The Perfect Murder (7 page)

What did that mean?

S.Costas: He won't meet?

48

BrownEyedGirl: No. He says he's had one hell of a night and he'll be busy the next few weekends.

Son of a bitch.

S.Costas: Okay. Then I need you to do one more thing for me.

BrownEyedGirl: What's that?

S.Costas: Let me take over from here.

BrownEyedGirl: What do you mean?

S.Costas: I want to be the one communicating with him. There's no need for you to have anything more to do with this. It's not safe.

And it was too frustrating working through a third party. They were
so
close and yet they couldn't pin him down.

BrownEyedGirl: How do I let you take over?

S.Costas: Simple. Give me access to your account. I'll be you for the next week or two, see if there's anything I can do to convince this bastard to trust me.

BrownEyedGirl: You're crazy. He'll be able to tell you're not me. You don't write like a girl.

S.Costas: I can fake it.

Sebastian had read the transcripts of their instant-message sessions. At least the ones Mary had saved. If he wasn't sure how to respond to a certain question, he could look back through the pages she'd given him to see how the subject had been handled before. Or he could contact her. If he couldn't reach her in time, he'd sign off and blame it on a faulty connection. Already convinced he was in contact with 49

his ex-girlfriend, Malcolm wouldn't suspect a thing--provided Sebastian didn't say something obvious or stupid.

BrownEyedGirl: But this is my only e-mail address.

S.Costas: I'll open another account for you, and I'll forward anything that comes in on this one that isn't related.

BrownEyedGirl: You don't understand. E-mail is my life right now. With two little kids, I can't get out of the house to meet people.

She was purposely ignoring the solution he'd offered, didn't want to be cut out of the loop. This was the one thing that kept her occupied at night--hearing from Malcolm and then reporting on it. Sebastian actually called her some nights and they formulated her responses together.

S.Costas: I shouldn't need it for very long. Like I said, I'll forward anything that's unrelated. AND I'll pay you $1000 for the inconvenience.

Thinking of his nearly empty bank account, Sebastian grimaced, but he knew if anything would smooth the way, this would. She lived on a very tight budget.

BrownEyedGirl: You don't have to pay me. You know I'd do it just because we're friends.

S.Costas: You could use the money, and I'm happy to help.

He didn't think it would be difficult to persuade her to accept. She thought he was rich.

BrownEyedGirl: If that's what you want. But you have to keep me up-to-date, okay? I'd like to know what's going on. I've nursed this thing along for weeks and want to see the end.

50

Sebastian could certainly understand that. Okay, he said, and she gave him her password.

51

Five

S
everal hours later, Sebastian was still up, keeping an eye on Mary's buddy list while rereading the transcripts of her and Malcolm's previous online sessions.

If he had the opportunity, he wanted to be sure he could pick up the conversation with full knowledge of everything that'd been said before.

He'd put on a pair of boxers and a T-shirt, but hadn't been able to relax enough to sleep. Malcolm was signed on. He'd been on for most of the night.

Sebastian imagined him chatting with other women, stringing them along with compliments and promises of flowers, just like Mary.

How could he bring this bastard out of hiding?

Sebastian was dying to initiate a conversation, to see what he could do now that he had control. But it was nearly four in the morning and Malcolm knew Mary had children she had to get off to school. She also worked, which meant she was rarely up
this
late.

"Don't break the pattern," he warned himself. But he couldn't continue to nudge Malcolm along at a leisurely pace; he needed to draw him out, make him commit.

Ignoring caution, Sebastian clicked on the
WhosYourDaddy
screen name.

Brandon just woke up with the flu. Poor kid, he typed.

No,
kid
should be
baby. Baby
would sound more feminine. Using the backspace key, he made the change. And now I can't go back to sleep.

He sent it, but there was no response. "Come on," he murmured. "Forget whatever porn site you're on and take the bait. Don't you care about poor little Brandon?"

