Darkness peering (28 page)

Vaughn nodded. "Sometimes."

"Did he ever discuss his relationship with Nicole?"

"Oh, you know. Typical teenage stuff. He was anxious to get married.
I advised him to wait, that if it was true love, it'd pass the test of
time. But then when Nicole found out she was pregnant--"

Rachel froze. "Excuse me?"

"I'm sorry." He looked at her sheepishly. "I thought the police
knew."

"Dinger told you this?"

"A few weeks ago."

"How far along is she?"

"He didn't say."

"Did Dinger tell you that he and Nicole were thinking of running away
together?"

"No."

"Was he depressed? Suicidal?"

"Quite the contrary. Now that Nicole was pregnant, he figured her
parents would have to let them get married."

"Did he ever mention a secret place?"

"Secret place?"

"Someplace where he and Nicole could he alone together?"

"No. Look, this is making me uncomfortable ..."

"Trust me, you're doing the right thing."

Vaughn took a deep breath. "Dinger was very happy until Nicole decided
she might get rid of the baby."

"An abortion?"

"She was considering the possibility. She kept going back and forth
with it."

"How did he react? Was he angry? Make any verbal threats?"

"I believe ..." Vaughn furrowed his brow. "I believe if he was mad at
anyone, it was Claire."

"Why Claire?"

"Because she was influencing Nicole."

"Did Dinger ever threaten Claire?"

"Certainly not." His eyes widened with concern. "Is he a suspect?"

"We don't have all the facts yet."

"Because I can't see him doing something so ..." His voice trailed
off.

"Neither can I," she admitted.

"He must've run away. They must've run away together. Dinger would
never hurt anyone."

"Vaughn?" Ray called through the door. "You got a second?"

Vaughn looked at her, and she nodded. He stood up and felt his way
along the wall, then paused in the doorway. "Promise me you'll find
them."

"We're doing our very best," she said softly.

Out front, the silver-haired woman extended a well-manicured claw.
"Vaughn, I want to share my good news! My daughter Julia's getting
married!"

"She is?" he replied, sounding genuinely delighted. "Wow, that's
great. When did this happen?"

THAT NIGHT, RACHEL MET MCKISSACK AT BIG TEF. "S, WHERE

they sat across from each other in a dimly lit booth. Rachel ordered a
glass of wine while McKissack knocked back another scotch. He looked
so beaten down, she wanted to reach out and stroke his cheek.

"I'm a prick," he confessed. "I still want you. Even in the midst of
all this crap, I want you."

"Shut up, McKissack."

"I'm a bad influence."

"It's not like I'm the victim here. Your wife's the victim. Go
apologize to her."

"You know what freedom is?" He slurred his words. "Freedom's when you
don't give a rat's ass what other people think."

"You're drunk."

"And you're beautiful."

"Yeah, yeah."

"Beautiful and wise. Wise, but not jaded."

She looked away. "Nicole's pregnant."

That made him sit up straighten "What?"

"Vaughn Kellum told me. Dinger wanted the baby, but Nicole was
considering getting an abortion."

McKissack's eyes narrowed.

"Dinger lied to me. He told me he got off work at seven the night
Claire disappeared, but Vaughn says he stayed until seven thirty or
eight doing his homework in Vaughn's office."

"Why lie about a thing like that?"

"Maybe he saw Claire as a threat."

"Okay." McKissack rubbed his eyes. "Back up."

"Claire's the person Nicole turns to for advice. Nicole doesn't trust
her parents, they don't listen. They don't understand. But Claire
knows about love. She understands Nicole's desires and needs. And
because she lived with Buck Folette for two years, Claire also knows
what it's like to be trapped in a bad relationship."

His eyes registered understanding. "And she doesn't want her little
sister making the same mistake. It was Claire who advised Nicole to
get an abortion?"

"Bingo."

"So Dinger wanted her out of the picture." He tossed back his scotch.
"Nicole's parents never liked him, but Nicole sees them as the enemy,
so they're not the real threat. It's Claire's opinion that counts."

"They'd been going together for nine months. We can assume Dinger knew
about Claire's Wednesday night habit."

