by J A Whiting
Once they turned into the corridor they quickened their pace, with Olivia in the lead, running her hand along the wall to find her way in the dark. Ynes held to Olivia’s jacket. When they reached the back door of the gym, Olivia halted and put her ear to the door, and hearing nothing, pulled hard to open it. They stepped outside. Ynes turned the lock and pushed against the door to shut it. They stood still listening for anything that might indicate that the two guys were still nearby.
“Let’s go to the corner and peak around into the parking lot to see if their cars are still there,” Olivia suggested.
“Wait a sec,” Ynes said. She leaned back against the side of the building with her eyes closed. Her chest was heaving.
“You okay?” Olivia asked.
“I just need to catch my breath. I almost fainted in there.”
“Bend over a bit,” Olivia told her. She placed her hand on Ynes’ shoulder. “Or sit down and put your head between your knees.”
Before Ynes could respond, a deep voice called out from the corner of the building. “What are you doing back there?”
Olivia’s heart flew into her throat. She spun towards the voice to see Adam Johnson’s dark form striding towards them. Olivia’s stomach lurched with fear.
“Who the hell are you?” Johnson sneered. “What are you doing back here?” He towered over the women, his face showing a hard grimace in the beam of the rooftop security light.
Ynes slumped into a sitting position on the ground, pretending to be drunk like they had planned if someone caught them, but ready to spring up if Johnson laid a hand on Olivia.
“Who are you?” Olivia asked, pretending she didn’t know who he was, forcing her voice to sound angry and not fearful. She stood protectively next to Ynes. Olivia put her hand in her pocket to push the gym keys further down. She removed her cell phone. “Keep back. I’ll call the cops. What do you want?”
Johnson moved closer to intimidate Olivia. “I asked you a question. What are you doing back here?” He smacked Olivia’s hand and her phone fell and thunked onto the concrete and clattered away. Johnson shoved Olivia and her back hit against the wall of the building. Ynes shifted her eyes to watch what was happening.
“What are you doing?” Olivia yelped. “Get the hell away from us.”
Ynes stayed in her slumped position but moved her head slightly so that she could keep Johnson in her peripheral vision
“What’s your name, bitch?” Johnson barked.
Olivia stared at him tight-lipped.
“Where’s your ID? Maybe I need to see your name and address. Maybe you need to be kept in line.” Johnson’s body leaned forward to menace Olivia.
Johnson made a move to grab Olivia’s arm, but she side-stepped him. She had no intention of allowing him to reach into her pocket to get her ID. She didn’t want him lurking or stalking her if he found out her address.
“Who the hell are you?” Olivia asked. “Why are you bothering us?”
“I own this gym.” Johnson glowered.
Olivia knew he was lying but didn’t want to call him on it so she pretended she believed him. “My friend is sick. She had too much to drink. Her boyfriend just broke up with her,” Olivia lied. Her body was trembling under Johnson’s gaze. “We’ve been driving around. We want to join a gym. We came by to see if anyone was here to give us information.”
“It’s eleven at night,” Johnson growled.
“We heard the gym was open twenty-four seven,” Olivia said.
“Where’d you hear that?”
Olivia said, “What’s your name? Is this really your gym? We aren’t doing anything wrong. Get away from us.” She took a small step towards the hulking man, trying hard to project that she wasn’t intimidated.
“If you want to join the gym, then why are you at the back of the building?” Johnson demanded.
“I told you,” Olivia said. “My friend had too much to drink. I brought her back here to throw up.”
“Maybe I’ll call the cops,” Johnson said. “You’re trespassing.”
Olivia took another step forward. “Go ahead. Call them. I’ll tell them you hit me and broke my phone. That will be good advertising for your gym.”
Olivia thought Johnson looked like he wanted to strike her, so she bent down to speak to Ynes before he could decide to act on his impulse.
“Are you feeling okay?” Olivia asked Ynes. “Come on, let’s get out of here.” She put her hand under Ynes’ arm and tugged to have her stand. “Let’s go home.” Olivia bent to pick up her phone and led Ynes away from Johnson hoping like hell that he wouldn’t try to stop them.
