“Because he was with me, here,” says Justin. “We have a liquor license until two a.m. I was pouring, and Aiden closed down the place with me.”
I feel some air deflate from my lungs. “You’re sure? You’re positive you have those dates lined up? It was a long time ago.”
“I’m positive,” he says. “The next day, Melanie missed work. We were calling her cell phone, even sent someone over to her condo. Then the cops showed up and told us she was killed the night before at the house on Ocean Drive. They asked me who was here that night. I gave them a list. It wasn’t that hard. It was just me and Aiden.”
I scribble a note, trying to hide my disappointment.
My biggest lead has just swirled down the drain.
73
OFFICER RICKETTS, STILL in patrol uniform, shakes her head as we look out over the Atlantic Ocean. “I still can’t believe they did this to you, Murphy.”
“You should take my advice and stay away from me.”
Ricketts nods and looks over at me, looking younger than her age, her cropped blond hair just long enough to show a hint of curl on the ends. “I’m not so good at taking advice,” she says.
“If Isaac ever knew—”
“I’d be fired. I get it.”
We are quiet. The sky is darkening and the ocean is reacting in kind. A storm on the way.
“We’re supposed to catch the bad guys,” Ricketts says. “The day I’m not supposed to do that is the day I look for another job.”
I like this girl. She’s way more poised and mature than I was as a rookie. And just as stubborn.
I look at her. “Are you sure?”
“Don’t ask me that again, Murphy. Just tell me what you need.”
“The last Holden was suspected in a number of rapes, right?”
“That’s what the book said.”
“So let’s see if we can find out if anyone filed a criminal charge. Someone must have. Maybe one of his victims got pregnant.”
“Okay. What else?”
I shrug. “That’s it.”
“That’s not it,” Ricketts says. “We should see what else may have been going on back then, in the early nineties. Missing-persons reports, unsolved murders. The last time you had me do that, I only went back ten years. Now I’ll go back to the early nineties.”
“To what end?” I ask.
“Who knows? Let’s just do it. See what shakes loose.”
I let out a long breath. “Ricketts, you’re going to make a good detective someday.”
“If I don’t get fired first.”
I take her hand. “That can’t happen. I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if you got canned for helping me.”
She waves me off. “I just want you back on the force. We solve this thing, maybe I’ll have my mentor back.”
“Let’s not get too optimistic.”
She looks at me. “You know what you need, Murphy? If I may be so bold.”
“Shoot. Be bold.”
“You need to get laid.”
I let out a laugh. It feels good.
“I was thinking Justin,” she says.
I hem and haw. “Yeah, I mean, he’s …”
“He’s really cute. And I saw the way he was looking at you.”
I’ve already told Ricketts about my conversation with Justin today, the substantive part. Now I tell her the personal part.
“He actually said ‘A guy can hope’?” She pushes my shoulder. “What do you need, a written invitation?”
“Yeah, I know.” I let out a low moan. “Honestly, I mean—he’s a really nice guy, but I don’t know.”
“What, he’s too nice?”
I sigh. “Something like that.”
“You like the bad boys, don’t you? The guys with an edge? The dangerous types?”
“That’s my curse.”
“Murphy.” She puts her hands on my shoulders. “He’s a super-nice guy. He runs a diner with incredible food and he could double the prices and still fill the place, but he doesn’t. I mean, c’mon. He’s hot and he’s sweet and he has a crush on you. You’re gonna pass on that guy because he’s too nice?”
I just … I just can’t see it.
“I don’t have time for romance,” I say. “I have too much to do.”
“I didn’t say romance. I said sex. Just have dinner one time with the guy and then fuck his lights out. And then, of course, tell me all about it.”
“The dinner or the sex?”
“Both.”
I shake my head. I just …
“You know what you are? You’re afraid to be happy,” she says.
“Thank you, Doctor.”
She hits me on the arm. “I’ll get you that research,” she says.
“Hey, Ricketts?” I call out to her as she’s halfway up the beach. “I don’t even know your first name.”
She smiles. “It’s Lauren.”
“Well, thanks, Lauren. Seriously. Thank you.”
She nods back at me. “One more piece of advice?” she says. “Get some sleep. You look like crap.”
74
TWO IN THE morning. The promise of a violent storm no longer just a promise. The windows rattling from the wind and rain, the sky a deep purple.