The Next Victim (Kali O'Brien series)

by Jonnie Jacobs

  “She was smart but she also worked hard. She knew what she wanted.”

  “Which was?”

  “A different life than she had growing up. She wanted nice clothes, jewelry, a fancy car, travel. Excitement.” Melody looked again at her left hand. “A rich husband.”

  Not the most admirable goals maybe, but Olivia certainly wasn’t the only woman her age yearning for material goods and the easy life. “Did she get along with her family?”

  A shrug. “Her mom’s okay, I guess, but her dad’s a scary guy. He can lose his temper for no reason, and he’s always got to be right. He hasn’t worked for years. Says he has a bad back but he never seemed that sick to me.”

  I loved my daughter, no matter what people say. Kali wondered if this was what he meant. “Did he ever hurt Olivia?”

  “Not physically. At least she never said anything about it. But he was mean to her. He’d ground her for no reason and take stuff away.” Melody looked like she regretted ever raising the issue. “Her parents wanted her to get a full-time job and help support the family, but Olivia wanted to go to college. I know they argued over that. Her dad got really mad.”

  Melody took a bite of her sundae. “They told her to take some night classes at Pima, if she was so set on college, but Olivia wanted to go to the U of A. Her dad was furious she even applied. And when she got in, I think he saw that as a slap in the face.”

  “It’s quite an accomplishment.”

  “Yeah, we were all like, wow, that’s so great, and her dad about disowned her. He kicked her out of the house the day she turned eighteen.”

  “So she was on her own?”

  Melody nodded. “Luckily she got financial aid at U of A. It’s not like they just give you the money, though. They make you work for part of it and borrow most of it. Her freshman year she had a work-study job in the library that paid only five dollars an hour. That’s less than I make.” Melody sounded incredulous.

  “It’s not much,” Kali agreed.

  “That’s what I mean about Olivia being determined. She was going to be paying off her student loans for years to come. Me, I wouldn’t want that.”

  Kali knew about student debt. She’d only just paid off the last of her law school loans.

  “Let me show you a photo,” she said, reaching into her purse for the snapshot of Olivia and her two friends, and handed it to Melody. “Do you recognize any of these girls?”

  Melody looked, then shook her head. “They weren’t from high school. I didn’t see much of Olivia after she started college. Our lives went in different directions.” For a moment, Melody looked wistful. Maybe her “spunkiness” was just dormant rather than totally lacking.

  “Have you met any of her friends from college?” Kali asked.

  “A couple, but it’s not like I know them or anything.”

  “Can you remember their names?”

  Melody scowled in thought. “Joanna Sommers was one. She worked at the library with Olivia freshman year. And a guy named Randy.”

  “A boyfriend?”

  “I don’t think so, at least not when I met him. We were at the mall early last summer, and she ran into him. Really cute guy with a great bod. He was older than us, so maybe he wasn’t even from college. When he left I asked Olivia if she was dating him, and she just laughed and changed the subject.”

  “Was she usually so secretive?”

  Melody frowned. “Not when we were in school together. We talked about everything then. But after she went away to college, it was like she’d moved on and wasn’t interested in me so much.”

  “When was the last time you talked to her?”

  “Probably that time at the mall. She’d just moved in with Mrs. Winslow and she was feeling flush. She bought me lunch even.”

  “She was happy with the living arrangement, then?”

  “Very. She was about as upbeat as I’d ever seen her.”

  “Did she ever mention the name John O’Brien?”

  Melody blinked. “Isn’t he the guy they say killed her?”

  “That’s one theory.”

  She looked pensive, shook her head. “No, Olivia never said anything to me about him. You think she knew him?”

  “I don’t know. That’s what I’m trying to find out.”

  “I don’t know why she would. That doesn’t make sense.”

  No, it didn’t. But there had to be a reason John had Olivia’s photo hidden in the pages of his dictionary.

  Chapter 15

  Kali devoted Saturday night to packing up John’s clothes. She’d gotten through the whole bureau and half the closet when she was startled to hear the front door slam. She tensed. Pretending to have a gun had worked with Graciela. Could she pull it off again?

