Seagrass Pier

by Colleen Coble

  His room was set up like a master. About fifteen feet square, it held only a sleigh bed and matching dresser with nickel pulls. He’d put out no pictures or decorations, not that she expected it of him. Most guys didn’t think about the niceties like that. She opened his closet and found only four pairs of jeans, a pair of khakis, and six shirts. The dresser held underwear and socks, nothing personal. Disappointed, she shut the top drawer and checked out each one in turn, only to find them empty.

  She went to the attached bathroom next, pausing to sniff his cologne and sigh. His toothbrush and deodorant were in the cabinet with his comb. She plucked a dark hair from the comb and rolled it around in her fingers before dusting it off in the wastebasket.

  So impersonal. She didn’t know him any better than she did this morning.

  Next she checked out the office. Nothing. Then she headed upstairs to the old lady’s room. It was one of those rooms that appeared not to have been used much over the years. It still had the original plaster walls, unlike the other bedrooms that were covered in newer drywall. She tested the wide floorboards for movement, but they all appeared solid. After opening the closet door, she removed the shoe boxes and other storage boxes from the shelves and pressed around on the back of the closet walls. When she found nothing, she flipped on the flashlight and shone it around the ceiling area and floor.

  Was that the outline of a hidden panel? Kalianne grabbed the chair from the corner and dragged it into the closet, then mounted it and moved her hands around the panel. It didn’t move, but there had to be a way to open it. She began to press each corner. When she touched the third corner, she felt it shift. With renewed interest, she pressed harder, and the opposite corner popped loose, allowing her to pry the panel off.

  She shone her light into the space. The illumination revealed only dusty rafters at first. She stood on her tiptoes and poked her head cautiously into the space. There. What was that brown thing? Her fingers barely reached to the far rafter, and she snagged the leather tie around it. Once it was safely in her hands, she stepped down from the chair and turned, eager to take a look at the hidden stash.

  “What are you doing in my room?” Ruby’s voice sounded bewildered.

  Kalianne spun around. “Um, I was looking for your new shoes. I thought you might like to wear them.”

  Ruby swayed a bit on her feet, and her hair stuck up in places from the way she’d been sleeping. “I have new shoes?”

  “Red ones,” Kalianne improvised. “You said something about them before you fell asleep.”

  “I love red.” Ruby came toward her. “That’s mine.”

  Before Kalianne could react, the old woman grabbed the leather pouch from her hands. Kalianne tried to grab it back, but Ruby turned and rushed away. Kalianne followed, but Ruby was up the stairs to the third floor before she could blink. As she yanked on the door, she heard a click.

  She rattled the knob. “Ruby, unlock this door!”

  Ruby giggled from the other side like a child playing hide-and-seek, then her footsteps went up the stairs. Gritting her teeth, Kalianne rushed down the hall to the stairway to the first floor. There were keys around here somewhere, but she wasn’t sure where Elin kept them. Rummaging through the drawers in the kitchen, she found nothing. Next she checked the drawers in the side tables in the living room, but the keys weren’t there either. Maybe they were in Elin’s bedroom.

  She raced back upstairs and down the hall to the master bedroom. She hit the jackpot when she yanked out the top drawer on the bedside table. Her fingers closed around the ring of keys, and she turned to hurry to the third-floor stairwell. It took another few minutes to figure out the right key, and she fumed the entire time.

  She unlocked the door and threw it open, then stomped up the narrow staircase in an angry staccato. Her brother owed her big-time for this.

  With great effort, she pitched her voice low and soft. “Ruby, where are you?”

  A giggle to her left answered her, and she turned but didn’t see the old woman. “Come out, come out, wherever you are. Olly, olly, oxen free.”

  Ruby burst out from behind an old piano with a delighted grin on her face. “I fooled you!” She did an awkward dance under the eaves.

  “You sure did. Now where is the leather pouch you took from me?”

  Ruby’s grin faded. “Pouch? I don’t have a pouch.”

