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“I love you too,” she said. “Ty, I have to go in.” She twisted out of his grasp and groped along the truck bed until she found her underpants. She pulled them on and then searched for her shorts and T-shirt.
“Look, I’ll see you tomorrow morning, right?”
“Maybe.”
“All day. We’ll, spend the whole day together.”
“I can’t.”
“Yes, you can. Meet me out on Porter Road. I’ll borrow my uncle’s truck and we’ll go for a drive. Eight o’clock.”
She could tell her underpants were on wrong-side out. She lifted one hip so she could strip them off. “Damn it! Now I got stuff ru
He handed her his T-shirt, which he’d wadded up and tossed aside. She jammed it between her legs and cleaned herself as well as she could. She eased into her underpants again and hooked herself into her bra. She pulled on her T-shirt and shorts and used her fingers to get the snarls out of her hair. Once dressed, she climbed over the tailgate.
Ty said, “Eight o’clock tomorrow morning. You’re not there, I’m knocking on your door and I don’t care who sees.”
She kissed him in haste, told him that she loved him, and then hurried toward the house and let herself in the back door. The screen whined softly. The kitchen light was off, but she could see the luminous hands on the wall clock. 1:15. Violet and Foley usually didn’t get home until after 2:00 so she was fine. Everything was okay. The same table lamp was burning in the darkened living room. The fan rotated at a steady pace, pushing hot air this way and that. Both bedrooms were dark. She paused outside Daisy’s room, listening to the child’s slow, deep, regular breathing. She was fine.
Liza crept into the bathroom. In the glow from the night-light, she pulled down her shorts and checked her underpants. The crotch was wet with semen, stained with blood. She had to talk to Violet. She knew she should have made him use a rubber, but he promised he’d pull out, and now what? Violet would know. Violet knew everything there was to know about sex. Liza returned to the living room, where she lay on the couch, hugging herself. What was done was done. He’d told her he loved her-he’d actually said that to her-and he was the one who brought up the subject of seeing her again, so it wasn’t like she was chasing him or anything like that. Still, she wished she hadn’t done it. She could feel her eyes burn as the tears spilled out. As soon as Violet came in, the two of them would talk and she’d be fine.
28
I put a call through to Sneaky Pete’s. I could hear the strains of the jukebox in the background and a steady hum of voices. This was Saturday night, but it was only 6:45 and the place wasn’t going to rock until well after 9:00. Ta
“Hi, Ta
“Sure, if you don’t mind the interruptions. I’m tending bar and the gal who’s scheduled to work called in sick an hour ago.”
“I’ll try to be quick. You heard about Violet?”
“I did. What happened to the poor woman? I know she was killed, but nobody’s said how.”
“I haven’t heard a word about the cause of death. I guess we’ll know more after the autopsy’s done.”
“Autopsy? Somebody told me she was just a bunch of bones wrapped up like a mummy so you couldn’t even see her face.”
“Well, that’s not quite true. As I understand it, she was wrapped in a length of fabric, but it was falling apart. That’s hardly mummy-like,” I said.
“Did you get a look at her?”
“Not me, and Daisy didn’t either. Detective Nichols gave her the news, but he didn’t want anyone getting close to the car.”
“How’s she taking it?”
“She’s okay. I don’t think the reality has sunk in.”
“I thought about calling, but I didn’t have the nerve. Maybe tomorrow. So what’s up with you?”
“I’ve been putting together a timeline for that Fourth of July weekend, trying to figure out where everyone was. You went over to the park with your dad?”
“Didn’t we talk about this? I was supposed to go with my brother, but he went off with his friends so Pop ended up taking me himself.”
“Were you there the whole time?”
“I don’t remember for a fact, but I can’t think why not.”
“Here’s why I ask. I managed to track down the woman who lived next door to the Sullivans back then. A
“Vaguely.”
“We just had a chat, and according to her recollection, she and her mother ran into you at the park. She says your dad asked if her mother could look after you because he had something to take care of, so you ended up spending the night at her house.”
“Nah, don’t think so. It doesn’t ring a bell. Are you sure she doesn’t have me confused with somebody else?”
“Do you remember bouncing on the bed? She says you bumped into her and she fell and broke her arm.”
Ta
“You have any idea where your Father went that night?”
“Probably the hospital to see Mom. He was there most nights. What’s this about?”
“I’m not sure. It’s really just a gap I was hoping to fill in.”
“I can ask the next time I talk to him and see what he says.”
“Why don’t you hold off and I can talk to him myself. I’m driving up again Monday, probably early afternoon.”
“You’re still working for Daisy? I thought you’d be done.”
“This is what you call mop-up. She paid me in advance and I owe her a day.”
After we hung up, I realized I should have downplayed the subject even more than I had. I didn’t want Jake to know I was pursuing the point. If Ta
I took a moment to call Cheney Phillips and we chatted for a while. I asked about the conference and then filled him in on my discovery. He offered to meet me at Rosie’s so he could buy me a drink, but I was feeling reclusive and thought I better level with him. “Nothing personal, but all I want to do is sleep in my own bed and not talk to a soul. The past four days I haven’t had a minute to myself and it’s driving me nuts.”
“Got it. Sounds like you’re in the thick of things, which I can understand. Call when you come up for air, and we’ll have di
“Perfect.”
“Hey, Kinsey? You be careful with yourself. Whoever this guy is, he’s gotten away with murder now for thirty-four years. He’s not going to let you march in and blow it for him.”
“All I’m doing is a records search and after that, my job’s done. Trust me. I’m leaving any rough stuff to the sheriff’s department. That’s their bailiwick.”
After we hung up, I sat and thought about what he’d said. I knew he was right. I’d already had my tires slashed and that was before the car was unearthed and the bodies had been found. I unlocked the cabinet where I’d been keeping my handguns. I owned three. My favorite, a little.32-caliber semiautomatic my aunt Gin had given me as a kid, had been vaporized in an explosion that was meant to kill me. The next gun I acquired was a.32-caliber Davis that I bought because I liked the looks, thus opening myself to scorn and derision from all the gun nuts who considered it inferior. In deference to them, I bought an H amp;K P7 and an H amp;K P13, both serious weapons. The P13 was really more gun than I could comfortably handle, so I put it back in the cabinet with the Davis. I took out the box of Winchester Silvertips, loaded the P7, and put it in my shoulder bag.