by J A Whiting
“Yeah,” Melissa said.
“I didn’t know,” Luke said. “She must have come in when I was in the bathroom.”
“Probably,” Olivia said.
“She was wearing a ski mask?” Luke’s forehead was wrinkled in puzzlement.
“I saw her,” Olivia said.
“That’s a weird coincidence,” Luke said.
“That witness said two different people left the building wearing ski masks. They left at different times. You saw the killer with a ski mask and Kayla was wearing one. So that confirms two people with ski masks at the apartment,” Melissa said.
“Jeez.” Luke ran his hand through his hair. “I was there. Kayla was there. Colleen was there. And still, Christian and Gary are dead. I don’t know how I can live with this.”
“You can’t second guess,” Olivia told him. “The killer had a knife. Maybe, other weapons. You three wouldn’t stand a chance against an armed man. He had surprise on his side. You couldn’t fight him bare-handed. There would just have been more dead bodies there.”
“Why don’t you see a counselor? Talk about it with someone,” Melissa said. “It could help.”
“Maybe.” It didn’t seem like he would though.
“Colleen said Christian was moving in with you?” Olivia asked.
“Yeah. He had already brought some of his stuff over. We met at MIT. I’m a senior there.”
“Did he ever mention an enemy? Somebody he had a fight with?”
“No. No one. He never talked about anything like that. He wasn’t worried about anything. I suppose there could have been something but he never said a word to me that anything was wrong.”
“Do you think the attack on them was random?” Melissa asked.
Luke didn’t hesitate. “No. I don’t.”
“Why not?” Olivia asked.
“I don’t know.” He shrugged. “Just the feeling I have.”
“We thought we’d go to the coffee shop some day. Talk to Kayla again. See if she remembers anything else. You want to meet us there when we go?”
“Maybe. Okay. It might help to put our heads together,” Luke said.
Olivia glanced at Luke’s jacket hanging over the arm of the sofa and thought of something. She sat up straight. “Luke. Did you follow me home the other night?”
Luke’s eyebrows went up in surprise, and then he looked sheepish. “Yeah, I did. You saw me?”
Olivia nodded. “You scared me to death.”
“I’m sorry. I wanted to see where you lived. I wanted to talk to you. But I couldn’t get up the nerve to ring your apartment.”
“That’s why you sat in the park across from the building?”
“You saw me there?”
“No. But Kayla did.”
Luke’s brow furrowed in confusion.
“Kayla was following me that night too,” Olivia said. “She was behind you. She saw you tailing me.”
“God. I can’t even tail someone right.”
“Don’t worry about it,” Melissa said. “It’s probably not a skill you’ll ever need.”
The corners of Olivia’s mouth turned up at Melissa’s comment. “You want another beer?” she asked Luke.
“Yes. Please,” Luke said.
Olivia got up to go the kitchen, but pivoted abruptly. She stared back at Luke. “Are you living alone?”
“Yeah.”
Melissa’s face turned white.
“Why?” Luke asked.
“You know Jack is dead?”
“Jack who?”
“Jack Wilson. He came into the apartment right after us on the night of the killings. He was the witness who saw the two people in ski masks.”
Luke look confused.
“Jack was stabbed to death,” Olivia told him. “Just the other night.”
“It seems it’s the same person who killed Gary and Christian,” Melissa said.
“Really? That’s horrible,” Luke said. “Someone else was killed?”
“Didn’t you hear the news?” Olivia asked.
“I went home for a few days. To Chicago. I didn’t pay any attention to the news. I just got back a couple of hours ago.”
“Luke,” Olivia said. “Three guys who were at Christian’s apartment that night are dead.” She looked him square in the eyes. “You’re the fourth guy who was there that night. The killer saw you.”
Luke’s eyes widened in understanding. The blood drained out of his face. “Could you get me that beer now? I think I need it.”
Olivia brought two beers and a glass of iced tea back to the living room. They moved to the couches and sat sipping their drinks.
