He dribbled again, without looking at her. “Freaky as hell.”
“I understand you knew Olivia Perez.”
“Who told you that?”
“Your mom.”
“Figures.” He went for a drop shot and missed.
“Did you?”
“Know her?” He shrugged. “Some.”
“I got the impression from your mom that Olivia wasn’t very friendly.”
“My mother has her own perspective on life. People are supposed to behave the way she thinks they should.”
“Sounds like a lot of mothers.”
“Yeah, I guess. We had this party here over the summer. It was my mom’s idea really. Like something out of the seventies. She invited Olivia, then got all bent out of shape when she didn’t come. Can you blame Olivia? Jeesh. Why would she want to hang out with a bunch of dweebie high school kids?”
“Because it might be fun?”
“It wasn’t that kind of party, trust me.” He shot another basket and this time it went in. “Besides, she had better things to do.”
“It sounds like you did know her.”
Another shrug. “Not really. I went over there a couple of times. We talked about movies and stuff. No biggie.”
“Did you ever meet any of her friends?” Kali asked.
“A couple of them. It’s not like I was over there that much.”
Kali showed him the photo. “Do you recognize these other girls?”
“Yeah. Well, one of them. Her.” He pointed to the photo.
“Crystal?”
“Yeah, I think that’s her name.”
“What can you tell me about her?”
“Not much.” Mitch spun the ball between his hands. “She’s my age, sixteen. Only she dropped out of school.”
“Doesn’t seem like someone as smart and focused as Olivia would have much in common with a younger high school dropout.”
Mitch looked faintly amused. “There was another side to Olivia,” he said knowingly.
“What do you mean?”
“She got around.” Mitch looked over his shoulder at Kali, then sank another basket. “Like the party thing. She told me about some big shindig she was at—waiters walking around with free drinks and plates of fancy crap like stuffed mushrooms and skewered shrimp. That’s what I meant about her not wanting to come to our stupid party.”
“How’d she get invited to parties like that?” Kali asked. She’d considered the possibility that Olivia was stripping and that’s how she’d met Hayley. But maybe she was doing more than stripping. Maybe all three girls were.
Mitch shrugged. “That wasn’t anything I’d ask her.”
“What about Crystal? Did she go to those parties, too?”
“Probably. They were both, you know—” Mitch reddened, but Kali couldn’t tell if it was the heat or a blush—”kind of out there.”
“Do you know how I might find Crystal?”
“Nope. Except, like I told Mrs. Winslow, I think she’d sometimes grab a free meal at that youth shelter downtown, Sunshine House.”
“Like you told . . .” Kali wasn’t sure she understood. “Sloane Winslow was asking about Crystal?”
“Yeah. I guess Crystal and Olivia had a falling-out or something. Crystal stopped coming around. Seemed weird that Mrs. Winslow would care, but she was really worried.”
“When was this?”
“I don’t know, maybe a week before the murders.”
Sloane and John, both. Why the interest in Crystal? “Thanks,” Kali said. “Take care out here in the heat.”
Mitch rolled his eyes at her. “I think I know that.”
<><><>
When Kali arrived back at John’s with supplies for dinner, she found Sabrina sitting woodenly on the sofa in the living room, staring at the wall. A half-empty glass, which Kali instinctively knew held gin and tonic, rested on the coffee table in front of her.
“You realize you’re making a habit of this?” Kali asked.
“A habit of what?”
“Hitting the bottle early.”
Sabrina looked up and Kali saw that she’d been crying.
“What’s wrong?” Kali asked.
“You were right about the porn on John’s computer. It’s like that’s all he did on the Internet recently.”
Kali nodded, recalling the disgust she’d felt when she’d discovered the Web sites. On the other hand, Sabrina’s distress seemed a bit over the top. “I know you don’t want to think badly of him,” Kali told her, “but John was an adult. It’s not like he did anything really wrong.”