Ynes said, “I think I’m going to be sick.” She coughed, and staggered, keeping up her drunken act.
“The car’s just around the corner,” Olivia said. They kept walking.
“Don’t let me catch you back here again,” Johnson’s voice boomed.
“Don’t worry,” Olivia called back to him. “We won’t be joining your lousy gym.”
The girls rounded the corner of the building. There was a shiny black Mercedes G-class SUV parked right next to Ynes’ car. When they reached her car, Olivia opened the passenger side door and helped Ynes sit. She then hurried to the driver’s side, flung open the door, and hopped into the driver’s seat. She hit the button to lock the car doors.
Ynes handed her the car key. “Let’s get the hell out of here,” she said. “Good God.”
Olivia turned the key in the ignition, put the car in reverse, and backed out of the spot. She shifted into drive and stomped the gas pedal. “I almost had a stroke.”
Ynes said, “No one would ever know it. You ever think of going into acting? My hands are shaking.”
“My whole body is shaking,” Olivia said. “Let’s leave investigating crimes to the police.”
“Wait until I tell Eva that Adam Johnson showed up…and what he was doing in there,” Ynes said. “She’ll die.”
Olivia said, “Text Melissa. Tell her we’re okay. Have her meet us back at the apartment.” She made a right out of the industrial area. “That Johnson guy is trouble. Drug dealing. Pushing us around. Threatening Gary. Possibly a murderer. What a piece of work.”
“We can’t tell the police we saw the drug deal,” Ynes said. “Johnson will know we saw the whole thing. He’ll know it was us who told.”
“I don’t want to tell the police either. I’m such a wimp. I wish I was brave.” Olivia sighed and shook her head. “Johnson is frightening. I almost passed out dealing with that hulking monster. We’re lucky he didn’t hurt us. We should get pepper spray.”
“Yeah,” Ynes said. “Or, a gun.”
Olivia said, “And anyway, if we did talk to the police, we’d have to explain how we happened to be in the gym when it was closed.” Olivia wished there was a way to alert the police that Johnson was selling drugs without calling attention to Ynes and herself. It didn’t sit well with her that people had to fear others or that some could get away with illegal activities. “Tell your friend Eva what we heard him doing. She should know he’s selling drugs out of the gym. She needs to avoid Johnson and keep herself safe.”
Olivia turned the car onto her street and slowed to find a parking space.
“Don’t park,” Ynes said. “I’ll just head home.”
“Why don’t you come up?” Olivia asked. “We can tell Melissa what happened. Have some tea or a glass of wine.”
Ynes shook her head. “Thanks, but I’m exhausted. I’m just going to go home and get into bed.”
Olivia stopped the car next to the sidewalk in front of her building. “What do you think? You want to try again to get into Johnson’s locker? Or try his trunk?”
Ynes let out a sigh. “No. I don’t want to get killed.” She gave Olivia a look. “Not now, anyway. Not over this.”
Olivia nodded. “I’ll talk to you later.” She got out and stood on the sidewalk while Ynes came around from the passenger side. They hugged.
Ynes got into her car.
She put the window down and leaned out. “By the way, you’re wrong,” Ynes told Olivia. “You’re one of the bravest people I know.” She started the engine, pulled away from the curb, and drove down the street.
Olivia watched her go, feeling worried and unsettled and not one bit brave. Anxiety pulsed through her body. Not only did she feel badly that they had failed at their mission, but she thought they were stupid to have put themselves at risk and that they might very well have ended up getting hurt tonight. Or, worse. She wished they had been able to get some information on Johnson that might have tied him to the murders.
Her shoulders slumped, Olivia turned and slowly climbed the stairs to the front door of her apartment building.
The bad guy wins.
Chapter 16
Olivia pushed the library door open and exited into the brisk October night, her high brown ponytail swinging as she walked. She had spent four hours researching and writing and her eyes felt like dry orbs aching in their sockets. All she wanted was a nice hot shower and something to eat.