  Kalianne gritted her teeth. “I had it in your room. You took it and ran.”

  Ruby took a step back at Kalianne’s sharp tone. “I don’t have a pouch.”

  “A leather folder. It had a leather tie wrapped around it. This big.” Kalianne measured it out with her hands.

  Ruby shook her head. “I don’t have it. I’m hungry. I think I’ll make some soup.”

  She turned and hurried down the stairs. Kalianne stomped after her. She would get that pouch no matter what it took.

  Josie kicked her feet against the back of the seat. “I want to see Aunt Abby. Now.”

  “We’re almost there, honey.” Elin could see the red metal roof of her cottage from here as she turned the corner into the cul-desac. “Quit kicking the seat.” Josie had been impatient when they stopped at the mall to buy the cologne, and Abby had texted her several times as well. “There’s Aunt Abby’s car.” She pulled in beside her sister’s blue Camry and shut off the car.

  Sara hopped out on her side. “I’ll get Josie out.”

  Elin climbed out and hugged her sister. “You look great, Abby. I’ve missed you.”

  Abby returned her hug. She smoothed the pink sweater over her curves. “I’ve lost five pounds.”

  Her sister was on a perpetual diet, even though her generous curves looked good on her. In her late thirties, she wore her blond hair in a perky style with the ends flipped up. Her husband was a dermatologist and didn’t want her to work, so she spent her time perusing fashion magazines and volunteering at a local senior center. They had no children, though not for lack of trying, and Abby liked to take Josie for the weekend every chance she got since they lived only twenty minutes apart.

  “Aunt Abby!” Josie pelted toward her aunt. “You haven’t been to see my new room.”

  “Not yet, bug, but I’ll see it when I bring you home.” She turned and looked at Elin. “I should be there by dinner tomorrow. We can go out for seafood. Charles is out of town at a seminar so I can stay the weekend.”

  “Perfect.” Elin opened the back door and grabbed Josie’s small case, then stowed it in her sister’s backseat. “Have fun.”

  “We will.” Abby buckled Josie into the car seat she always had in the car for her niece, then went around to the driver’s side. “I knocked on the door, but Lacy didn’t answer. Her car is in the garage though. Maybe she’s sleeping in.”

  “I’ve got my key. See you tomorrow.” Elin waved as they pulled away, then turned toward the house. “I don’t like it that she isn’t answering the door. I have a feeling the house is going to be trashed.”

  The house looked normal. Still the same neat and clean cottage she’d taken such pride in. The grass hadn’t been mowed in a few days, but it would be two or three more before it needed a trim. The flower bed had no weeds.

  Sara followed her to the front door. “Have you talked to her since you left?”

  Elin shook her head. “I’ve tried to call her a few times this week but just left messages. She hasn’t called me back. She has finals though. I suppose she could be neck-deep in studying with no time for reassuring me that she’s taking care of my house.”

  She mounted the big front porch and stepped to the red door. There was no sound from inside. She pressed her finger firmly on the doorbell. A dog barked and she frowned. “She’s not supposed to have pets. She assured me she would have someone else take care of Max.”

  Sara glanced at her. “You love dogs. I’ve never known you to complain about a dog’s presence in your house.”

  Elin’s irritation faded, and she remembered nuzzling her golden retriever when sh
e was growing up. “I don’t know why I said that.” She pressed the doorbell again, and the barking grew more frantic. “I’m going to use my key.”

  She inserted her key in the lock and opened the door. “Lacy? It’s Elin.” The dog, a tiny Yorkie, leaped against her leg. “Hey, Max.” She leaned down and picked up the dog. “What’s that smell? It’s like rotten meat.”

  The women ventured farther into the house. The living room seemed fine at first until Sara pointed out an upended table. Pieces of a broken blue vase lay scattered around it. Something didn’t feel right. The house was too still, almost waiting. And that smell . . .