"He hangs out after work, waiting for eight o'clock to roll around."

"Pulls up in his car just as she's leaving the cafe."

"Offers her a lift to the parking lot. Claire tries to talk to him
about Nicole, and that's what sets him off."

"He knocks her unconscious."

"Then abducts her. Where?"

"Wherever he and Nicole are hiding out."

McKissack took a moment to absorb this scenario, then shook

his head. "Three weeks, the perp waited. A seventeen-year-old kid
can't wait that long. He'd be impulsive."

"Besides, where does a seventeen-year-old get poison?" Then it hit
her. "Chemistry."

"What's that?"

"Dinger excels in math and chemistry."

"Yeah, but we don't know if it's poison yet." McKissack frowned and
scooped up Rachel's hand. "We don't know shit."

She studied him a lingering beat. "How're you getting home? You sure
aren't driving."

"I thought you'd take me to your place."

"Fat chance." She smiled, the threat of it flourishing in the silence
that followed. Her face grew hot as he stroked her cheek.

"I wonder when," he asked, "mvsuit of armor fell off?"

Rachel parked in front of McKissack's house. All the lights were out.
"Movies," he said, slurring his words. "They don't need me. Gotta
whole life without me."

"Come on," she said, helping him out of her car. He leaned heavily
against her as they walked up the gravel path toward the front porch.

"Town's goin' to hell. You notice? We're all fighting for deck chairs
on the Titanic."

"Shhh."

He gazed at her beneath the yellow porch light. "Hiya, beautiful." She
fumbled with his keys, turned the lock and they both tumbled inside.

McKissack's house smelled alien to her, of roast chicken and Lemon
Pledge. The front hall was dark, and McKissack leaned lightly against
her. "Are you flirting with me?" he asked, and she nudged him toward
the kitchen.

"No, I'm leaving."

He grabbed her around the middle, wouldn't let go. "I'm

scared, Rachel," he confessed, his boozy breath warming her face.
"I'm scared I'll forget how to be happy when I'm not with you,"

She pried his fingers from around her waist. Her hands were trembling.
"This isn't 'happy.""

"It's the only time I'm alive."

Angry now, she pressed his face between her hands. "We're in your
fucking house, McKissack. Standing in your fucking kitchen. Your wife
and children live here."

"I don't live here. I live between your legs."

She wanted to hit him. She turned to go, but he hooked her wrist, spun
her around and drew her irresistibly toward him. She fell into his
arms as if she belonged there. Tears sprang to her eyes. His voice
was tender. "Rachel..."

He kissed her.

"Don't." Her stomach rose to her throat as if she'd just stepped off a
cliff.

"I love you."

"Stop."

"I want you." He kissed her as if there wasn't enough air left, and
much to her dismay, she let him ... let him kiss her ... and started
kissing back ... when suddenly the telephone's jarring ring skittered
up her spine. McKissack ignored it and the machine clicked on.

"Hey, Chief," a male voice said, "it's God speaking, pick up."

McKissack looked at her, stricken, as if they were suddenly miles
apart.

"Answer it," she said.

His sweaty face sagged. "Hello?" He listened a long beat. "Right
there." He hung up. "We got the lab results back on the semen stain.
Our perp is a secretor. B-positive."

"Ozzie's blood type."

The world came crashing down.

EARLY THE FOLLOWING MORNING, OZZIE RUDD DROVE TO HIS

ex-wife's house to pick up Colette and take her to school. The Gothic
cottage with pink trim used to be Ozzie's house, but now it belonged to
Mae. It hurt that their marriage had gone bad, that Mae hadn't been
able to find it in her heart to forgive him for his many
transgressions. He'd been insensitive. He was pigheaded and sometimes
verbally abusive. Worst of all, he wasn't headed anywhere. He figured
that was his biggest sin--not being ambitious enough for his
intelligent wife.

"Thanks for doing this," Mae said at the front door. She looked
confident, tailored, her well-toned stomach moving with every breath.
She reached into her pockets and dug out Colette's medication, her dark
glasses and a box of cough drops. "She's got a cold but she'll be all
right," she said. "She's in her room. We need to talk."

