Blood Loss (30 page)

‘And Nolan Carr was the boss of these companies?’ said Colin.

‘No,’ said Ren.
You awkward prick
. ‘That’s not the point. He clearly has no problem being involved in all kinds of shit. Do you want some gum?’

‘No,’ said Colin.

Ren took a packet of gum out of her purse, slid out a stick and started chewing it.

‘You were still out of line in there,’ said Colin.

Go fuck yourself.

She was about to get into the SUV. She dropped her gum. She bent down and saw Colin’s feet.

She thought of Laurie Whaley, and the boy at the airport with the fake stomach ache, and Laurie Whaley and her stomach ache, and the feet at the other side of the SUV, and how Laurie had cried out, she was bent double, her parents rushed to her side, as any parent would. And from the passenger side of the SUV – feet. And as Gary said – one looked higher than the other.

Oh my God. Someone was getting out of the SUV. Someone had been inside The Whaleys’ all along.

Cathy Merritt was taken aback when she opened the door to Ren.

‘I need to speak to Laurie,’ said Ren. ‘Can I come in?’

‘You can come in, of course,’ said Cathy, ‘but I’d rather you didn’t speak to Laurie. We’ve already agreed to speak with Agent Ross …’

Fuck Sylvie fucking Ross!

‘I can get Agent Ross here too, if you like,’ said Ren, ‘but I need to talk to Laurie right away.’

I’m not fucking around, bitch. Can you see that in my fucking face? Can you respond to that, you weak fucking bitch? Do you fucking get any of this? I swear to God, I want to punch that fucking face of yours.

Ren’s heart was pounding. She became acutely aware of her firearms, and aware of her fists. She briefly imagined punching Cathy Merritt, pushing her gun against her forehead.

What is wrong with me?

Cathy Merritt looked scared.

Good. I could care fucking less. Fuck you. And let me the fuck in to your house.

Laurie Whaley sat on the sofa beside Ren.

‘Laurie, I’d like to ask you about what happened before you went into the hotel on that Saturday night. We don’t need to talk about what happened in the room, I just want to ask you about the parking garage.’

‘OK,’ she said. ‘But … nothing happened.’

‘I know you told me you had a stomach ache – what kind of stomach ache?’ said Ren.

‘Um … like … what do you mean?’ said Laurie, glancing at her.

Frightened eyes.

‘Was it a sharp pain?’ said Ren. ‘Or did you feel like you wanted to throw up, or …?’

‘A sharp pain, I guess,’ said Laurie. She was staring at the floor again.

‘Can I ask you another question?’ said Ren.

Laurie nodded. Her little fists were clenched, squeezed together, resting on her lap. Her legs were shaking.

Ren reached out and laid a gentle hand on hers.

‘Sweetheart,’ said Ren. ‘Who was in the SUV with you the night you went to the hotel?’

Laurie kept her eyes on the floor. Then she looked up at Ren, her shoulders rigid. ‘In the SUV?’ she said. ‘Dad and Erica and Leo.’

Ren nodded. ‘OK.’ She allowed Laurie some time. ‘Was there someone else?’ said Ren.

‘No,’ said Laurie, shaking her head. ‘No … who do you mean, someone else? Like, who?’

‘I don’t know,’ said Ren. ‘I’m wondering did you notice anything unusual during your trip.’

‘No,’ said Laurie. ‘But … why are you asking me all this?’

‘Because we have a video and it really looks like someone might have been getting out of your dad’s SUV while you had your stomach ache. But – not your dad or Erica, because they were busy looking after you. And Leo was in Erica’s arms. I watched it all. So, I’d like you to tell me who was it that could have been getting out of the SUV.’

Laurie said nothing.

‘I think you know,’ said Ren. ‘You’re not going to get into any trouble for telling me, Laurie. I can promise you that. Was there someone in the SUV that night?’

Tears welled in Laurie’s eyes. ‘Do you have to tell my mom?’

Ren nodded. ‘I do,’ said Ren, ‘but we really need to know, because we have to make sure that we have all the right information so that we can do our job properly.’

Laurie took in a big breath. ‘It was Joshua. My stepbrother, Joshua.’

Ren allowed the weight of what Laurie said to sink in.

‘And how come Joshua had gone to Breckenridge?’ said Ren.

‘He is going to get in so much trouble,’ said Laurie. ‘He’s going to kill me.’

‘He won’t,’ said Ren. ‘Why don’t you talk through what happened and we can go from there.’

