Spilled Blood

by Brian Freeman

‘So? It’s been raining around here for weeks.’

  ‘Yes, but Tanya says that Olivia pushed Ashlynn in the park that night. Ashlynn fell. She got mud on her clothes.’

  ‘I’m not following you.’

  ‘Maybe Ashlynn tracked that mud back to her car. If Olivia left Ashlynn in the ghost town – alive – what would Ashlynn do? She’d go back to her car and wait. Then someone else arrived. Someone who killed her.’

  ‘That’s an interesting theory, Mr. Hawk, but Ashlynn’s body was found in the park, exactly where Olivia confronted her. If she went back to her car, why wasn’t she killed there? The more likely explanation is that the dirt on the seat of the Mustang was days old.’

  Chris frowned. Altman was right. He couldn’t explain why Ashlynn would have gone back to the park. Even so, the mud in the car raised a doubt, and doubt to a lawyer was like a dripping faucet. Eventually, drip by drip, it made a flood.

  Altman put a hand on Chris’s shoulder. ‘Get some sleep, Mr. Hawk.’

  ‘I’ll try.’

  ‘I meant what I said. I’m sorry about Olivia, and I will do everything I can to catch the boys who did this.’

  ‘Thank you.’

  ‘I also meant the part about staying out of it. Revenge doesn’t give you a free pass for violence.’

  ‘Message received,’ Chris said.

  Altman returned to the elevator, leaving Chris alone in the hospital hallway. He watched the doors close. With Altman gone, he left the evidence box on the floor and wandered toward the first patient room beyond the nurse’s station. From the doorway, he watched Olivia in bed, asleep, at peace. Her face was angelic. She bore no scars on the outside. It was her head and heart that worried him.

  He needed fresh air. He returned to the hallway and hoisted the evidence box on his shoulder. Inside the elevator, he sagged against the rear wall and closed his eyes, and for a second or two, he slept. The opening of the doors on the first floor jarred him. He shook himself and exited into the hospital lobby. Outside, the night was cool, and the rain had stopped, but the air was damp. His Lexus was parked at the back of the lot, facing a grassy field. He carried the box to his car, popped the trunk, and deposited it inside. Tomorrow, he would review what the police had found, looking for more evidence. More doubt. Drip by drip.

  Chris slammed the trunk. He saw no cars on the streets, and there were no lights in the nearby houses. The town of Barron was quiet. Even so, he felt as if a voyeur were watching him. It was a strange, uncomfortable sensation. He studied the parked cars in the hospital lot, but he was alone. He looked across the street to the dark field, which was buried in shadows. If anyone was there, they were invisible.

  He was about to return to the hospital when he noticed something under the windshield wiper of his car. It hadn’t been there when he parked. He assumed it was the kind of annoying advertisement that sandwich shops placed on cars on the Minneapolis streets, but when he plucked it from the windshield he saw that it was an envelope. Nothing was written on the outside. It wasn’t sealed.

  Chris slid a single sheet of paper from the interior, and when he unfolded it, he looked up sharply, staring into the empty darkness around him. He hadn’t been wrong. He wasn’t alone.

  He read the black printed letters on the page.

  TO THE ATTENTION OF

  MR. CHRISTOPHER HAWK

  YOU HAVE SUFFERED TONIGHT

  YOU ARE IN A WORLD

  WHOSE EVIL IS BEYOND SALVATION

  YOU ARE IN A WORLD

  THAT WILL SOON BE DESTROYED

  LET THIS BE YOUR WARNING

  THERE WILL BE NO ESCAPE

  IF YOU STAY YOU WILL DIE

  MY NAME IS

  AQUARIUS

  PART TWO

  THE DEAD LAND

  16

  Chris found the minister’s son, Johan, awake and alone in his hospital room. The teenager sat up in bed, staring out the window at the pre-dawn darkness and using an incentive spirometer for deep breathing. It was obviously painful, and he winced as he inhaled. Seeing Chris, Johan put the device aside. His face still bore the welts and bruises of the beating he’d taken, but the wary demeanor that Chris had observed when he first met Johan at the motel had softened.

  ‘Mr. Hawk, I’m really sorry,’ Johan told him.

  Chris pulled a chair next to the bed. ‘Why are you sorry?’

