The Anniversary (50 page)

He checked his receipt; that was him.

4

He ate fast, both because he was hungry and because he 5

wanted to get back. The mom and kid reminded him of Callie 6

and the nightmare she’d gone through. He wondered exactly 7

where Callie lived. It couldn’t be too far. If he’d been here longer, 8

he’d have tried to meet her, but he just didn’t have time. Still, 9

he’d have liked to see the woman he’d once watched testify. The 10

former Laura Seton. Steven Gage’s lover.

11

It was Callie who’d first suggested Lester Crain’s involvement.

12

Yet she wouldn’t know, even now, how horribly right she’d been.

13

The decision had been made not to go public with the DNA link 14

to Crain. The last thing they needed was for Crain to know that 15

they had this evidence. If he hadn’t already fled the jurisdiction, 16

that would be all it took. There’d be some concern over public 17

safety once the truth came out. But for now, the task force mem-18

bers agreed, secrecy was paramount.

19

It seemed clear that Crain was UNSUB 2.

20

But what about UNSUB 1?

21

He finished his meal, bussed his dishes, and headed toward the 22

hotel. His thoughts moved to what Callie Thayer had said about 23

Gage’s family, the conversation reported back to him by Pulaski 24

in Maine. He’d never met the mother or brothers, but he’d seen 25

them many times. The mother nervous and overweight, flanked 26

by her hulking sons. He couldn’t remember the boys’ names now.

27

The mother’s name was Brenda. She’d gone by her second hus-28

band’s name. It started with an
H,
he thought.

29

Holiday. Halliburton. Hallowell . . .

30

None of them sounded right.

31

Back in his room, the message light was dark. Lambert still 32

hadn’t called.

33

Jamison was hanging up his jacket when the name finally came 34

to him:
Hollworthy.
Brenda Hollworthy. That was the name she’d S 35

R 36

2 8 1

2nd PASS PAGES

13713_01_i-vi_001-344_r4jn.qxd 4/21/03 8:03 AM Page 282

A M Y G U T M A N

1

used. She might have moved or married again. Still, it was worth 2

a try.

3

No Nashville listing for a Brenda Hollworthy, but there was a 4

B.W. He wrote down the number, hung up, and dialed it.

5

“The Lord Jesus will rise again. Have you accepted him as your 6

savior?” A woman’s voice on the answering machine, a husky 7

southern drawl. Too many cigarettes and cocktails before God 8

came on the scene. “I can’t take your call now. But leave me a 9

message an’ I’ll call you back.”

10

He couldn’t remember hearing Brenda speak, wouldn’t recog-11

nize her voice. He’d never have placed her as a born-again type, 12

but of course, that had been
before.
Before her child was con-13

victed of murder. Before he was put to death. Maybe she, like so 14

many others, had found solace in religion.

15

He hung up without leaving a message. He’d try again later.

16

There was one more call he wanted to make before it got too 17

late. Tomorrow he was driving down to New York to visit Melanie.

18

She’d been released from the hospital but was still sleeping a lot.

19

He wanted to get hold of her before she went to bed.

20

He picked up his cell phone and speed-dialed her number.

21

“Hello?” She sounded hesitant, uncertain what to expect.

22

“Melanie. It’s Mike. How’re you feeling today?”

23

“Pretty good.” She seemed to relax, now that she knew who he 24

was. “I mean, better, I guess. It’s slow. The recovery, I mean.”

25

“So I figure I can be in the city tomorrow by around ten or so.”

26

“That’s . . . could we make it a little later? I have some things 27

to take care of.”

28

“Okay. Sure. When’s good for you?”

29

“Eleven?”

30

“Sure. You’ve got it.”

31

“Mike, I’m sorry to cut you off, but a . . . a friend is coming up.

32

The doorman just called to tell me.”

33

“Okay, then. Well, I’ll let you go. I’ll talk to you in the morning.”

34

He hung up with a nagging sense that something wasn’t right.

35 S

For all the doctors’ reassurances, she didn’t sound like herself.