“Maybe you should move in with a friend,” Olivia suggested. “You shouldn’t be alone.”
“Who’s going to want me moving in with them?” Luke asked. “Hey guys, mind if I move in? Oh, and don’t mind that guy with a knife following me around.”
“You can move in here with us,” Melissa said.
Olivia smiled at Melissa. She was proud of her for offering Luke a place to stay so he wouldn’t be alone.
Luke looked surprised. “No. Thanks, but no. I’m not going to be driven out of my home. And I’m certainly not going to put you two at risk. Wait. You were at Christian’s. Why aren’t you worried about your own safety?”
“Well, sometimes we are,” Melissa said. She wasn’t going to admit that she was sleeping on the floor next to Olivia’s bed every night.
“It seems the killer is only after men,” Olivia said. “So far, anyway.”
“Only men?” Luke said. “But, why?”
“Who knows? Who knows anything about this mess?” Melissa said. Her voice was weary with exhaustion.
“I don’t know why,” Olivia said. “But there must be a way to find some shred of information that will answer ‘who.’”
Chapter 12
Olivia, Melissa, and Luke arranged to meet at the Kendall Square coffee shop where Kayla worked. Luke had a class and told them he would arrive later. Olivia and Melissa opened the door and saw Kayla working behind the counter mixing coffee drinks. A young man was taking orders and the girls got in line. Kayla glanced their way and did a double-take. She nodded a greeting to them, but she looked a bit flustered.
The young man taking orders was slim, average height, with short blonde hair, blue eyes, and a welcoming smile. He was so similar in coloring to Kayla that Olivia wondered if they were siblings. The guy chatted jovially with the customers. He even broke into song, singing several bars of a popular hit. The people in line loved it.
“Well, lovely ladies,” he beamed at Olivia and Melissa. “What will it be?”
They gave him their orders and bantered back and forth with the amusing employee, then moved further down the counter to wait for their drinks. Kayla made eye contact as she snapped a cover on a completed order.
“Do you have time to chat?” Melissa asked.
“I’m off in thirty minutes if you want to wait. Is something new?”
“No. We just want to talk. Put our heads together,” Olivia said.
“Come sit with us when you’re ready,” Melissa told her.
The girls found an empty table and sat down. Melissa pulled out her iPad and Olivia used her phone to check messages.
After fifteen minutes, Luke came through the door, scanned the room, spotted the girls, and headed over to sit with them.
“I just got out of class. It went overtime. I worried I might miss you.”
“Kayla doesn’t get off her shift for another ten minutes or so.”
“Are there any updates? Have you heard anything new about the murders?” Luke asked.
“Nothing,” Melissa said. “There hasn’t been anything in the news. They just rehash what’s already known.”
“Which isn’t much,” Olivia said.
Kayla came from behind the counter. A flash of apprehension passed over her face when she saw Luke sitting with Melissa and Olivia. She stood awkwardly next to their table.
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“Hey,” Olivia said. “Come sit.”
“Is everything okay?” Kayla asked in a small voice. She glanced at Luke.
“I’m Luke.”
“Kayla,” she told him, as she took a seat at their table.
Olivia said, “Kayla, Luke was in the apartment the night Christian and Gary got killed. He was in another room and heard the fight.”
Kayla’s eyes widened. Olivia couldn’t tell if her expression was one of surprise or fear.
“I was there, too,” Kayla said.
“They told me,” Luke said.
“I didn’t see the killer. Just his feet. I was on the floor hiding behind the bed,” Kayla told him.
Luke didn’t want to share what he saw that night. “I was a friend of Christian’s.”
“I know. I recognize you,” Kayla told him. “I’ve seen you with Christian.”
“We thought maybe we could talk,” Melissa said. “See if we can come up with anything new since the four of us are connected to that night.”
“Like what?” Kayla asked. She fidgeted with a napkin on the table.
