Killing Season

by Faye Kellerman

  “Tomas . . .” Her voice was stern. “You have to be trained to work the desk.”

  Tomas squirmed. Ro stepped in. “So Tomas will train me.”

  “It takes a while.”

  “Look, Elaine, I don’t know how to use your specific programs,” Ro said, “but I’ve done this thousands of times at other hotels. I’m sure Tomas can give me a quick tutorial and I’ll pick it up. And I get off at eleven anyway. I mean, why not?”

  “Because you don’t know what you’re doing and you could mess things up.”

  “It’s for two nights. Give me a little credit.” Ro shifted her weight from one hip to the other. “I know you’re shorthanded on the weekends. I’d like you to see how competent I am. That way, maybe you’ll consider hiring me as a part-time weekend person.”

  “I need you at the lounge.” She looked Ro up and down. “You’ve done a good job there.”

  “Because I’m smart.” Ro was bordering on begging. “No one wants to work the graveyard. Give me a chance. I’m already on the payroll.”

  Tomas said, “She’s smart. She’ll pick it up. And it’s only two days.”

  Elaine relented. “One day at a time. If you make it through the first night to my satisfaction, I’ll let you do the second night.”

  She was appreciative but not overly so. “Great.”

  After working six hours in the lounge, Ro changed into an official Jackson Lodge uniform and slipped behind the front desk, relieving Pearl of her duties. “Busy?”

  “Surprisingly so,” Pearl said. “I’m sure at two in the morning it’ll be dead. You know we have a bell, so you don’t have to stand behind the desk the whole time.”

  “Uh, yeah, that’s right. Thanks. I think I’ll be visible for a while. In the meantime, do you have any work you want me to do?”

  “Uh, thanks. If you could type in today’s reservations, it would help me a lot. And you know how to program wake-up calls?”

  “Yes.”

  “Gary usually does follow-ups fifteen minutes later.”

  “I can do that.”

  “You have one at four thirty, and two at five, two at six, and one at seven thirty.”

  “Not a problem.”

  She eyed Ro with suspicion. “I don’t know why . . . I keep thinking you’re after something.”

  “How about money?”

  “Fair enough.” Pearl gathered up her bag. Then she wrote down some numbers. “Call if you need anything. It’s better to ask than to mess up. Then I have to spend time redoing everything.”

  “I understand. Don’t worry. I can do this, Pearl.”

  “I have a feeling you can do lots of things.”

  Ro nodded. “I do have my strong points.”

  The need for sleep was overwhelming, but she had to muscle through it. It was the chance of a lifetime—being alone and uninterrupted. Her parents called constantly. She had lied and told them that her job had always been a desk assignment. They didn’t like her working, but put up with it to avoid drama. But with this new assignment—overnight in a hotel—Ro was pushing it. Even after she told them it was temporary, her dad wanted to come down. Eventually she got them to back off, but both of them were rightly concerned. When they called her, Ro made a point to be chipper even though she was dying to get off the phone and hack into files.

  They stopped calling by two. By then, the place was a tomb.

  The first order of business was her homework. Her brain was groggy but she managed to get through it. After homework, she moved on to inputting the day’s reservations for Pearl. She had to do the job well to get the staff on her side.

  An hour later she had finished up the reservations. It was just her and the computer and the back room for privacy. Although Tomas had showed her how to bring up the various convention identifications, it did involve several steps and several windows. Mistakes could be tolerated. But she couldn’t afford to crash the system. If only Vicks were there to help her. He could have done it in a snap.

  It took a while of playing with keystroke combinations. After a lot of trial and error, she was finally able to figure out how to bring up conventions and match them to groups. Tomas was right. Many tours booked in the city, mostly in the summer and a few around Christmas and New Year’s. The hotel did a lot of business with travel agents and art museums. During opera and chamber-music season in the summer, it booked musical tours. The companies may have gotten a discount, but there were lots of them to make up the difference in cost.

