The King (13 page)

“If this is a serial killer, what’s he getting out of it?”

“The joy of not getting caught?” Thomas shrugged.

“But poison?”

“If these were all men involved with the same woman, it would fit.” Thomas spread out pictures of the crime scenes on Stevens’ desk. “But these are couples, from completely different cities, in different parts of the country. Their only connection is coming to an island—”

“And none of them lived even remotely close to each other,” Stevens said, “so it’s hard to imagine that they could share a woman.”

Thomas grinned, and Stevens sat up in his chair. The two of them had played this game, before. “All right,” Stevens said. “I’ll bite. What aren’t you telling me?”

Thomas laughed softly, pulled three newspaper ads out of his jacket pocket and laid them down one after the other on Stevens’ desk. The ads were for the three properties that the couples had been found in, all being offered for sale by the same woman: Betty Pike.

“You don’t think it could be that simple, do you?”

Thomas shrugged. “Maybe it is, and maybe it isn’t. According to her tax records she’s burning through every cent she brings in. She’s got a brand new Lexus, and a hefty balance on her credit cards.” He shook his head. “On the other hand, that just puts her financially in the same boat as the majority of people in the U.S., so alone it doesn’t mean much.”

“But she’s connected to all three couples?”

“She sold them their homes, but it’s a small community. There could be a lot of people who’ve come into contact with all three, from the ferry operators to the staff at the local restaurants to the gas station attendants.”

“Okay, I get it. This is a lead, nothing more. So do you want me to go out there?”

Thomas nodded. “Yes, but it’s a small community...”

Stevens leaned back thoughtfully. “So I need to go in under the radar...”

“That’s what I’m thinking.”

“What are you telling the sheriff?”

Thomas shrugged his shoulders and tilted his head to the side. “I told him that it would take a few weeks before we’d send someone out.”

“Hm. So I’m going in blind, without any connections.”

“That okay?”

Stevens felt himself smile. “I don’t see why not,” he said, already wondering how he was going to pull it off.

Since the FBI served as the primary gatekeeper for background checks, setting up an alternative identity for Stevens was routine. Confiscated drug assets were reallocated for the Mercedes and a heavy bank account. An “assistant” set up an appointment with Betty Pike, who was all too happy to be showing her higher end properties to a qualified buyer.

But as the time to go out and play the part came closer, Stevens had found himself unsure. He usually didn't play well with others: he walked in, stepped on a few toes, took over the investigation, and rolled over anyone who got in his way. Subtlety wasn’t his strong suit. But then again he was supposed to be a rich businessman from Houston, and most of the rich people he’d run across during his investigations had been pricks anyway, so maybe it would fall into place.

His hands crossed behind his head on the pillow, he thought about Holley—the way she’d looked at him: her lack of fear, the flirtatious gestures... it was all very… unsettling.

He slid off the bed, opened the French door that led out to the porch and stood next to one of the posts near the stairs. The only sound was the water, condensing from the thick air onto the trees above him and falling down in drops to the leaf-covered ground. He couldn’t remember ever hearing individual drops of water falling through trees before. In the cities where he worked there were always people moving around, walking this way and that and talking on their phones, cars driving by, deliveries being made and sirens—always sirens ringing out. He’d never realized how used to the sound of sirens he’d become, and was surprised at how much he missed them.

“Watch out,” Holley said. She was walking towards him down the path, weaving her way through the trees with a sack of feed thrown over her shoulder.

“For what?”

She grinned over her shoulder as she passed by and continued down the path. “You city boys sometimes get lost in the silence.”

Was it that obvious, how out of place he was? The fact that she recognized him as a city boy meant that it wasn’t the first time she’d had someone from the city come stay with her. As he looked out over the flowers, the fields, the trees, and the horses he couldn’t help but think that this was the perfect place to escape the pressures of city life. Then he thought about the Strongs, the Steins, and the Fishmans and how for them, Bainbridge had turned out to be nothing more than a beautiful place to die.

End Chapter 1

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The Bainbridge Killings

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The Rock Star

Chapter 1

              She’d told him that he shouldn’t dwell on a broken past while he could still make choices that could shape his future. She had said the words with such utter conviction that they took hold of him, drove him forward; but in the end she hadn’t taken her own advice.

              He took a breath, rubbed his hand over his face, tipped his head back and took a long, deep drink of Coors Light, so cold it burned the back of his throat. He enjoyed the pain – it reminded him that he was still alive.

