by Alex Barclay
Ren’s cell phone rang, and the screen flashed with a photo of her older brother Matt – her best friend, therapist, and moral conscience rolled into one. He was thirty-nine – two years older than Ren – and lived in Manhattan with his wife, Lauren, and their three-month-old son, Ethan.
‘Finally,’ said Matt when Ren answered.
Silence.
‘You’re alive,’ said Matt.
‘Yes, I am,’ said Ren.
‘Just, you didn’t text back,’ said Matt. ‘And … did you get my voicemails?’
‘Sorry, yes,’ said Ren.
‘Are you OK?’ said Matt.
‘Yes!’ said Ren. ‘Why wouldn’t I be?’
Pause. ‘Um … maybe because last month, you could barely make it from the bed to the sofa? And you phoned me several times bawling your eyes out. In the middle of the night—’
‘I’m so sorry,’ said Ren. ‘I know that’s hard with Ethan and everything …’
‘You can call me any time, you know that,’ said Matt. ‘I’m always here, but … that’s not the point. You dropped off the face of the earth.’
‘I’m sorry,’ said Ren. ‘I didn’t mean to worry you.’
‘You never do,’ said Matt.
‘What’s that supposed to mean?’ said Ren.
‘Exactly that. You never mean to. Next time, keep me posted, that’s all.’
‘Fine.’ Jesus.
‘So … what have you been doing?’ said Matt. ‘Are you OK? What changed? I was so worried. Ever since Helen …’
Ren was bipolar, unmedicated, and shrink-free. Her beloved psychiatrist of two years, Helen Wheeler, had been murdered four months earlier, and Ren and her FBI undercover past had been painfully entangled in her death.
‘Positive thinking!’ said Ren. ‘Talking to you really helped that last time, Matt. You cheered me up. And when I got off the phone, I just said, OK, what can I do? So I went online, looked at positive thinking websites, ordered some positive thinking books on Amazon. I looked up psychiatrists in Denver, printed off a few names … and I just told myself, get a grip.’
‘And did you find a psychiatrist?’ said Matt.
‘No …’
‘Ren … you’ve been very down for … months.’
‘I’m OK now,’ said Ren. ‘I’m feeling much better.’
‘Well, I’m glad to hear that,’ said Matt. ‘I really am.’
‘And,’ said Ren. ‘I met this amazing guy.’
Silence.
‘Matt?’ said Ren. ‘Are you there?’
‘Yes,’ said Matt. ‘When did this happen?’
‘Two weeks ago—’
‘Which might explain the radio silence …’
Ugh. ‘Anyway, I went out with work, then the guys all went home, I stayed on with Colin Grabien’s girlfriend, Naomi. The woman is nuts. Anyway, next thing, I met this really cute guy—’
‘And off the radar you go.’ His tone was flat.
‘I wasn’t off the radar,’ said Ren. ‘I was in work.’
‘I got one text from you weeks ago, then nothing,’ said Matt.
‘You sound like mom …’
‘Your worst nightmare. We’ve been through this before, Ren. This is not an on/off thing: you can’t call me all upset, then drop off the face of the earth when everything is OK. I didn’t know everything was OK.’
‘Well, I would have called you if I was going to jump off a cliff …’ Ren laughed.
Silence.
‘So … how’re things with you?’ said Ren.
‘Exhausting,’ said Matt.
‘You don’t sound yourself,’ said Ren. She could hear him sigh.
‘So,’ said Matt, ‘are you going to call one of the psychiatrists?’
‘Yes …’ said Ren.
‘Once more with feeling.’
‘I will. It’s Saturday night …’
‘Ren … Monday morning, please do.’
‘Yes, OK. Jesus.’
‘Enjoy the rest of your weekend.’
‘You too.’
Ren put down the phone.
Well, that was depressing.
Ren turned to Cliff.
‘I’m taking advantage of Colin’s absence,’ she said. ‘To ask you this question – is he serious about crazy Naomi?’
‘I think he has found The One,’ said Cliff, smiling.