36 R

This visitor she’d mentioned, that bothered him too. Suddenly, 2 8 2

2nd PASS PAGES

13713_01_i-vi_001-344_r4jn.qxd 4/21/03 8:03 AM Page 283

T H E A N N I V E R S A R Y

he felt a flash of fear.
So what if it was someone she knew? Maybe
1

she’d known the killer.
When he’d questioned her, she seemed con-2

fident that she’d never seen him before. But what if she’d been 3

mistaken? What if she’d been confused?

4

He couldn’t stop himself. In five minutes, he called back.

5

“Sorry to bother you again, but I misplaced your address,” he 6

lied.

7

“Not a problem,” Melanie said. And recited the street number.

8

“You . . . are you okay?” he asked.

9

“Sure. I’m fine.” She sounded surprised. After all, he’d just 10

talked to her. Why shouldn’t she be fine?

11

Feeling a little foolish, Jamison hung up. Still, Melanie stuck 12

in his mind like a tune he couldn’t forget. He’d felt oddly close to 13

her during the time he’d spent at her hospital bedside. As if he 14

were just where he should be, a feeling he’d almost forgotten.

15

He’d had it so often during those years at the Bureau, working on 16

the profile study, during the weeks he’d met with Steven Gage 17

just before the execution. He wondered if that was part of it, his 18

attachment to Melanie, as if she were a sort of talisman bringing 19

back the past.

20

Outside, the rain was still coming down. He could hear it, but 21

he couldn’t see it. It had still been light when he left for dinner.

22

Now the sky was dark. He’d try Brenda Hollworthy one more 23

time, and then he’d take a shower.

24

“Hello?” It was same rough voice he’d heard before, but live 25

now, not recorded.

26

“Is this Mrs. Hollworthy?”

27

“Who is this?”

28

“My name is Mike Jamison. We met . . . a long time ago.”

29

“What’d you say your name was, son?”

30

“Mike. Mike Jamison. We met . . . in Tennessee.”

31

“You that boy from the FBI?”

32

“I . . . I used to be.” His heart was beating faster now; he could 33

feel the adrenaline surge. The past flooded over him.
Steven
34

Gage’s mother.

S 35

Before she could hang up on him, he rushed to fill the silence.

R 36

2 8 3

2nd PASS PAGES

13713_01_i-vi_001-344_r4jn.qxd 4/21/03 8:03 AM Page 284

A M Y G U T M A N

1

“It’s been a long time,” he said.

2

“Sure has,” she said flatly. He half expected her to hang up 3

then, but she stayed on the phone, waiting.

4

“I was hoping you could answer some questions for me about a 5

woman named Diane Massey. You probably remember the book 6

she wrote —”

7

Brenda Hollworthy cut in. “You know, the Lord says that we 8

should forgive, and God knows I try. Every night I pray for the 9

strength to forgive, but some things are just beyond us. You have 10

any children, Mr. Jamison?”

11

A pause.

12

“Yes. I do.”

13

“How many?”

14

“Two.”

15

“Boys or girls?”

16

“One of each.”

17

“I used to have three sons. Now I’ve got two. That’s some-18

thing you never get over. You should’ve done something, Mr.

19

Jamison. You should’ve done something to save him. The Lord 20

doesn’t mean for men to kill each other. Two wrongs don’t make 21

a right.”

22

Her voice was emptied of emotion, as if she’d rehearsed the 23

speech. As if she’d spent countless years preparing for this call.

24

“I can’t imagine what you went through.” That much was cer-25

tainly true.

26

“That’s why you’re callin’, ain’t it? It’s that Massey woman. You 27

think we had something to do with it, me or the boys. Well, I 28

can’t say I’m sorry to see her gone, God forgive me for that. But 29

you’re lookin’ in the wrong direction if you’re thinkin’ of us like 30

that. I’m a Christian woman, and they’re good, good boys. Got 31

families of their own now.”

32

“Please, let me explain, Mrs. Hollworthy. That’s not it at all.”