He picked up a handful of the fine, white sand at his feet, and as the grains slipped between his fingers his mind fell into the darkness, the blood-soaked images of that night, the visions that he had tried so hard to push out over the last year but continued to fall into: the rewind that couldn’t be unwound: the paralyzing, consuming pain. He fell fast, before the screaming sound of an engine above his head tore him out of it as a car burst through the guardrail in an explosion of sparks and sounds.

              Instinct pushed him into motion and he threw his body into a roll as the car flew through the air over his head. An instant later it crashed onto the rocks sticking out of the furious water. Jake kept rolling until his feet hit the ground and he burst up into a run, throwing off his jacket and shoes, shooting himself into the icy waves. The water was bone cold, but the adrenaline coursing through his veins carried him forward.

              He reached the car in seconds. It teetered on a high, flat rock as he reached in and grabbed the arm of the unconscious driver. As he pulled, a wave crashed into them and the car slid off the rough granite, falling right on top of him but he kicked himself out of the way just in time. He pushed his head out of the water as the car sunk down, took a deep breath and dove straight back to where the car was settling in the sand, ten feet below the surface.

              He scrambled in the pitch- black water, feeling around with his hands until he found the open window. He grabbed the driver’s arm and pulled, but the body wouldn’t give so he reached deeper into the car: the seat belt was still connected.  His lungs burned – he didn’t have time to go back up for air. He pulled himself into the car and fumbled around for the seat belt latch as another wave crashed into the rocks above them, sending swirling water down that smashed him against the car, and then ripped him away. At the sudden disorientation, fear shot through him. He longed to escape, but if he gave up the driver would die, so he fought through his fear and searched until he found the latch and pushed the button. Then he pulled himself back out of the car, grabbed the driver’s arm, anchored his feet against the side of the car and pulled. The body still wouldn’t budge. Another wave hit, but this time the swirling water gave Jake the leverage he needed to pull the unconscious driver out of the car.

              Jake grabbed the body around the neck and pushed off the sandy bottom, shooting them both up and out of the water, where Jake’s greedy lungs sucked in the sweet, night air. It took a second for his oxygen- starved brain to stop bursting stars across his field of vision. When it did, he beat desperately against the water with his free arm and his legs until he was close enough to the shore to be able to stand. Then he easily swung the small body into his arms and carried it to the sand.

              His lungs were still screaming and his body shook from the cold, but he knew that the person next to him only had seconds before asphyxiation. Jake willed himself to move. He rolled the driver over, only to be shocked by the face that he saw.

              Jake had assumed that with the small frame and long hair, the driver was a woman, but the face that he was looking down on was that of a bearded man. That was surprising enough, but the real shock was that he recognized the face. He couldn’t place it… but he knew the little man.

              The shock only lasted an instant and then he lifted the man’s face up, his chin down, took a deep breath, and pushed air into the man’s mouth. Then he pulled back and pushed on his chest. One, two, three, and then another breath. As he pushed a third time, water shot out of the man’s mouth. Jake grabbed his arm and pulled him onto his side, where he continued to choke water out for a few more moments as he coughed and sucked in air.

              Jake fell over onto his back. His heart was pounding in his chest, he was gulping in air, and he couldn’t stop shaking, but he felt more alive then he had in the last year. Then he heard a surprising sound.

              “Oooooooohhh shit!” the driver screamed, and then started laughing as he said under his breath “that did not go at all as planned.”

              Jake thought that he must be in some sort of shock. “Are you alright?”

              The little man turned towards Jake and grinned., “That was fun,” he said.

              The grin and the look were familiar , but before Jake could ask him who he was, the air filled with the sounds of sirens in the distance.

The driver struggled to get up. “That’s my cue to get going.”

              Jake rose with the other man and grabbed his arm. “I don’t think you should be going anywhere.”

              The man smiled again. “I don’t want or need the publicity.”

              The publicity... “You’re Jimi Christian!”

              Jimi nodded. “Yes I am, and now that we’ve established that can we get out of here?” He pointed over his shoulder with his thumb.

              Jake let go of his arm and pointed towards the parking lot down the beach. “My car is over there.”

              “Cool.” The two of them ran, Jimi struggling to keep up.

