. You told Big Burt Wesson to hurt me during a preseason game. He did. End of story."

  "I wanted him to hurt you, yes. I didn't mean for him to end your career."


  "You say tomato, I say tomahto."

  "It wasn't intentional."

  "Don't take this the wrong way," Myron said in a voice that sounded awfully calm in his own ears, "but I don't give two shits about your intentions. You fired a weapon at me. You might have aimed for a flesh wound, but that didn't happen. You think that makes you blameless?"

  "You fucked my fiancee."

  "And she fucked me. I didn't owe you anything. She did."

  "Are you telling me you don't understand?"

  "I understand. It just doesn't absolve you."

  "I'm not looking for absolution."

  "Then what do you want, Greg? You want us to clasp hands and sing 'Kumbaya'? Do you know what you did to me? Do you know what the one moment cost me?"

  "I think maybe I do," Greg said. He swallowed, put out a pleading hand as though he wanted to explain more, and then he let the hand drop to the side. "I'm so sorry."

  Myron started shooting but he felt his throat swell.

  "You don't know how sorry I am."

  Myron said nothing. Greg tried to wait him out. It didn't work.

  "What else do you want me to say here, Myron?"

  Myron kept shooting.

  "How do I tell you I'm sorry?"

  "You've already done it," Myron said.

  "But you won't accept it."

  "No, Greg. I won't. I live without playing pro ball. You live without my accepting your apology. Pretty good deal for you, you ask me."

  Myron's cell phone rang. He ran over, picked it up, said hello.

  A whisper asked, "Did you do as I instructed?"

  His bones turned to solid ice. He swallowed away something thick and said, "As you instructed?"

  "The boy," the voice whispered.

  The stale air pressed against him, weighed down his lungs. "What about him?"

  "Did you say one last good-bye?"

  Something inside of Myron withered up and blew away. His knees buckled as the realization seeped into his chest. And the voice came on again: "Did you say one last good-bye to the boy?"

  29

  Myron snapped his head toward Greg. "Where's Jeremy?"

  "What?"

  "Where is he?"

  Greg saw whatever it was on Myron's face and dropped the basketball. "He's with Emily, I guess. I don't get him until noon."

  "Got a cell phone?"

  "Yes."

  "Call her."

  Greg was already heading toward his gym bag, the athlete with the wonderful reflexes. "What's going on?"

  "Probably nothing."

  Myron explained about the call. Greg did not slow down to listen. He dialed. Myron started running toward his car. Greg followed, the phone pressed against his ear.

  "No answer," Greg said. He left a message on the machine.

  "Does she have a cell phone?"

  "If she does, I don't have the number."

  Myron hit a stored number as they walked. Esperanza picked up.

  "I need Emily's cell phone number."

  "Give me five," Esperanza said.

  Myron hit another stored number. Win answered and said, "Articulate."

  "Possible trouble."

  "I'm here."

  They reached the car. Greg was calm. That surprised Myron. On the court, when the pressure mounted, Greg's modus operandi was to get freaky, start screaming, psych himself into a frenzy. But of course, this was not a game. As his father had recently told him, when real bombs drop, you never know how someone will react.

  Myron's phone rang. Esperanza gave him Emily's cell phone number. Myron dialed it. After six rings, Emily's voice mail picked up. Damn. Myron left a message. He turned to Greg.

  "Any clue where Jeremy might be?" Myron asked.

  "No," Greg said.

  "How about a neighbor we can call? Or a friend?"

  "When Emily and I were married, we lived in Ridgewood. I don't know the neighbors in Franklin Lakes."

  Myron gripped the steering wheel. He hit the accelerator. "Jeremy's probably safe," Myron said, trying to believe it. "I don't even know how this guy would know his name. It's probably a bluff."

  Greg started shaking.

  "He'll be all right."

  "Jesus, Myron, I read those articles. If that guy has my kid ..."

  "We should call the FBI," Myron said. "Just in case."

  "You think that's the way to go?" Greg asked.

  Myron looked at him. "Why? You don't?"

  "I just want to pay the ransom and get my boy back. I don't want anybody screwing it up."

  "I think we should call," Myron said. "But it's your decision."

  "There's something else we have to consider," Greg said.

  "What?"

  "There's a good chance this wacko is our donor, right?"

  "Yes."

  "If the FBI kills him, it's over for Jeremy."

  "First things first," Myron said. "We have to find Jeremy. And we have to find this kidnapper."

  Greg kept shaking.

  "What do you want to do, Greg?"

  "You think we should call?"

  "Yes."

  Greg nodded slowly. "Call," he said.

