A Killing Rain

by P J Parrish

  He so fine...

  What’s so fine about him?

  Girl, those lips. What else is there to like?

  Why you like those big ass lips?

  Yeah, theys big but they do make for some good kissin’.

  Louis had shrunk away into the door, flushed with a feeling he didn’t understand.

  Susan gave out a bitter little laugh in response to something Joe asked. Louis glanced at the door but he knew he would have to knock to signal an officer and that would disrupt their conversation more than his staying.

  “We all have an Austin in our past, Susan,” Joe said.

  Susan nodded. “He bought me my first Chateaubriand, my first dozen roses, and my first diamond,” she said, glancing at her bare fingers.

  “How long before you got married?”

  “Five months.”

  “Did you know what kind of business he was in back then?”

  “Some kind of land investments. He made some decent money off some local developments. Construction here was booming and he bought some apartments and condos that he sold off for a huge profit.”

  “Anything shady about them?”

  “Not that I could see.”

  “So you two were doing okay, then?”

  Susan’s face wrinkled. “He was doing okay. I was working as a legal secretary and wanted to quit and go back to school, but he kept saying he needed to reinvest our money for our future. We ended up pawning my diamond for some Christmas presents one year. It wasn’t long after I learned he was blowing it on other investments. Bad investments.”

  “Like what?”

  “He never said exactly. Nothing was working for us then. I should’ve seen it coming, but I didn’t.”

  Louis was looking at Susan but she was staring at the table, like she didn’t really want anyone to see how gullible she had been.

  Susan looked up suddenly at Joe. “It wasn’t all bad,” she said. “Parts of it were still good, you know? We had this crazy sense that the world turned just for us. We had this idea that, that...” Her voice trailed off and she shrugged.

  “What happened?”

  Susan went to take a drink of her coffee but saw the Styrofoam cup was empty. She held it for a few seconds then set it down.

  “I got pregnant.”

  “How’d Austin feel about that?”

  Susan’s smile had a hint of bitterness. “He was happy. He went out and maxed out the credit card on baby stuff we couldn’t afford and even started painting the extra bedroom for a nursery.”

  “But?”

  “Three months later he was gone, and there were all these paint cans left in the room. He was off on an overseas business venture he couldn’t pass up. I was so sick with morning sickness I couldn’t work, and I...I...” Susan started shaking her head, anger setting in. “I had to go on public assistance. I had to use food stamps.”

  Louis crossed his arms, his head down.

  Joe let Susan’s anger pass before she spoke. “Did he come back for Ben’s birth?”

  Susan nodded. “Stayed three weeks. I thought Benjamin would make a father out of him, keep him home where he should be. But then one afternoon, he handed me five hundred dollars and said he had to go again.”

  “How long after did you try to divorce him?”

  It was a minute before Susan could answer. “It took me about five years to save up the money. When I served him with the papers, he flew all the way back from Hong Kong. Begged me to try again. I told him I’d try again if he would stay in the States with Ben and me.”

  “Did he?”

  “He stayed three months. I got up Easter Sunday and found a basket on the kitchen counter that he had left for Ben and a card for me.” Susan paused, took a breath then went on. “The card said, ‘I will never be who you want me to be.’ He took the divorce papers with him and disappeared. I just let it go. It costs money to find someone.”

  “After that,” Joe said, “it was just birthday cards and Christmas presents?”

  “When he remembered. I think he’s been back twice since.”

  “Has anyone ever called your home looking for him? Creditors? Businessmen?”

  “Not in years.”

  The door opened and a uniformed officer stuck his head in. “You the people waiting for Austin Outlaw?”

  Joe nodded.

  The door opened wider, and Austin slowly came in. The first thing that caught Louis’s eyes was Austin’s gold Rolex and neck chain. They were a stark contrast to his ripped trousers and the white Gatorland T-shirt that stretched tight across his chest and arms. Louis guessed the cops had given him the shirt from the jail lost and found, but he had to wonder where Austin got the Luster-Curl that glinted off his black hair.

