The Next Victim (3 page)

"Staining the gazebo?"

"Don't ask. I think it's his way of coping."

They stepped into the yard and John was taken, as he always was, by the sweeping vistas and the lushness of the landscaping. An English country garden transported to the Arizona desert.

Reed was on his knees furiously slopping stain on the floorboards with a wide paintbrush. His thinning blond hair was plastered against his forehead and the back of his shirt was wet with perspiration.

"Honey," Linette said, "John's here." She paused uncertainly. "I'll leave you two alone. Holler if you need anything." Then she retreated to the house.

Reed rocked back on his heels, wiping his brow with his freckled forearm. His long face showed streaks of the pigmented stain that never made it onto the deck. "It's too damn hot to be working outside."

"Yeah, it is." John cleared his throat. "I just heard the news. I was at the dentist's this morning. I still can't believe it."

"You and me both," Reed replied gruffly. "It's fucking incomprehensible." Despite his protests about the heat, Reed dipped his brush into the can and continued working.

John felt helpless. "I don't know what to say."

"You're here. That says a lot in itself. I mean that."

"Do you know what happened?"

"All I know is some cop showed up here at the crack of dawn this morning. Told me Sloane had been murdered. Her and another woman, whom I suspect was Olivia Perez, the girl who cleaned for Sloane. I had to go down and identify Sloane's body." Reed tossed the brush angrily against the corner post and stood up. His tall, angular frame seemed suddenly frail. "It was awful," he said. "Worse than you can imagine."

What John imagined was bad enough. He felt a tremor. "Why did it happen? Do they have any idea? The radio made it sound like it wasn't part of a burglary."

Reed shook his head and shrugged at the same time. "They haven't shared much with me. A Detective Shafer came by a little bit ago and asked more questions. Was she romantically involved with anyone? Who might have reason to want her dead? Did she do drugs? Was she into anything kinky? That kind of crap. Wouldn't tell me a damn thing except to say he was sorry for my loss. Like that's supposed to make me feel better."

"I imagine at this point they don't know a whole lot themselves."

Reed sighed, wiping his hands on his pants. "No, I suppose not. Although there was apparently a neighbor who saw a car he didn't recognize parked at the house that evening."

"That's something, I guess." John felt a disquieting flutter in his gut.

"They asked about the business, too," Reed said hesitantly. He was silent a moment. "I had to tell them Sloane wanted you gone. They were bound to hear about it sooner or later."

"It's hardly a secret that we had different visions for the company's growth," John said. Sloane had been outspoken in her lobbying to get him removed, and he knew the cops would see motive written in neon letters. That only fueled the uneasiness churning inside him.

"Still, I didn't like having to tell them."

John nodded. "We may have been like oil and water, but deep down I loved her like a sister."

"Not always like a sister," Reed pointed out with what, under other circumstances, would have been a laugh. "Come on, let's move inside, where it's cool."

They settled in the rear-facing family room, and Reed pulled two icy bottles of beer from the wet bar. "Sometimes I wish things had worked out between you two," he said. "You'd have made a hell of a better brother-in-law than the smartass she married."

"We were young," John offered lamely. Although it was more complicated than that, of course. More complicated than either of them had understood at the time.

"Ha. You were stupid. Screwing her best friend behind her back. Geez, I still can't believe you did that."

John held up his hands in mock surrender. "I was a cad. I admit it. Sloane deserved better." And she sure as hell didn't deserve to be murdered.

"Remember how she used to go off on tangents?" Reed chuckled. "There was that vegan period, and then the phase where she wouldn't buy anything that wasn't used, recycled, or day old."

"Don't forget her crusade to save some damn endangered mouse." John started to laugh, then caught himself. "God, I can't believe it."

Reed nodded glumly, staring at his beer. "She could be a pain in the butt sometimes. Especially after she moved back to Tucson and decided to get involved in the company. But she was still family. Siblings are funny like that. You can argue till you're blue in the face, but there's always a bond."

