Never Knowing (11 page)

Sandy said, “This must be very overwhelming for you.”

“It’s pretty crazy.” They were both watching me now, so I added, “It’s not quite the situation I was hoping for when I decided to find my birth mother.”

Sandy’s eyes were sympathetic, but her fingers tapped on her knees.

Billy said, “Have you heard from him again?” He leaned forward and his biceps bulged as he rested his elbows on his chair. The lamp in the corner cast a glow on the right side of his face and his eyes looked almost black in the dim light. I pressed farther into the couch, fiddling with my engagement ring.

Sandy cleared her throat.

I said, “Just the calls I got Monday night. I already told Sergeant Dubois about them—I gave him the phone numbers.”

Billy looked at Sandy, then back at the file in his hands. It made me nervous, which made me mad.

I said, “I didn’t answer because Sergeant Dubois said you guys were going to coach me on what to say, but the number’s still on the call display if you want to check.”

“You handled it perfectly.” Sandy’s voice was calm. “The next time he calls we’d like you to answer. Let him guide the conversation, but if there’s an opening, try to see if he’ll give you any information about the earrings, the victims, where he’s calling from, anything like that. Even small details can help us determine whether he’s actually the Campsite Killer. But if he becomes agitated, change the subject.”

“What if it’s really him?”

Sandy said, “Then you might be able to establish a relationship with him and—”

“You want me to
keep
talking to him?” My voice rose in panic.

Billy said, “Let’s just take this one step at a time. We’re not going to ask you to do anything you don’t want to do.”

Sandy said, “That’s right, for now we just need to know who this person is and why he’s calling.”

My body relaxed, slightly. “Do you have any idea where he might be?”

Billy said, “The calls have been coming from the Kamloops area, but the pay phones he used were in remote locations and wiped clean, so he’s being careful.” I was relieved to hear he was an hour and a half ferry trip and a few hours’ drive from my home.

“Billy and I are staying in town,” Sandy said. “We’ll give you our cell numbers so you can call us the minute you hear from him—any time of day.”

We were all quiet for a moment, then I said in a hushed voice, “Summer’s coming. Do you think he’s still, you know … active?”

Sandy said, “We never know when he’ll hit, but as long as he’s out there it’s always a possibility. That’s why this lead is so important.”

“You have a lead?” They stared at me. “Oh, you mean me.” My face was hot.

“The profiles show someone familiar with the woods,” Billy said. “He’s cunning and used to living by his wits, probably a loner. Someone who spends a lot of time hunting.” I shuddered as an image of a terrified woman running through the woods flashed in my mind. Billy continued, “The description we got from Julia yesterday—”

“You saw Julia?”

Sandy said, “We interviewed her in Victoria. Based on her original description the suspect was probably in his late teens or early twenties at the time of her attack. He’d be in his early to mid-fifties now. Methods have changed in the last few years, so we had her sit down again with a police artist from the Behavioral Science Unit.”

Billy handed me a sheet of paper. “This is a composite sketch of how the suspect might look today.”

I sucked in my breath. No wonder Julia freaked out at the sight of me. Even in this rough drawing I could see the resemblance—same cat eyes, left eyebrow that arched higher than the right, Nordic bone structure.

I stared down at the drawing. “His hair…”

Sandy said, “Julia described it as a deep reddish brown color … and wavy.” I looked up just as her gaze flicked to my hair. My stomach rolled. Billy took the sketch from me as Sandy said, “Julia was attacked in the middle of July, but another woman was killed in Prince Rupert later that August. This is the only time he hit twice in the same summer, so it was probably because he failed with Julia. He’s very careful and leaves virtually no evidence. That’s why we need you to play along with this caller, so we can find out if he’s really the Campsite Killer. It’s all we have to go on right now.”

I looked back and forth between Billy and Sandy. Their gazes were steady on mine. I took a deep breath, and then nodded reluctantly.

“Okay, I’ll try.”

