Ah, the real reason he called. He’d received word from the attorney on his case. “You killed a woman in a convenience store.”
“I didn’t mean to. I jabbed the knife at her thinking I’d scare her. But the dumb bitch moved, and the blade went right into her gut. Severed an artery. Not my fault.”
“What do you want?”
“Mom isn’t taking my calls anymore, and that means no more money. I’ve got an attorney, but he keeps telling me to sit tight. I’m tired of waiting and wondering how I’ll get out of this mess.” Anger deepened the lines on his face. “If this situation is getting fixed, I’m going to have to pull a rabbit out of my ass.”
“What does this have to do with Gina?”
He pointed both his index fingers at her as if he were a dueling cowboy. “Everything, sugar.”
“The cops placed you on Riverside Drive the night Gina vanished. Did you see what happened?”
He leaned forward, his gaze burning into her. “And if I did?”
“Did you see?”
“Maybe.”
He had no soul. His single priority was saving his own ass. And if he could play her in the process, all the better.
“What do you want?” she asked again.
He grinned.
It was a smile that was too familiar. The one he had always produced when they were dating and wanted to string her along.
This trip had felt necessary an hour ago. And maybe it was. You couldn’t pick and choose the demons you face. “You weren’t around when Gina vanished. My bet is you were in your parents’ garage smoking meth. You talk a big game, but you can’t deliver. Like always.”
As she moved to rise, he held up a hand. “Hold on there, Kait-lin. Don’t be in such a rush to leave. We were getting reacquainted. And I’ve missed seeing you so much.”
“Unless you can help me find Gina, you won’t see me again.”
A smile twitched at the corners of his mouth. “You’re cute when you talk tough.”
She gripped the receiver and looked toward the door, anxious to be out of here and free of him.
“You were there on the road,” he said.
“Already reported in the media, Randy.”
“You were so drunk you could barely stand.”
She slowly looked back at him. “Again, the entire city knew I was a lush before I left town. You’re boring me now.”
He shrugged, his grin widening. “I know where she is.”
The hair on the back of her neck rose. She sensed Randy wasn’t playing around anymore. She sat back down and stared at him, waiting for him to show his cards.
He steepled his index fingers and pointed to her. “Your blond hair threw me off. I like it better dark. Gina had dark hair.”
She remained silent because she didn’t trust her voice.
“He told you to run.”
“I asked you and everyone in the lineup to say run.”
He tapped a finger against his chin as if trying to remember. “He cut Gina’s ear.” He drew his finger across his right ear. “Sliced it right off. And that ear had an earring in it. I remember because I gave the silver dangles to you. You must have lent them to Gina.”
The blood drained from her face, leaving her lightheaded. It was a detail the media had never learned. As she sat in her chair, she remembered all the blood that had soaked her T-shirt. Gina’s blood. She’d never been able to explain how her blood came to be on her, but it was there. “Where’s Gina?”
Randy shook his head as he winked. “I don’t have many cards left to play, so I gotta be smart with this one. I want a lot more than your baby browns batting at me before I spill what I know.”
The bait was too tempting not to bite. “I’m listening.”
“Get me someone who can make me a real good deal. I’m not sure who you need to talk to, but you’ll figure it out. You’re smart. Smarter than Gina.”
INTERVIEW FILE #6
MRS. AUDREY MASON
Monday, January 15, 2018; 4:00 p.m.
It’s not easy facing Gina’s mother again. She’s in hospice care. It’s cold, almost always a given during January in Virginia, and the hint of snow lingers in the air. The light is dim, but the walls in Aunt Audrey’s room are painted a cheerful blue, and paper snowflakes made by a group of first graders hang from the tiled ceiling. And there is a bright arrangement of white tulips by her bed. It cheers me to know someone else is also thinking about her.
Despite how it all ended between us fourteen years ago, I had loved her. She’d opened her home to me and loved me like a daughter.
She’s in what looks like a regular bed hooked up to a morphine drip. A bright-yellow kerchief covers her balding head. She smiles, but is too weak to sit up. We talk about my podcast, and she wants to be on tape. The idea of going to her grave without knowing what happened to her daughter frightens her.
I kiss her on the cheek, and then we begin.
Our family was always small. It was Aunt Audrey and my mother. Gina was an only child. As I’ve said, I had a brother who committed suicide when I was fourteen. In the days after Gina vanished, Aunt Audrey and I were united in our terror and grief for Gina. And then as the weeks passed and the cops eventually turned their questions against me, Audrey began to doubt me. Why did I have Gina’s blood on my shirt? My inability to remember frustrated her, but the breaking point came at the police lineup with Randy Hayward. When I couldn’t identify him as the attacker, she’d broken down and asked me to leave her home.
Fourteen years later, I heard she was dying. I came immediately and for weeks visited her daily. In an odd way, we are united again. When I tell her about the podcast, she smiles. She wants people to remember Gina.
“Aunt Audrey, what do you remember about that night? You said once you had a bad feeling about that day.”
“I really didn’t want you two girls to go, but it seemed silly to keep you home that night.” She traces the thin blue veins on her pale-white hand as she glances toward the tulips.
“Why?”
“Gina and I had had a terrible fight that day. You weren’t there to hear, but we had never shouted at each other like that.”
“What was the fight about?”
“I caught her talking to Randy Hayward. He was trouble, and I told her so. She laughed and said she wasn’t you and she’d be fine.”
We sit in silence for a minute.
“I woke up at midnight out of a sound sleep. I dreamed Gina had drowned. It left a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach, so I got up. I called her phone, but she didn’t answer. She always answers. I called again. Nothing. I knew something had gone terribly wrong.”
Audrey’s last day was a gray winter morning. I was at her side listening to her breathing growing shallower with each inhale. Another fresh arrangement of white tulips arrived for her. There still was no card or note. And she never opened her eyes again so that I could show them to her. As her life slipped away, I was more determined than ever to find Gina.
CHAPTER FIVE
Friday, March 16, 2018; 11:00 a.m.
The rain had stopped, but the air remained wet and raw. Adler parked in front of the two-story frame house at the corner of Libby and Grove Avenues. The tony area was just east of the University of Richmond, and it was home to several trendy restaurants, expensive clothing boutiques, and an exclusive school for girls.
Adler saw the discreet DOGWOOD HOMES sign, climbed the front steps, and pushed through the door to find a young man sitting behind a desk. Slicked-back hair accentuated a sharp jawline. He wore a crisp white shirt but no tie. His smile clicked on. “Can I help you?”
Adler removed his badge from his breast pocket. “I’m Detective John Adler. I’m looking for Mr. Larry Jenkins.”
“That’s me. I own the company.” His brow furrowed.
“I have a question about a property you’re representing.”
“Which one are you talking about?”
He rattled off Jennifer Ralston’s address. “In Church Hill.”
“I know the address well. Ms. Ralston signed the sales agreement a few days ago. The house is supposed to go on the market in a couple of weeks. What happened?”