The Temptation of Silence

by V. J. Chambers

  A smell of damp rot and mustiness hit her nostrils.

  She felt along the wall beside her and her fingers found a light switch.

  The light was weak, a dim yellowness that barely seemed to penetrate the gloom.

  The basement floor was covered in leaves and dirt. That door had been hanging open for a long time.

  The basement was full of clutter. Two old lawn mowers and a tangle of bicycles sat along one wall. Along the other was an old washer and dryer, both rusty from years of exposure to the elements.

  Next to the washer and dryer stood an old refrigerator, the kind with rounded edges and just one door. Beside it was a top-loading freezer. Both of these were rusty too, but they also appeared to be plugged in.

  She lurched toward the freezer, drawn there as if she’d been hooked behind her belly button and now a string of strong fishing line was tugging her forward.

  The freezer loomed ahead of her, growing larger as she approached.

  Liam’s hand on her shoulder.

  She jumped.

  “Haysle.” His voice was strained.

  She shook him off. And now she moved more quickly, hurrying across the decrepit, leaf-colored concrete floor.

  Until she stood at the freezer, fingers poised to open it.

  Behind her, Liam made a guttural noise.

  She yanked.

  The freezer door opened, a rush of cold air hitting her face. The air was colder than the air here in the basement, even with the door open.

  The first thing she saw was a human hand.

  It was encased in plastic, bound and smashed, and it was attached to an arm. Her gaze followed that, moving over the contents of the freezer, where there were at least three bodies, limbs entwined, packed into the freezer, all of them wrapped in clear plastic.

  She let out a harsh breath.

  One of the bodies was missing a leg, just above the knee.

  She turned to Liam, eyes widening. “Here.”

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  Dawson pushed a piece of paper across the table to Liam. It was days later, and they were back in Cape Christopher. They were in a room in the back of the station, the same room they’d used to brainstorm about Slater’s location over a month ago. “Well, it’s official. The bodies in the freezer match the bodies in the bouquet.”

  Liam picked up the piece of paper. “I thought it took weeks for DNA.”

  “Yeah, they worked fast. I guess it’s easier when they have samples to compare it to,” she said. “Or maybe we just lucked out and it was a slow week at the lab.”

  “And one of the bodies in the freezer was Harlow Walker?” Liam scrutinized the paper.

  “Yes, that’s confirmed,” said Dawson. “The other was Montana Scott, who also went missing.”

  “And, according to Trina Manning, was also at the bonfire,” said Liam. “Which, I guess, makes sense.” He set down the paper. “But there were three bodies in the bouquet, and the third body in the freezer wasn’t missing any limbs.”

  “No, the third body in the bouquet was Natalie Rice,” said Dawson. “She was found out in the marsh land. We presume she was an intended victim of Slater’s who managed to get away, only to succumb to the elements out there.”

  “Right.” Liam nodded. “Then, the third body in the freezer? Do we have identification on that?”

  “Not yet,” said Dawson. “It doesn’t match any DNA on file in the database, but then it likely wouldn’t, because the database is mostly made up of people who’ve been arrested.”

  “Right, I guess that figures,” said Liam. “It’s the same thing with the limbs we found in the bouquet.”

  “Yes,” said Dawson. “And guess what else I found out. This is kind of weird, I think. That house is owned by Robert Worth.”

  “Worth,” repeated Liam.

  “Destiny Worth’s father,” said Dawson.

  Liam furrowed his brow. “Really?”

  “Yeah,” said Dawson. “So, we have the cabin, where Slater kept you captive, which is on land owned by Destiny Worth—in her name. And this property, which is also owned by the Worth family.”

  “How long has the Worth family owned it?”

  “Since the mid-1980s,” said Dawson.

  “But if there was a house that the family owned, so near to the college, then why didn’t Destiny simply stay there? Why did she rent an apartment?”