*   *   *

As soon as I left the station I phoned Evan. He didn’t answer his cell, so I left him a miss-you-and-need-you message. I wasn’t ready to go home and face the possibility of another phone call from my supposed father, so I picked up a vanilla latte and walked along the seawall—obsessing about everything Sandy and Billy had said. We wouldn’t see the results on the DNA test for another three to six weeks, but I got the feeling the police were sure I was the Campsite Killer’s daughter.

Before I left them I’d asked about the other cases, what kind of evidence they had, but they wouldn’t give me details—not even on Julia’s. They said it was better I didn’t know too much so I wouldn’t accidentally reveal anything. They also told me to call them right away if I saw anyone who looked suspicious. Problem was, now everyone did.

When I’m out for a walk I generally stop and talk to anyone and everyone, but now I avoided eye contact and watched middle-aged men warily. Was it him? What about that tall man under the tree? Was that man on the bench staring at me?

It was sunny for a change, but still cool for the middle of April, and the wind off the ocean was biting. After I walked the seawall twice, my cheeks stung and my hands felt like ice cubes. Evan hadn’t called back yet and I couldn’t avoid home any longer—Moose needed out and I had a ton of things to do before I picked Ally up from school. I took a deep breath and headed to the Cherokee. If he called I was just going to have to deal with it.

But nothing happened for the rest of the week. By Friday evening I was starting to wonder if the call was a hoax after all. Sandy or Billy checked in every day, their voices more falsely casual with each call, and I wondered if they thought I’d made it up. The initial flurry of calls from reporters died down, and when I checked online there were no new comments on any of the blogs. A few people asked Evan and Lauren about it, but they told them it was just a rumor. No one dared ask me. But I caught a few odd looks from parents at school when I dropped Ally off. I’m sure people are still gossiping, which drives me nuts, but as long as it doesn’t get back to Ally, I can deal with it. I talked to Dad, and the private investigator hadn’t called him back either. He was still talking about suing that Web site, but it sounded like he was losing interest as everything died down and his lawyer bill went up.

It was all going away. I’d never been more relieved.

*   *   *

By Saturday morning I was missing Evan like crazy and couldn’t wait for him to come home Monday. While Ally played over at Meghan’s, I hit my shop for a few hours and got more done than I had in a week. Still riding the high of getting so much accomplished, I took a quick shower before I picked up Ally.

While I soaped sawdust out of my hair, I made mental plans for the rest of the day. Maybe we’d tie-dye some T-shirts and go to a movie later. We hadn’t had a girl’s night for a while. When I was single we used to get dressed up and go on dates together every weekend. As much as I loved my life now, I missed our special times. After she was asleep I could make a rough guest list for Evan to go over. How long had it been since
we’d
done anything special together? While I pulled on some jeans and one of Evan’s T-shirts, stopping to sniff for any lingering traces of his scent, I daydreamed about a candlelight picnic, then a bubble bath for two, followed by—

The doorbell rang.

I peeked through the side blinds and spotted a delivery truck. The name painted on the side was a local company, but I kept one hand gripped on the baseball bat Evan had tucked in the corner and cracked the door.

A short man with black hair and droopy jowls stood on the steps, a small box in one hand and a clipboard in the other.

“Sara Gallagher?” I nodded. He thrust the clipboard toward me. “Please sign at the bottom.”

I rested the baseball bat on the wall behind the door, signed the clipboard, and took the box. As he started backing down the driveway I glanced at the return address.

Hansel and Gretel Antiques

4589 Lonesome Way

Williams Lake BC

It was addressed to my business, Better Than Before, Furniture Refinishing and Antique Restoration, but I didn’t recognize the other store. In the kitchen, I cut the tape down the center of the package. As I rummaged through the foam kernels my hands touched something square. I pulled out a blue velvet box and opened it. Resting on satin was a beautiful pair of—

Pearl earrings, they were
pink
pearl earrings.

I dropped the box.

*   *   *

Sandy answered on the first ring.

“I think he just sent me her earrings.…” I struggled to get my breath. “But there’s no note or—”

“He
sent
you something?” Sandy’s voice was too loud, then she caught herself and it smoothed out. “Just leave everything as is—don’t touch anything, we’re on the way.”

I stared at the box on the counter, my entire body shaking.