"Maybe in your case." John and his sisters didn't fight. They hardly even talked. Well, he and Sabrina talked or, rather, she talked and he listened, getting a word in edgewise when he could. But he and Kali might as well live on different planets. Kali was a lot like Sloane, now that he thought about it. Both of them controlling and critical. Smart and attractive women, good women really, as long as your paths didn't cross too often. Or maybe the fault was within him. They'd both pointed that out often enough.

It didn't used to bother him, but as he'd gotten older he'd come to regret not having closer family ties. He just didn't know how to bridge the distance, or if, at this point, it was even possible.

"With you, too," Reed insisted. "If you needed them, they'd be there."

John hoped Reed was right. He might just be approaching an honest-to-God test of the theory.

"Sloane told me the two of you were going to have dinner Tuesday night," Reed said.

So the cops would know about that, too. "It wasn't a big deal," John said. "We went out after work. I was home by ten." After he'd stormed out of the restaurant in anger. John felt that flutter in his belly again. There was sure to be someone who'd witnessed their argument.

"Funny, you guys having dinner." Reed started to grin; then his face crumpled. "Ah, shit, John. All the times I wished she'd just go away, and now she has. Forever."

Reed leaned forward, forearms on his knees. His shoulders trembled. "I appreciate your coming by but I need to be alone right now."

"Sure." John was never comfortable with physical displays but he felt like something was called for, so he gripped Reed's upper arm briefly. "Let me know if there's anything I can do."

In the car, John closed his eyes and sighed. Then he pulled out his cell phone and called his sister Kali. It had been much too long since he'd talked to her. Besides, he knew it was only a matter of time before he'd need her help.

Kali O'Brien awoke to sunlight so bright and intense it was blinding, even with her eyes shut. She rolled onto her side, used the top of her sleeping bag as a shield, and gingerly opened one eye. Then she smiled at the beauty of the morning. The sun was just rising over the mountain peaks, illuminating the dew on the meadow and transforming the muted grays of dawn into full color. The crisp morning air was fresh and scented with pine. All around her, the birds welcomed the day with song.

She leaned over and shook Bryce's shoulder.

"Huh? What?" He opened his eyes, then quickly squeezed them shut. "Geez, turn off the light."

"It's the sun, silly. It's morning."

Bryce grunted and glanced at this watch. "Barely. And it's freezing."

He was right about the temperature. Kali's breath came out in puffs of steam. At 7,500 feet, the late September nights and mornings were chilly even when the days weren't.

"Did you sleep well?" Bryce asked.

"Like a log. How about you?"

"Ditto. And I'm not finished." He offered a half smile, then rolled over and buried his head under his pillow.

Kali gave thought to tickling him awake, which she'd likely have done if they'd been inside in the comfort of a bed instead of outdoors wrapped in separate bags. In truth, she wasn't eager to brave the nippy air herself.

Three days into this vacation and she was still trying to figure out if she was enjoying herself. A friend of Bryce's had offered them use of his rustic, one-room cabin at the edge of the Desolation Wilderness in the California Sierra. She'd been skeptical. No electricity, no running water, no plumbing, no beds--it hadn't sounded like much of a vacation. And no way was she a fan of desolate. But Bryce had been so eager, regaling her with stories of Boy Scout camping trips from his youth, that she'd relented. She wasn't exactly a novice to the out-of-doors, after all. And in the wake of her last big trial and subsequent brush with death, she was desperately in need of time away.

They'd arrived late Wednesday afternoon and Kali had fallen in love with the place immediately. It was far from desolate. Pine forests, meadows, streams, a jewel of a lake. No motorboats or Jet Skis, only the quiet of canoes, kayaks, and tiny sailboats. The lake and surrounding cabins sat in a basin at the foot of a mountain range whose granite peaks were still dotted, albeit sparsely, with snow. She'd discovered the lack of electricity was a small price to pay for such natural beauty, and that a bucket of well water went a long way.

It wasn't the surroundings that gave her pause, but Bryce himself. Kali's idea of a vacation was having time to unwind. Give her a swimsuit, a body of swimmable water, sunshine, and a good book, and she was in hog heaven. Bryce, it turned out, didn't know the meaning of the word
relax
. He'd morphed into a camp director the minute they'd arrived and hadn't taken a break since. So far, Kali had managed only one quick dip in the lake and two chapters of the mystery novel she'd been saving especially for a stretch of time when she could devour it.

