As Dog Is My Witness (30 page)

“What do you need him for?” Big asked me again.

“I’m taking him home to his mom for Christmas,” I
told him. “He’s necessary.

“No, he’s not,” Bigger said. “Leave him with us.”

Kevin’s eyes widened. “No,” he said. “Don’t.”

“I really can’t,” I told Bigger. “I need him for the
rest of the afternoon.”

“Bad idea,” said Big.

“Can’t be helped,” I told him. “Unless you want to
explain to me how you know him.”

Big smiled a little. “Wouldn’t be my first choice,”
he said.

“Then he’s coming with us.”

Big considered, but nodded. “Okay. But we’ll be very
close by. Understand?” That last part wasn’t aimed at me. Kevin
nodded, obediently.

“Let’s go,” I told Mahoney. “This is suddenly getting
interesting.”

M
ahoney argued the whole
way back to my minivan, but when we arrived, he agreed he wasn’t
needed any further, and could go off to prepare for Christmas with
his wife and insane family. He’d have to figure out how to deal
with his mother on his own time.

Big insisted on riding in the car with Kevin and me,
especially after he heard I was picking up Ethan before heading on
to Mary Fowler’s house. I felt that Ethan would provide a
distraction for Justin, and to be honest, I thought my son might
pick up on things I missed.

I wasn’t sure, though, whether Big was concerned
about our safety, or that Kevin might say something I wasn’t
supposed to hear.

Mahoney went off to find wrapping paper, and I drove
home to get Ethan. He was waiting, already bundled up, in the
living room bow window, expertly repaired a month ago by Preston
Burke, and fully prepared to get into the car as quickly as
possible. I could see Dylan behind him, saying something he thought
no one but Ethan could hear, and then saw Abby come up behind him,
clearly scolding Dylan for whatever that was. Abby, true to form,
had started playing for the home team again.

Ethan got into the passenger seat when he saw Big and
Kevin in the back. Big, keeping an eye on Kevin, wasn’t saying
much, and Kevin wasn’t saying anything at all.

All of them were surprised when I started driving to
Karen Huston’s house.

I wasn’t all that intent on changing the plans, but
now that I was starting to have suspicions about him, any way to
keep Kevin Fowler off balance would help. And the look on his face
when we drove up Karen’s driveway would be a very important clue.
If he had known Michael Huston, he might know his house. His facial
expression would tell me that.

The problem was, I couldn’t see it. He was behind me
on the driver’s side (Big wanted to keep him out of Ethan’s way
entirely), and the mirror was at an angle that made seeing him
impossible. So I nudged Ethan, and when I had his attention,
gestured my head toward Kevin. Ethan looked confused, and I pointed
to my face. Ethan nodded, and seemed to be watching intently when
we pulled into Karen’s driveway.

Big, to his credit, said nothing. Kevin spoke up.
“What are we doing here?”

“I need to ask the woman inside a question,” I
answered. “Come with us.”

“I don’t think so,” Big intervened. “He doesn’t get
out of the car, and neither do I.”

“He does,” I countered. “I don’t care whether you do
or not, but Kevin’s coming in with me.”

“Why?” Ethan asked. Thanks, Ethan.

“Because I need to be sure he’ll still be with us
when we come out, since I need him at his mom’s house.”

“He’ll be here with me,” Big said. “I’ll make sure he
doesn’t go anywhere.”

We sat in the driveway, the heater running, on
Christmas Eve Day, preparing to visit a woman who wasn’t expecting
us, but was home, as the Volkswagen Jetta in the driveway attested,
and arguing about who would go inside. “There’s no way I’m leaving
you two out here,” I told Big. “You didn’t want him to come with me
to begin with. You’ll make him disappear before I get back. No
way.” Kevin wasn’t crazy about the suggestion that he
“disappear.”

Big grinned. “Would I do that?”

“You can bet I’m not taking the chance.”

He nodded, finally. “Okay. But I’ll be outside the
house. I don’t need her seeing me.” I didn’t know why, since Karen
wouldn’t recognize Big, but it was fine with me that he stayed
outside.

“You want to stay in the car?” I asked Big.

He shook his head. “No. I’ll be outside, in
case.”

In case
?

We walked to the front door, and Big walked to the
side of the house, where he turned the corner and vanished. I rang
the bell, and Karen soon came to the door.

“Aaron,” she said with some surprise, eyeing Kevin
with some suspicion. “How are you?”

“Fine, Karen, but cold. May we come in?” She nodded,
reluctantly, while studying Kevin and his biker accoutrements. We
walked into the living room.

Dalma, now my closest friend on the planet, came over
and gave us a lovely greeting, then happily sat on the rug next to
Ethan. Go figure.

I reminded Karen that she knew Ethan, and introduced
Kevin by first name only. No need to get her upset if it wasn’t
necessary. “Karen, I don’t want to hold you up on Christmas Eve,
but . . . 

“It’s okay, Aaron,” she said. “I don’t plan on doing
much celebrating.” Nice putting your foot in it, Tucker.

“Of course,” I nodded, looking as empathetic as I
could. According to some theories, Asperger’s Syndrome carries a
genetic component, and I might very well be walking, talking
evidence there’s some validity to those theories. “I just wanted to
ask about what you told me about Dalma, that she had bitten the
person who shot Michael that night.”

Karen looked at Kevin, as if she’d put two and two
together, but she didn’t say anything to him. Kevin did react when
I mentioned the bite, and looked at the bandage on his hand
involuntarily. “What about it?” she asked me.