  The door closed behind Austin, and he stood stiffly, his dark eyes moving from Louis, to Joe, and to Susan, where they rested for several seconds. Louis tried to see something in his eyes. A hint of regret? Humility? Confusion? To his shock, he thought he saw a spark of indignation.

  Susan rose and walked to him, paused a second, then raised her hand. He made no move to stop her, and her palm hit his cheek with a smack.

  “You bastard,” she hissed.

  Louis tightened, his instincts telling him Austin might strike back and if he did, Louis knew he’d kill him. But Austin hadn’t moved.

  “Are you done, woman?” Austin asked.

  She answered him by slipping back into her chair and looking away.

  Austin pulled his gaze from Susan and looked at Louis. “Have you found Benjamin yet?”

  “No.”

  Joe rose and gave Louis a discreet nod. He followed her out, pulling the door closed behind him. For a moment, they just watched through the window as Austin stood by the door, head bowed, and Susan sat at the table, glaring up at him.

  Joe flipped the speaker on.

  “I’m not being nosy,” she said to Louis. “I want to hear what he tells her about Ben.”

  “You don’t have to explain to me,” Louis said, watching Austin and Susan through the glass.

  Susan didn’t say anything right away. Austin looked at the empty chair, but did not sit down. The two of them and their silence seemed to fill the tiny room.

  “I guess they left us in here so you could beat up on me some more, so go ahead,” Austin said. “Take your best shot.”

  Susan was silent.

  “Come on,” Austin said. “Rip me a new one, just like your boyfriend did last night. Make this look like it’s all my fault.”

  Susan’s eyes lasered up to Austin but she didn’t come out of the chair. “It is your fault,” she hissed. “You’ve done something to cause this. What is it this time?”

  He curled his lip in disgust. “I just came to visit my wife and son.”

  “I’m not your wife.”

  He shrugged, looking around the room. His eyes stopped on the mirrored glass and Louis knew Austin knew they were being watched.

  “How could you just let them take him?” Susan asked.

  Austin rolled his eyes. Susan repeated the question, louder this time. Austin let out a tired breath and began to speak.

  Louis and Joe listened as he went through the same pathetic story about throwing away the ice cream cups, but he didn’t add the part —- the lie —- where he said he went back for Benjamin. He stopped after he said he hid in the bushes for a while, his gaze flicking again toward the one-way mirror.

  “You are unbelievable,” Susan said.

  “What do you want me to do now, Susan?” Austin asked.

  “I want you to tell the cops the truth. I want you to tell them what this is all about.”

  “I can’t,” he said.

  “Can’t or won’t?” she snapped.

  Austin leaned on the table. “Can’t. Because I don’t know.” He slammed a hand on the table. “Damn it, why doesn’t anyone believe that?”

  “Because you lie when you breathe, Austin. Your whole life is a lie.”

  “Eve
ryone lies. You lie. Cops lie and I bet even Kincaid lies.”

  Susan stood up. Louis reached for the doorknob, but Joe caught his arm. “Let them talk.”

  Susan’s voice filled the small speaker. “This isn’t about you or Louis or me,” she said. “It’s about Benjamin. My God, Austin, what is wrong with you? Your son is gone!”

  “A son I barely know, thanks to you!”

  Louis grabbed the doorknob. This time it wasn’t to prevent a fight. It was to start one with the bastard. Joe quickly stepped in front of him.

  “Louis! Cool off.”

  Louis spun away, his back to the glass. He could still hear their words, filtered through the speaker. Eventually, he turned back so he could see them.

  “I told myself I wanted to come here to ask you what happened,” Susan said, her voice calm. “I wanted to look in your eyes when you answered me. But I shouldn’t have bothered.”

  Austin crossed his arms, his gaze steady on her face.

  “Because there’s nothing in there to look at,” Susan said. “No husband. No father. No man.”