“Maybe someone will remember something that seemed unimportant earlier,” Olivia said. “Maybe we could go over what happened to each of us, tell about getting to the apartment, what happened when we arrived, when we left. Try to remember what we saw. I don’t know, like maybe the killer ran by Mel and me when we were arriving.”
Melissa said, “That’s a good idea. Let me think back on the night. I’ll start. I’ll tell what I remember.”
Melissa gave her impressions and then Olivia told what she recalled. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. Nothing stood out as suspicious. Luke went next. He told about walking to the apartment, what he saw on the way, what happened when he arrived.
“I’m full of guilt,” he said. “I’m struggling with why my friends are dead and I’m still alive. I wish I could go back in time and make it right.”
The cheerful, blonde barista approached the table with a platter holding pieces of banana bread and pumpkin bread samples. “Hey, guys. Free treats.” He lowered the tray and offered the bread selections to the group. Nobody was hungry, so they declined the samples.
Kayla introduced him. “This is my friend, Eric.”
Melissa, Olivia, and Luke greeted him.
“You’re at MIT,” Luke said. “Same department as me, right?”
“Yeah, I had a double major though. Spent more time in electrical engineering. I graduated last May.” Eric moved away with the platter to the next table.
Melissa asked, “You want to tell what happened, Kayla? Tell us what you saw that night?”
“I already told you,” she snapped. She looked at the tabletop and rubbed her forehead.
Olivia and Melissa glanced at each other wondering why Kayla was being short with them.
“I know but something new might come up if you think back on it again,” Olivia said. “I know it’s hard.”
Kayla’s head jerked up. “You don’t know how hard it is.” The rims of her eyelids were red. “I can’t keep thinking about it and thinking about it. Let the police figure it out.”
“You and Luke were the only one’s who were there when it happened. Remembering something could shed important information on who did it,” Melissa said. “It could help.”
“Help what?” Kayla asked. “They’re dead. They’re not coming back. Why keep going over it? It’s too late to help them.” She pushed her chair back and stormed into the back room of the coffee shop. Her friend, Eric, followed after her.
Luke leaned forward. “Why can’t she talk about it? I’m the one who should have the hardest time talking about it.” He shook his head. “She didn’t see it like I did. She didn’t let them down like I did. She didn’t find the bodies like you two did.”
Melissa kept her voice low. “When she came to see us the other night, she said she didn’t want people to think she was the killer. She didn’t tell the police she was there. Why won’t she tell the police? What does she have to hide?”
“I’d like to ask her how she happened to be outside Jack’s building right after he was killed,” Olivia said. “How did she know? How did she happen to be in the neighborhood? She doesn’t live anywhere near there.”
“You think she has something to do with these murders?” Luke asked.
“I’m not sure,” Olivia said. “It’s possible, but is it probable? It must just be coincidence that she was at both crime scenes, that she was wearing a ski mask like the killer. It’s a coincidence, isn’t it? I mean Melissa and I were at both crime scenes and we didn’t kill them.”
Kayla came out of the back room wearing her jacket with her bag slung over her shoulder. She headed for the exit, and glanced at the three of them sitting at the table as she pushed the door open. Her friend Eric returned to man the counter. He scowled at them.
“Guess we won’t be talking to Kayla anymore today,” Olivia said.
Melissa rolled her eyes. “Should we come back again another day?”
“I know Kayla plays with her band on Thursday nights at a club,” Luke said. “Christian and I went to see them once, only stayed for one set. That must be where she recognized me from. We could go. See if she’d talk to us after they played.”
“Couldn’t hurt,” Olivia said. “Unless, she has us thrown out of the club.”
Chapter 13
Olivia, Melissa, and Luke took a table at the alternative rock club. The place was full and they were lucky to see people vacate some seats in time to grab them before others did. There was a small stage and Kayla’s band was playing mid-set.
“They’re good.” Olivia had to raise her voice to be heard over the music.