  “It’s me,” Sabrina called out. “Anyone here?”

  Kali felt herself relax. “I’m in John’s room.”

  Sabrina’s footsteps shuffled along the hallway to the bedroom. She dropped her tote in the corner.

  “What are you doing back so soon?” Kali asked. “And where’s the family?”

  “They’ll be down tomorrow.”

  “I didn’t expect you until tomorrow morning.”

  “I’m not interfering with wild party plans, am I?”

  Kali laughed as she inspected the ties she’d laid out flat in a cardboard box. “Hardly. In fact, I missed you. It was a little too quiet last night.”

  “You should have been at my house,” Sabrina said. “It was far from quiet.”

  “The boys were being rambunctious again?”

  She held up her hands. “Mostly. You want some help with that?”

  “Yeah, but not tonight. I was about ready to quit anyway.” Kali folded down the top of the box and stacked it with the others in the corer. “You hungry? I had a toasted cheese sandwich for dinner. I could make you one.”

  “I grabbed a bite before I left Scottsdale. I could use a drink, though,” Sabrina headed for the kitchen.

  “Why’d you come back early?” Kali asked again. She felt bad about laying on the guilt earlier when Sabrina had announced she was going home. Her sister did have a family, after all.

  Sabrina shrugged. “The kids are all out tonight anyway.”

  “And Peter?”

  A half laugh. “He’ll hardly know I’m gone.”

  “What does that mean?”

  “Nothing,” Sabrina answered tersely. “Forget I even mentioned it.” She filled a sixteen-ounce measuring cup with ice, poured a hefty measure of vodka into the bottom, then added a splash of vermouth. As she stirred, she turned to Kali. “You want some?”

  Kali gave passing thought to accepting, if only to save Sabrina from polishing off the whole thing. But she’d fallen prey to Sabrina’s martinis in the past. “I think I’ll stick with wine.” She poured a glass from the open bottle of Zinfandel. “How are the kids handling the news of John’s death?”

  “Last night was pretty emotional. But the great thing about kids—well, the great thing and also the horrible thing—is that they’re basically self-centered. If it doesn’t affect them directly, they’re quick to move on. That isn’t to say they won’t have some painful moments in the days and weeks ahead.”

  “You told them about the murder and John’s alleged role?”

  “Sort of.” Sabrina joined Kali at the kitchen table. “I probably soft pedaled it a bit. I mean, we don’t even know all the facts, right? And just because the cops had some crazy theory about John being the killer . . . there’s no point upsetting the kids with that kind of talk.”

  When it came to kids, Kali didn’t have the slightest notion what was right. But she thought not telling them the truth was probably a mistake.

  Sabrina leaned back in her chair. “Damn fine martini if I do say so myself. Just what the doctor ordered.” She turned to Kali. “Have you manage to dig up anything yet? Please tell me there’s some good news.”

  “Just the opposite, I’m afraid.”

  Sabrina groaned
. “What happened?”

  “For starters, it looks like Olivia’s family is moving on a wrongful death suit against John’s estate.”

  “His . . . you mean the money he was giving us?”

  Leave it to Sabrina to put a personal spin on things. In that regard she wasn’t all that different from her kids. “Right,” Kali said.

  “Can they do that?”

  “They can sue. To win, they’ll have to prove John was responsible. But in a civil trial the burden of proof is much lower than in criminal court.”

  “How much lower?”

  “Instead of a unanimous verdict, they only have to convince nine out of twelve jurors. And the jurors don’t have to be convinced beyond a reasonable doubt, only that the preponderance of the evidence supports that conclusion.”

  Sabrina set her glass on the table. “In other words, it’s a lot easier.”

  “Easier, yes. But they still have to prove their case.”

  “If they do, they’ll get John’s money?”

  Kali nodded. “To the extent of the judgment.” She was sure their claim would exceed John’s estate, so the caveat didn’t really matter. “A verdict in their favor will also cement John’s guilt in the mind of the public.” To Kali, that was almost worse.