  “You want a man, Susan?” Austin asked, his voice rising. “You want me to do something to help find Ben? Okay, how about this. I’ll walk out of here right now, even though I got two killers after me, and I’ll go back to the house with you.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “They want me, right? They shot at me once,” he said, pointing to his chest. “I’ll give them the chance again. Then maybe when they kill me, they’ll give Ben back.”

  Susan stared at him.

  “Is that what you want? You want me dead? Will that make you happy?” Austin yelled.

  “I just want my son back.”

  Joe flicked off the speaker and the voices were gone. She came up behind Louis.

  “I want to go in and ask him a few questions. Why don’t you go get a cup of coffee or something.”

  “I’ve had enough.”

  “Enough coffee or bullshit?” Joe asked.

  Louis didn’t answer. He was watching Susan and Austin, their voices muted now, but the hatred was enough to fog the glass.

  A uniform came toward them down the hall. He handed Louis a folded piece of paper. Louis opened it, Joe reading over his shoulder.

  Sir: I have received four phone calls in the last two hours. Once, they asked for Austin. The other 3 times they just hung up. I think someone should be here to take the next call. -- Officer A. Jewell

  “You’ve got to get back,” Joe said.

  Louis nodded, sticking the note into his pocket

  “Take Susan with you,” Joe said. “She’s had enough, too.”

  Louis looked back through the glass. Susan was sitting, elbows on table, head in hands. Austin was standing there, head bowed. Both of them looked spent and trapped.

  “I’ll stay here and question him,” Joe said.

  “No,” Louis said, watching Austin. “Let’s take him back with us.”

  Joe didn’t say a thing but Louis knew she was thinking the same thing he was. That they probably had a better chance of getting information out of Austin back at Susan’s, and that her house, out on that island and surrounded by cops from three jurisdictions, was probably safer than the damn Sereno Key jail at this point.

  But if Austin was in fact the target they were risking his life in the transport.

  He looked into Joe’s steady gray eyes and saw a part of himself reflected back, the part that didn’t play by all the rules when something had to get done.

  Joe gave a small nod and opened the door. Susan looked up as they came in.

  “Susan, we have to get back to your house,” Joe said. “They’ve made contact.”

  Susan was out of the chair and through the door without even looking at Austin. Joe gave Louis a look and followed Susan.

  Austin was slumped against the wall, arms folded over the Gatorland T-shirt. Louis could see a vein twitching in his forehead.

  “Come on,” Louis said.

  Austin looked up. “Where?”

  “Back to Susan’s,” Louis said. “We’re granting your wish. You're going to get a chance to play hero.”

  CHAPTER 21

  Austin sat at the far end of the kitchen table. He had discarded the Gatorland T-shirt for a knit shirt and khaki pants that one of the Sereno Key officers had purchased for him at Kmart. It had taken Austin’s last few dollars. Louis had watched with a small stab of satisfaction as Wainwright took the slender black alligator wallet from Austin’s hand, dug inside and handed the bills to the waiting officer.

  The cheap shirt was a garish pink and the khakis were too short. All Austin’s other clothing had been confiscated as part of the evidence from the trunk of the BMW when it was pulled from the lake. The clothes sat in Austin’s soggy three-piece Vuitton luggage in the Sereno Key evidence room. Except for the butterscotch trench coat, scarf, and fedora, which hadn’t been moved from the coat rack near the door.

  Louis focused on Austin’s fingers holding a glass of water. There was a faint rim of dirt under his nails. About the only thing left of the suave Austin Outlaw now was the Rolex.

  Louis glanced up at the wall clock. It was near six. The killers had not called back.

  The hours had dragged by in a gnawing silence as they all tried to stay out of each other’s way. It was useless. The house was too small. The rain was too relentless. The cops’ hovering presence too oppressive. Wainwright and his men in the living room. Seven cruisers outside. And a block away, TV vans now.

  Louis’s eyes drifted to the refrigerator. There was a drawing on it, something Ben had done. Dinosaurs, but not the green monsters that most kids drew. These were carefully drawn replicas of a T-rex and a brontosaurus with a volcano simmering in the background.

