Beneath Her Skin

by Gregg Olsen

  “The biggest B in the history of Port Gamble,” Hayley added.

  “No argument from me,” he said with an undisputed grin on his face. “I heard you asking about Katelyn. What’s up?”

  “What’s up?” Taylor asked. “She’s dead, and we don’t think she killed herself. What do you know?”

  Teagan watched as Hayley hesitated in front of the door.

  “Me? Nothing,” he said. “She was depressed. I guess that’s something.”

  Taylor pushed a little. Maybe the kid was more observant than his sister and actually knew something. “Did she have a boyfriend?”

  He shook his head. “I think that’s why she was depressed. She didn’t have one.”

  Later that evening, Hayley and Colton looked at the screen on Hayley’s computer. They’d opened up the files from the thumb drive, and with a few clicks went a little deeper, beyond the contents of the messages themselves to the source files. What they were seeing was baffling beyond belief. The IP address for all the messages sent to Katelyn came from the Larsens’ house. All of them.

  Including the “meet me in Seattle” message.

  “Jake,” Colton said. “That creep was stalking Katelyn.”

  “Jake,” Hayley repeated. She avoided saying something stupid like the fact that she’d always had a “funny feeling” about Jake Damon, but she had. So had her sister. Beth too. One time the previous summer, Beth had complained that he drove by her house very slowly as she washed the car in the alley.

  “Outside of Segway Guy, he’s the creepiest person in Port Gamble. I’m glad that Jake’s boning Starla’s mom. She deserves it,” Beth had said.

  “That’s harsh, Beth. Even for you,” Hayley said.

  Beth barely blinked. “That’s me, I guess. Harsh.”

  As Colton scrolled through code, Hayley thought some more about Jake, and the pieces began to fall into place. It wasn’t a perfect fit but the kind that inspired more digging. There had always been talk about Jake Damon and his supposedly lurid past. No one really knew exactly what it was, and they assumed all sorts of nefarious possibilities—drug-running from Seattle to Alaska, motorcycle gang activity (derived from his first appearance in Port Gamble on a BSA Chopper) and even the suggestion that he’d been in prison (one of his tattoos looked suspiciously homemade). Hayley’s dad took the bait on that one, but after computer research and a couple of phone calls, the only criminal activity that came up for Jake was traffic related.

  And none of that involved a motorcycle gang.

  Jake was handsome, kind of shiftless and never seemed to need full-time employment. When he hooked up with Mindee Larsen around the time her husband left town, most people saw him as an opportunist.

  “Mindee’s drowning her sorrows in a six-pack of steel,” Sandra Berkley had blurted to Valerie when she and the twins were shopping the previous autumn at Central Market in Poulsbo.

  Valerie had remained silent. The scene was too sad.

  Sandra had the last word, though. “I know what kind of a guy Jake Damon is. I’ve seen the way he looks at our daughters.”

  Of course, Sandra knew something about drowning her own sorrows. Her idea of a six-pack had nothing to do with abs, either. In her cart were half a dozen bottles of Yellowtail Shiraz—on sale with a ten percent discount for shoppers who bought six.

  Sandra Berkley had a lot to forget. And not all of it had to do with her daughter’s death. No, Sandra’s regrets went back almost a decade, and no amount of cheap wine could ever let her truly forget.

  Chapter Thirty-Six

  Moira Windsor never told anyone she was interviewing that she wasn’t exactly an employee of the Herald. She was a stringer, a freelance writer. She thought that particular term made it sound like no one would hire her, so she never mentioned it when she was out talking with sources.

  After speaking with Kevin Ryan, whom she thought was a royal jerk in the way he just brushed her aside, the pretty twenty-three-year-old returned to her aunt’s house in Paradise Bay, just across the Hood Canal Bridge. The name of the place always made her wince a little when she told people where she lived. The view of the bay was lovely, but it was far from paradise. Her aunt was off snow-birding in Tucson, Arizona, and she’d left Moira to house-sit. The word house was a bit of a stretch. It was really more of a cabin with a woodstove for its sole heat source. Outside in the crusty snow were fourteen bird feeders, eight garden gnomes, and two bleach bottles cut and bent to allow the wind to spin them as they hung from the eaves.