33

“You think somebody else killed her?”

34

“Absolutely,” he said. The truth, of course, was that he didn’t 35 S

know, but you said what you had to say. “I just wanted to ask you 36 R

2 8 4

2nd PASS PAGES

13713_01_i-vi_001-344_r4jn.qxd 4/21/03 8:03 AM Page 285

T H E A N N I V E R S A R Y

some questions about a few people Steven knew. I wanted to get 1

your impressions of them. I won’t take much of your time.”

2

“So who’re you talkin’ about?” He could tell she was still on 3

guard, though she sounded a fraction less hostile.

4

“Do you remember a woman named Melanie White?”

5

“ ’Course. She was one of Stevie’s lawyers.”

6

“Did he ever talk about her?”

7

“He talked about her some. He liked her. He thought she was 8

smart.”

9

“Did you ever get the sense he was angry with her? Upset she 10

couldn’t do more?”

11

“Well, sure, he got upset. I mean, he was on death row. He 12

knew they wanted to kill him. He got upset a lot, Mr. Jamison. I’ll 13

bet you woulda too.”

14

“But did he talk about Ms. White in particular? Was he espe-15

cially angry with her?”

16

“No, I wouldn’t say so. She did the best she could. I mean, 17

that’s what he mostly said.”

18

“What about Laura Seton?”

19

A sharp intake of breath.

20

“That little bitch. Don’t let’s talk about her.” For the first time, 21

her voice had a flash of fire. He’d clearly hit a nerve.

22

His instincts told him to keep quiet, to wait for her to go on.

23

“I’m sorry, God forgive me, but that’s what she is, a lyin’ little 24

bitch. If she’d loved him like she said, she wouldn’t have told 25

them the things she did. I wish it was her that was dead now. God 26

forgive me, but I wish it was. If I just knew where to find her, I 27

might just kill her myself.”

28

“If somebody did that to one of my kids, I’m sure I’d feel the 29

same way.”

30

“I never did understand how Stevie couldn’t hate her. But he 31

always got mad when I talked bad about her. He had a soft spot, 32

Stevie did. Deep down he was the sweetest boy. ‘She’s confused, 33

Mama.’ That’s what he said. He never seemed to get mad.”

34

Confused?
Hardly,
Jamison thought. He remembered Laura on S 35

R 36

2 8 5

2nd PASS PAGES

13713_01_i-vi_001-344_r4jn.qxd 4/21/03 8:03 AM Page 286

A M Y G U T M A N

1

the witness stand, twisting her hands together. She’d spoken so 2

softly he could barely hear. Terrified, not confused.

3

“And what about Diane Massey? Did Steven ever talk about 4

her?”

5

A long sigh ending in a heavy wheeze. Brenda’s lungs didn’t 6

sound good. “You know, I warned him not to talk to that gal. She 7

was only in it for the money.”

8

“How did he feel when the book was published? Do you know 9

if he actually read it?”

10

“Yeah, he read it all right. Five or six times at least.”

11

“Was he angry about it?”

12

“Angry? No, I don’t reckon so. I looked at that book once.

13

Made me want to throw up. But Stevie — he got himself a signed 14

copy, had her send him one. I’d say, ‘Stevie, don’t you see what 15

they’re doin’? Don’t you see they’re takin’ advantage?’ But he’d 16

just sort of shrug, like he didn’t really care. I remember once him 17

sayin’, ‘Mama, she’s just doin’ her job.’ ‘Her
job
?’ I asked him.

18

‘Well, okay, fine. But why you gotta help her?’ ”

19

Someone was knocking on Jamison’s door. It had to be a mis-20

take. He tried to ignore it, but the sound continued, louder than 21

before.

22

“Excuse me, Mrs. Hollworthy,” he said. And bounded toward 23

the door.

24

Through the peephole, he recognized the front desk clerk with 25

her neat helmet of curls. “I’m on the phone,” he said sharply.

26

“Can I call you when I’m off?”

27

She stared gamely up at the door as if trying to make eye con-28