Big Jack

“No. But when we were in Columbus, he came. At night. Didn’t he?”

“Oh God, he was just there. There at the door. No time to run. You were scared, you held my hand so tight.” She reached back again, squeezed Trevor’s hand until the bones rubbed together. “I wouldn’t leave you with him, not even for a minute. He’d snatch you away if he could. But he didn’t want you, not yet. One day, he’d tell me. One day I’d look around and you’d be gone. I’d never find you. I couldn’t let him take you away, baby. I’d never, never let him hurt you.”

“He didn’t.” Trevor ground his teeth with impatience. “What happened the night he came to the house in Columbus?”

“I’d put you to bed. Frodo pajamas. My little Lord of the Rings. But I had to wake you up. I don’t know what he’d have done if I’d refused. I brought you downstairs, and he gave you a present. You liked it, you were just a little boy, but still, you were frightened of him. ‘Not to play with,’ he said, ‘but just to keep. One day it might be worth something.’ And he laughed and laughed.”

“What was it?” Excitement danced up Trevor’s spine. “What did he give me?”

“He sent you away. You were too young to interest him yet. ‘Go back to bed, and mind what I say. Keep it with you.’ I can still see him standing there, smiling that horrible smile. Maybe he had a gun. He might’ve. He might’ve.”

“Keep what?”

But she was beyond him, she was back fifty years into the fear. “Then it was just the two of us. Alone with him, and he put his hand on my throat.”

She reached up with her own as her breath stuttered. “Maybe this would be the time he’d kill me. One day he’d kill me, if I didn’t keep ru

She balled a fist, thumped it on the box. “But I’m too afraid. He’ll kill us, kill us both if I go to the police. What could they do, what? He’s too smart. He always said. So it’s better to hide.”

“Just tell me about that night. That one night.”

“That night. That night. I don’t forget. I can forget yesterday, but I never forget. I can hear him inside my head.”

She put her hands to her ears. “Judith. My name was Judith.”

Time was ru

He forced himself to touch her, to pat her thin shoulder. “Now, now. That doesn’t matter. Just that one night matters. You’ll feel better if you tell me about that one night. I’ll feel better, too,” he added, inspired. “You want me to feel better, don’t you?”

“I don’t want you to worry. Oh baby, I don’t want you to be afraid. I’ll always take care of you.”

“That’s right. Tell me about the night, the night in Ohio, when he came and brought me a present.”

“He looked at me with those horrible cold eyes. Go ahead and run, run all you want, I’ll just find you again. If the boy didn’t have the present with him when he found us again, he’d kill both of us. No one would ever find us. No one would ever know. If I wanted to stay alive, if I wanted the boy to stay alive, I’d do exactly what he said. So I did. I ran, but I did what he said in case he found us again. Did he come back? In my dreams he kept finding us.”

“What did he bring, damn it?” He gave the chair a vicious shake, then came around to shove his face close to hers. “Tell me what he brought.”

Her eyes went wide and glassy. “The bulldozer, the bright yellow bulldozer. Kept it in the box, years and years in the box like a secret. You never played with it. Then you put it on your shelf. Why did you want it on the shelf? To show him you’d done what he told you?”

“Are you sure?” He gripped her shoulders now, the frail frame with its thin and brittle bones. “Are you goddamn sure?”

“They said you were dead.” Her color went gray, her breath short and harsh. “They said you were dead, but you’re not. I knew, I knew you weren’t dead. I see you. Not a dream. You came back. You found us again. It’s time to run. I won’t let you hurt my baby. Time to run.”

She struggled, and her color went from gray to dangerously red. Trevor let her shove him back, and watched dispassionately as she gained her feet. The roses spilled out of the box, strewn over the path. Eyes wild, she set off in a hitching run. Then she stumbled, fell like a limp doll into the colorful flowers and lay still in the streaming sun.

Chapter 14

Eve faced the same receptionist at Dix’s offices, but the procedure moved along at a much brisker pace. The woman took one look at Eve crossing the lobby and came to attention in her chair.

“Detective Dallas.”

“Lieutenant.” Eve held up her badge to refresh the woman’s memory. “Clear me for Chad Dix’s level.”

“Yes, of course. Right away.” Her gaze skimmed back and forth from Eve’s face to Peabody’s as she cleared security. “Mr. Dix’s office is on-”

“I know where it is,” Eve interrupted, and strode to the elevator.

“Does it feel good to strike fear in the hearts of all people?” Peabody wondered. “Or does it feel just?”

“It feels good and just. You’ll get there one day, Peabody.” Eve gave Peabody’s shoulder a bolstering pat. “You’ll get there.”

“It’s my life’s ambition, sir.” They stepped in. “You’re not figuring Dix is part of this.”

“Guy hides a fistful of diamonds in a toy truck where they’ve potentially sat for half a century? Nothing would surprise me. But no, Dix lacks imagination. If he has the thing, or has knowledge of its location, it’s probably a fluke. If Dix knew about the diamonds and wanted more info, he’d have stuck to Samantha Ga

“She wouldn’t have told him about Judith and Westley Crew, even if they’d stayed an item.”

“No. Samantha’s a stand-up. Gives her word, keeps it. Dix, though, he’s a whiner. The book took Samantha’s focus off him, so he’s a

They walked off the elevator where the perky assistant was waiting. “Lieutenant, Detective. I’m sorry, Mr. Dix isn’t in the office at this time. He had an outside meeting and isn’t expected back for another hour.”

“Contact him, call him in.”

“But-”

“Meanwhile, I need his office.”

“But-”

“You want me to get a warrant? One that has your name on it along with his, so you can both spend a few hours downtown on this bright, su

“No. No, of course I don’t. If you could just give me some idea of the nature of business you-”

“What was the nature of my business last time?”

The woman cleared her throat, glanced at Peabody. “She said murder.”

“Same goes.” Without waiting for assent, Eve headed in the direction of Dix’s office. The assistant scrambled at her heels.

“I’ll allow you inside, but I insist on being present the entire time. I can’t just give you free rein. Mr. Dix deals with a great deal of confidential material.”

“I’m just here to play with his toys. Call him in.”

The woman unlocked the doors, then marched directly to Dix’s desk to use his ’link to make the call. “He isn’t answering. It’s transferring to his voice mail. Mr. Dix, this is Juna. Lieutenant Dallas is in the office. She insists on speaking to you right away. If you could return my call ASAP and let me know how you want to proceed. I’m calling from your office ’link. Don’t touch that!”