A familiar figured lurked in her peripheral vision, and when she turned to look, her heart sank. Kayla was sitting on the stone wall that lined the edge of the walkway. A heavy wool jacket hid her slender build and a knit hat covered her short blonde hair.
Olivia realized she didn’t have the strength to put up with any nonsense and hoped for a second that it was really someone else sitting on the wall, someone who just looked like Kayla. Kayla jumped down from her perch and approached Olivia. Olivia stood there, her expression blank, wishing she was home in her pajamas. No such luck.
“Do you have some time?” Kayla asked.
“I was heading home. What’s up?” Olivia tried not to sound like she was dreading this encounter.
“Can we go someplace? To talk?”
“Now?” Olivia asked.
“Yes, now.”
Olivia wanted to say no, but instead said, “There’s a coffee place on Main. It’s open late.” Why can’t I ever just say no? Her heart sinking, she wondered how long she would have to be out with Kayla.
Kayla nodded and they turned to head to Main Street. Neither one said a word for two blocks.
“How’d you know I was in the library?” Olivia asked.
“You’re always in there.”
“Not always.”
“I watched your building for a while. I didn’t see you, so I figured you must be in the second most likely place,” Kayla said.
Olivia sighed. “Were you going to sit there all night?”
“No. Only until, you came out. I didn’t think you’d sleep in there.”
Olivia suppressed a grin. “Why the impromptu visit?”
“I’ll tell you when we get there.”
They walked a few more blocks, and then entered the coffee shop. The lighting was soft, the wood floors gleamed. A glass case held all kinds of desserts, cookies, pies, cakes, scones. The scents of hazelnut coffee, melted chocolate, and cinnamon floated on the air. Olivia’s stomach growled.
“I’m starving. I have to get something to eat before we talk,” Olivia told Kayla.
Kayla moved to a side corner table and sat while Olivia ordered a tea and a giant slice of chocolate mousse cake. Olivia joined Kayla at the table and placed her treat in the center.
“Have some.”
“I’m not hungry.” Kayla pulled the knit cap off her head and put it in her lap.
Olivia took her jacket off, hung it on the back of her seat, and sat down. She placed a forkful of the mousse cake in her mouth and nearly swooned. “Okay. I can talk now.” She took another bite of the cake. “What’s up?”
“The police came to talk to me.”
Olivia’s eyes went wide. She held the fork in the air. “Why?”
“They got an anonymous tip that I was in the apartment the night of the murders.”
Olivia’s brow furrowed. “You think I told the police? You think I called them?”
Kayla sat stone-faced.
“I didn’t,” Olivia said. “It wasn’t me.”
“Melissa then,” Kayla said.
Olivia shook her head. “No, she didn’t. Why would we do that?”
“Because maybe you think I’m the killer.”
Olivia placed her fork on the plate. She didn’t know what to believe so she didn’t say anything.
“So you do think I did it.”
Olivia stared at Kayla for a few beats. “Where do you live in Cambridge?” she asked.
“In Central Square,” Kayla said.
“How were you outside Jack’s building the night he was murdered?”
Kayla bit her lip. Her eyes blinked fast a few times. “I went to Somerville that night to walk by Christian’s apartment. I stood across the street from his building and stared up at his windows. I missed him. I just can’t believe he’s gone.” She picked up Olivia’s mug of tea and took a long drink from it. She swallowed hard. “Some people walked by while I was standing there. I heard them say someone else had been killed. I followed them to hear more. They ended up outside Jack’s place.”
“What did the cops ask you when they brought you in for questioning?” Olivia asked.
“They asked if I was in the apartment the night of the murders. What did I see? Why didn’t I come forward? Did I go to school? Where did I work? Stuff like that.” Her expression clouded over. “I didn’t like it. They made me feel like I was guilty.”
“Did you tell them the truth?”
“Yes. But I should’ve lied about some things.”
“Like what?” Olivia asked her.
“I told them where I went to school. What I study,” Kayla said.
