“Larry’s it is.”
He turned the car around and pulled into a coffee shop that had obviously once been an IHOP. For the last ten years, it had been Larry’s, but it still had the same blue booths and the same bronze-and-black insulated coffeepots. The waitress was around seventy, had dark, dyed hair tied up in a net, and wore a frilly white apron. She handed them menus and mugs.
“Coffee?”
“Yes, that would be great,” Ben said. She came back with a coffeepot and a pad and pencil. He ordered French toast. Ro ordered the egg-white omelet. After the waitress left, Ben said, “Sorry to put you through this.”
“I wanted to come, Vicks.” She sipped her coffee. “Might not have been the best decision, but it was my decision. Did they find out anything yet?”
“I got a text from Shanks this morning. They’re going over the dental records this afternoon.”
“They found a jaw?”
“They found . . . do you really want to hear this?”
“Yes, I really want to hear this.”
He exhaled. “Both of the jaws were broken. The maxilla—the upper jaw—was in pieces, but the mandible was for the most part intact.”
“She was beaten.”
“Or it’s natural weathering. The upper jawbone is much more fragile than the lower jawbone.”
“It was definitely a girl?”
“Yeah. We’ll learn more this afternoon.”
“Shanks will tell you?”
“He won’t tell me everything, but he’ll tell me enough.” The waitress brought their food and the check. “It’s important to me to know as much as I can. If it’s Katie and if it’s similar to Ellen, it tells me that I’ve been on the right track. Otherwise I’m back to square one.”
“I thought you were going to leave the detection to the experts.” She took his hand. “It’s time to join the human race, Vicks.” Her touch was warm and delicate. Even so, he slid his hand away. She went back to eating her omelet. “Are you sure you won’t reconsider the winter dance?”
“I have nonrefundable plane tickets.”
“I could probably get the tickets moved to the next day. I’m good over the phone with a sob story.”
“Don’t bother. Especially after last night. My heart’s not there, okay?”
She put down her fork. “I understand. I’ll take the girls and Griff and Ezra.”
“Thank you. We’re a good team.” When she didn’t answer, he said, “I also know that Haley scored some tickets for Milquetoast. I promised I’d take her and Lilly. Griff and Ezra can come if they can get tickets. Be happy to take them all.”
“I’ll let the boys know. When is it?”
“Middle of February. It’s on a Saturday night. I’ll drive them to Albuquerque and they can sleep at my grandparents’. I’ll take them home the next day.”
“I can pick them up if you want.”
“Nah, I’ll drive them back on Sunday. Have to be back in Remez High on Monday anyway.” He pointed at her with a forkful of French toast. “We’ve got a tutoring date on Sunday, remember?”
“Of course.” Her smile was sad. “I’ll miss you at school, Vicks.”
“You hardly ever saw me.”
“I know.” Ro looked away. “My bad.”
It made the papers by Tuesday. The Albuquerque Journal and the Trib, of course, but also all the state papers: the Alamogordo News, the Carlsbad Current, the Las Cruces Sun-News, the Roswell Record, the Los Alamos Monitor, the Santa Fe New Mexican, and the Journal of Santa Fe—which was really the Albuquerque Journal with a Santa Fe pullout.
Katie Doogan’s remains had been positively identified by dental records. The memorial service and the funeral for the slain teen were scheduled for Saturday at eleven. Most of the remains were still with the coroner, but something of Katie’s would be laid to rest. The Doogans would have a permanent place to visit their daughter.
There were scant details of the crime scene, but stories did manage to rehash at great length the unsolved case of Ellen Vicksburg, sending Laura into a tailspin of depression. Ben’s father reacted by working longer hours that day. Neither of their children went to school on Monday or Tuesday. Haley remained holed up in her room refusing to take calls from anyone but Lilly. Not even Griffen made the cut.
Ben was the communication center for the family, thanking people for their kind words. But unlike when Ellen was abducted, he only had to deal with the hoopla for a day or two. By Wednesday, things had returned to a semblance of normalcy. He and Haley went back to school. Haley adapted like Haley, and Ben remained alone by choice.
By the afternoon, he was glad to leave school early. Ro caught up with him as he was unlocking his bike. “Hey.”
He didn’t bother looking up. “Hi.” A pause. “Are you okay?”
“I guess. At least no one mentioned us by name.”
“The anonymous hikers.”
She fidgeted. “Are you okay? I mean, that spread—”
“Yeah, it was pretty bad.”
“I’m sorry, Ben.”
“So am I.” He stood up and stored the lock in his backpack, regarding her objectively—smart and with personality to spare. She wore a midnight-blue cashmere V-neck that showed off not only her eyes, but also her swanlike neck. Her jeans gave her hips that wonderful feminine curve. Her boots emphasized her long, graceful legs. He said, “Services for Katie are on Saturday. I’ll be spending the weekend in Albuquerque and I probably won’t be back until Sunday evening.”
She said, “I’m going to the services, Vicks. It’s something I want and need to do.”
He nodded. “Um, you want to go down together? Don’t want you getting lost.”
“We’re not going in the mountains and I have navigation. I’ll be fine.”
“Ro, I’d like you to come with me.” A hint of surprise on her face. “Unless you’d rather be alone.”
“No, I’d much rather come with you, Vicks, but there’s a hitch. I have to cheerlead at a state game Friday night in Silver City. I can’t leave until Saturday morning. I’m sure you were planning to go down on Friday afternoon.”
“We’ll leave early Saturday. Not a problem.”
“Thank you.”
On impulse, he leaned over and kissed her cheek. “See you then.”
He hopped on his bike and pedaled away. One day they’d get together: not to hunt bodies, not to look at murder files, not to go to funerals or police stations or even for tutoring or hiking. One day they’d get together just because.
Chapter 24
Shanks had set up in an interview room instead of using his office. It turned out to be a good idea because with the table, Ben could spread out his files. The kid was dressed in a bomber jacket, gray T-shirt and jeans, and high-tops. There were bags under his eyes. He looked way too tired for his years.
“It’ll be just the two of us,” Shanks said.
“Where’s Detective Ortiz?”
“Between the Demon and the Doogan cases, he’s swamped. He’s waiting to see what you have. If anyone could use help right now, it’s him.”
“I’m off the suspect list for Katie Doogan?”