“The address said it’s from Hansel and Gretel Antiques.”

“Do you recognize the company?”

“No, but ‘Hansel and Gretel’ was one of Ally’s favorite stories.” My mind filled again with an image of a woman running for her life. “The children, they were lost in the woods.”

Sandy paused for a moment, then said, “Just hang in there, Sara, we’re on our way. Are you home alone?”

“I’m supposed to get Ally. She’s at her friend’s, and I was just going to—”

“Call and arrange for her to stay longer, we’ll be there in a few minutes.”

*   *   *

Ten minutes later tires crunched on gravel. I peeked out the front window—I’d been lurking in the living room, as far from the box as I could get—and watched as a black Chevy Tahoe pulled up, with Billy at the wheel. It was barely parked before Sandy climbed out. Even though it was cloudy, they were both wearing sunglasses.

I whipped open the front door. “You have to get that box out of here.”

Billy said, “We’ll be as quick as we can.”

Inside the house, they pulled on gloves and examined the box and the earrings while I sat at the table. Moose rested his round bottom on my feet, growling at the police under his breath.

My cell phone rang on the table. Sandy and Billy turned and looked at me.

“It’s probably Evan.” I picked it up and checked the call display, then jumped to my feet. “I think it’s
him
.” I held the phone out like I was hoping one of them would answer.

Sandy’s voice was clipped. “Is it the same number as before?”

“I don’t think so. But the prefix looks the same—I don’t know how he got my cell number.”

The ringing stopped.

I said, “What do we—”

Sandy grabbed the phone out of my hand and checked the call display.

“Pen?”

“Drawer behind you.”

She yanked open the drawer, found a pen and paper, and scribbled something down. She handed Billy my cell, then went into the other room with her phone. She was talking quickly into it, but I couldn’t hear the words. Her hand moved in the air in rapid jerks.

I sat back down with a thud and stared at Billy. “It’s him. I know it.”

Now Billy checked the call display on my cell. “Let’s just wait and see if he calls back.”

“What if he senses you’re here and flips out and—”

“One step at a time. Looks like he might’ve called from a cell this time, so right now Sandy’s contacting a service provider. Hopefully, they’ll be able to triangulate the call.”

“Triangulate?”

“If he’s in a populated area near multiple cell phone towers we can narrow down his location to within a two-hundred-meter radius, about the length of two football fields. But if he’s in a remote area where there’s only one tower, or on the move, that zone could be several miles. If he calls back, just take a deep breath, pretend we aren’t here, and let him do the talking. It’s going to be fine. You can handle this, Sara.”

Sandy moved farther into the living room. Her voice sounded angry.

I said, “Those are Julia’s earrings. They have silver leaves, just like she said. He took them from her when he—” I covered my mouth with one hand.

Billy said, “You okay, Sara?”

I shook my head.

“Take a couple of really big breaths in through your nose, try to imagine the air going deep into your lungs, then blow out through your mouth until there’s nothing left.”

“I know how to
breathe,
Billy. What if the earrings have blood on them and—”

“Take a deep breath.” His voice was firm.

I took a quick one. “I’m just saying he might have ripped them from her and—”

“Right now your body is going into fight-or-flight. You need to calm down or nothing I say will register. Put your hand on your chest and focus on it lifting as you breathe. Don’t think about anything but your hand. It will help, Sara.”

“Fine.” I did as he suggested, holding his gaze while my chest rose and fell, my eyes conveying
I’m only doing this because you’re making me.

He smiled and motioned for me to do it again. Finally he said, “I was right, wasn’t I?

I actually did feel a lot better, but I said, “Just give me a minute.” In the downstairs bathroom I splashed cold water on my face. Then I stared in the mirror at my watering eyes and flushed face, at my hair. His hair. I wanted to shave it all off.

*   *   *

Sandy and Billy were waiting in the kitchen. Sandy paced, Billy leaned against the counter with Moose in his arms. Moose squirmed at the sight of me and Billy let him down, saying, “All right, all right.”

Sandy smiled. “Feel better?” But the smile didn’t reach her eyes and her body radiated tension.