She began tentatively. ‘That day, dad and Erica brought me to my house to pick up my new jacket,’ said Laurie. ‘Joshua was there. He was grounded, because … a couple of months ago, Mrs Ronson, down the street, she’s, like, really old … she was on vacation, and someone broke into her house. And it was terrible; they smashed up all her stuff, and emptied out her liquor cabinet, and all kinds of things. They broke an urn, and threw her husband’s ashes all over the floor. Mr Ronson had always been so kind to everybody. And they did other terrible things.

‘There’s a group home a few miles away, and everyone was saying that some kid there did it and … It was so sad. Poor Mrs Ronson, she’s all alone.’

Laurie took a few breaths. ‘Mom and Dale … I heard them asking Joshua about it. I couldn’t believe it. He said he didn’t know anything about it, but it was like they knew that he was lying or something. They said that they wouldn’t tell Mrs Ronson, or anyone, but he still said he didn’t know anything about it. But they must have known something, because they still grounded him – for four whole weekends. Mom said that she was sick to her stomach, that she didn’t want to even look at him. They told him he could only come out of his room for meals. They took his Xbox. But I got to have it in my room. That drove him nuts. They let him have his television, but that’s because that was the only other way to keep him in his room. They were so mad. I even saw Dale crying about it one day. I heard him tell Mom that he thought things were going to get better, but they’d gotten worse. And Mom told him to give it time.

‘That Saturday was the last day Josh was grounded. And when I called to the house, I told him I was going to Breck and that Shaun White was going to be there. He’s a famous snowboarder, we play his game. And I was going to get to see him up close, and I was going to get his autograph. I wanted Josh to be jealous. I liked the Ronsons a lot. They were really old, and really kind to all the kids, and even though Joshua said he didn’t do it, I know he did.

‘He totally flipped out when he heard about Breck. He was super jealous. Anyway, Dad and Erica had fixed Leo’s clothes and we got in our car, and next thing, we’ve been in the car, like, twenty minutes, and I see Joshua there … just by my feet, under this blanket thing. I jumped, but he had his finger up to his mouth. Leo was sleeping, he always sleeps in the car. And I was just totally freaked out. I was thinking “What the heck is Joshua doing, where does he think he’s going?” But I knew … I knew he was that jealous. He’s obsessed with Shaun White. But … I just didn’t get what he was thinking. He knew we were going to be gone until Sunday evening, and Mom and Dale could easily have checked on him. And, like, he might not have even gotten a ride home. But he obviously didn’t care. It was crazy dangerous.

‘When we got to the parking garage in the hotel, everyone got out of the SUV, and Joshua whispered to me, like, “distract them”, so I pretended I had a stomach ache, and when I went back into the car to get my bag, he was gone.’

‘Do you know where Joshua went?’ said Ren.

‘A bunch of his friends were going to Breck – he was probably going to hook up with them, go see Shaun White.’

‘He didn’t have a lot of time before he left the house,’ said Ren. ‘Do you know was he planning to call them when he got to Breck?’

Laurie stared at the floor. ‘Um … Dale took his cell phone when he was grounded. Same thing they say to me – “It’s our cell phone, we pay the bills, it’s so we can keep in touch. If you’re grounded, we know you’re in your room, why would we need to phone you” …’

‘So … what happened after Joshua left?’ said Ren.

‘Me and dad and Erica and Leo were in the room, we watched a movie, dad and Erica went down for dinner. Shelby and I hung out for a little while …’

Please tell me what happened next. Please.

Laurie broke down. Her crying was heart-wrenching.

‘It’s OK,’ said Ren. ‘It’s OK, sweetheart.’

Laurie cried harder. ‘It’s not,’ she said. ‘It’s not.’

‘Is there something else, Laurie?’ said Ren.

Laurie started to cry, but her head was bowed, and her tears dropped onto the carpet in a continuous stream. ‘No,’ said Laurie. ‘No. Are you going to talk to him? Are you going to ask him about all this?’

‘Yes,’ said Ren.

‘Don’t tell him I told you,’ said Laurie.

Ren stood up. ‘Let me call your mom and Dale in here, OK?’

Laurie looked terrified.

‘They won’t be mad at you,’ said Ren. ‘I can tell them what happened, you don’t have to worry about that.’

Cathy and Dale came in and took the chairs opposite the sofa.

‘I didn’t say anything,’ said Laurie. ‘She had a video. She saw Joshua in the parking garage.’

Cathy and Dale looked bewildered. They turned to Ren.

‘We got hold of some surveillance footage of the parking garage at The Merlin,’ said Ren. ‘It was clear that someone was getting out of the SUV, and that they couldn’t have done that without Laurie seeing them or without Laurie’s help.’