              Somewhere deep down Jake knew he shouldn’t help Jimi leave the scene of an accident, but he didn’t want to talk to the cops either, especially not here, and not tonight. For the first time since that night a year ago Jake didn’t feel like a ghost, he felt alive, and he wanted to keep hold of that as long as possible. Part of it was the adrenaline, but most of it was the person he’d saved: Jimi Christian wasn’t just anyone. Jimi Christian was a rock star.

Chapter 2

              “Are You Ready?” Liz asked.

              It was a simple question, but it seemed to him to be loaded with all the possibilities in the world. She took a deep breath, pulled her lower lip in under her teeth, pushed her chest out, and stared at him mischievously.

              “Uh..” Aaron tried to speak, but his brain was mush, his mouth incapable in that moment of forming words.

              She smiled, leaned back, tucked her legs under her in the car seat and then reached forward and ran her fingers through his hair, down the side of his jaw and then grabbed him, pulled him to her, and kissed him deeply.

              Aaron’s inexperienced body shivered with excitement at her touch. He tried to reach his arms around her, but found himself caught by the steering wheel on one side and the car seat on the other. She didn’t even notice as she caressed the side of his face with her other hand, cupping his head as her much more experienced tongue made its way through his mouth. He was trembling, sweating, and breathing hard as his hands finally encircled her small waist.

              She pulled back, took another deep breath, smiled at him and bit down on her lower lip before surging forward again, kissing him deeply and urgently. Her hand made its way down his neck, over his heaving chest and then she rocked hard against him, fell back against her own seat, and giggled as she looked at him from under her brown bangs.

              Aaron immediately thought he had done something wrong.

              She could see the shock on his face and said, “oh, cute little Aaron, I can’t make it that easy for you” as she reached back, pulled on the door handle, and slipped out of the car.

              “What the…” Aaron twisted, turned, and fumbled to get his own door open, and then dropped onto the cold, sand covered asphalt. He flipped over again and popped up to see her grinning as she looked at him from across the top of the car.

              He could barely breath as he watched her circle around until she stood right in front of him. Then in a sudden, violent movement she slammed him into the car, grabbed his head, and started kissing him again. She rolled her hips up into him, grinding into his crotch. His excitement gave way to embarrassment at his fully engorged erection but she only pushed against him harder, wrapping a leg around his waist until he was about to explode.

              Before he could let go, Liz’s hand shot up to the back of his head and pulled his hair. “Not... just yet…”

              It took a moment for him to catch his breath and relax enough to see again; when he did, she was backing away from him towards the beach with a big grin on her face. Then she turned and started running. He ran after her but he was still painfully hard, having to readjust himself so he could move at all.

              He chased her through the parking lot and over the sandy rise that rose up and then sloped down to the beach below but he was moving too fast – his eyes hadn’t adjusted to the moonlight past the parking lot and he tripped, tumbling head over heels down the hill.

              The hill was only thirty feet long, but each roll pushed his belt into his hard on and shot pain through his body. At the bottom he thought his dick might be broken until he checked it out, caught his breath, and made yet another – this time painful – readjustment before looking around, embarrassed, hoping Liz hadn’t seen but as his eyes adjusted to the moonlight he realized that he'd lost her.             

              He heard a crack off to his left and saw long, dancing shadows that had to be coming from a roaring fire, flickering from around a low, beach dune. The smell of something hit his nose – he couldn’t quite place it, but it reminded him of pork ribs. His first thought was that someone was having a party on the beach; it was just after midnight, but it wouldn’t be the first time he’d come down here to party. But the parties were usually loud, and all he could hear was the cracking sound of the wood on the fire.

              He started walking towards it and as he rounded the bend he found himself looking at a massive bonfire. The party fires where usually just a log or two but this one was huge, and the only one near it was Liz.

              She was on her knees, pointing at the fire.

              “Yeah, it’s pretty big,” he said as he started forward, but then he saw the tears running down her cheeks, and he followed the line of her shaking finger to the heart of the fire, where the body of a naked girl was burning. He watched in horror as the girl’s legs shifted up, her arms pinched in, her head rolled to the side, and her mouth fell open as a soul-shattering scream ripped out through the night.

              Aaron stumbled backwards, fell into the sand and turned to reach for Liz, but paused as he saw her face. The girl who had so confidently asked him ‘are you ready?’ and made it sound like it had all the possibility in the world was gone. What was left was terrified, shaking, and broken. It wasn’t the body in the fire that was screaming. Horribly, Aaron wished it was, instead it was Liz, and he didn’t think she was ever going to stop.