Heartsick

She scrambled up off the floor, holding both the books cradled to her chest, and fled through the house to find Archie.

He was in the kitchen, watching as they zipped McCallum’s corpse into a black body bag and prepared to wheel him out of the house. A

“Jesus Christ,” said Archie, his color draining. “She looks like all the others.”

“Why did you suspect Reston?” A

She could see Archie hesitate for a moment. He touched the photograph of the young Susan, as if his fingertips could somehow protect her retroactively. “Susan told me yesterday that she had a sexual relationship with him when he was her teacher. Today, she denied it.”

A

“He’s got an alibi,” Archie said, leaning against the back of the house. “We can’t pick him up based on an old photograph and a crime with a long-passed statute of limitations.”

A

“It’s all about her,” A

Archie’s eyes didn’t lift from the page. She could see him processing all of it. “You’ve got to be kidding me,” he said almost to himself. Then he looked up at A

“I’m here,” Claire said, coming up the back steps, cell phone still in her hand. “Jeff just called,” she said, face tense. “ Reston isn’t at home. He left school at the usual time, but hasn’t come home yet. They don’t have any way to find him until he shows up. Should I have them wait?”

The back door burst open and A

“Find him,” Archie said to Claire, handing the yearbooks back to A

The transport team cleared the stairs and began wheeling the body down the slim cement path that led to the driveway. The wheels made a cruel grating sound on the concrete.

A

CHAPTER 43

Susan awoke with a start to the smell of gasoline. The odor was so strong that it reached down through the ocean she was under, grabbed her by the hair, and dragged her to the surface of her consciousness. She came to with a start, but it was so dark that it took her a few moments to realize that her eyes were open. Her hands and feet were bound. She sat up and hit her head on something hard just above her. The impact sent a shock wave of pain through her skull and she sank back down into a lying position.

“Paul?” she said. Her voice came out in a whimper.

The room lurched. Susan was caught off balance and rolled back against a wall. It wasn’t so much the lurching room that tipped her off as the thud her body made against the fiberglass. A boat. She was on a boat.

It was then that she panicked.

She started to scream. She used her bound hands and feet to bang on the fiberglass. She found strength she didn’t know she had. “I’m down here,” she shrieked. “Help me. Someone.”

“Susan.”

She froze and every hair on her body stood up. He was down there. With her. In the dark.

“Susan.” His disembodied voice was strained and brutal. “You need to be quiet.”

“Let me go, Paul,” she pleaded into the darkness.

She felt him fumble for her and she forced herself not to cringe under his touch as his hand found her leg and moved up her thigh and stopped. He was right next to her. His breath was hot against her face.

“I thought we’d spend some time together,” he said, and his voice caught. “Like you said, I barely know you.”

CHAPTER 44

When Susan didn’t pick up her landline or cell phone, Archie’s thoughts grew dark. They were already in Henry’s car, Archie in the passenger seat, Henry behind the wheel, on their way to the Pearl. Claire and A

“Could be anything,” Henry said, gripping the steering wheel. “Could be she’s in the shower. Anything.”

“Right,” said Archie.

“Maybe she’s taking a nap,” Henry added.

“I get it,” said Archie. He noticed then that Henry’s wrist was bleeding. “What happened to you?”

Henry shrugged. “Fucking cat scratched me.”

Archie’s walkie-talkie buzzed and he answered it. The patrol cops were at Susan’s apartment. She wasn’t answering the door. “Find out if her car’s in the parking lot,” he told them. “Knock on her neighbors’ doors. See if anyone saw her come home or go out. And check if there’s a security camera in the parking garage or lobby.” Then he dialed information and got Ian Harper’s telephone number.

A child’s voice picked up at the Harper residence. “Is your dad at home?” Archie asked.

The boy went off to get his father and Archie could hear music and the sounds of adults eating and laughing. In a minute, Ian Harper picked up the phone.

His voice was a

Archie wasn’t feeling very generous toward Ian right now and he was in a hurry, so he skipped the niceties. “Ian. Archie Sheridan. Did you drop Susan at her apartment this afternoon?”

Ian hesitated. “Yeah.”