Olivia’s face was puzzled.
“I go to the North Bennett Street School.”
“That’s a wonderful school,” Olivia said. “Why should you lie about that?”
“I’m studying to be a locksmith.”
“That’ll be a great career.” As soon as she made the comment, Olivia realized why Kayla thought she should have lied about her schooling. “Oh. The cops think you used your skills to break into Christian’s apartment? And Jack’s building?”
“They didn’t come right out and say that, but I know what they were implying.”
“How did the interview end? Did they accuse you?”
“No. They told me they might want to speak further with me though. They suggested I stick around the area.” Kayla lifted a forkful of Olivia’s cake to her mouth.
“Do you want your own fork?” Olivia asked.
Kayla shrugged.
“Do you think you should get a lawyer?”
“Do you know one?” Kayla asked.
“My aunt’s a lawyer but she doesn’t handle cases like this. She could refer you to someone.”
“I don’t think I need one. Not yet, anyway,” Kayla said. She finished Olivia’s tea. “So if you and your side-kick didn’t tell the police that I was in Christian’s apartment, who did? Luke?”
“I don’t think he would, but I can’t say for certain,” Olivia said.
Kayla said, “Eric pissed him off the other night. Would that make Luke call the police? To get back at me? To get back at Eric? Does Luke think I did it?”
“I don’t know. Maybe you should talk to Luke. I don’t know him well enough to be able to say if he would call the police or not. Who else knows you were there that night?”
“I thought just the three of you,” Kayla said. “And, Eric.”
“Somebody else must have seen you there.”
“Well, who the heck could it be?” Kayla mumbled, trying to think of who might have seen her at Christian’s that night.
Olivia considered something, not sure if she should ask, but went ahead with it. “You were arrested for assault?”
Kayla’s eyes widened. “How do you know that?”
“Eric told us.”
Kayla’s lips pressed together. “Why the hell did he tell you that?”
“He wants us t
o stay away from you. He doesn’t want us dragging you into it. He explained that you didn’t want to go to the police because you had a record.” Olivia paused for a few seconds. “Why were you arrested?”
“I’m not telling you that.” Kayla looked like she wanted to run away.
“Eric said you had an abusive boyfriend.”
“Jesus.” Kayla was fuming. “Has he ever heard of privacy?”
“Was your boyfriend abusive to you?”
Kayla’s eyes flashed around the room. “That hasn’t got anything to do with my life today.”
Olivia was quiet.
“I’m not talking about the past,” Kayla said.
“Okay,” Olivia said. She kept her face neutral.
“I don’t have a record. The charges were dropped,” Kayla said.
“Okay.”
Kayla cocked her head, hesitated for a moment, and then asked, “You think I killed them, don’t you?”
“It’s a weird coincidence isn’t it?” Olivia’s tone was thoughtful.
“What is?” Kayla’s lips were tight. A muscle in her cheek twitched.
“That you and the killer had ski masks on that night.”
Kayla stiffened. “What are you implying? That there were two killers? That I’m one of them?” Her voice shook.
Olivia shrugged, and then shook her head. “I’m not implying anything. Really. I’m just thinking out loud.” Olivia just couldn’t picture Kayla as a killer. There was something about her. She couldn’t quite put her finger on it. Something, under the spiked hair and tough exterior that she tried to project, there was something vulnerable, and almost sweet. Olivia also knew that she could be misperceiving everything about Kayla and could be very wrong about what she might be capable of. Olivia gave herself a mental shake. “It’s just a very odd coincidence, isn’t it?”
Kayla said nothing. Her woolen cap had flattened her usual spikey hair. It hung in soft wisps over her forehead. A pink flush colored her porcelain skin.
Something had been picking at the back of Olivia’s mind, but try as she might, she just couldn’t bring it to the forefront. She exhaled a long breath and studied Kayla’s face. She held her hand out for the fork. Kayla passed it to her, and Olivia speared a chunk of cake and placed it in her mouth. She chewed, swallowed, and said, “Did you want Christian dead? For breaking up with you?”