  “That’s awful!” Sabrina cried.

  “I’m hoping they never follow through. They may decide the odds of winning aren’t worth the aggravation.”

  But Sabrina was apparently grappling with a different issue. “John promised he’d help,” she lamented.

  “Help?”

  “With money. For college.”

  Kali frowned. Her sister led the pampered life of a suburban princess. What did she need John’s help for? “John was going to foot the bill for the kids’ college?”

  “I said help. I didn’t say he’d promised to pay the whole thing.”

  “Okay, help. What about you and Peter?”

  Sabrina sighed, clenched her hands together. “Peter’s business isn’t doing well and we’ve got . . . some pretty big debts.”

  “So learn to budget like the rest of us.” Kali didn’t have a lot of sympathy for people who lived beyond their means.

  “Gambling debts,” Sabrina said hesitantly. “Peter’s.”

  “Gambling?”

  “I didn’t even know about it until recently. When things started going badly at work, he spent a lot of time at the casino instead.”

  It was Sabrina’s distraught tone more than the words themselves that made Kali take note.

  “He lost money, a lot of it, then lost more trying to win it back. Our credit cards are maxed out, our savings are gone.” She drew in a breath and looked away. “He even forged my signature and took out a second mortgage on the house. We’ve got nothing.”

  “Oh, Sabrina.” Instinctively, Kali reached across the table and covered her sister’s hands with her own. “I’m sorry.”

  “That’s why I came back early,” Sabrina said tearfully. “We had another big fight. And like I said, the kids were out anyway. There was no reason to stick around.”

  “How long has this been going on? Why didn’t you say something before now?”

  “I just found out about six weeks ago. And, well, it’s embarrassing.”

  “But you told John.”

  “John wasn’t like you,” Sabrina snapped, pulling her hands free. “He wasn’t so critical of everything I do.”

  “You think I’m critical of you?”

  “Aren’t you?” She got up and refilled her drink, ignoring Kali’s empty glass. “You’ve always got all the answers. The perfect life.”

  “I’ve got the perfect life?” Kali couldn’t believe what she was hearing. She had nothing to show for herself but a series of failed romances and a career that had taken a nosedive when the firm where she’d expected to make partner imploded. Sure, she’d been involved in some dramatic cases since then, but she was barely keeping her head above water financially.

  “Don’t you?”

  “Hardly,” Kali said. “And as for being critical, aren’t you the one who’s always telling me I need a normal job, a husband, and a family?”

  “Did it ever dawn on you that I might be envious?”

  “Of me?” The whole time they were growing up Sabrina had been the golden one. Cute and perky, whereas Kali was gangly and shy. Sabrina had inherited their mother’s carefree disposition and sparkling good looks. She’d been daddy’s little girl, high school homecoming queen, and the object of just about every boy’s fancy. Conveniently helpless when there was work to be done, but otherwise the center of attention. She’d married Peter when she was twenty, choosing a “Mrs.” over a B.A., and as far as Kali knew she’d never looked back.

  “You’re smart,” Sabrina said between sniffles. “And successful. You’ve got a life.”

  That was an eye-opener. “Some life.”

  “At least it’s yours. Without my husband and kids, I’m nobody.”

  “What about Peter?” Kali asked. “Is he . . . getting help with his addiction?”

  “He joined Gamblers Anonymous and he promised me he’s stopped, but I can’t be sure he has. Even if he has, I don’t see how we’ll ever get out of debt.” Sabrina twisted her hair into a knot at the back of her head, then let it fall loose. “Anyway, with Joey going off to college next year, John said he’d help out. Now you tell me that’s up in the air.”

  Kali was still reeling with shock, not only at Sabrina’s terrible predicament, but at seeing this side of her sister—one she’d never in her wildest dreams imagined. Once again, Kali felt like an outsider in her own family. It was a damn unpleasant feeling.