“It’s not just that.” Sabrina stood, steadier on her feet than Kali would have predicted. “Follow me. I want to show you something.”
She was no longer tearful. As she sat down at the computer, Sabrina seemed more frightened than anything. Her hand shook as she clicked the mouse. Whereas Kali had seen just enough flesh to get the gist of John’s activities, her sister had apparently watched some of the downloaded videos.
“It takes a minute or so to load,” she said.
“Sabrina, I’m not interested in watching this stuff.”
“Just wait. You will be.”
The video started. There was no sound aside from background music, but the picture quality was better than Kali expected.
The scene opened with two girls in a bedroom, or maybe a dorm room. The redhead was lying on a bed, leafing through a magazine, which hid her face, and listening to music on her MP3 player. The other, a slender blonde, was at a desk, writing. Kali thought at first that they hadn’t known they were being filmed, but it soon became apparent that the action was staged. The blonde stood and stretched provocatively, removing her sweater to reveal a black, low-cut lace bra. More stretching and arching for the viewfinder, and then she sauntered over and sat on the edge of her friend’s bed, gesturing to her shoulders as though she needed them rubbed.
“Can’t you fast-forward?” Kali asked.
“Hold on.”
Kali crossed her arms. At least she wasn’t watching close-ups of hideously large male organs being worked on by naked women— the type of porn that sometimes made it past her spam filter and showed up in her in-box. Still, she wished Sabrina would just tell her what she’d seen that was so upsetting.
Ignored by her friend, the blonde pouted for a moment, then gently poked the other girl in the ribs to get her attention, causing the girl’s robe to fall open. Kali’s eyes were immediately drawn to the bare flesh and very full breasts, so it took her a moment to see that the girl had dropped the magazine, revealing her face. And another moment before she recognized who it was.
“That’s her, isn’t it?” Sabrina asked. “That’s Olivia’s dead friend, Hayley.”
A horrible burning sensation was building in Kali’s chest. “Can you pause it?”
“I don’t think so. But it’s her, I’m sure.”
The two women on screen were now busily undressing and caressing one another. The camera zoomed in closer.
“Look,” Sabrina said, “there’s a shot of her face again.”
“It does look like her.” Kali had seen enough. “Close it down.”
“Not yet.” Sabrina tapped her finger, as the action on the screen progressed. Both women were naked now, and they turned to look as a third girl entered the room.
Kali recognized her immediately.
Olivia Perez.
Now she understood why Sabrina had reacted as she had. It wasn’t that John sometimes looked at pornography. It was that he’d been watching the naked sex antics of two women he was suspected of murdering.
Chapter 31
“Looks like they’re from the same person,” Michelle said, opening the cover of the book of poetry she’d found near Hayley’s bed. “Same quote, same handwriting and signature. Of course, if the girls were friends, I guess it’s not so odd.” She dropped the little book into an evidence bag and handed it to Erling to label. “Maybe they were dating the same two-tim
ing guy or they have a mutual friend who’s short on gift ideas.”
Erling looked around the tiny bedroom. The warrant had come through, but so far they’d learned nothing useful from their search. Hayley Hendrix had a thing for eye shadow and nail polish. She had enough tubes and brushes and bottles to open her own beauty shop. She liked blueberry yogurt, rocky road ice cream, and Honey Nut Cheerios. She had $400 in a checking account and $3,300 in a savings account. No sign of drugs or other illegal activities. No computer, letters, or address book.
He stretched his neck. “I’d sure like to know where the O’Brien sisters fit into this.”
“You think there’s a connection over and above their brother’s involvement?”
“Seems reasonable. Kali knew about Hayley, was at her apartment even. She knew about Crystal Adams, whoever she is.” They’d run the name and come up empty-handed. But John O’Brien had inquired about Crystal at the Crazy Coyote, so if they asked around at enough strip joints maybe they’d finally get lucky and find someone who recognized the name. “And the thing with the rock through the window. I’m not convinced they didn’t throw it themselves.”