‘Hmm,’ said Ren. ‘I’m not sure she feels the same way. I really like the woman. I do. But … remember I ended up staying out with her a couple of weeks back? We had a lot to drink, but she was … behaving like a single lady. All the single ladies.’
‘All the single ladies,’ said Cliff. He put his hand up.
‘She zoned in on this guy at the bar, like it was her mission to bag him,’ said Ren.
‘And did she?’ said Cliff.
‘No, but … I was right there – she was hardly going to disappear with him.’
‘Maybe she’s just insecure,’ said Cliff, ‘or competitive, or …’
‘Hmm,’ said Ren. ‘She’s like those women who other women love … until they see them around their man. She’s a girl’s girl, and a man’s girl, but … you get the feeling she’s distracting you with her high-larity, while she’s got her hand on your boyfriend’s ass.’ Ren paused. ‘I’m safe for girlfriends and wives. I’ll laugh or joke with yo’ man, but I don’t want him, he’s all yours. I think I make that clear. I’ve never taken someone’s man. Naomi … I think … she does want to take other men.’
‘And I thought you didn’t care about Colin …’ said Cliff.
Ren smiled. ‘And don’t mention this to him, by the way.’
‘No,’ said Cliff.
‘It would be quite the irony,’ said Ren, ‘a manwhore hanging up his riding boots for a womanwhore.’
‘Ren, that sentence is wrong “on so many levels”,’ said Cliff.
‘I’ll get you coffee for that,’ said Ren.
Cliff’s phone rang. He picked up. ‘Glenn? Shoot,’ he said. Glenn Buddy was a Denver PD detective, and Cliff’s closest friend.
‘Really?’ said Cliff. ‘No. Nothing. I’m here with Ms Ren. Let me put you on speaker.’
‘Hey, Ren,’ said Glenn. ‘We’ve got a second rape. Victim’s parents found her in her bedroom when they got back from the movie theater. She is hanging by a thread. We think it’s the Kennington guy …’
‘Shit,’ said Ren.
‘That’s bad news,’ said Cliff.
‘How old is she?’ said Ren.
Glenn let out a breath. ‘She’s fourteen.’
4
From the windows of The Merlin Lodge & Spa, the peaks of the Tenmile Range over Breckenridge glowed against the black sky. Snow was falling, more than was forecast, a white powdery gift for the next day’s competitors. The town was hosting a snowboarding championship two weeks ahead of the world-famous Winter Dew Festival, when up to one hundred thousand visitors would hit Breck.
Mark and Erica Whaley sat at a table against the wall half way down the restaurant.
‘OK,’ said Mark, looking at his watch. ‘It’s eleven thirty. I told the sitter I’d go check on the kids half an hour ago.’
Erica pulled the bottle of champagne from the ice bucket beside the table and held it over her glass.
‘I think you’ll find that’s empty,’ said Mark, smiling.
Erica leaned back in her chair. ‘Oh, well …’
There was a moment of silence between them.
‘Honey, are you OK?’ said Erica, reaching out for Mark’s hand.
‘Yes,’ he said. His jaw clenched. ‘Why? I’m fine. You’d be the first to know if I wasn’t.’
‘Exactly,’ said Erica. ‘I am the first to know …’
‘What’s that supposed to mean?’ said Mark.
‘It means that most of the time I know before you do that something is up,’ said Erica.
‘That’s ridiculous,’ said Mark. ‘Nothing is up.’
‘Calm down,’ sa
id Erica.
‘I’m just tired of being asked,’ said Mark.
‘So, I won’t ask, then,’ said Erica.
‘Thank you,’ said Mark.
‘I won’t care any more if you’re OK,’ said Erica.
‘Honey …’
‘I’ll be one of those wives who lets her husband come and go, tends to her children, sleeps with the pool guy and plays bridge with her lady friends.’
‘We’re never getting a pool,’ said Mark.
Erica smiled.
‘I only ask because I care,’ she said.
‘Yeah, I get that,’ said Mark.
‘Don’t be like that.’
‘Honey, we’re on vacation,’ said Mark.
‘Away from things,’ said Erica. ‘Isn’t that a good time to talk?’