"Mind if I use the can?"

Ozzie used the bathroom in the front hall, but the soap was one of
those flimsy discount brands and the dirt stayed stubbornly beneath his
fingernails. He checked himself in the mirror; he needed a nose hair
trim.

Out in the kitchen, Mae poured him a cup of coffee. The coffee must've
been sitting there awhile. "I'm getting married," she announced.

"You're what?" His heart fluttered.

"Getting married. Oh come on, Ozzie, don't look so shocked. It's been
a couple of years now."

"I know ... but it's just ... I never figured that either of us would
get married again."

"Why the hell not?"

"Let's not fight, Mae. I'm kind of in shock here, okay?"

"You've still got those damn eyes." She sounded mad as hell. "All the
men in your family have those goddamn eyes."

His eyes were blue with thick lashes like rows of commas. "We've all
got hairy backs, too," he said. "So who is this guy?"

"You don't know him."

"Enlighten me."

"Don't snap at me!"

"I'm not snapping."

"Yes, you are." She set her coffee cup down. "I'm not going to argue
with you."

"No argument." He threw up his hands. "Sorry."

"Okay."

"Okay" He got a glimpse of his reflection in the window above the sink
and sucked in his gut. His face was weather beaten, sunburnt, and his
brown hair was gradually turning silver. He wondered what it was about
his muscular arms, his self deprecating sense of humor and deep voice
that Mae no longer loved.

"So who's Mr. Congeniality?"

"He's an entertainment lawyer," she said.

"A what?"

"I met him through friends."

She had friends without him now, too. She had a whole life that didn't
include him.

"He's from San Francisco," she said quickly. "We're moving there."

"You're what?" The air rushed out of his lungs and he almost inhaled
his coffee. "You're moving where?"

"I've given this a lot of thought, believe me ..."

"Thought?"

"Ozzie ..."

"How dare you?"

"I'm not going to have a scene in this house!" She stomped her
foot.

"You bitch!"

"Oh great." She threw up her hands. "That's just great. And you
wonder why I divorced your"

"How dare you take my daughter away from me!"

"I think you should leave now." Her hand rested on the receiver. She'd
called the police on him once before, but nothing had come of it, since
she hadn't pressed charges.

"What about Colette?"

"Stop screaming at me."

"I can't believe you sprang this on me!"

"I won't talk to you unless you calm down."

"All right." He rubbed the back of his head. He was feeling
disemboweled. Here he was, guts pooling over the shiny linoleum, and
all she could say was "calm down." "I am calm," he said. "I'm
calm."

"I refuse to get into this with you."

"I said okay."

"I swear to God, I'll call the cops."

"I'm over it." He paced the floor, taking deep, laborious breaths.
His stomach ached. His skeleton tingled as if he'd been pumped full of
radioactive isotopes.

"Mommy?" Colette called from the other room.

"Everything's fine, honey. Your daddy and I are just talking."

"Daddy, are you taking me to school today?"

"In a minute, sugar."

They listened for a moment more, Mae wringing her hands, Ozzie pacing
back and forth. He stopped to face her.

"I guess I could move to San Francisco. I guess I could follow the two
of you around like a dog. Live in the cracks and crevices of Colette's
life."

"Yes, you could," she said flatly.

He wanted to slap her. His blood was on fire.

"Listen, I know it's not the best news for you. For Colette, either.
But I can't help it, dammit, I fell in love. I fell in love with him,
Ozzie. What else am I supposed to do?"

"I don't know."

"He's an entertainment lawyer, for chrissakes. It's not like he can
open a practice here."

"Colette's school is here."

Her face went pink. "I've been looking into that. There are other
schools--"

"But it won't be Winfield. All her friends are here. She grew up in
Flowering Dogwood. She loves her teachers. And she loves me, Mae, as
much as you hate to admit it. I'm a huge, important part of her
life."

"Jesus, I know that. You think I'm stupid or something?"

He'd never felt such a burst of hatred. He shook his head violently.
"I can't accept this."

"What?"

"Sorry."

"What d'you mean, you can't accept this? This is not your decision!"

"You can't take her away from me without any warning."