  “I have no idea,” said Dawson. “That’s what you’re choosing to focus on? Maybe the house was in bad shape even then. It looks abandoned. My guess is that Slater knew about these properties from Destiny—”

  “Why didn’t I know about them?” said Liam.

  “Because you didn’t ask her about them?”

  “She and Finn hung out because of me,” said Liam. “When they were together, I was always with them, so when would they have talked about that kind of stuff?”

  “Forgive me, Liam, but if they were spending time together without you, the virtue of your not being there means that you didn’t know about it.”

  Liam blinked.

  “You indicated to me that they did what they did to you together,” said Dawson. “So, it’s not unlikely that Slater was meeting with her on his own, and that he was manipulating her as well.”

  “Actually, there was junior year,” said Liam. “Destiny and I were always on again, off again, and we weren’t together for most of junior year. But they hung out, and Finn would tell me about it. I used to think he wanted to make me jealous or something, but I wasn’t, not at the time. I thought I was a lot better off without her. She was a confusing girlfriend.”

  “I can imagine,” said Dawson.

  “I guess, sure, it’s possible that Finn got her to give up the locations of her family’s properties.”

  “Just ones that were in disrepair and that were not being used,” said Dawson. “We theorized that the Worth family put assets in Destiny’s name for tax purposes, and maybe they keep other less-than-desirable properties for similar reasons. If Slater knew about those properties, he may have thought they were the perfect places to hide things.”

  “Yeah, I guess I can see that.”

  “Well, I’m in the process of trying to get in touch with Robert Worth, but I’m not having any luck thus far. Mostly, I’m just leaving messages on voicemail. No one has gotten back in touch with me yet.”

  “You think maybe that’s where Finn is? Another of these abandoned properties that belongs to the Worth family?”

  “Well, it would be easier if we could get in touch with them and they could narrow it down for us. The Worth family owns a lot of property, and searching every single location would be a lot of manpower.”

  Liam nodded. “True.

  “You don’t happen to know how to get in touch with anyone in the family, do you?”

  “No,” he said. “I never met anyone in her family.”

  “And did she talk much about them?”

  “Never,” said Liam. “She never mentioned her family at all, other than to tell people that she was rich, which she did pretty regularly. I think she enjoyed making other people uncomfortable, or else she truly didn’t care what anyone thought about her.”

  “Probably what made her so appealing,” said Dawson.

  “Probably,” Liam agreed.

  * * *

  “Oh,” said Dawson. “I’m so happy that someone has finally returned my call. Is this Mr. Worth?”

  “No,” said the male voice on the other end. “My name is Alexander Tilden. I work for Mr. Worth. I’m his representative. I am only calling to say that we are happy to cooperate with the police in anyway that is necessary.”

  “Good,” said Dawson. “What we’re asking for is a list of any of the Worth family properties that might be in less-than-premium condition.” She didn’t want to say rundown. “We think that Phineas Slater, who’s currently at large, might be staying in one of them.”

  “Certainly, it’s a matter of public record to find what propertie
s are owned by Mr. Worth.”

  “Well, Mr. Worth seems to have a tendency to also put properties in the names of family members,” said Dawson. “And we would have to go and physically look at each of them to see if they were the sort of place that Slater might be able to inhabit undetected. So, if there’s any way that you could help us narrow this down, it would be wonderful.”

  “I really have no idea what the condition of Mr. Worth’s properties might be.”

  “Oh,” said Dawson. “Well, perhaps Mr. Worth himself might? Do you think I could speak to him?”

  “I am instructed to speak for him,” said Tilden.

  “Could you, then, ask him?” said Dawson. “See if he knows, and then get back to me?”

  “I suppose,” said Tilden.

  “Excellent,” said Dawson. “Oh, but could I have a direct number where I could reach you, just in case?”

  “You can reach me easily from the number where you left the message.”

  “But no one ever answers that phone,” said Dawson. “I always have to leave a message. Could I have a contact number for you personally?”