  She experimented with the data, printing out lists of names. Around four thirty in the morning, after dealing with lists upon lists of names, she finally struck gold, finding the code for a group of clients associated with Los Alamos National Laboratory. The date was a year after Ellen’s abduction.

  She almost cried. She now had names—people she could look up and cross-reference. Her phone alarm went off. She jumped in her seat. She had a wake-up call reminder to get out.

  She dutifully called the room: Harold Beitman in 204. “Hi, this is Gretchen from the front desk. I just wanted to make sure you got your wake-up call.”

  “I got it. Where’s the guy who’s usually here?”

  “Mr. Jenkins will be back in two days.”

  “He can stay away as far as I’m concerned. You’re a hell of a lot nicer to hear at four thirty in the morning. Are you the same Gretchen who waited on me in the lounge last night?”

  “Yes, I am.”

  “Ah . . . Gretchen. You can call me anytime.”

  “Have a good morning, Mr. Beitman. We look forward to seeing you again at the Jackson.”

  “Ditto.”

  She hung up and smiled. It was too bad courtesans were no longer in fashion. Ro knew she had certainly missed her calling.

  Chapter 15

  It was a cold peace but at least Ben could look at her without his stomach churning. She’d wave, he’d wave. And since it was only once a week, he could deal. She looked terrible. There were dark circles under her eyes. She was bony with a pasty complexion. He felt bad for her. Then he’d feel bad for himself. Then he got angry: at her, at JD, who was definitely avoiding him, and finally at himself for letting a stupid, idiotic fling get to him. Of course, no one wanted to feel like a jackass and she definitely had made a jackass out of him.

  So, Ben did what he did best: isolated himself. Whenever there was a break, he sequestered himself in an empty room, reading, doing homework, or playing on his computer. He tried to pick the most out-of-the-way space where no one would look—not that anyone was bothering—but the school simply wasn’t big enough to get lost in.

  Ben knew JD was in the room without even looking up. The guy had that kind of discernible gait.

  “Hey.”

  The sound of his voice made Ben’s blood boil. His brain was having an internal dialogue.

  Easy, guy. You’re a civilized human being. Let him talk and let it pass.

  “Uh, could I talk to you for just a minute?”

  Just let it pass.

  JD said, “Um . . . look . . . this is the situation. It isn’t about me. It’s about Ro. I’m really concerned about her. She’s been a wreck for the last month . . . since it happened, you know.”

  Silence.

  “Vicks, I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but she’s like totally . . . retreated. She quit cheerleading. She doesn’t talk to anyone, she stays by herself. She took some kind of stupid job and she leaves as soon as school’s over. Even her parents aren’t sure what she does. Only that she’s exhausted all the time and doesn’t talk to anyone. She works weekends. She looks terrible. I know you hate her . . . maybe not hate her, but I know you hate me. But this isn’t about me.”

  Ben looked up and then down. JD was sweating. The room temperature was around sixty. Steady, boy.

  A big exhale. “Her birthday’s this weekend. I’m having a little party for her Friday at my house . . . small . . . just the guys and a few girls.” Another exhale. “Initially I wanted it to be
like a surprise. But then . . . well, you know Shannon. She can’t keep a secret.”

  Silence.

  “But I did get Ro to agree to come. And like I said, this isn’t about me or anything. Ben, I know it would be something special to her if you’d show up. I mean, you don’t have to stay . . . just make an appearance. Honestly, I’m real concerned about her health. And you certainly don’t need any more ghosts to haunt you.”

  With that, Ben’s brain gave up. He gathered up his schoolwork and stuffed it into his backpack. “No.”

  “C’mon, Vicks.” JD grabbed his arm. “Think about someone other than yourself for once.”

  The pop came so fast that the poor bastard didn’t even have a second to deflect it: a perfect uppercut on the chin. Ben felt the punch clear down to his wrist. JD’s face registered utter shock although it shouldn’t have. When they were younger, they had scrapped all the time. “In case that wasn’t clear enough, the answer is still no.”