  Still carrying Max, she moved to the kitchen. Two saucers were in the sink along with a coffee cup and a red glass. Max’s food dish held only two pieces of food, and his water dish looked murky as though it hadn’t been freshened for several days. The strong odor came from the overflowing trash can.

  “I’m not sure she’s here, but I’m surprised she’d leave Max all alone.” There had been a doggy door in the kitchen when she moved in. She nudged it with her foot and it opened, so Max had been able to use it.

  Sara turned back toward the door to the living room. “Let’s check the bedrooms.”

  They went back through the living room to the entry and headed up the open stairway to the second floor. “Lacy? Are you all right?” Elin had no sense that anyone else was in the house. The silly girl had likely gone off with friends without a care for little Max. Some people didn’t deserve to have a pet.

  Lacy’s room was the first one on the right, and it was empty. The bed was made, and the room appeared as though it wasn’t being used. Lacy’s things weren’t on the dresser. Sara opened the closet. Empty.

  “It looks like she left.”

  “And didn’t take Max?” Elin shook her head. “Let’s check the other rooms.”

  Elin’s bedroom door hung partway open, and she saw a pale hand on the carpet. She gasped and flung the door fully open. “Lacy!”

  Lacy, dressed in Elin’s blue negligee, lay on the beige carpet. She wore a long red wig, and it lay spread out around her head.

  Sara leaped to her side and placed her hand on her carotid artery. “It’s barely pulsing.”

  “She’s dead, isn’t she?” Elin asked.

  “She’s been strangled with a wire, but her heart is still beating.”

  Sara pulled out her phone. “I’m calling for an ambulance and then the police.”

  Looking at her young friend, Elin knew the ambulance would be too late.

  FIFTEEN

  Police cars lined the street around Elin’s house. Marc showed his ID, then pushed his way through the throng of neighbors and officers to get to Elin. This had to have been a huge shock to her. She’d been nearly incoherent when she called him.

  He found her seated in the pale-blue living room with Josh beside her. Marc surveyed her shocked white face, then moved to sit beside her. “You okay?”

  Her lips trembled and she nodded. “I can’t believe it.”

  He glanced at Josh. “How’d you hear about this?”

  “Scanner.” Josh pressed a glass of water into her hand.

  Marc should have been glad someone was caring for Elin, but he didn’t like that Josh had gotten here so fast. What was he doing in Virginia Beach anyway? Marc popped a mint into his mouth.

  He took Elin’s hand. “What happened?” He listened to her describe what they’d found.

  “She died shortly after she got to the hospital, but at least they saved her organs.”

  The fact the dead woman had been dressed like Elin disturbed him. Had she been the intended target, or had the killer forced her to dress up like Elin as a warning? Either way, the killer was escalating.

  She turned her head to whisper to him. “The responding officer is the one who came after he broke in the first time. I think he believes me now. If he’d only listened the first time. None of the detectives believed I knew anything about this guy.” She rubbed her head. “I wish I could remember more. He has to be stopped. He’s killed two women now.”

  “That we know of.”

  She sucked in her breath. “Could it be a serial killer?”

  “Maybe. The method of killing is the same.”

  Sara came through the kitchen door with a coffee cup in her hand. “It’s fresh with cream.”

  “Thanks.” Elin wrapped her fingers around the cup and took a sip. “My stomach is in knots. I just want to get out of here. Do you think we could go?”

  “I’ll check with the officers. They already interrogated you both, I assume?”

  Sara nodded. “At great length.”

  It had taken Marc three hours to get here by the time he caught the ferry and drove through the traffic. He didn’t doubt the police had hammered them with questions. He found the detective in charge who told him they could leave, but that someone would be out to ask more questions tomorrow.

  “Let’s go,” he told the women.

  Elin rose. “Let me rinse out my cup first.”

  He followed her into the kitchen, away from the hubbub going on in the rest of the house. “Do you know how he got in?”

  She shook her head. “The police are checking all that out. They asked for permission to get my phone records to see when I last spoke to her. I think it was a week ago.” She shuddered and hugged herself. “I should call Lacy’s parents. They don’t know yet.”