  Moira was sure that Savannah Guthrie never had to live like this.

  She lined up two bottles of sparkling water, turned on some background TV and sat down at her computer to search for whatever she could find about the infamous Port Gamble crash. She’d grown up in Bremerton and had vague memories about it, but as a pudgy teenager back then she likely gave it two minutes of thought: Wow, that’s terrible! I feel sorry for those kids and their families!

  And then she went back to her life and her dreams of getting out of naval-gray Bremerton, the county’s largest city.

  With a cooking show playing in the background, she went onto the search engine and put in the words: “Port Gamble + Daisy + Crash.”

  The host was talking about ways to cut calories out of her “nice spice” Indian cuisine, but as a former fatty, Moira wanted to fantasize about the real thing. Bring on the fat! She guzzled her sparkling water and looked longingly at a bottle of red wine.

  Seventeen articles popped up. She clicked on the first one that had appeared on the Kitsap Sun site.

  HOOD CANAL BRIDGE CRASH KILLS FIVE

  A Port Gamble school bus being used by a Girl Scout Daisy Troop for an ill-fated picnic at Indian Island careened over the Hood Canal Bridge yesterday afternoon, killing the driver and four girls, ages 5-7. Three children and an adult were airlifted to area hospitals.

  Motorists on the scene indicated that the draw span had been retracted when the bus crashed in heavy rain and wind. State engineers say retracting the span is done to relieve pressure on the bridge.

  “They were right in front of me,” said Cindy Johnston of Bainbridge Island. “I was following them pretty closely because I could barely see. The rain was coming down so hard. In one second, the bus just disappeared.”

  Sustained winds of 50 mph, with gusts of 65 mph, were reported in the region by the National Weather Service.

  The Washington State Department of Transportation and the State Patrol are investigating.

  Moira knew that the crash had killed several people, but she thought it was only two. Four plus the bus driver… it was beyond tragic. She tried to process the depth of that kind of loss on a small town like Port Gamble. It had to have touched almost everyone who lived there.

  She read the next article, which indicated that two children were recovered from the water as well as one child and an adult who’d been thrown from the bus to the bridge deck. The article also went on to say that the recovery of the North Kitsap School District’s short bus and the bodies would likely take several days as the depth of the water was three hundred feet or more.

  She clicked on another article, one from the Daily Olympian.

  ELECTRICAL FAILURE LED TO FATAL HOOD CANAL CRASH

  A spokesman for the Washington State Department of Transportation said today that the school bus crash killing five was a “tragic combination of the weather and an electrical fault that caused the span to open.”

  It had not been opened by the bridge tender, as previously reported.

  Among the dead were Christina Lee, 7; Sarah Benton, 6; Violet Caswell, 5; and Emma Perkins, also 5. Also killed was bus driver Margie Jones, 29. Jones, according to the North Kitsap School District Records Office, was an exemplary employee. She was completing her master’s degree in education and was working as an activity bus driver. She’d planned to teach next fall.

  “She wanted nothing more than to do something for kids,” said Barry Jones, her husband of five years.
>
  Three of the survivors remain hospitalized. One, a 30-year-old Port Gamble woman, has been released.

  Moira activated a few more links, some showing photographs of a barge transporting an enormous crane to the crash site, another as it raised the short bus out of the water, and finally a close-up of an exhausted pair of state divers standing at the rail. Their haunted eyes and grim expressions said more than anything a reporter could write.

  Another article highlighted the joint memorial service held at Port Gamble’s church.

  She recognized Kevin Ryan in one of the photos.

  Finally, she thought, as her eyes scanned the computer screen and the next article. The names of the survivors.

