“He still walked away.”
Max sat down, realizing her shower was going to have to wait, and that she was too sore and tired to stand.
Nick walked over to her minifridge and took out a water bottle. He handed it to her, then sat on the couch across from her.
“Thanks,” she said and drank. Then she told him the abbreviated version of Kevin’s trial, Lindy, their friendship and her secrets, and how Max found the storage unit.
“It’s my fault,” she said. “I’m usually smarter than this. I knew someone was following me, I should have been more diligent today.”
“You were being followed?”
“Monday morning by a white Mercedes with no front plate while I was on my way to see Dru Parker. I thought it was connected to her, and I lost the car, so I wasn’t really concerned. Then this morning, coming back from a meeting with Lindy’s father, Gerald Ames. A black sedan. I lost him too by driving to the Los Altos Hills Police Department, then taking a circular route to my next destination.”
Nick smirked, then cleared his throat. “Why?”
“It’s clear—Kevin didn’t keep it a secret that he was looking for Lindy’s killer. I’m in town for his funeral, and my job is to look at cold cases. I’m good at it. Fresh eyes and all that. I tracked down the storage unit and got there right before closing. It’s a small room, not much bigger than a closet, with a desk and a bunch of files Kevin had on Lindy’s investigation. I grabbed what I thought would be the most important, but there’s five times more there than I took. I found Lindy’s journal and a note from Kevin.”
“Note?”
“Did my attacker take it, too?”
“I have all your personal effects here.” He walked over to the box of files and removed a large paper bag. “Purse, iPad, phone, and this.” He took out the letter from Kevin.
“I can’t believe I lost the diary.”
“You could have been killed. The good news is that we have the hammer, could have prints on it.”
“He wore gloves.”
“He might not have worn the gloves when he first touched the hammer. Most criminals aren’t masterminds. We’re also pulling surveillance tapes from the storage facility and any businesses on the street that have exterior security cameras. If he followed you from the hotel, he might have driven past the place. We may get a plate number, or a shot of his face. And if he’s been hanging around here, they may have him on security.”
Nick sat back down and said, “Anything else you want to tell me? Now’s the time to come clean.”
“Come clean? I haven’t been doing anything. This isn’t your case, and as far as Beck is concerned, it’s closed.”
“You can tell him about O’Neal’s alibi.”
“I told Beck after I found out, twelve years ago, and according to him, he interviewed Olivia Langstrom, the girl Kevin was with, in front of her father, who she was terrified of. She denied being with Kevin. That was that.”
“That doesn’t make sense. Why would Kevin say he was home alone, and then tell you after the trial that he was with a girl? And why wouldn’t she come forward?”
“Her father is powerful and, according to Olivia, emotionally and physically abusive. You can talk to Olivia, now. She’s not going to lie anymore.”
“Why do you think so?”
“I just know. Reporter’s intuition.”
“What else do I need to know?”
“The only other thing is that someone called the hotel on Saturday and sort of threatened me. Very subtle. Leave the Ames family alone. I thought maybe Beck, but he’d already gotten into my face at Kevin’s funeral. Then I thought Gerald Ames, Lindy’s father, put someone up to it. I hadn’t planned on talking to him—his wife hates me—but hell, at that point I wasn’t even planning on investigating Lindy’s murder. But now I know it wasn’t Gerald. I think it was someone who thought I’d back down if the victim’s family didn’t want me investigating.”
“And what did Mr. Ames say when you talked to him this morning?”
“He wouldn’t give me his blessing, but he didn’t tell me to stand down. He said he wants the truth.”
“What about your ex?”
“Andy?” She shook her head. “He’s just like my family, doesn’t want any scandals tainting the Talbot name.”
“He’s not harmless.”
“No.” She considered Andy for a moment. “He could have made the call,” she admitted. “He didn’t want me stirring the pot.”
“And why is that?”
“He’s always thought Kevin was guilty.”
“But you believed from the beginning he was innocent. Did you ever doubt him?”
Max considered. “Not once, until he told me he was with Olivia the night Lindy was killed, and I didn’t understand why he lied about it. It made no sense to me. It still doesn’t, and I’ve talked to Olivia twice. But what really destroyed our friendship was that I blamed him for Lindy’s killer going free. Both of them—if Olivia and Kevin had told the truth from the beginning, the police would have focused on other suspects.”
“That’s a valid point. And Andy?”
“Our disagreement over Kevin is what split us up, Nick. It wasn’t a minor argument. In his eyes, I was defending the person who killed our friend. She was my best friend. Until our senior year, we did everything together. Kevin, too. In my eyes, Andy had already convicted one friend of murdering another friend. We were eighteen. And temperamental.”
“Were temperamental?”
It took Max a moment to realize Nick was teasing her. She smiled and pulled herself up. “I’m going to shower now.” Nick didn’t make any move to leave, so she said, “If you want to order food, go ahead. I haven’t eaten since breakfast.”