  “I don’t see how that would assist you,” said Tilden. “I’ll be in touch, detective.” He hung up.

  Dawson hung up, too. Something about that conversation had been very odd. She didn’t like it.

  She sat back in her chair. Was there something odd about the Worth family in general?

  She had learned as a police officer that stranger-on-stranger crime was very rare, and that most people who committed crimes did so to people they knew. Family members often hurt other family members.

  A father arranging to kill his daughter, for instance?

  She could easily believe it.

  What if Robert Worth and Slater were somehow working together?

  Maybe this explained the discrepancies, when it seemed impossible for Slater to have done it all by himself. Maybe Robert Worth had a taste for murder, too, and he used Slater as his… his what?

  No, this was far-fetched.

  She was reaching.

  She wished she could get the man on the phone, however.

  Instead, she spent the afternoon researching the Worth family.

  Well, trying to.

  The Worth family was incredibly private.

  There wasn’t much she could find, other than names.

  Destiny had been the daughter of Robert and Annalise. She had a brother named Quentin. She found one picture of Quentin, out on the town with a pretty redhead on his arm, smiling brightly at the camera. Otherwise, there was nothing.

  * * *

  Liam went by the hotel room where Belinda and Madison were staying. It was a suite on the top floor of the place, and Belinda was in the kitchen when he arrived.

  “I’d come out there but I’m stir-frying,” she called. “If I stop, it’ll burn.”

  “Smells good,” Liam said.

  “I’d ask you to stay for dinner, but we don’t have a lot of groceries,” said Belinda.

  “I wasn’t angling for an invite.” He stepped into the kitchen area and thrust his hands into his pockets.

  “Well, what are you doing here?” she said.

  “Where’s Madison?” he said.

  “She’s down at the ice machine,” said Belinda. “With a police escort. She should be back in a couple minutes. We don’t even really need ice. I think she just wants to go down there for something to do.”

  “How is she?”

  “She’s…” Belinda took the vegetables off the burner and turned it off. “She says she’s fine, but she’s kind of regressed a bit. She’s been clingy and calling me ‘Mommy’ and wanting me to help her pick out her clothes and things she would never usually ask me to do anymore. It’s kind of nice, for me, because it’s a break from having a teenager, but… well, it’s worrying.”

  “Yeah,” he said. “That worries me too.”

  “I hear it’s normal,” said Belinda. “It’s the way kids tend to respond to stress, and she needs her mom. That’s why I’m here.” She was suddenly overcome with emotion and her voice cracked. She put her fingers to her lips.

  Liam had the urge to pull her into his arms, like he used to, when they were married.

  But, hell, the truth was that had stopped happening for years before the divorce, because it had started to seem as though—whenever she was upset—it was his fault. And then he’d stopped wanting to give her a hug anymore. He’d only wanted to yell at her to stop blaming him for everything.

  He hung his head.

  “Have you heard anything else from Slater?”

  Liam shook his head. “No. Nothing. He hasn’t texted me since that night. Hasn’t called me.”

  “Why do you think that is?”

  “I couldn’t even begin to speculate.”

  “Maybe he decided you weren’t worth his time, and he went somewhere else.”

  “I…” He sighed. “I wouldn’t count on that.”

  “How long do you think we’re going to be here?” She gestured around at the suite. “We can’t live here, you know? We have to go home eventually.”

  “We’re going to catch him,” said Liam. “We just had a big break in the case, and we’ve got something we’re pursuing, so hopefully, we’ll have him back behind bars in no time.”

  The door to the suite opened and Madison came in with a container of ice. She waved to the police officer who was closing the door behind her.

  “Liam!” said Madison. “You came to visit.”

  “I wanted to check on you guys,” said Liam.

  “Well, we’re having stir fry,” said Madison. “And now we have ice for our drinks.” She set it down on the counter.

  “How are you?” Liam looked her over.

  She squished up her nose. “Don’t be like that. Everyone’s being like that with me right now.”

  “Like what?”