‘But … Joshua?’ said Cathy. She looked at Laurie. ‘What was he doing in Breckenridge?’

‘He went to see Shaun White,’ said Laurie. ‘He just didn’t want to be grounded any more. He was jealous of me.’

‘Where is Joshua right now?’ said Ren.

‘He’s staying at a friend’s,’ said Cathy.

‘Is he close by?’ said Ren.

‘No, gosh, he’s an hour away at least.’

‘Could I ask you to do me a favor?’ said Ren. ‘Now that we know he was there, well, he could have been a witness to something. And also, I need to know how he got home that night. That could also reveal something.’

‘What is happening here exactly?’ said Cathy. ‘I thought the investigation was closed.’

‘No,’ said Ren. ‘No it is not.’

Ren went back to the office and took out all the statements from everyone who was in the hotel that night. She had read through them before – who was there around seven, who was there between eleven and twelve-thirty. There were enough people to look at the inbetween times. But she was rattled by Joshua Merritt, the fact that there was someone there that nobody knew about. He may not have been the only one.

She stopped at a couple, the Obermanns, Bill and Stella. They checked in at 9.30 and their statement said that they were alone checking in. There was no-one else in reception.

What about behind the desk?

Ren dialed Bill Obermann and asked him to confirm his statement.

‘Yes, that’s correct,’ said Bill. ‘We didn’t see anyone else in reception.’

‘And was the desk clerk there when you arrived?’ said Ren.

He paused. ‘Yes,’ said Bill. ‘He was. He was on a call, but he took care of us right away afterward.’

‘OK,’ said Ren. ‘Well, thank you for your time.’

‘My pleasure,’ said Bill.

‘Could I speak with your wife, please?’ said Ren.

‘Sure,’ said Bill. ‘Let me go get her.’

‘Hello, this is Stella Obermann.’

‘Hello,’ said Ren. ‘I’m following up on your earlier interview about the night you checked into The Merlin.’

‘Yes,’ said Mrs Obermann.

‘Were you at the check-in desk with your husband?’ said Ren. ‘Or did you sit it out?’

‘I was with him,’ said Mrs Obermann. ‘Although I had a mind to sit down. The desk clerk took his time to attend to us.’

‘But he was there when you arrived?’ said Ren.

‘Yes, he was,’ said Mrs Obermann. ‘But he was on a call. A
personal
call.’

Why am I not surprised?

‘Bill was not very happy about that,’ said Mrs Obermann, ‘but the poor boy was consoling a friend – I could allow for that.’

‘Consoling a friend …?’ said Ren.
Indulge me. ‘
Can you remember any of the details?’

‘I think he was talking to a friend who had broken up with someone. He said something like “chill, she’ll be back” or “I’m sure she’ll be back”.’

Okaay.

‘And could you hear the other side of the conversation?’ said Ren.

‘No, I couldn’t,’ said Mrs Obermann. ‘But I got the impression it was a male, because it sounded like another boy was trying to move in on the girlfriend, because the desk clerk said, “you have got to watch him. He’s like Superman.”’

Oh. My. God.
‘Mrs Obermann, could he by any chance have said “Spiderman”?’

Mrs Obermann paused. ‘Oh, yes, yes,’ she said. ‘Yes. You’re right. I knew it was a superhero. And, sorry, yes – it was Spiderman, because I remember thinking about this other boy catching this girl, whoever she was, in his web.’

Jared Labati was not talking to a friend about a break up. He was talking to Shelby Royce. And he was telling her that Laurie Whaley would be back. Laurie Whaley was not in the room. Laurie Whaley was gone. By 9.30 p.m.

Ren called Gary from her Jeep. ‘Gary, I’m on my way to Breck. Laurie Whaley was gone from the room by 9.30 p.m. Jared Labati was overheard speaking at reception, telling someone to “chill, she’ll be back”, which had to have been a reference to Laurie. He also made a reference to Spiderman, which we know has to be Leo.’

The sign for Golden flashed by. She was half an hour from Breck.

‘Jared Labati definitely knows what happened in that room,’ said Ren. ‘He was telling Shelby Royce to chill, but still, he was telling her that Laurie would be back. You wouldn’t say that if a child had been abducted. Why would he say that?’

‘Go talk to this kid with Bob,’ said Gary. ‘Do not talk to him alone.’

Jared Labati was on a day off. He was dressed in his regular clothes – oversized jeans, navy hoodie. He listened to Bob Gage tell him what they knew.