Killing Season

by Faye Kellerman

  “I’m looking at the one near the Mojave Desert.”

  “That’s the one in San Bernardino—farther from Berkeley.”

  Shanks turned off his computer first. “Okay. So, three out of the four cities make sense. The other is off the pattern.”

  “Let me do some poking around on my computer,” Ben said.

  “No,” Shanks told him. “As helpful as you’ve been, you’ve got to stop playing cop and start living your life.”

  “I am living my life. I’m perfectly capable of living my life and looking into my sister’s death. They are orthogonal events.”

  Shanks said, “I’m picking up all your files tonight. Every single one of them. I’m sure they will keep me busy for days. If you keep sleuthing on your own, you’ll piss me off. I’ll confiscate your computer.”

  “I don’t believe you.”

  “Don’t test me.” Shanks tried to make a stern face, but fell short. “I’ll tell you what. I’ll be the first one to tell you if we get a DNA match between Ellen and anyone. In the meantime, you stay out of it.”

  “Are you going to call Berkeley?”

  “I’m going to run Ellen’s DNA through CODIS tomorrow, just to make sure I didn’t miss something. If nothing pops up, I’ll think about calling up Berkeley. I still might wait until we see what happens with Katie Doogan.”

  Ben’s face was the picture of impatience. “What if Katie Doogan doesn’t match my sister? Will you still call up Berkeley?”

  “One way or the other, I’ll call up Berkeley. You could be wrong about Katie but still right about Julia. But if you’re right about Katie, I will go to Berkeley with a lot more confidence. Let’s go grab some dinner.”

  “So you’re still speaking to me?” Ben asked.

  “Of course I’m speaking to you. I like you . . . sometimes.” Shanks stood up. “Let’s go to Rani’s. They have a dinner buffet. Do you like Indian Indian?”

  “I do like Indian Indian. And I love buffets.”

  “Never know it by looking at you.” Shanks stuffed the files that Ben gave him into his desk. He locked the drawers. “Your pants are falling off. Must be all that hiking and biking.”

  “And being seventeen.”

  “Yeah, that too. Don’t rub it in.”

  Chapter 25

  The ride to the memorial service for Katie Doogan was silent. Once there, Ben and Ro were swallowed up in a crowd of over five hundred community members showing their support, among them his family, somewhere. Ben knew that murderers often come to these gatherings for a sick thrill, but it was impossible to pick anyone out—from the service to the funeral and then to the house to pay final respects. On the ride home, Ben had dozens of thoughts racing through his head. Radio provided background noise and that was good. A half hour before the off-ramp to River Remez, Ro spoke up.

  “How’d the session go with Shanks?”

  “He told me to stop.”

  “Are you going to listen?”

  “I haven’t decided. I asked him to call up Berkeley to get information about Julia Rehnquist. But I think he wants to wait until he’s got something like DNA linking up Katie Doogan with my sister.”

  “Makes sense. He needs time to absorb everything you’ve given him. It’s a lot of information.”

  “I think he’s on board with me. But he wants me out.”

  “Maybe he doesn’t want you involved because you might be getting close.”

  “But I’m not close. I don’t have a name and I don’t have the next city. All I have is maybe a pattern.”

  “Why don’t you step back for a little bit? Get some perspective.”

  “I’m sure you’re right.” When Ro seemed nervous, Ben said, “What’s on your mind?”

  She fidgeted. “I think I’m gonna break up with JD.”

  It took a moment to absorb her words. It was so out of place—trivial given all that they had gone through. But maybe it was the gravity of what happened that had given her the impetus to change.

  “Okay.” A beat. “Can I ask why?”

  “It’s been a while coming.”

  “Okay.” Another pause. “You know I’m still going to UNM—”

  “I know. It has nothing to do with you staying at Remez. It’s what I need to do. The only thing that makes me hesitate is the winter dance. But I know that’s not a reason to stick around. And just maybe I still have some feelings for him.”

  Ben licked his lips. “Do you love him?”

  “No, I don’t love him. But I do like him. And I don’t want to leave him stranded and without a date. He’s actually been pretty nice to me.”