Michelle cocked her head. “You’re getting pretty far out on this, don’t you think?”
“Maybe. Or maybe they’re the ones who’ve gone to extremes to misdirect us.”
Michelle pulled off her latex gloves and dropped them into her pocket. “I grant you that John O’Brien’s name keeps coming up, and that his sister Kali seems to know more than she’s sharing with us. But the truth is, we don’t really have anything that connects him to Olivia or Hayley.”
“Don’t forget the phone number in Hayley’s wallet. Why else would a girl like her be carrying around the number for Logan Foods’ corporate headquarters?”
Erling’s gut told him that the murders of Olivia Perez and Hayley Hendrix were connected, and that John O’Brien was very much a part of the mix. It didn’t do much for his original hypothesis that Sloane had been the primary target, but at least O’Brien still figured into the picture. And Erling was breathing easier now that the focus of the investigation was no longer on Sloane.
“I wish we had Hayley’s contact information,” Erling noted. “It was probably all stored in her cell phone.”
“We’ll get the records eventually,” Michelle said. “Maybe they’ll point in the direction of her killer, as well.”
Erling nodded. At least they’d been able to pin down a possible time for the murder. Hayley’s mail had been piling up since the end of August. She’d been a no-show at the Crazy Coyote about the same time, but since she’d talked of quiting, no one thought to report her missing. That timing jibed with the coroner’s estimate of time of death.
Michelle’s phone rang, and she stepped closer to the window for better reception. “Parker here. Yeah. No kidding? You’re sure? Right. Call forensics but we’ll head there too.”
She disconnected and turned to Erling. “They found Hayley’s car. It’s been in impound for three weeks. It was towed from the Home Depot lot on Broadway when an employee there noticed it hadn’t been moved for several days.”
The Home Depot store was nowhere near the wash where Hayley’s body had been found. Had she been abducted from the parking lot, or had she been grabbed somewhere else and her car driven to the lot after the fact? Erling suspected the latter, simply because he had trouble imagining what Hayley would be doing at a Home Depot. But he was determined to keep an open mind.
<><><>
The employee on duty at the impound lot walked them to the car, a white 1994 Saturn with a wide scrape on the passenger-side door. The scrape looked like an old one.
Erling peered inside. A clutter of personal odds and ends was strewn about on the backseat: a sun hat, a water bottle, a packet of Kleenex, and an open bag of pretzels. There was a hairbrush on the front passenger seat and loose change in the cup holder.
“Anyone been inside?” Erling asked.
“Not since it’s been in our facility. But it was unlocked when we found it, so who knows?”
Erling donned a pair of gloves and opened the front passenger door. The air was stale but heavily perfumed from the floral-scented air freshener that hung from the dash. No obvious signs of a struggle, although that didn’t mean much. He opened the glove box—nothing but the car’s registration and owner’s manual. Under the front seats he found a ballpoint pen and a comb. The trunk was empty except for the jack and some flares.
“Maybe forensics will turn up something,” Michelle said.
“You think our killer conveniently left a set of prints for us?” Erling laughed. “Not likely.”
“True. He might not have been anywhere near the car.” She opened the back door of the car and a folded map fell to the ground. “This must have slipped down next to the seat,” Michelle said. She tossed it back into the car, then stopped and reached for it again.
“What is it?” Erling asked.
“A map of Tucson. Might be nothing, but it’s folded open and there’s an address written off to the side.”
“What’s the address?”
She read it to him and Erling wrote the number and street down in his notebook. “Leave the map for forensics. The location is all we need for now.”
“You think she was meeting someone the night she was killed?”
“Possibly. Or the thing could have been down there for months. Maybe we’ll have a better idea once we check the place out.”
It was too much to expect that the address somehow related to John O’Brien, but that’s what Erling found himself secretly hoping for.