“Was there anything besides blood on Dalma’s mouth?
Clothing, fabric, maybe some leather?”

She thought for a moment, the tears coming to her
eyes again as she remembered the one night she wished she could
forget. “No,” she said. “I don’t remember anything. The only way I
knew she’d done something was by the blood. Now, I can’t be sure if
something dropped off on the way home, but I don’t think there was
anything else there when she got to the house. I don’t know
. . .  I was so upset.”

Karen didn’t cry, but she would when we left. I
wished I could spare her, but there wasn’t any way around it. “So
if she’d bitten his hand, for example, there wasn’t any evidence
the killer was wearing anything on his hand.”

“No,” said Karen, shaking her head definitively. “No,
nothing.”

“Thanks,” I told her. “That’s all I needed to know. I
hope I never have to bother you again, Karen. Please accept my
condolences again, and if it’s up to me, I’ll leave you completely
alone from now on.”

“It’s okay, Aaron,” she told me. “I didn’t mind the
questions. It’s the memories I wish I could erase.”

I nodded. We stood and walked to the front door,
where I knew Big would be waiting. Karen said goodbye to Ethan, and
closed the door behind us.

I pulled Ethan to one side as we started for the van.
“How did his face look when we pulled up here?” I asked.

“Whose face?” Asperger kids aren’t necessarily the
best lookouts.

“Kevin’s face. I told you to watch him while we were
pulling up.”

“Oh,” said my son. “Is that what you meant? I thought
I had something on my cheek.” Okay, so you can’t get
every
clue.

As we walked back to the minivan, where Big was
serenely seated in the second seat, I looked over at Kevin, who was
gazing at the house behind him, a dim look on his face.

“Gloves are for pussies,” I told him.

E
than blankly stared at
Kevin Fowler the whole way back to his family’s home. No Asperger
parent is flawless, and I’m not even in the top fifty percent. All
I could think was, “Now he’s watching the face.”

Mary flung the door open wide before we made it up
the stairs. “Kevin!” she shouted. “You came home for
Christmas!”

Justin, face wary and anxious, stood behind her, and
his gaze never left his brother. To Justin, no one else was
standing on the steps at that moment.

From his mother’s point of view, however, a giant
faux pas had been committed, and she had to correct it. “Oh Aaron,
I’m so sorry,” she said. “I didn’t even acknowledge you and Ethan.
We’re so glad you’re here.”

“I don’t know if you’ll be in a few minutes, Mary,” I
said. “May we come in and sit down? I’m afraid we have something
important to discuss.”

She glanced worriedly at Kevin as we came in. Big, of
course, had made himself scarce outside the house, but she could
still tell something was up. And I’d have been amazed if Big wasn’t
somewhere very close, where he could hear what was being said. I
wasn’t crazy about Ethan being in this environment, but I knew Big
wouldn’t present a danger, and would probably move to protect Ethan
if trouble erupted.

Probably.

We sat in the living room, and even when Ethan tried
to interest Justin in one television show or another in his own
room, Justin would not be moved. I’d have to play out the scene
with the whole family present.

“Mary, we found Kevin at the house of his friend,
John Mahovic, at the address you gave me. He’s been there all this
time.”

Mary’s eyes narrowed. “You mean since he got back
from Indiana?”

I gave Kevin an “am-I-going-to-tell-her-or-are-you?”
look, but he didn’t blink, and he didn’t take his eyes off the
floor in front of his chair. I inhaled heavily.

“He never was in Indiana, Mary. Kevin’s been lying to
you about that for two and a half years.”

It took a moment to sink in, but then Mary appeared
to be physically hurt, as if she’d been struck with something in
her midsection. She winced and put her hands on her stomach. She
actually moved back a couple of inches on her seat, and closed her
eyes.

“Mary, are you okay?” I said. Kevin didn’t move a
muscle, and continued to stare at the floor.

“Deep in my heart, I knew it,” she said. “I knew you
didn’t get in to the university. Did you, Kevin?” He didn’t
respond, and she lifted her head and injected a commanding tone
into her voice. “
Did you
?” He shook his head miserably.

“Where have you been all this time?” his mother
asked.

It took Kevin a long time to answer. “I’ve been
. . .  here . . .  in Jersey
. . .  living in an apartment in Totowa.”

I didn’t have to ask any of the basic questions. Mary
was going to take care of that for me. “You were living in Totowa
and you didn’t even let me know?” she said, controlling her voice
as best she could. Justin looked absolutely dumbfounded. Kevin
nodded again. “
Why
?”

“Because I knew you wouldn’t like it, and you’d make
me apply to colleges again.”

“You need an education. How are you going to make a
living without an education?” Mary’s hands went to her face as the
truth came crashing down on her.

Kevin’s head snapped up, his face red. This was the
conversation he’d been having in his head for two years—the reason
he’d never told his mother what she’d probably suspected from the
beginning. He reached into the pocket of his leather jacket and
pulled out a wallet, which he fanned in his mother’s direction. It
was stuffed with bills.

“I’ve
been
making a living, Ma!” he shouted.
“You want to see? I’ve been making
lots
of money. How do you
think your precious Justin got out of jail? Huh? Where do you think
the two hundred grand came from?”

Well, that was something I hadn’t expected, and Mary
herself was dumbstruck. Justin, having been mentioned in the
conversation, suddenly became attentive, and he looked at his
brother with wide eyes.