  ‘It’s my fault. I couldn’t stop them.’

  ‘There was one of you against half a dozen or more of them,’ he told the boy. ‘Don’t blame yourself.’

  Johan rolled his head back. His fingers curled together into fists. ‘Those bastards.’

  Chris saw in the boy what he’d felt in himself the previous night. It was so easy, so tempting, to be consumed by hatred in this town. Marco Piva at the motel had said the same thing. Everyone wants revenge.

  ‘I’d like to ask you some questions, Johan, if you’re up to it.’

  ‘Okay.’

  ‘It’s about you and Ashlynn,’ he said.

  The teenager didn’t look surprised. ‘I figured people were going to find out sooner or later.’

  ‘You were involved with Ashlynn, weren’t you?’ Chris asked.

  ‘Yeah.’

  ‘Was it serious?’

  ‘Yeah. Very.’

  ‘Who knew about it?’

  ‘Almost nobody. It wasn’t safe, you know? My dad knew. Ashlynn told her mom. That was it. We didn’t tell anybody else.’

  ‘What about Olivia?’

  Johan hesitated. ‘Yeah, she found out,’ he admitted. ‘She saw us together. She was really upset.’

  ‘Why? Because of Kimberly?’

  ‘Not just that.’ The boy hooded his eyes. ‘She was – well, she was really jealous.’

  Chris was confused, and then he realized he’d missed the answer that was staring him in the face. Something personal. A teenage triangle. Boy, girl, girl. That was why Olivia hated Ashlynn so much. Olivia loved Johan.

  ‘Did you and Olivia have a relationship, too?’ he asked.

  ‘Yeah. Last summer.’

  ‘Did you break up with her because of Ashlynn?’

  ‘Look, Mr. Hawk, I never meant—’

  Chris held up his hands to stop him. ‘I’m not playing the outraged father here. I just want the truth.’

  He saw genuine conflict in Johan’s face. ‘Olivia thought so, but that’s not how it happened. I really care for Olivia a lot, but we’re so different. She thinks religion is a waste of time, and me, well, it’s a big part of my life. There were lots of things like that, where we just didn’t see life the same way. The more we dated, the more I began to realize we didn’t have that much in common. The one thing we did have was Kimberly, but you can’t build a relationship around losing someone, right?’

  ‘That’s true.’

  ‘I tried to tell her that, but she said she loved me. She was really hurt.’

  ‘What about you and Ashlynn? How did that happen? You two were on opposite sides of a pretty big divide.’

  Johan looked uncomfortable, as if he were reluctant to share the secret even though Ashlynn was dead. ‘We met at church.’

  ‘In St. Croix?’ Chris was surprised.

  ‘Yeah. Ashlynn started coming to see my dad.’

  ‘Ashlynn was visiting Glenn?’

  Johan nodded.

  ‘When was this?’

  ‘About six months ago.’

  ‘Why?’

  Johan swung his legs over the side of the bed. Gingerly, he got up. He walked with a slight limp, but he was a fit teenager, and he was already bouncing back from his injuries. He crossed the hospital room and closed the door. ‘It was very secret. She didn’t want anyone to know.’

  ‘I’m sure.’

  ‘The thing is, Ashlynn hated what the feud was doing to this area. She was heartbroken about the kids who died, too. She felt guilty, because of who she was. She wanted to reach out, so she began to visit my dad. At first, she just wanted to tell him how sorry s
he was about Kimberly and how bad she felt. Then she started getting religious counseling, too.’

  ‘How did your relationship with her develop?’

  ‘I’d help her get to and from the church, because she didn’t want anyone seeing her car in St. Croix. We talked for hours. Sometimes all night. She visited me at the motel, too, when I was working. I realized how amazing she was. Not just pretty – she was just this incredible person. I knew things weren’t working out with Olivia, and after we broke up, Ashlynn and I started talking about how we felt for each other. It was serious.’

  ‘How serious?’ Chris asked.

  ‘We were in love.’

  ‘Were you having sex?’

  ‘Does that matter?’ Johan asked.

  ‘Actually, it does. I’m sorry.’

  Johan looked at the floor. ‘Ashlynn was a virgin. She didn’t like the idea of sex before marriage. I’d had sex before. I mean, Olivia and I – that is, we had—’

  ‘I get it,’ Chris said. ‘Did you and Ashlynn eventually have sex?’