  VICTIMS’ NAMES RELEASED. TWO IN COMA

  The names of the survivors of the Hood Canal Bridge bus accident were released this afternoon. Sandra Berkley, 30, and her daughter, Katelyn, 5, were thrown from the bus as it went off the bridge. Ms. Berkley suffered cracked ribs and abrasions. She and her daughter were treated and released from Harrison Medical Center, Bremerton.

  The two other victims, 5-year-old twin girls Hayley and Taylor Ryan, remain hospitalized. Their parents issued a statement yesterday.

  “Our daughters are fighters. Please keep them in your prayers. Believe in miracles.”

  The parents indicated that the girls are still in a coma.

  Visibly shaken, Adam Larsen, 34, spoke to reporters outside his home in historic Port Gamble.

  “We are grieving for the families who have lost their children and for the bus driver’s family too. This touches all of us here. I doubt many of us will ever get over it.”

  Larsen’s daughter, Starla, also 5, was a member of the Daisy Troop. She, however, did not go on the outing due to minor illness.

  The last site Moira visited was one called Kitsap Kalamities, a forum devoted to—as its banner indicated—“happenings of the rotten kind, right here in our own twisted backyard.”

  There was nothing really new on the site. In fact, after skimming it, it was apparent that all of the content had been copied and pasted from other websites. Moira sniffed at that. It was the fate of journalism today. Why do any legwork when you can just cut and paste? Not her. Not Moira. She was going to do whatever it took to create something original. Notice-worthy. Star-making. And if her tip paid off, the Ryan girls were going to get her just where she needed to be.

  Kitsap Kalamities was created by someone named Maxi Taxi using a WordPress blog. Moira clicked on the comments field and scrolled through the missives people posted, mostly of the “that sucks” or “your blog is Maxi Stupid” ilk. A few were more thoughtful.

  One was very, very intriguing.

  Sweet Data File 31: I’m not surprised those two survived. I knew them when they were babies. There was something scary about them back then. Something different.

  Scary? Different? Babies? Moira looked at the name of the online commenter. “Sweet Data File 31”. She typed it into Google, figuring that whoever used that handle had done so on more than one blog. Finding a person on the Internet was no different than going door to door asking for one little piece of information at a time. She likened it to digital legwork. One thing always led to another.

  Moira sipped the dregs of her sparkling water and twisted the top of its understudy. She tipped it back and drank while her eyes studied the results of her search.

  Sweet Data File 31 also posted on More Than Words, a site about slanguage and how words are evolving faster than ever.

  Sweet Data File 31: I used to be a linguistics researcher—in another life—for a major university. I think changing language is a good thing. Human beings are creating all the time. New words are a solution to a genuine need.

  Comments were closed on that site, so Moira moved on.

  As the hands on the clock whirred around on her computer, which searched for more Sweet Data File 31 entries, the thought filled Moira’s brain: What’s scary? Does it have to do with something I have been leaked?

  A farm-to-table site popped up, and its feature article, “Our Valley Is Green,” was local, from the Kitsap Peninsula.

  Sweet Data File 31: Every weekend I drive past the family farms between Bremerton and Belfair, and I am astounded that we don’t have more farm stands. Come on, people! Local, sustainable, green is our food future.

  Moira thought about it a moment and then posted a follow-up comment on the same thread.

  News Star: Sweet Data, I’m Moira Windsor, a writer working on a big piece about the importance of farm to table. Would you like to talk to me for my story?

  She added her email address and waited. She figured anyone lonely or self-righteous enough to post a comment like Sweet Data did would answer her comment. People like that always wanted to be in the paper. It was only a matter of time.

  She looked over at the TV and saw that the chef was making some deep-fried apple dumplings. They looked so good she could feel her stomach trying to eat itself. She got up, went to the freezer, pulled out two Lean Cuisines (Butternut Squash Ravioli and Apple Cranberry Chicken) and headed for her aunt’s obnoxiously large microwave.