  “You know, so serious, like someone died.” Madison shrugged. “I’m fine. And we’re safe here. If Phineas came here, the cops at the door would shoot him in the throat.”

  “That’s awfully specific,” said Belinda.

  “I asked Paul if they would shoot him in the throat, and he said yes. Or the head. Or anywhere they could,” said Madison. “Is Liam staying to eat with us?”

  “No,” said Liam. “I, um, just came by to see how you were doing.”

  “Oh, that’s too bad,” said Madison. “We haven’t all eaten together in a really long time.”

  Belinda and Liam exchanged a glance.

  “You know, honey,” said Belinda, “Liam and I we’re not—”

  “Getting back together, I know.” Madison rolled her eyes. “It’s not my first rodeo, Mom. Seriously, I’ve been through this divorced thing before.”

  Belinda’s mouth wavered. “I do know, and I’m so sorry, baby. I wanted—”

  “Oh, God, don’t do that either.” Madison rolled her eyes. “You just make everything into such a big deal, Mom.”

  Belinda smiled. “Well, that sounds more like the Madison I know and love.” She turned to Liam. “She’s going to be just fine, I think.”

  * * *

  Later that night, Liam got a call from Hernandez. He let it go to voicemail, but Hernandez didn’t leave a message. Instead, he texted.

  There’s a new chapter on Bosom Friends.

  Liam immediately checked. Yup, sure enough, he had the email notification and everything.

  Reading it now, he texted back. He skimmed through the new offering, and then he let Dawson know it was up.

  She immediately decided that they should all come in to the station and talk about it, Hernandez included.

  So, at that point, Liam decided to call Hernandez back. “Sorry I didn’t pick up the phone.”

  “No, it’s fine.” Hernandez was colder than usual, more formal. “I should have known better than to call.”

  “There’s nothing wrong with calling,” said Liam.

  Silence.

  “Thi
s is going to be weird now?” said Liam. Of course it’s going to be weird, you stupid drunk. What the fuck were you thinking messing around with this kid? And he is a fucking kid. You’re such a dumbass.

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” said Hernandez.

  “Right,” said Liam. “Did, um, did you hear from Dawson, that she wants us all to get together?”

  “Oh, that’s why you called?” said Hernandez. “You wanted to make sure I wouldn’t say something that would mean you blow it with her, since you guys have something going on, even though you’re off trolling in gay bars.”

  “No,” said Liam. “You’re angry with me.”

  “I’m not.”

  “You are. You were expecting me to call you or something? And I didn’t?”

  “I’m not angry. It’s fine.”

  Liam took a deep breath. It was obviously not fine, not fine at all. Shit. “There’s really nothing with me and Dawson, actually. It was just like a one-time thing—”

  “A you-being-slutty thing?”

  A beat. “Yeah,” he said quietly. “And drunk. I’m a fuck-up. Did you really not notice? Don’t take anything that I did as meaning anything about you, all right?”

  “I’ll see you at the station.” Hernandez hung up.

  * * *

  When Liam arrived, both Hernandez and Dawson were already there, and Dawson had taken it upon herself to print out the last entry in Bosom Friends in its entirety—one copy for each of them. There were a bunch of highlighters in the middle of the table.

  Dawson had one and was carefully marking up her own copy. She didn’t even look up when Liam came in.

  Hernandez did, and their gazes met, and then Hernandez looked away.

  Liam sat down at the table, feeling like a piece of shit. He focused his attention on the printout.

  “Well, this isn’t really a hacker,” spoke up Hernandez.

  Great. Guess they were all skipping the greetings.

  Dawson looked up. “Hi, you two. Sorry, it’s late. Thanks for coming in.”

  “Sure, what else do I have going on?” said Liam. “If this helps us find Finn, I’m here for it.”

  “We shouldn’t think that just because this ‘new’ author claims to be someone else,” said Hernandez, “that he is. It’s still Slater. He’s making this hacker stuff up.”