‘Sure it is,’ said Mark. ‘But let’s not get into the “are you OK” thing.’
Erica gestured to the waiter walking past.
‘Could we get another bottle of champagne, please?’ she said.
‘You bet,’ said the waiter.
‘Thank you,’ said Erica. She looked at Mark’s face. ‘Oh, come on. I’m fine.’
‘I didn’t say a word,’ said Mark.
Erica made an expression to mimic his.
‘But two bottles – really?’ said Mark. ‘We’ve got snowboarding tomorrow, the championships, the kids …’
‘You don’t have to worry about me,’ said Erica.
‘Emphasis on the “me”,’ said Mark.
Erica rolled her eyes.
‘From the lady with the horror of eye-rolling,’ said Mark. ‘There was an emphasis,’ he said. ‘Subconscious or not …’
‘That is not fair,’ said Erica. ‘You know I’m not like that.’
‘Do you know something?’ said Mark. ‘Being mean when you’re drunk is a drink problem too …’
‘Wow,’ said Erica. Mark wasn’t looking at her. ‘What has gotten into you?’ She waited. ‘Mark, look at me.’
He did.
‘Are you OK?’ she said.
‘You’re seriously asking me that,’ said Mark, ‘after everything I just said …’
Erica’s eyes were alight. ‘Oh my God, I have put up with so much shit from you. For months! Have you any clue? You work late, or you’re locked away in the den—’
‘It’s been really busy. You know that—’
‘We have sex once a month—’ said Erica.
Mark looked at her like she was nuts.
‘Trust me,’ said Erica. She paused. ‘Once a month … I feel hideous.’
‘Hideous?’ said Mark. ‘What the …?’ His face was stricken.
‘I’m thirty-nine years old and I feel like a hag,’ she said. ‘My husband barely comes near me. So forgive me for asking if everything is all right. And it’s not just about sex. It’s about you being distant. From all of us. Sure, here we are in a beautiful hotel, but what’s the point? I’ve tried tonight, and no, I’m still getting nothing from you. So, forgive me for trying to get something from a bottle of champagne.’
Mark said nothing.
‘I’m your wife,’ said Erica. ‘I know you. I’m not asking if you’re OK for the hell of it. I’m asking because I know that everything is not OK. I’m asking a question I know the answer to, whether you do or not, whether you’re lying to me or not. I’m giving you an out, Mark. I’m giving you a chance to tell me the truth. Because I know you. And, therefore, I know that something is not right.’ Her chest was heaving. ‘Do you even know the significance of this weekend?’
‘What?’ said Mark. ‘Of course I do. I’m the one who’s spent years trying to get a judge to let me have my daughter overnight—’
‘You’re not the only one,’ said Erica. ‘I was there too. I was the one who helped to change that judge’s mind, who gave you the stability to—’
‘I gave myself the stability,’ said Mark. ‘I’m the one who went for treatment, I’m the—’
‘Anyway, I’m not talking about Laurie,’ said Erica. ‘I’m talking about us.’
Mark paused. ‘Our anniversary is Tuesday. Not tonight. Not this weekend. Seriously, Erica. Did you think I’d forgotten?’
Erica looked away. ‘I … yes. I did. I’m sorry.’
Mark shook his head. ‘Why would you think I’d forget that?’
‘Because of everything I just said to you. And because …’
‘Because what?’ said Mark.
Erica looked him in the eye. ‘Mark, are you seeing someone else?’
He stared at her. He took a deep breath. Then he threw his napkin onto the table. ‘I’m going to check on the kids.’
Ren and Cliff waited as Glenn Buddy held his hand over the phone to talk to a nurse.
He came back on the line. ‘The vic won’t be ready to talk any time soon.’
‘Were there any signs of forced entry at the house?’ said Cliff.
‘Yup,’ said Glenn. ‘He broke in the back door. She was alone; her parents were at the movies.’
‘And you think it’s the same guy …?’ said Cliff.
Even though it’s forced entry in the victim’s own home.
Ren glanced at Cliff, but he missed it.