  Next, she looked up Sandra Berkley’s number. She’d waited long enough to make the call. With the microwave beeping that her meal was ready, Moira quickly left a voice mail message.

  “Mrs. Berkley, Moira Windsor calling from the Herald. I’m a friend of Kevin Ryan’s and I’m working on a feature story about the ten-year anniversary of the Hood Canal crash and its aftermath. Of course, my heart goes out to you because of your recent loss. I’d like to talk to you for my story.”

  Satisfied that she’d sounded kind, authentic and deeply concerned, she ended the call with her phone number.

  I was made for this job, she thought as she pierced a piping hot piece of cranberry chicken with a fork. Just made for it.

  Chapter Thirty-Seven

  Sandra Berkley had taken her last drink. There was no point in it anymore. She went around the house and collected the partial-empties from their assorted hiding places. She recovered a bottle of vodka from under a stack of old towels on the bottom shelf of the linen closet. She found two—rum and whiskey—in the pantry behind the basmati rice bag that she’d purchased in bulk and doubted she’d ever use up.

  There were six bottles in total, and she took them to the sink and poured out the remnants of each one until nothing remained.

  Katelyn was gone. Harper was next door at the restaurant. She sat down and wrote out a letter. It was something that she’d wanted to do for almost ten years.

  I want you to know that I’m so sorry… please forgive me…

  Tears were streaming down her cheeks as she finished and signed her name. She folded the slip of paper and put it into an envelope.

  * * *

  It was after six thirty when Kim Lee finished her work in the mill office and began her precise and ritualistic practice of tidying up her desk. That was just how she was. Always the same, every day. Kim kept most things in order. As an accountant, that pretty much was her job. She closed her drawers, turned the locks, and got up to leave. In doing so, she noticed a small envelope in her in-basket. It had been addressed to her, care of the mill.

  She used the letter opener that Beth had made in middle school, a red Plexiglas shark with a menacing jaw that cut through paper like a razor.

  Kim started reading, and before she was finished, she was on her way out the door. Beth always complained that her mother was a slowpoke. If she’d seen her right then, she’d never dare to make that claim again. Kim’s winter coat was left in the employee break room, but despite the cold wind off the water she didn’t even notice. Four minutes later, she was pounding on her neighbor’s front door.

  “Open up!” Kim cried. “Please!”

  No answer.

  Kim went around the house, looking into the windows. The lights were on, but she couldn’t see anyone home, yet she was sure Sandra had to be there or at the restaurant. Sandra’s car was parked in back
.

  “Please! We need to talk!” Kim called out as she pounded her fist on the back door.

  Footsteps! Good. Sandra hadn’t done anything stupid. At least, not yet.

  Finally, the door opened. Sandra Berkley stood in the doorway, her eyes outlined in red and her face blotchy. Her hands trembled as she let Kim Lee inside. She didn’t say a word at first. Instantly, she started sobbing—uncontrollably so.

  “Sit down, Sandra,” said Kim, who was crying now too.

  “I’m sorry,” Sandra said. “I couldn’t live with it any longer. I’ve never forgotten the screams.”

  “I know,” Kim said, her own eyes welling with tears. “We all know.”

  “I heard Christina cry out for me as the bus started to sink. I just stood there. I didn’t know what to do.”

  “You were in shock.”

  Sandra fought for some composure, but it was a losing battle. “I didn’t even try. I just…”

  “No one blames you,” Kim said.

  “I blame myself. I know what I did and didn’t do. I know how I felt after.”

  Kim wrapped her arms around Sandra’s shoulders as she tried to console her. The sobs came in waves. Sandra tried to speak in the breaks between her tears.

  “I was glad, Kim,” she said. “I was glad that Katelyn survived. I stood there listening to the screams, knowing that I had my daughter and that she was hurt but she was alive. She was going to live. And for what? She’s gone now too.”

  “You’ve suffered so much, then and now,” Kim said.

  Sandra stopped long enough to lock her crying eyes on Kim’s. “Forgive me, Kim.”