  Ben ambled out of the room, slipping his backpack over one shoulder. Juvenile. But it felt so damn good. He went to his locker, working hard to get the numbers right while shaking out his hand. He could feel Ro’s presence over his shoulder, heard her say, “How’s your hand?”

  “Probably better than JD’s jaw.” He shook out his hand again and turned to face her. “It hurts.”

  “Thanks for inviting me out to dinner the other night.”

  “You caught me in a weak moment.”

  His repressed anger slapped Ro in the face. She sighed. It was better to get it all out because he already hated her. It couldn’t get any worse. “I slept with him that night . . . with JD . . . on Valentine’s—”

  “I get it, okay.” He glared at her with open hostility. “What would you like me to say to that?”

  “I dunno. I’m sure if you think hard enough, something will come to you.” His eyes were far away. He was retreating into his brain, which was usually a dark place. “He got me drunk, but no excuses. I’m way beyond excuses. I’m just telling you this because I want to totally come clean before I ask a favor of you.” Silence. “Vicks?”

  “I hear you.”

  “Okay.” She swallowed hard. “Here goes nothing. It’s my birthday this weekend . . . on Monday, actually—”

  “I know.”

  “You know? Oh, that’s right. JD told you about the party.”

  “No, I knew before that. My memory is still intact.”

  “Okay. You know.” A pause. “Everyone is asking me what I want. Do I want clothes or money or jewelry or a trip for spring break or whatever. All those things are fine. I mean, who doesn’t love a good diamond? But that’s not what I really want.” She took in a deep breath and let it out. “What I really, really want for my birthday is for you to forgive me.”

  When he didn’t respond, she pressed on.

  “I mean, you don’t have to like me . . . obviously you don’t. But if you could forgive me, that would be a great present for me.”

  He remained silent.

  “I know it’s selfish. But selfishly, I’m tired of feeling like a terrible person—”

  “I forgive you.” Vicks looked up and gave her a forced smile. “Done.”

  “Okay.” A pause. “On the heels of that pithy comment, is there anything you’d like to add?”

  “That’s it. I forgive you. Happy birthday.”

  “Okay.” She shrugged. “I got what I wanted . . . I guess. Thanks.” When she started to leave, she felt his finger gently tap her arm. She turned around. “Yes?”

  He dropped his hand. “Dorothy, you are not a terrible person. You’re a good person who . . .” A sigh. “Who, in my opinion, made a terrible decision that broke my heart. But one terrible decision does not . . . take away all the nice things you’ve done for me. I’d like to hate you, but I don’t. And that’s about as good as it’s gonna get right now.”

  She bit her lip hard. “Thanks for saying that.” A tear escaped. “Seriously.”

  Vicks pulled something out of his locker. “I was gonna give this to Griff to give to you. But as long as you’re here and we’re talking . . . kind of . . .” He offered her a small wrapped package. “Like I said, my memory is still intact. Happy birthday.”

  She stared at the gift through blurry, wet eyes. “You bought me a present?”

  “I did. Open it.”

  She ripped off the paper and ribbon, and then opened the box. It was the same bracelet that he had bought her for Valentine’s Day, except it was in yellow gold. She couldn’t speak.

  Ben said, “I saw that you wear the one I gave you. So I went to the same store. And the woman at the jewelry shop told me that the two different golds look pretty together . . .” He laughed. “I’m just not very creative at these kinds of things.”

  Ro laughed as water rolled down her cheeks. Her hands were shaking. “I could use a little help.”

  Vicks latched the bracelet onto her wrist. “Actually, they do look pretty together.” He held her arm as he inspected the jewelry. “It’s kind of like our relationship. The white gold is flashy, sparkly, the flames blistering hot white. Yellow flames are less hot, not as intense but more mellow. Less expectation but there’s still something burning, and that will never go away.” He kissed her cheek. “Happy birthday, Ro. Enjoy your party with JD.”

  “Vicks?”

  “No, I will not go to your birthday party. Even if I was interested in going, which I’m not, after my encounter with JD, I think he’s disinclined to invite me again.”

  “Can I take you out to dinner? Just the two of us?”

  “You take me out for your birthday?”

