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He looked at De
De
His dad went to the window and looked out at the driveway. “Her car’s gone. I never heard her come home last night.”
I never heard you come home last night, either, De
“I think she left,” his father said, still staring out the window.
De
His father turned and left the room. De
57
“Mimosas,” Fra
On Saturdays they met for breakfast at the Ivy Garden, a favorite place off the plaza where tables spilled out of garden-inspired rooms into the garden itself. A fantastic spreading oak tree grew like something from a fairy tale right in the center of the space, shading the tables in daytime and providing a canopy of twinkling lights at night.
“I need the alcohol,” Fra
A pair of older ladies at the next table looked over from their French toast. Fra
“I’m worried about Tommy,” A
“Can you imagine having that F-U-C-K-I-N-G C-U-N-T for a mother?”
“Kind of.”
“Your mother was a saint.”
“But my father is Dick.”
“Your father is a dick, but he’s not crazy,” Fra
Vince. His new best friend.
“Where is he?” he asked. “Did he take you home last night? Did you sleep with him?”
A
“Oh my God, you DID!” he exclaimed, delighted. “You vixen! I’m so proud of you!”
“Stop!” she hissed, swatting at him with her napkin. “Stop it!”
“Tell all!”
“I’m telling nothing. We are in a public place and I teach the fifth grade. And I wouldn’t tell you anyway, because I’m not that kind of girl.”
“Well, apparently you are.”
“It wasn’t like that.”
He put his elbows on the table and leaned forward, eyes bright. “So what was it like? Sweet and romantic or hot and wild with animal passion?”
“It was none of your business,” she said bluntly.
“This is very interesting,” he said. “You haven’t slept with a man since Jimmy Carter was president.”
“That is categorically untrue. It was the first Reagan administration-and that wasn’t that long ago.”
“So what now? Where is he? Did he spend the night?”
“He’s working, and this part of our conversation is over,” A
“I’ll have the lemon blueberry ricotta pancakes,” Fra
A
He raised his glass in a toast. “Here’s to ya, A
“Good. Then the rest of the meal will be pleasantly quiet,” A
She had no big revelations to make on the subject of Vince Leone at any rate. She had to sort through her feelings about what had transpired between them the night before. She didn’t regret it, she knew that. Strange as it sounded to her own ears, it felt right and good to share herself with a man she barely knew, who would probably be gone in a week. It was going to take a while to make sense of that.
“I’m worried about Tommy,” she said, going back to her original topic of concern. “I want to talk to him, but how am I supposed to accomplish that?”
“You can’t go to their house,” Fra
“I know. But am I just supposed to wait until Monday? He looked so hurt last night. It broke my heart. Who knows what his mother put in his head? She said I made him think his father might be a serial killer.”
“Did you?”
“No! Vince asked me to ask Tommy if his father was home the night Karly Vickers went missing. That was all I did.”
Fra
“You do realize most adults can spell, don’t you?” A
“But they have to work harder at it,” Fra
“I don’t know what I’m going to do, Fra
“Call Vince. He might not have an answer, but you can always screw his brains out.”
“Don’t try to distract me just yet,” A
“But I don’t know how to help you, sweetheart,” he confessed. “I don’t want you involved in this mess at all.”
“Mr. Fra
One of Fra
Fra
“I already did. I had pancakes!” As evidenced by the syrup smeared on the face and fingers that grabbed hold of Fra
“I’m having pancakes too!” Fra
The parents stopped by and exchanged pleasantries. As they left, Fra
58
“The girl is in critical condition,” Dixon said. “She’s not expected to make it. Just like Lisa Warwick, her eyes and mouth had been glued shut. She was strangled. Somehow he didn’t quite finish off the job. Who knows how long her brain was deprived of oxygen. She’s severely dehydrated and suffering from hypothermia.”
He stood at the front of the room, the eyes of all of his detectives, along with perso
“We believe she was wearing this necklace,” Dixon went on. “It’s the logo from the Thomas Center. All women who graduate the program get a gold one. Staff have the same necklace in silver. Karly Vickers was not wearing hers when she was discovered. The perp might have kept it as a souvenir.”
“Did the Warwick woman have one?” Hamilton asked.
“She was an ex-staffer. She would have owned one. Go back into her apartment to see if it’s there.”
“He took the time to bury the Vickers girl, but not to make sure she was dead?” Hicks said. “That doesn’t make sense.”
“She barely had a pulse,” Dixon said. “He probably just didn’t pick up on it.”
“Or it might not be an accident,” Vince said. “He could have left her alive as part of a taunt. He leaves a living victim and we still can’t find him. Proves his omnipotence.”