  “If you want to break up, don’t worry about the winter dance. He’s probably got a list of girls waiting in the wings.”

  She twisted her head around to look at him. “Why do you say that?”

  Oops. “Because JD’s the bomb. You know that.” She was quiet. “I know you really want to go to the dance. You bought your dress and everything.”

  “So I shouldn’t break up with him?”

  “You should do what you really want to do.”

  “Like you said, Vicks, a dress is not a reason to stay with someone.” She thought a moment. “I mean, I could break up with him after the winter dance.” Ro looked at him with those baby blues. “What do you think I should do?”

  “I can’t answer that.” Ro tapped her foot and waited. He said, “You like him enough to go to the winter dance with him, right?”

  “Yeah, I do want to go to the dance,” she said. “But I sure as hell don’t want to go to the after party.”

  “Then go to the dance but not the after party.”

  “But if I go to the dance with him, I’ll have to go to the after party.”

  “What’s wrong with the after party?”

  “It’s different from the regular parties, Vicks. It’s at a motel. He’ll expect me to do things.”

  “Oh . . .” Ben’s face went hot. “Don’t do anything you don’t want to do.” She was dry-eyed, tense. He said, “This isn’t my forte. This is something you should discuss with Shannon or Chelsea.”

  She looked out the window and shook her head. “I threw myself into school. I had no choice. It was either do that or just cry all the time. I didn’t want to come here. I’m so angry that my parents did this to me. I should have finished up in New York. But then Griff would have to deal with my mom without me. I couldn’t do it to him.”

  “I know. It really sucks.”

  “Sometimes it really does. But then I think it happened for the best. Especially meeting you . . .” She looked at him. “It’s brought out this flood of emotions that I’ve held back for the last three years. It feels so good to finally have someone who I can talk to.”

  Disappointed didn’t begin to describe how Ben felt. He’d gone from friend to therapist. “Right.”

  “I can’t go to the winter dance without going to the after party, Vicks. And I don’t want to go to the after party.”

  “You have a decision to make.”

  “Yes, I do.” She paused. “I’ll drop you off at home. Or rather since you’re driving my car, you can drop yourself off at your home and I’ll go talk to him.”

  “No, no, no. That’s not what we agreed on. I’m going with you.”

  “Vicks, stop it. I can handle this on my own.”

  “Humor me, please.”

  “All right, you can come. But stay in the background. Because I still might change my mind. I’m still on the fence about this.”

  “If you’re still on the fence, why go talk to him now?” Silence. “Ro, you had a real hard day. Real emotional and long. Why don’t you just sleep on it and see how you feel in the morning?”

  “Because if I see how I feel in the morning, I’m going to change my mind. I’m going to go to school and get sucked into all that social crap because I’m pathetic. I can’t stand being disliked.”

  “It’s really not so bad once you get used to it.”

  �
�You’re not disliked, okay? Weird, yes. Eccentric, yes. Vaguely disconcerting, yes. But no one dislikes you. I’m going to go talk to JD and I’m going to do it now. So either point the car in that direction or get out and walk home.”

  “This isn’t going to end well.”

  “Just let me handle it.”

  Ben pulled up to the curb at JD’s house at three in the afternoon. JD was the oldest of five and his parents lived in a sprawling two-story adobe, modern in style, with soaring ceilings and lots of points and angles. Ro said, “Wait here.”

  “No.” Ben spoke with authority. “We’re going in together.”

  “Whatever.” She got out and slammed the door.

  It was cold outside. Heavy gray clouds hung low in the skies. The winds were fierce. The air smelled like rain and electricity. Ro rang the bell, one of those deep gongs. A moment later Weekly answered the door, dressed in a dirty T-shirt and torn jeans. He was barefoot, his blond hair hanging over his eyes. His breath hinted of pot and alcohol. Obviously, there were no adults around.

  Wordlessly, Ro breezed past him into the living room, where JD was playing the Hari-katchi-something-killer-fighter game on his giant flat screen. At the moment Ro looked pretty killer-fighter herself. JD turned around, took in her face. Then he saw Ben, standing ten paces behind her. He went back to playing his video game.