Sebastian adjusted his chair so he could stretch his legs. He'd been sitting too long. "Of course you don't care about Brandon," he said, settling in again. "You don't care about anyone but yourself."

After another five minutes, he made a second attempt. I keep thinking about you. Maybe that's the real reason I can't sleep. I get so lonely at night.

He waited...and waited. No response.

With a curse, he turned to the transcripts and skimmed through the 52

exchanges he hadn't reread. A lot of these conversations had taken place last September before Mary realized she was dealing with someone other than
WhosYourDaddy
represented himself to be, but they offered insight to the man's psyche.

WhosYourDaddy: Are you as hot as you were when you were sixteen?

BrownEyedGirl: You don't know?

WhosYourDaddy: I haven't seen you for years.

BrownEyedGirl: I've sent you pictures. You're the one who hasn't sent me any pics. Where are they, by the way?

WhosYourDaddy: I lost my camera. I'll get one taken soon, though.

Sebastian paged through to find the Xeroxed picture Malcolm had eventually sent. It was of a man handsome enough to be appealing but regular enough to be believable--a smart choice, and probably no one Malcolm even knew.

Sebastian's guess was that Malcolm had taken a snapshot of some random guy and used the picture to satisfy Mary's curiosity. Or he'd bought a stock photo.

Setting it aside, he went back to reading.

BrownEyedGirl: Do it tomorrow. I want to see who I'm talking to.

WhosYourDaddy: You know who you're talking to.

BrownEyedGirl: No, I don't. I still can't remember meeting you at Joe's party.

WhosYourDaddy: You really know how to hurt a guy's ego. I guess I didn't stand out.

BrownEyedGirl: There were, like...two hundred kids at Joe's house that night. And I had a boyfriend, so I wasn't paying much attention.

53

WhosYourDaddy: I remember your boyfriend. What was his name again?

BrownEyedGirl: Malcolm Turner.

WhosYourDaddy: That's right. You were really into him.

BrownEyedGirl: No joke. I was head over heels.

WhosYourDaddy: Lucky guy.

BrownEyedGirl:

WhosYourDaddy: Have you seen him lately?

BrownEyedGirl: No. We lost touch when we graduated.

WhosYourDaddy: Do you know what became of him?

BrownEyedGirl: No idea.

WhosYourDaddy: You think about him sometimes, though, don't you?

BrownEyedGirl: Sometimes.

WhosYourDaddy: If you'd married him, maybe you'd still be married.

Maybe your kids would be his.

BrownEyedGirl: I doubt we would've made it. He cheated on me with Sherry Stewart. I caught them together in the bedroom at Dennis Marchant's house.

Broke my heart.

WhosYourDaddy: Only an idiot would cheat on someone as beautiful as you.

54

"Were you that idiot?" Sebastian asked and turned the page.

BrownEyedGirl: They got together after I broke up with him, but it didn't last long.

WhosYourDaddy: I met her once. She wasn't half as pretty as you.

BrownEyedGirl: Thanks. I never could understand what he saw in her.

WhosYourDaddy: She was a slut, and at that age, a guy thinks with his dick.

He's dealing with too many hormones to know when he's got a good thing.

BrownEyedGirl: Does that ever really change? LOL

WhosYourDaddy: I'd never risk losing someone like you, that's for sure.

Were you giving it up to Malcolm?

"You already know, don't you?" Sebastian said. "You just like thinking about it, talking about it."

BrownEyedGirl: You can guess the answer to that question.

WhosYourDaddy: You did.

BrownEyedGirl: It's not like I was easy. We were together for two years.

WhosYourDaddy: Would you make me wait that long before you let me touch you?

BrownEyedGirl: That depends.

WhosYourDaddy: On what?

BrownEyedGirl: On my level of trust.

55

WhosYourDaddy: You can trust me, babe.

BrownEyedGirl: I'd like to think so.

WhosYourDaddy: Do you ever talk to Sherry Stewart?

Sebastian checked his computer screen. Still no response from Malcolm.