  “Do you think they’ll win?” Sabrina asked quietly. “Olivia’s parents?”

  “I don’t know. So far all I’ve learned is that Sloane Winslow was practically a saint. Olivia too. And the evidence seems to point to John.”

  Sabrina bit her lower lip. “Shit.”

  “There’s something I need to show you.” Kali went to her purse, pulled out the snapshot of the three girls, and showed it to Sabrina. “Do you recognize any of them?”

  Sabrina shook her head, then gave Kali a puzzled look. “Who are they?”

  “The one in the middle is Olivia Perez.”

  “The dead girl? Where’d you get it?”

  “I found it in John’s office yesterday. Hidden inside the dictionary our parents gave him for graduation. It seemed strange he’d have a photo of three young women, but I didn’t think much about it. Today I learned that one of them was Olivia.”

  Sabrina’s face paled. “Why would he have a photograph of Olivia?”

  “I have no idea. I was hoping you’d recognize one of the others.

  “How’d you figure out it was her?” Sabrina asked.

  Kali told her about finding the Internet picture, and her subsequent conversations with the girl’s father and friend from high school. “They confirmed that the girl in the photo is Olivia.”

  Sabrina dropped back down into her chair. “I can’t believe this. John must have known her.”

  “He never mentioned Olivia, even if he didn’t refer to her by name?”

  “I’m sure he didn’t.” Sabrina put her head in her hands. “What do you think it means?”

  “That there’s a lot we don’t know about both Sloane and Olivia. And about our brother.”

  Chapter 16

  Erling glanced at his wife, then again at both couches. He shrugged. “It’s a toss-up.”

  The green couch was more comfortable, the tan one marginally better in terms of style. He didn’t like either one as much as the couch they had now, but Deena had decided that it was “disreputable” and needed to be replaced. Erling was willing to concede that it was worn and stained, but it was perfectly serviceable. What’s more, the couch had history. Purchased when Mindy was in kindergarten and Danny just a baby, it had stood them through more than a decade of slumber parties and holidays, all of which had undoubtedly contr
ibuted to the problem that brought them to Macy’s furniture store this Sunday afternoon in search of a replacement.

  “You don’t have any preference at all?” Deena asked him.

  “They’re both nice.”

  She frowned. “I don’t know. I can’t say I love either one.”

  “Well, there’s no rush, is there? I mean, we don’t have to decide today, between these two.”

  “You’re right. I guess I just want it done. I’m so tired of looking at that old thing we’ve got now.” Deena sighed and took his hand. “Let’s go. I appreciate your coming with me. It helps to have a second opinion.”

  “Even though I didn’t really have one?”

  She laughed and gave him a playful peck on the cheek. “You had one all right. It was What’s wrong with the sofa we’ve got?”

  “I’m that easy to read?” Erling asked, as they got onto the escalator. He rested a hand on her shoulder, cheered by her good humor.

  “Sometimes.” She gave him an odd look. “But not always.”

  Erling felt his breath catch. Was it the look? The tone of her voice? Or maybe simply his guilty conscience? He couldn’t tell if the remark had meaning beyond the obvious.

  All weekend, ever since he’d seen Sloane Winslow’s name and number in their caller ID list, Erling had been looking for signs that Deena knew more than she was letting on. He might as well have been trying to read tea leaves. The uncertainty was driving him crazy.

  At times he thought about simply asking her, “Say, I saw that we had a call from Sloane Winslow a while back. Do you know what it was about?” Or “I was wondering, have you ever run across Sloane Winslow as part of your work with nonprofits?” These were questions Erling might well have asked if he hadn’t been living a lie.

  “I think Mindy may have met a guy,” Deena announced as they crossed the hot asphalt of the parking lot.

  “A guy?” He had the feeling she’d made an earlier comment he’d missed. “As in boyfriend?”

  Mindy hadn’t dated in high school. Hadn’t had any male friends at all, as far as Erling knew. From the vantage point of a protective father, he’d been secretly pleased, though he knew Mindy hadn’t seen it that way.