  Ro said, “Can I talk to you alone?”

  He didn’t answer. JD was dressed in a wifebeater and jeans. The guy had it all—built and good-looking with a square chin and wide, white smile. He was popular, he was charming, he was funny, and he was really smart. But Ben knew he had a dark side, having been on the receiving end of it. Then again, JD knew what Ben was capable of. That made them even.

  Ro said, “It won’t take too long, JD.”

  JD continued to play. Without looking at her, he said, “Anything you want to say to me, you can say in front of my friends.”

  There were six of them. She said, “I’d really prefer to talk to you alone.”

  “And I don’t really care what you’d really prefer.” He turned around and gave her a sneer masquerading as a smile. “Your preference isn’t important.”

  His posse booed. Weekly said, “Ooooh . . . dis.”

  “I know why you’re here,” JD said. “If you want to go out with the geek, go out with the geek. I’m out the door in six months, so I really don’t give a solitary shit.”

  “It has nothing to do with Vicks, JD. Can you just give me a minute alone?”

  “No. Go fuck yourself. And go fuck Vicks. He’s a virgin. He can use it a lot more than me.”

  “It has nothing to do with Vicks,” she repeated. “We’re just friends.”

  “We’re just friends,” JD imitated.

  “It’s the truth,” Ro insisted. “I’ve been totally true to you.”

  “Unlike me, is that what you’re saying?” Abruptly, JD threw the joystick at the TV. It crashed into the flat screen and shattered it, bits of black glass flying all over the room. JD said, “Did he give you all the deets, Do-ro-thy?”

  Ben felt his heart beating hard. “Shut up, JD!”

  “Did he give you a play-by-play of what he saw?”

  “JD, shut up!”

  “What are you talking about?” Ro’s eyes flitted between JD and Ben. “Play-by-play of what?”

  “Ro, let’s get out of here,” Ben said.

  “Wait a minute, wait a minute.” A pause. “What play-by-play?” Another pause. “What deets?”

  It was JD’s turn to be confused. He turned to Ben. “You didn’t—”

  “Just shut the fuck up!” Ben took Ro’s hand, but she pulled away. “We need to go.”

  “Absolutely not!” She stared at JD. “Details of what?” When he didn’t answer, she said, “What did you see, Vicks?” He was silent and so was the room. And then it dawned on her. “You’ve been cheating on me?”

  No one spoke.

  “I’m in my prime, toots.” JD’s voice went down a notch. “A guy’s gotta do what a guy’s gotta do.”

  “You actually cheated on me?” Ro was stunned. “With who?”

  “Why don’t you ask Vicks? He was there.”

  Ben was irate. “You are such an asshole!”

  She turned her anger on Ben. “You knew about this and didn’t tell me?” Her eyes darted between the boys. The blue orbs welled up with tears and she ran out of the room. Ben was on her tail.

  “Ro, stop—”

  She turned, her face filled with fury. “What was that all about, Vicks?” She shoved him in the chest. “Some kind of bro code?” She pushed him again. “You knew he was cheating on me and you never said a word?” When he didn’t answer, she said. “You know what? He’s despicable, but you’re a real douchebag. Give me the keys to my car!”

  “I don’t think you should be driving—”

  “Give me the goddamn . . .” She stuck her hand in his pocket and pulled them out. “Go to hell!” She ran to her Explorer and peeled away.

  Ben sighed, staring at the empty curb, trying to figure out what had just gone wrong. A moment later JD came out, hands in his pockets. “Cold outside. Why don’t you come in?”

  “I’m going to pass.”

  JD said, “Are you banging her?”

  “No, I’m not banging her.” Ben bit his lip. “She’s been totally true to you.”

  “Misplaced loyalty.” JD sighed. “I’m really in the shits right now. I just lost my girl and I broke the flat screen.” He sighed again. “Need a ride home, Vicks?”

  “No . . . I’ll walk.”