Chapter 32
Sorry to be leaving again” Sabrina said, tossing her small suitcase onto the backseat. “I promise to be back early next week.”
“Don’t worry. I know you’ve got your family to think about.” Sabrina claimed she was feeling guilty about spending time away from her kids. But Kali wondered if her sister’s dismay over John’s web surfing habits wasn’t what had prompted her hasty decision to head home.
Not that Kali begrudged Sabrina the time. In the ten days since Kali had arrived, they’d accomplished most of what needed doing in terms of cleaning out John’s house. Sabrina had set aside what items she wanted, and Kali had packed a box for herself. They would donate the bulk of the furniture and clothing to charity when they were ready to put the house on the market. And they’d already spoken with a real estate agent who assured them the place would go quickly.
Kali could have headed home herself, but she had too many questions, even without the looming threat of a lawsuit. She’d decided to stick around for a bit longer and see what she could learn.
“You’re sure you don’t mind my leaving?” Sabrina asked.
“I’m sure.” Kali hugged her sister. “Give the boys my love. And drive safely.”
<><><>
Kali was cleaning up the coffee mugs from breakfast when Bryce called.
“Do you have plans for tonight?” he asked.
“Plans?” His question was so unexpected she was sure she’d misunderstood.
“Yeah.” He sounded like the cat who’d swallowed the canary. “Want to get together for dinner?”
She dried her hands on a kitchen towel. “Where are you?”
“At the airport.”
“In Tucson?”
“L.A. I had to come down for a meeting, but I don’t have to be back at work until Monday morning.”
She still didn’t understand. “You’ve lost me.”
“I’m standing here at the big Southwest board, and I realized I’m halfway to Tucson. I figured I could stop in and see you on the way back to Oakland. That is, if you’d like.”
“It’s not exactly on the way, you know.” In fact, it wasn’t on the way at all. Bryce’s offer, coming out of the blue, caught Kali by surprise. But she was aware of a giddy excitement building inside her.
“Says right here on the display that Tucson’s only ninety minutes away.”
&nb
sp; Kali laughed. “You’re nuts.”
“Nuts about you.”
“And corny, too. But I’d love it. I am so in need of some fun.”
He sounded relieved. “I’m an expert at fun.”
“What time will you be here?”
“About two, assuming I can get on the next flight out.”
“I’ll pick you up at the airport.”
Kali had almost three hours before she’d have to leave for the airport, but she felt she was racing against the clock as she frantically cleaned up the house, did a load of laundry—two loads actually, including the sheets and towels—and then showered and washed her hair.
Even with all that, she arrived at the airport early, awaiting Bryce’s arrival with the anticipation of a kid on Christmas Eve. Had it really been only two weeks ago they’d camped out under the star-studded Sierra sky? It felt like a lifetime.
As she watched Bryce emerge from behind the security barrier, Kali felt the familiar flutter of joy. He greeted her with an eager hug and kiss.
“I can’t believe you really came all this way for twenty-four hours on the ground.”
He looked at his feet. “Am I on the ground? Feels like I’m in the clouds. It’s so good to see you.”
He’d set his carry-on down to hug her. Now he again hoisted it, slung the strap over his shoulder, and followed her outside to the parking lot.
“Do you want to see some of the sights of Tucson,” Kali asked, “or head straight to John’s?”
“I didn’t come for the sights. Besides, I’m eager to meet the infamous Sabrina.”
“She just left for home this morning.”
“Not because of me, I hope.”
“No, she was gone by the time you called. She wanted to get back to her family. She was a bit upset too, I think.” Kali knew she’d have to do it eventually, so she brought Bryce up to date on what she’d learned about John, his interest in porn, and his ties to the three girls. Bryce asked questions now and then for clarification, but mostly he just listened.
“That’s about it,” Kali said when she’d finished. “And now I don’t want to talk about it. I want a break.”
The Next Victim Page 23