  The teenager nodded. ‘After a few months, we decided we were ready for it. We’d already been talking about getting married after school. It felt right.’

  Chris heard regret in Johan’s voice. ‘Was it a mistake?’

  ‘I guess.’

  ‘What do you mean?’

  ‘Ashlynn got really distant after we did it. I could tell it was bothering her. I apologized, but she didn’t want to talk. Then, like a month ago, she texted me that we should stop seeing each other. I couldn’t believe it. I thought she loved me.’

  ‘Did she say why she wanted to break it off?’

  ‘She said things were moving too fast. That’s it.’

  ‘Nothing else?’

  ‘No.’

  Chris waited for Johan to talk about the pregnancy. The abortion. He studied the teenager’s face and saw nothing but confusion. Johan was telling the truth about being in the dark. He didn’t know what was really happening to Ashlynn. For whatever reason, Ashlynn had chosen to go through this on her own. She had turned to Hannah for guidance. Not Johan. Not Glenn Magnus. Not her own parents.

  ‘Tanya told me Ashlynn dated Kirk Watson last year,’ Chris said. ‘Is that true?’

  ‘Kirk,’ Johan snapped, his lip curling. ‘That vicious son of a bitch. He did this to Olivia. It was him.’

  ‘Do you know that for a fact?’

  ‘No, but none of the Barron boys do anything without his say-so.’

  ‘What about Kirk and Ashlynn?’ Chris asked again.

  ‘There was nothing between them. They went out a few times. That was it. She cut him off at the knees when he wanted more.’

  ‘He doesn’t seem like her type,’ Chris said.

  ‘He wasn’t.’

  ‘So why did she go out with him at all?’

  ‘I don’t know. She didn’t want to talk about it.’

  ‘Is it possible something happened between them?’

  Johan’s eyes narrowed. ‘What do you mean?’

  ‘Could Kirk have assaulted her?’

  ‘He’s capable of anything, but I think she would have told me if he did.’

  ‘Did Kirk know you and Ashlynn were involved?’

  ‘I don’t think so. If he knew, he would have done something.’

  ‘Maybe he did,’ Chris said. ‘Maybe he killed her.’

  Johan said nothing. Chris could see in his face that the boy had already leaped to a totally different conclusion about Ashlynn’s death. Like everyone else, he assumed Olivia was guilty.

  ‘How did Olivia find out about you and Ashlynn?’ Chris asked.

  ‘She saw us parked near the town. We were – we were kissing. She confronted me about it.’

  ‘What did she say?’

  ‘She accused me of cheating on her. I told her that Ashlynn and I didn’t start seeing each other until after I broke it off with her. She didn’t believe me. She called Ashlynn some terrible things. It was ugly.’

  ‘When did this happen?’ he asked.

  ‘Right before Christmas.’

  ‘And since then?’

  ‘She hasn’t really talked to me.’

  ‘So what happened the night of Ashlynn’s murder?’

  Johan paled. ‘What do you mean?’

  ‘I mean, Olivia was arrested for shooting Ashlynn, and the first thing she did when she was released was go to see you. Even though she hadn’t talked to you in months. Why?’

  The teenager glanced at the closed door. ‘I don’t think you want to ask me about this, Mr. Hawk. I don’t want to make it worse for Olivia.’

  ‘It’s already bad.’ He added, ‘Where were you on Friday night?’

  ‘There was a big plumbing problem in one of the motel rooms. Water everywhere. I was helping Marco until after midnight. He finally called a plumber. They didn’t need me sticking around, so I left.’

  ‘You went home?’

  ‘Yeah.’

  ‘Did Olivia come to see you?’

  Johan nodded reluctantly. ‘Yeah, she did.’

  ‘When?’

  ‘Late. After one. She came to my window.’

  ‘What did she tell you?’

  ‘She told me what happened in the ghost town. About finding Ashlynn there. About – the gun. She said Ashlynn told her that we had broken up, and she wanted to know why I hadn’t said anything. She wanted to get back together.’

  ‘What did you say?’ Chris asked.

  ‘It didn’t go well. I was furious with Olivia for treating Ashlynn like that. I couldn’t believe she left her stranded there. Olivia got upset, and she stormed off.’