BrownEyedGirl: Never. Not since that night.

WhosYourDaddy: What about your other friends from high school?

"Wondering what she's heard about you?" Sebastian asked.
WhosYourDaddy
was always probing. Sometimes it was just more subtle than at other times.

BrownEyedGirl: Not really. My best friend died of cancer while we were in college. That's when I realized I wanted something deeper than most of the people I'd hung out with in high school seemed to want. They were still partying on the weekends and screwing around. It was time for me to get serious about life. That's when I met Jimmy.

WhosYourDaddy: At UC Berkeley?

BrownEyedGirl: Yep.

WhosYourDaddy: Did you go back to San Antonio after college?

BrownEyedGirl: No, we stayed in California to be near his family.

WhosYourDaddy: So you haven't been to Texas in how long?

BrownEyedGirl: Years. My parents moved to Portland while I was at Berkeley, so there's never been any reason to go back.

56

Fortunately, that was all true, so they didn't have to worry about Malcolm learning otherwise.

WhosYourDaddy: Don't you want to see Malcolm?

BrownEyedGirl: I don't even know if he's still there. Last I heard, his family was, but he'd moved on.

WhosYourDaddy: What if you were to hear from him? How would you react?

Sebastian had highlighted this part. It showed Malcolm throwing out more feelers, seeing how he might be received if he ever decided to reveal himself.

BrownEyedGirl: Not sure. That would depend on why he was contacting me in the first place. I still haven't completely forgiven him. I've never been hurt like that, even by my ex-husband.

WhosYourDaddy: Maybe he's changed, grown up.

BrownEyedGirl: And maybe he hasn't. Once a cheater, always a cheater.

That's what I say.

WhosYourDaddy: You don't know that.

BrownEyedGirl: I don't think I could trust him again.

Unfortunately, this conversation preceded Mary's realization that she could be talking to Malcolm or she would've answered differently.

WhosYourDaddy: Poor Malcolm. He's missing out on so much.

BrownEyedGirl: Don't give me that. He brought it on himself. I might be divorced but I'm not desperate.

57

WhosYourDaddy: I'd treat you better.

"Than you used to?" Sebastian murmured.

BrownEyedGirl: I'd like to believe that.

Sebastian grimaced. "If you're smart you won't."

WhosYourDaddy: I'll prove it to you.

BrownEyedGirl: Have you ever cheated?

WhosYourDaddy: I'd never cheat on someone as beautiful as you.

BrownEyedGirl: So you
have
cheated.

WhosYourDaddy: Not on my first wife.

BrownEyedGirl: How many wives have you had?

WhosYourDaddy: Two.

So had Malcolm.

BrownEyedGirl: You went out on your second wife?

WhosYourDaddy: She went out on me first. I think she was sleeping with her ex the whole time we were married. I know she never got over him. She was always throwing him in my face.

BrownEyedGirl: What was his name?

WhosYourDaddy: Prick, at least to me. LOL

Sebastian hesitated here. Malcolm was talking about him and Emily, but he 58

couldn't be more wrong. There'd been times when Sebastian had felt a spark between him and his ex. He couldn't deny that. They'd cared about each other, cared for their son. But they'd never slept together, not after the divorce. If Emily hadn't married Malcolm, they might've reconciled, but she had, and then Sebastian met Constance and everything changed.

Trying to imagine what it would've been like if they'd managed to reunite their family, he closed his eyes. Emily and Colton would both be alive, and Colton would have the complete family he'd always dreamed about....

It was Malcolm who'd removed that possibility. First, when he convinced Emily to marry him by pretending to be a better man than he was. Then, when he'd assumed, without any proof, that Emily was cheating on him and killed her.

Or was his unfounded accusation just an excuse to get rid of her and take the money?

His eyes too bleary to continue reading, Sebastian put the transcripts aside and reached over to turn off his computer. Before he could press the off button, however, the response he'd been waiting for finally appeared on the screen.