‘Yes,’ said Glenn. ‘Similar build, frenzied, same unwashed smell, terrible breath, stab wounds in all the same places.’
Ren knew where those places were and it was horrific.
‘Anything left at the scene this time?’ said Cliff.
‘Nothing that hopped out,’ said Glenn. ‘Our Evidence Response Team’s going through it. And we’re still trying to round up kids from the Kennington party. It’s The Silent Order of the Teenage Freaks …’
‘What do you need from us?’ said Cliff. ‘Shoot.’
Mark Whaley rode the elevator to the third floor of The Merlin Lodge and Spa. He jogged down the dark hallway. He turned the key in the door of Room 304. The sitter – blonde, curvy, sixteen years old – was standing in front of him … naked.
5
The restaurant at The Merlin had emptied, apart from Erica Whaley. She sat scrolling through her cell phone, glancing up when her husband appeared in the restaurant doorway, then turning her eyes back to the screen. Mark sat down. His heart was pounding. Sweat dampened the hair at his temples.
For minutes, they sat in silence. Erica had put away her phone and was staring at the floor.
She spoke quietly. ‘I don’t want to be this couple,’ she said.
‘What couple?’ said Mark.
‘I don’t want to be two people staring across a table trying to find the person they fell in love with.’ Tears slid down her face.
For a long time, Mark Whaley said nothing. Then he reached out and squeezed her hand. Pulling her with him, he stood up and took her in his arms. ‘I’m so sorry,’ he said. ‘I … you’re right. I’ve been … I am so sorry. I love you more than I have ever loved anyone in my whole life. I am not seeing anyone else. I am so hurt that you asked. You are my world, Erica Whaley. And anything I have ever said or done that may have made you think otherwise is wrong. I can’t bear it. I can’t bear any of this.’
Erica pulled back. ‘Any of what?’ she said, squeezing his arms.
‘Just … conflict,’ he said. ‘Life.’
‘Life?’ said Erica. ‘Life is wonderful.’
He hugged her tight. ‘Life is wonderful,’ he said over her shoulder, out to the world.
‘How are the kids?’ said Erica.
‘Asleep,’ said Mark. ‘Let’s stay a while longer – the sitter was in the middle of watching something on the television. I’m sure she won’t mind.’
Ren Bryce pulled out the top drawer of her desk to get some gum. The list of new psychiatrists she had so enthusiastically printed out at five a.m. the previous month was folded there, as likely to be used as the throat lozenges, the broken watch, and the birthday candles. After all, she was fine.
Shit – Gary’s email.
Ren grabbed her mouse and wen
t to her flagged emails. Gary Dettling had sent her one two weeks earlier that had a vague resonance.
She clicked on it.
Ren,
I’ve set this up:
Monday, November 16, 1 p.m. Dr Leonard Lone.
Recommendation from a friend …
This Monday.
Ren sat back in her chair, and stared up at the ceiling.
I’m fucking fine, people.
Gary Dettling was the only one in the office who knew Ren was bipolar. Before he had hired her for Safe Streets, he had trained her as an undercover agent, and then became her case agent on one of the most well-known undercover assignments in the Bureau – it had proved Ren’s talents, and almost destroyed her. Not long afterwards, she had been diagnosed. The arrangement with Gary was that she always had to be under a psychiatrist’s care, but he allowed her to use an outside psychiatrist, because she had never clicked with an Agency one.
She read the reply she had sent him.
Thanks so much, Gary. I’ll be there.
In the meantime, please, someone, give me a plausible reason not to be.
Gary walked into the bullpen as Ren was closing his mail. He was hard to miss – tall, dark and athletic, he was the perfect front man for Safe Streets, and a boss that no-one could or would argue with.
‘Guys, this is SA Ben Rader,’ said Gary.
A short guy stepped forward from behind Gary and gave a small nod. He was five foot eight, with tanned skin and black hair. He had green, smiling eyes. He was dressed in black jeans, with a military shirt hanging open over a black t-shirt. He had a wide silver band on the middle finger of his right hand. He was shifting from one foot to the other, and had jammed his hands into his pockets. He looked about eighteen.