  ‘What did you do?’ Chris asked, but there was only one thing that a boy like Johan would do. He went out there. He went to rescue Ashlynn.

  ‘I drove to the ghost town,’ he said.

  Chris waited.

  ‘She was dead,’ Johan murmured, his face contorting in pain as heavy breaths squeezed his chest. ‘All I could think was: Olivia killed her. She left her there in the mud for me to find. I hated her for it. I didn’t know what to do.’

  ‘What time was this?’ Chris asked, dodging the boy’s emotions.

  ‘Between one-thirty and two, I guess.’

  ‘Did you see anyone else around?’

  ‘No.’

  ‘Did you touch anything on the scene? Did you move the body? Did you touch her car?’

  ‘No, no, nothing like that.’

  ‘What did you do?’

  ‘I left.’ He added, ‘As bad as it was, I didn’t want to tell anyone, Mr. Hawk. I didn’t want to do that to Olivia. I’d already hurt her enough. I couldn’t believe she would do something so horrible, but I was willing to keep it a secret. I still am. I won’t tell a soul.’

  ‘It’s too late for that,’ Chris said.

  He didn’t tell Johan the truth, because the truth was cruel. Keeping silent until now was the best thing the boy could have done to help Olivia. Keeping silent was what guilty people did. Lying to the police was what guilty people did. When Johan told his story now, he established for the whole world that there was someone else who had been in the park with Ashlynn after Olivia. Someone who knew her, who had been involved with her, whose heart she had broken. Someone of deep faith whose child she had terminated in her womb. Someone who hadn’t been tested for gunshot residue that night.

  Another suspect.

  Johan.

  17

  Chris was drowning.

  He felt himself carried on the shoulders of turbulent waters in his dream, surrounded by debris, caught in an undertow that sucked him down like a whirlpool. Each time he broke through the surface, gasping for breath, he spun in circles. He wasn’t alone. Hannah was with him in the water, reaching for him with her hand in the gesture that had always said I love you. They were sinking together, dragged down by the sheer muscle of the rapids. The river carried them toward a bridge, where Chris flailed for the steel I-beam over his head like a lifeline. He held on,
and Hannah held onto him, but the water wrenched his fingers away and washed them downstream. As the bridge vanished behind them, he saw the silhouette of a man on the span, watching the flood overpower them. His voice boomed like the voice of God.

  ‘My name is Aquarius.’

  Chris bolted upright in the motel bed. He checked the clock on the nightstand and saw that he had slept for two hours. It was nearly ten in the morning. Sunshine streamed through a crack in the curtains, and dust floated in the light. He blinked, shaking off his dream. He got up and turned on the shower, and the hot water revived him. When he was dressed, he stepped outside into the motel parking lot and found a beautiful day. The rain and clouds had moved east. The temperature was still unseasonably warm. It made the previous night seem almost unreal.

  He stopped at the office to pour a cup of weak coffee from a silver Thermos and grab a powdered donut from an open Little Debbie’s box. That was Marco’s idea of a continental breakfast. He ate two donuts and wiped the white sugar from his mouth. He spotted the local newspaper on the motel counter, and he picked it up to read the Barron headlines. To his dismay, he and Olivia were on the front page. A reporter had snapped their photo coming out of the courthouse after the detention hearing. They both looked wet and guilty. In contrast, Ashlynn Steele’s yearbook picture, which the paper printed next to the courthouse photo, was perfect and pretty. The accompanying article speculated on the likelihood that Olivia would be tried as an adult for Ashlynn’s murder. It was more poison for the jury pool.

  Michael Altman was on the front page too, but he was talking about a different investigation. The county attorney offered details of a recent arrest in the Twin Cities suburb of Hugo, in which a police search related to embezzlement by a city worker had unearthed a trove of child pornography. The stash included a flash drive of videos mailed with a postmark from the Minnesota town of Ortonville, which was an hour northwest of Barron. Altman sought the public’s help in identifying those involved in trafficking child porn in Spirit County.

  Chris thought about Hannah: This isn’t Mayberry. No, it wasn’t. The idyll of small-town life was an illusion.

  ‘Mr. Hawk.’

  Chris put down the newspaper. Marco Piva stood behind the counter, his fleshy Italian face grim. ‘Mr. Hawk, there are no words.’