  “Ordinarily, it would be the other way around, but I figure I owe you one . . . or two or three.” She waited, but as usual he didn’t say anything. “I’m leaving in what—four months. Let’s go to Geronimo. I can’t leave Santa Fe without going to Geronimo, right?”

  His eyes turned far away. Then he shrugged. “Okay, let’s go to Geronimo. Let me check my very busy schedule.” A second passed. “What about Saturday night?”

  “That’s the party. But I’ll cancel it if that’s the only time you can make it.”

  “No, no, we can do Sunday. Around seven?”

  “Has to be later. Around eight thirty?”

  “Yeah, your job. What’s that all about? What do you do?”

  “If you must know, I work at the Jackson Lodge doing whatever they need me to do, which is mostly glorified waitressing. But I do have a name tag and a uniform.”

  “You’re a waitress?”

  “A cocktail waitress, to be exact. But sometimes, if I’m a real good girl, they let me work behind the desk.”

  “A cocktail waitress? Uh, don’t you have to be nineteen to do that?”

  “That’s the least of the issues, Vicks. I’m a little tired of getting pinched in the butt, but I make great tips. And I have a tremendous business-card collection from horny men hoping I do the nasty on the side. I’ve kept them all. Never know when you might want to blackmail someone.”

  “That sounds awful.”

  “I’m making it out to be worse than it is. Mostly it’s boring. You are the first person who actually knows what I do. Please don’t tell anyone. And please, please don’t come see me there. I’d die of embarrassment. Let’s do eight thirty, this Sunday night. I’ll meet you there.”

  “Fine.”

  “You know I still love you,” she told him. “Say the word, Ben, and I’m groveling at your feet.”

  Vicks shook his head. “No, no, no. We’re not traveling down that road again.”

  “No problem. Let’s take a different road.” When he didn’t respond, she said, “You need time. I understand.”

  He closed the locker and turned to her. “It’s not gonna happen, hon. I’ve got my pride but that could be whittled away . . . I really miss you.”

  “I miss you too.” Her eyes were wet again.

  “Dorothy, this has nothing to do with what happened between
us.” He blew out air. “This is the deal. When we stopped being a couple, I went back to researching my sister’s case. And I ain’t stopping for anything or anyone.”

  It was always about Ellen. Ro said, “I can accept that.”

  “No, Ro, you don’t understand. We can’t be a couple anymore. Like you told me, he knows who I am. I don’t know if he’s watching me, but if he is, it’s too dangerous for you.”

  “What about Haley?”

  “I can watch over her. But I can’t watch you and her at the same time.” He shrugged. “She’s my sister. She comes first.” He looked around. “I know this obsession can’t go on like this forever. Eventually there will be other people in my life. But, at this moment, I’m seventeen and unattached and intend to stay that way until I get this monster off the streets.” He rubbed his eyes. “Go back to JD, hon. As a matter of fact, I’d like you to be his girl again. He can protect you in a way that I can’t. You’d be doing me a favor.” When Ro didn’t answer, Ben said, “Still want to have dinner with me?”

  “Of course.” But Ro was less excited. She tried to muster up some pride. “During dinner, how about if you catch me up on what you’re doing with the case.”

  “That’ll take about a minute because I’m nowhere. But I’d love your input.” Ben smiled but it looked more like a gesture of pain. “I’ll see you on Sunday, Majors.”

  She watched him leave. All those horrible hours of standing on her feet just so she could work the desk to find information, doing all that crap and pretending to be her deceased sister, and he was dumping her anyway.

  That’s what you do when you love someone. You do something for him, even if it hurts.

  It really, really hurt. But she’d do it again in a heartbeat.

  Chapter 16

  Ro hadn’t been to Canyon Road since the Christmas Eve walk. Geronimo was at the top of the hill, an adobe structure done in territorial-style architecture with a patio that was empty in the bright cold night. The inside was elegant—high ceilings, whitewashed walls, a fireplace with candles, and a horn chandelier. Booths held colorful pillows and graceful table service.