  “It’s looking pretty nasty outside.”

  “’S’right.” His jaw was working a mile a minute. “I’ll walk.”

  “Suit yourself.” JD returned to the warmth of his house and his friends.

  Ben put his head down, stuck his hands in his pockets, and braced himself against a bitter wind.

  Chapter 26

  Walking was a bad decision. Within minutes, it started to rain. It wasn’t the gentle rain of spring. It wasn’t even the warm downpour of a monsoon. It was a cold rain with big fat droplets, pelting him in the frost of late autumn. It was a sharp rain that came with pinpoints of ice, the weather definitely heralding winter. He kept a poncho in his backpack. River Remez was unpredictable at this time of year. Unfortunately, his knapsack was in Ro’s car.

  It soon became the rainstorm from hell: lightning bolts so close they almost buzzed his head and blinded him. Thunder crackled with anger and vengeance. He should have taken off running, but after the past week, he had no reserves of energy to draw on. Walking and shivering, soaked to the skin. The blare of a horn made him jump. The Explorer slowed and Ro rolled down the window and threw out his knapsack. It fell into a rain puddle with a thud. Then she took off again.

  As he bent down to get it, she put the SUV in reverse and gunned the engine. She passed him a second time going in reverse, splashing him head to foot. The she put the car back into drive, pulled up alongside him, and rolled down the window. “Get in.”

  “No.”

  “Stop being an idiot. Get in!”

  “I don’t want to talk to you right now. Go away.”

  “It’s dangerous outside. Get in or I’ll call the cops!”

  Ben picked up the dripping backpack and stepped into the passenger seat. Ro floored the gas and the SUV took off, the wheels screeching in a giant skid headed for the cliff. Ben grabbed the wheel and hooked left, falling on top of Ro to steer into the turn and ride out the skid. As soon as he could manage to get a foot on the brake, he pulled over to the side of the road. Pulling the key from the ignition, he fell back in the passenger seat, trying to catch his breath.

  “Are you fucking crazy? You almost killed both of us.”

  “Who?” When he didn’t answer, she said, “Who was JD screwing?”

  “Lisa Holloway.” He bent forward and turned up the heat. There wasn’t an inch of dry space on his clothing. He wiped a wet hand on a we
t shirt. “I’d leave this minute except I’m worried that if you drive, you’ll kill yourself. Move over and I’ll drive you home.”

  She didn’t budge. “How’d you find out?”

  “Move.”

  “No. Not until you tell me how you found out.”

  “You don’t want to hear this.”

  “Yes, I fucking do want to hear it. How?”

  “They were in the supply room. I walked in on them.”

  “God, what a total asshole! And she’s a total whore!” She glared at him. “How long have you known?”

  “A couple of months.”

  “And you never thought to tell me?” Silence. “The guy was playing me for an idiot and it never dawned on you to tell me?”

  “I didn’t want to make you unhappy.”

  “Do I look happy now?” She brushed tears away from her eyes. “How would you feel if it was the reverse?”

  “That’s different. I’m always miserable. To have a girl cheat on me would feel ego-syntonic.”

  “Ego . . . where do you come up with these words?” She pulled off her jacket and tossed it into the backseat. She was staring out the windshield. “Don’t call me anymore. I don’t want to see you again either.”

  “Fine. Don’t see me again. But you know that’s not fair. He was the asshole, not me. I was just trying to spare your feelings. And if that was a mistake, that’s all it was. A mistake.”

  She didn’t answer. Then she said, “I’ll take you home.”

  “I’m not driving with you.”

  “Fine. Then walk.”

  He started to get out, but she held his arm. “You can drive to your house. But then I drive myself home.”

  “Okay. So move over.”

  She didn’t move. “Anything else I should know about? Like are you doing it with one of my friends? Because that would upset me . . . not that you were doing it, but that you didn’t tell me.”

  “Are you fucking blind? Everyone in the entire school knows that I’m thoroughly besotted with you. I hang around you like a dog waiting for table scraps.”

  “When you’re not acting like a weirdo and a ghoul and going through murder files.”