She was discovering a whole new side to the man, and it didn't always sit well with her. She'd known from the beginning that they were different. A homicide detective and a defense attorney. A broad-shouldered hunk with a reputedly well-worn "little black book," and a slender brunette who didn't know how to trust. A man who was sometimes a bit too brash, who lived a smidgen too close to the edge, and a hard-nosed woman who'd been told more than once that she was rigid and relentless. But the chemistry had been strong enough to overcome the differences. For the most part, it still was, though Kali would have gladly traded a few steamy kisses for an hour or two of lollygagging on the sandy beach.

Moreover, Bryce's skills as a woodsman weren't quite what he remembered. The wood fire that had smoked them out of the cabin the first evening was definite proof.

Kali felt Bryce stir. He rolled toward her and snaked an arm out of his sleeping bag. But instead of tickling her, as she expected, he pulled her close and kissed the end of her nose.

"This is the life, isn't it?" he said.

"I have to admit it's pretty nice."

She snuggled in the warmth of their impromptu nest, envisioning the day before them. An easy morning walk around the lake, maybe a glass of wine with lunch, and a leisurely afternoon of sunshine and relaxation at the water's edge.

"How about hiking to one of the upper lakes today?" Bryce asked.

"I thought we were going to take it easy."

"Sure, after we get back. It's only about four miles in."

"And four miles back," she pointed out.

"We should still be back by noon."

Inwardly, Kali groaned. But a morning hike would allow her to enjoy her lunchtime wine with impunity. And four miles Kali could do in her sleep. She covered nearly that distance on her regular morning walk at home. "Okay," she agreed. "Sounds like a plan."

"Bring your cell phone, if you want," Bryce advised. "The pass is only another mile or so beyond the lake. There should be reception near the summit, not to mention a fantastic view."

"Good idea." The inability to make and receive calls was the only real drawback to the place. Even with her associate, Jared, covering for her at the office, and her neighbor Margot keeping an eye on the house and her dog, it made Kali nervous to be out of touch. "Are you going to call in, too?"

"Not me." He grinned. "Vacation means getting away from all that."

Four miles scrambling over granite with a thousand-foot rise in elevation was nothing like four miles on the paved streets of Berkeley. And counting the times they'd missed the trail and taken a wrong turn, they'd gone far more than four miles by the time they reached the upper lake. By then it was already noon, and Kali had given up her fantasy of lunch on the deck and an afternoon swim. She agreed to press on to the summit, because having come this far, she wanted to make her calls.

The trail to the top was steep and hot, an endless succession of rocky switchbacks. But she reached the summit before Bryce did and was rewarded with an impressive, panoramic vista. A succession of Sierra lakes fanned out below her to the west, and to the east, a gently sloping trail meandered through a mountain meadow before disappearing in a steep descent into the next valley. She let her eyes feast on the beauty of it all while she breathed deeply to catch her breath.

"What took you so long?" she joshed when Bryce appeared some two minutes later, still huffing with the exertion of the ascent.

"Watch it, lady. You take a nosedive off a ledge way out here, and no one's going to know what happened." He stripped the pack from his shoulders and offered her some water.

Kali felt exhilarated by the strenuous climb and proud of herself for having done it. Her spoiled afternoon plans were only a minor irritation. She handed back the water bottle, took out her cell phone, and made several calls while Bryce explored the rocky outcroppings around them.

"Anything important?" he asked when she was finished.

"Jared seems to be holding down the fort just fine at the office, and Margot says Loretta misses me, but I know she's just saying that to make me feel better."

"Dogs are very loyal," Bryce pointed out.

"Oh, Loretta's loyal, but she also recognizes a sweet deal when she's got it."

"No urgent messages, then?"

"Nope. My hairdresser called to change an appointment, the stockbroker who's been trying to get my business wants to schedule a meeting, and my brother called."