  Myron dialed Kimberly Green's number. He felt waves pounding in his head, the blood flowing to his ears. He tried not to think about Jeremy's face, what his smile had looked like when he opened that door.

  Did you say one last good-bye to the boy?

  A voice said, "Federal Bureau of Investigation."

  "Myron Bolitar calling Kimberly Green."

  "Special Agent Green is unavailable."

  "The Sow the Seeds kidnapper may have taken somebody else. Put her on."

  The hold was longer than Myron expected.

  Kimberly Green started with a bark. "What the hell are you ranting about?"

  "He just called me." Myron filled her in.

  "We're on our way," she said.

  They hit a patch of traffic where Route 4 met Route 17, but Myron went up on the grass and knocked over several orange construction buckets. He broke off at Route 208 and exited near the synagogue. Two miles later, they made the final turn onto Emily's street. Myron could see two FBI cars making the turn at the same time.

  Greg, who had gone into something of a trance, woke up and pointed. "There she is."

  Emily was putting her key in the front door. Myron started honking madly. She looked back confused. He turned the car and skidded. The FBI car followed. Myron and Greg were both out the door almost before the car had stopped.

  "Where's Jeremy?" they both said in unison.

  Emily had her head tilted to the side. "What?" she called back. "What's going on here?"

  Greg took it. "Where is he, Emily?"

  "He's with a friend--"

  From inside the house, the phone started ringing. Everyone froze. Emily snapped out of it first. She ran inside and picked up the phone. She put the phone to her ear, cleared her throat, and said, "Hello."

  Through the receiver, they could all hear Jeremy's scream.

  30

  There were six federal agents in all. Kimberly Green was the task force leader. They set up with quiet efficiency. Myron sat on one couch, Greg the other. Emily paced between them. There was probably something symbolic in that, but Myron was not sure what. He tried to push himself past the numb so he could get to a place where he could do some good.

  The phone call had been brief. After the scream, the whispery voice had said, "We'll call back." That was it. No warnings not to contact the authorities. No telling them to prepare funds. No setting up another time to call. Nothing.

  They all sat there, the boy's scream still echoing, mauling, shredding, conjuring up images of what could have made a thirteen-year-old boy scream like that. Myron shut his eyes and pushed hard. That was what the bastard wanted. Unwise to play into that.

  Greg had contacted his bank. He was not a risky investor, and so most of his assets were liquid. If ransom money was needed, he'd be ready. The various feds, all male except
for Kimberly Green, put traces on all the possible phones, including Myron's. She and her men were doing a lot of sotto voce. Myron hadn't pressed them yet. But that wasn't going to last.

  Kimberly caught his eyes and waved him over. He stood and excused himself. Greg and Emily paid no attention, still lost in the vortex of that scream.

  "We need to talk," she said.

  "Okay," Myron said. "Start by telling me what happened when you checked out Dennis Lex."

  "You're not family," she said. "I could throw you out."

  "This isn't your house," he said. "What happened with Dennis Lex?"

  She put her hands on her hips. "It's a dead end."

  "How so?"

  "We traced it down. He's not involved in any of this."

  "How do you know that?"

  "Myron, come on. We're not stupid."

  "So where is Dennis Lex?"

  "It's not relevant," she said.

  "The hell it's not. Even if he's not the kidnapper, we still have him as the bone marrow donor."

  "No," she said. "Your donor is Davis Taylor."

  "Who changed his name from Dennis Lex."

  "We don't know that."

  Myron made a face. "What are you talking about?"

  "Davis Taylor was an employee in the Lex conglomerate."

  "What?"

  "You heard me."

  "So why did he donate blood for a bone marrow drive?"

  "It was a work thing," she said. "The plant boss had a sick nephew. Everyone at the plant gave."

  Myron nodded. Something finally made sense. "So if he didn't give a blood sample," he said, "it would have been conspicuous."

  "Right."

  "You got a description on him?"

  "He worked on his own, kept to himself. All anyone remembers is a man with a full beard, glasses, and long blond hair."

  "A disguise," Myron said. "And we know Davis Taylor's original name was Dennis Lex. What else?"

  Kimberly Green raised her hand. "Enough." She sort of hitched herself up, trying to alter momentum. "Stan Gibbs is still our top suspect here. What did you talk about last night?"

  "Dennis Lex," Myron said. "Don't you get it?"

  "Get what?"

  "Dennis Lex is connected into all this. He's either the kidnapper, or maybe he was the first victim."

  "Neither," she said.

  "Then where is he?"

  She shook it off. "What else did you two talk about?"

  "Stan's father."

  "Edwin Gibbs?" That got her attention. "What about him?"

  "That he vanished eight years ago. But you already know about that, don't you?"