Luke went to the bar and returned with drinks.
“I’m nervous,” Melissa said. “What if she gets angry?”
Olivia said, “Then she won’t talk to us. We have every right to frequent this club. We’re not causing any trouble.”
“Uh oh,” Luke said. “Look who’s heading our way.”
Kayla’s friend, Eric the barista, was walking straight across the room to where they were sitting. He did not have a smile on his face.
“Here to hassle Kayla again?” Eric stood over them holding his drink.
“Why don’t you sit with us?” Olivia asked. “We don’t want to bother her. That isn’t our aim.”
“What is then?” Eric took a seat.
“We’re just trying to figure out what happened to our friends,” Melissa told him. “If we all put our heads together maybe we can come up with something that will lead to the killer.”
“Isn’t that law enforcement’s job?” Eric took a swig from his glass.
“Melissa and I found the bodies,” Olivia said. “We want to do something to help. Maybe something small could help solve it.”
“And, what about you?” Eric directed his question to Luke. “Did you find the bodies too?”
“I was there,” was all Luke would say.
The band stopped playing and the performers left the stage for a break. Recorded music blared from the club’s speakers. People stood up and milled around talking.
“Do you think Kayla would talk to us?” Melissa asked.
“I don’t know. What do you want to ask her? What do you think she knows?” Eric held his glass up and swirled the liquid around in it.
Olivia said, “We just want to get her impressions from the night. Or maybe she could tell us something about Christian that might help.”
“Like what? That he was a dirt bag?” Eric asked.
“Why the hell would you say that?” Luke’s eyes narrowed in anger.
“Because, he dumped her. He used her, and then threw her away like she was trash.”
“Eric.” Everyone at the table turned towards the voice. Kayla stood a foot away from them, her face pinched with embarrassment.
Eric reached for her hand and spoke to her softly. “I’m sorry, Kayla. But it’s true.”
Kayla sat down in the empty seat. She looked each of them in the eyes, and then shifted her gaze down. “Christian broke it off with me, a few days before the party. I wasn’t invited to their Halloween party. I decided to go anyway, to try to talk to him. But you know how that worked out.”
“You wanted to try to get back together?” Melissa asked.
“I don’t know why on earth you wanted that,” Eric said, exasperated.
Kayla’s eyes filled with tears. “Because … I loved him.”
Awkward silence fell over the group.
“I’m sorry,” Olivia said. She touched Kayla’s shoulder.
“He didn’t care about you, Kayla. You were a hookup. That was all,” Eric said. “You wouldn’t see it. He thought he was better than you.”
“Christian wasn’t like that,” Luke said.
“Oh, come on.” Eric faced Luke. “He was an entitled rich boy.”
“Did you know him?” Melissa asked.
Eric flashed his eyes at Melissa, his face muscles tense. “I met him once. That was enough. It wasn’t hard to see what he was.”
“That seems unfair,” Olivia said. “You can’t judge someone from one meeting.”
“Can I judge someone by how they treat my friend?” Eric glared at Olivia.
“Eric,” Kayla said softly. She picked at the sleeve of her sweater.
“Kayla, you were blind to it. You let him use you. You made more of it than it was because you fell for a rich, pretty boy’s charms.”
“You’re just projecting your own stereotypical ideas onto Christian,” Luke said.
“He hurt her. Seems like he fit the stereotype.”
“Maybe you should mind your own business.” Luke shoved his chair back and stood. He scowled at Eric, and then stomped away to the bar.
“You didn’t know Christian,” Kayla told Eric. “He was a good guy.”
Eric rolled his eyes. “He was not. Anyway, I don’t care about him. I care about you.”
The band members started to return to the stage and Kayla rose from her seat to go take her place with them. Eric held her hand for a moment and gave it a squeeze before she moved away to the stage.
“How did you and Kayla meet?” Olivia asked, trying to alleviate the tension around the table.
