The Next Victim (29 page)

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 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 leaving, no one thought to report her missing. That 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 for 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.

"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."

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."

He grinned. "And to have fun."

"Right."

And fun is what she got. A lovely mix of sex and margaritas and grilled filet mignon and a twilight swim followed by more sex. The perfect antidote for the trials of the last ten days. That night she slept soundly and peacefully for the first time since she'd learned of John's death.

After a morning swim and a sudsy wash-off in John's oversized, double-nozzled shower, they faced the empty fridge. In their eager shopping for a delectable evening meal, they'd neglected to think about breakfast. Kali had thought maybe they'd have Sunday brunch at one of the fancy resorts in the hills, but the only flight Bryce had been able to get out left at ten that morning, so they settled for cold cereal and coffee.

"I still can't believe you flew here just for dinner," Kali told him. "But I'm glad you did."

"I hope you don't think dinner was the big draw. Admittedly, it was a first-rate steak and all, but..." He turned suddenly serious. "I've really missed you."

Kali had missed Bryce, too. She hadn't fully realized how much. "I won't be staying much longer. It's just that I don't know what John did or how he died. I can't live not knowing whether he was a murderer."

Bryce rolled his empty mug between his palms. "Defense attorney syndrome?"

"He was my brother, for God's sake. And I want to
understand
, not to whitewash whatever he's done."

"You seem to care more about him now than when he was alive." Bryce paused. "Is that what it takes to get your attention?"

"What do you mean?"

He touched her hand. "Forget it. I guess I just feel that you sometimes shut me out."

"I'm sorry. I don't mean to." But she did mean to, Kali realized. It was more that she didn't understand why.

She got up to pour more coffee. When the phone rang, she said to Bryce, "You want to get that? My hands are full. It's got to be Sabrina. You won't get to meet her this trip, but you can talk to her."

He picked up the phone. "Kali's up to her elbows in coffee. I'm Bryce." There was a moment of silence; then he said, "Just a moment," and handed Kali the phone. "It's not your sister," he whispered.

"Hello," she said, then felt the heat rise on her face as she recognized A. J. Nash's voice.

"I was hoping you might be free to take in the Desert Museum today."

"Uh, afraid not."

"I know it's kind of last minute, but I--"

"It's not that. I have a friend visiting from home."

"The man who answered the phone? Bryce?"

Kali cupped the receiver closer to her mouth. "Right." If he was waiting for a fuller explanation, he wasn't going to get one.

"I see. Maybe another time, then."

"Okay, that sounds good."

By the time Kali hung up the phone, her palms were sweating.
Get a grip
, she told herself.
You haven't done anything wrong
. But she felt as though she'd been caught with her hand in the cookie jar.

"Doesn't take you long to make new friends," Bryce observed when she returned to the table.

"He's a friend of John's. Someone John worked with, in fact."

"Calling you on a Sunday morning." It wasn't a question, but the inflection in Bryce's voice made it sound like one.

"He has an annual pass to the Desert Museum. He offered to take me sometime. That's all."

Bryce nodded and let the subject drop. But the mood of the morning had changed as surely as if ominous gray clouds had rolled across the open expanse of brilliant blue sky.

Kali was of the last generation whose formative years had been spent in the precomputer era. She was comfortable with modern technology now--in fact, she depended on it--but her brain was wired the old way. When she wanted to think, she resorted to pen and paper. Which was why, after returning from the airport, she was sitting at the kitchen table scribbling her thoughts down on paper and trying to make sense of them with the help of squiggly lines and arrows.

The making-sense part wasn't coming easily.

She allowed herself a gratifying, if fleeting, reflection on the weekend and the sensation of Bryce's touch against her skin. The house felt surprisingly empty without him. Once again Kali savored the memory of his departing kiss--the tension generated by Nash's call seemingly forgotten--then reluctantly forced herself back to the task at hand.

For the moment, she was operating under the assumption that John had been murdered and that his death was most likely connected to the deaths of Sloane Winslow and Olivia Perez. While she was less clear about Hayley Hendrix's murder, logic told her it must also be relevant. What were the odds that two friends, both involved in porn, would randomly meet a violent death within weeks of one another?