  Louis closed his eyes. It was so quiet he could hear the clock ticking. Not a normal quiet. The terrible quiet of a kid not being there.

  The sound of water running made him open his eyes. Joe had come in and was at the sink, rinsing dishes. She caught his eye as she came over to gather up the mostly untouched cartons of Chinese takeout.

  Louis looked across the table at Susan. She was picking at an orange, peeling away the rind with her fingernail. It reminded Louis of the way Mel Landeta ate lemons. It reminded Louis that he needed to call him. He hadn’t spoken to him since Friday afternoon. Just forty-eight hours ago.

  “It’s getting dark,” Austin said suddenly.

  Susan’s fingers stopped for a second on the orange rind.

  Austin looked at his Rolex then at Louis. “They aren’t calling. They’ve given up.”

  “No, they haven’t.”

  They all looked up at Joe.

  “That’s what they’re waiting for —- dark.” She looked directly at Susan. “They’ll call.”

  Austin let out an anxious breath and leaned back in the chair. The kitchen fell quiet again. Louis could hear Wainwright out in the living room, his voice a low drone as he filled in one of the deputies just coming on shift.

  Louis’s gaze drifted back to Joe. He was thinking about how she managed to get Susan to talk about Austin in less than five minutes. He had known Susan for almost two years and had never known how she felt about black suits, earrings, Easter, or anything else.

  But he did understand now why Susan wasn’t willing to let Austin slip so easily back into Benjamin’s life.

  The phone rang.

  Susan jumped. Joe turned. Wainwright was at the kitchen door, signaling Louis to pick up the wall phone.

  Louis grabbed it. “Yeah.”

  “Austin Outlaw?”

  “Yeah.”

  A pause.

  “This really Outlaw?”

  “I said it was. Who is this?”

  “What’s your kid’s middle name?”

  Louis looked at Susan. “Why the hell do you want to know his middle name?”

  “What the fuck is it?”

  She was mouthing something but Louis didn’t catch it. �
��Who the hell is this?”

  Susan grabbed a paper napkin, scribbled on it, and shoved it in front of him.

  “Answer me, asshole.”

  “Thomas. His middle name is Thomas.”

  Another pause. The sound of a diesel engine. A truck. “Talk to me,” Louis said.

  “That took too long.”

  “Stop the games,” Louis said. “What do you want?”

  “A hundred thousand dollars.”

  “A hundred thousand dollars?” Louis repeated for the others.

  “Yeah. Your kid not worth that much to you?”

  “Of course he is,” Louis said. “Let me talk to him.”

  A short laugh. “Sorry. He isn’t exactly available right now.”

  “How do I know he’s alive?”

  Another pause.

  “You just gotta have faith, my friend.”

  “Faith in a man who kills for the fun of it?” Louis asked. The next pause was so long Louis thought maybe he had hung up. But he was still hearing traffic.

  “Okay. When and where?” Louis asked.

  “I’m going to call back in thirty minutes. I want you to get one of those mobile phones and give me the number when I call back.”

  “Where am I supposed to get a mobile phone in a half-hour?” Louis asked.

  “Ask one of those cops standing there. I bet they got one.” Louis looked up at Wainwright, who gave him a small nod.

  “Okay, what happens after I get this phone?”

  “You, the phone, and the money are going for a drive. I’ll call you along the way and give you directions.”

  “Look, I need some guarantees here.”

  “The kid’s alive and will stay alive if you do what you’re told. That’s the only guarantee you’re going to get.”

  “Wait a minute,” Louis said, still trying to buy time. “It’s Sunday. All my cash is tied up in the business and the cops locked all that down as soon as you murdered my partner. I can’t raise that much in a few minutes.”

  “Don’t lie to me again.”

  The line went dead. Louis replaced the receiver.

  Susan, Austin, and Joe waited quietly for a recap and Louis gave it to them, word for word, as close he remembered it.