  His gaze roved over her pale face and trembling mouth, her shadowed eyes. She was much too fragile to be the one to deliver such horrific news. “The police will do that. You can stop by once the shock has worn off and offer your condolences. Where do they live?”

  “In Charlotte. She was their only child.” Tears welled in her eyes. “I feel like it’s my fault. He wanted to punish me, didn’t he? I think he forced her to dress that way. She saw my negligee once and laughed at it, saying she wouldn’t be caught dead in something so matronly on her wedding night. She wouldn’t have tried it on for fun. And where did she get that wig? She was a college student. There was no money in the budget for something that expensive. The police said it was human hair.”

  Seeing her cry tore him up. He started to embrace her, then realized he didn’t have that right. She wouldn’t welcome such familiarity from him. “You need to take some medicine or anything?”

  She shook her head. “I’m fine.”

  He popped another mint, then stuffed his hands in the pockets of his jeans. “The police will get a lot of clues from here. They can track down where he bought that wig, and I’m sure they’ll find some forensic evidence. They’ll be combing the place for hair and fiber.”

  She brushed the tears away. “I’m going to stop him. Lacy was my friend, and I loved her. Seeing her like that made me realize just what a monster he is. I’m going to do what Sara said and go out on the boat tonight to see what I can pull up from Laura’s memories.”

  At least she was saying Laura and not me. “I’d like to come along.”

  She rinsed out her cup and turned it upside down in the dish rack. “All right.”

  “Did you call your sister and tell her about this?”

  She shook her head. “Not yet. I don’t want to worry her. Josie will pick up on it.”

  He pulled out his phone. “She should be warned. What if this guy decides to go after her too?”

  Elin’s eyes grew enormous in her white face. “Why would he do that?”

  “He’s sending you some kind of message. We have to figure out what that is. And keep everyone you love safe while we do it. Give me her number.”

  She rattled off the number, and he punched it into his phone. “Abby? It’s Marc Everton.”

  “Why, Marc, I haven’t spoken to you in years. Elin’s all right, isn’t she?” Her voice sharpened from curiosity to worry.

  “She’s all right, but the house sitter isn’t.” He briefly explained the situation and heard her gasp softly on the other end of the phone. “Is there anyone there with you
besides Josie?”

  “No, Charles is out of town. Why?”

  “This guy seems to have a vendetta against Elin, and he’s taking it out on people she cares about. Engage your security system. I’ll tell the police to have an officer sit outside tonight.”

  “You’re scaring me. Are you sure that’s necessary?”

  “No, but I don’t want to take any chances. Not with you and not with Josie.” His little girl had already wound him around her little finger. He’d kill anyone who threatened her. “On second thought, let’s all stay together tonight. We’ll come get you both. Then I’ll be able to watch all of you.”

  When he ended the call, he found Elin staring at him. “Thank you for watching out for us.” She shivered and hugged herself.

  He wasn’t sure how long he’d be able to protect them. Killers were good at finding a weak link in their targets’ defenses.

  Elin rubbed her burning eyes and turned on a desk lamp. Dusk was falling, and she was tired after the events of the day. She’d go to bed early, but Lacy deserved worthy recipients of her organs. She took a dose of her herbals and opened her laptop. From the living room, she heard Josie’s excited squeal and Abby’s measured tones. At least they were all here together.

  She picked up the phone and rang Kerri.

  “I was just about to call you,” Kerri said. “You working on Lacy’s donation? I’m so sorry, Elin. Are you okay?”

  “As good as I can be, knowing he was after me.” She told her friend about Lacy’s attire.

  “I’m at the hospital and I noticed her dress. That’s just freaky. Do the police have any leads?”

  “They had a bunch of forensics people there, so I hope so.” Elin opened her list of recipients and sorted them by blood type B, then by tissue type. “Ready to get to work?”

  “Ready.” A volley of key clicks came from Kerri’s end. “You want to take heart and lungs? I’ll call the rest.”