The Last Victim

The way he was looking at her, Charlie could see that her disappearance had scared him. She appreciated that. It was actually something she could build on.

Maybe.

One day.

Depending on how things went.

CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX

Four days later, Tony was taking Charlie home. It was around ten p.m., and twilight had just turned the corner into full dark. They were in Big Stone Gap, driving up her street in a dark blue Lincoln sedan that had been waiting for them when the plane had touched down at Lonesome Pine Airport some three hours before. They’d had di

Charlie had already told Tony that she wouldn’t be taking him up on his offer to join their team.

“I’ll consult,” she had promised. “Call whenever you need me.”

But her home, and her work, were in Big Stone Gap.

To say nothing of a certain lonely grave.

She hadn’t seen Garland since he’d saved her from Haney.

She was hideously afraid that she might never see him again.

Either he’d been kicked into eternity and was unable to get out, or he was around and she just couldn’t see him.

What both scenarios left her with was a raw and aching heart. She’d let herself get too close to him, and now she was paying the price. She already could tell that it was going to take her some time to heal.

“So Haney’s claiming total i

“He’s lawyered up, and he’s twisting the facts. He’s saying that he only realized that his son was the killer we were looking for when he found the three of you in that travel van. That he shot his own son to save you and Ha

“The liar,” Charlie said indignantly.

“Yeah, I know.”

“Aside from everything else, he shot Kingston the moment he stepped inside that van. He never even saw Ha

“Not all along.” Tony shook his head. “We don’t think Haney knew the copycat was his son until a convenience store owner drew his attention to a surveillance shot of a gray Dodge Charger at the right time and place to be involved in the attack at the Meads’. Kingston has a gray Dodge Charger. When he saw the car, Haney must have recognized it and instantly started to suspect Kingston. We know this because he substituted surveillance footage of another gray car—remember the DVD of the gray Avalon he had Officer Price give me?—for the footage of the Charger. He must have made the substitution in case the convenience store owner mentioned the surveillance shot to anyone else. Anyway, we’ve got both shots now: the original of the Charger, and the substitute one of the Avalon Haney passed on to me, trying to throw the investigation off track. It’s actually a pretty damning piece of evidence against him.”

Charlie considered, then frowned. “He gave that surveillance footage to you on the night before—”

She broke off. Following the thought to its conclusion was just too horrible.

Tony finished it for her. “Bayley Evans’ body was found. Yeah. After seeing the footage of the Charger, Haney went straight over to Kingston’s house. He found Bayley Evans there, tied up in the basement, and had it out with Kingston. During the course of what went down that night, Kingston revealed he knew that Haney was the Boardwalk Killer, and told him that he had found one of the girls Haney had kidnapped. Apparently Haney kept them out in a detached garage behind the house. After that, when little kid Kingston was visiting his dad, he’d check to see if Haney had a girl back there. If he did, Kingston would slip into a closet and watch as his father tortured and killed her.”

“My God,” Charlie breathed. “How do you know all this?”

“Kingston had a webcam trained on Bayley Evans—on each of the girls, when he had them. Recording everything, so that he could relive the experience later. The argument Kingston and Haney had that night took place in the basement, right where he was keeping Bayley Evans. It got picked up by the webcam, and it’s still on Kingston’s computer.”

“Tony.” Charlie’s heart had started to thump. “Did the webcam catch Bayley’s murder?”

Tony’s mouth twisted. “Yeah. It caught that, too.”

For a moment Charlie could hardly breathe. “Did Kingston do it? Or …”

“Kingston. He didn’t want to, but Haney ordered him to kill her right there and then and warned him to stop with the murders. When Kingston didn’t—well, that’s when the rest of it went down.”

“Serial killers can’t stop,” Charlie said. “It’s a compulsion. They have to kill until they are caught or something stops them.”

“Like Haney’s car accident stopped him,” Tony said. “No telling how many more victims there would have been in the original group if that hadn’t happened.”

They had discovered that right after the Palmer murders, Haney’s car had been hit by a drunk driver. He’d been ejected through the windshield, spent almost a year in the hospital and another year in rehab, and had extensive plastic surgery to repair his facial injuries. This knowledge made Charlie feel a little better about not recognizing him.

“That’s why Kingston took Ha

“Haney must have been going out of his mind,” Tony said. “We know that as soon as he left the Becketts’ house, he went searching for his son. He expected Kingston would have taken Ha

“How do you know?” Charlie asked. “Was that caught on Kingston’s webcam, too?”

Tony shook his head. “Kingston had his computer with him in the van, up in the passenger seat. I’m guessing he meant to turn it on Ha

“Ah,” Charlie said. “So Haney set fire to Kingston’s house to make sure he couldn’t take Ha

Tony nodded. “Also to get rid of all the evidence. Haney knew Kingston was on our short list of suspects. He knew that there was a good chance we were going to bring him in sooner or later. I’m sure he was afraid that if we arrested Kingston, his son would spill the beans on him, too. After he set fire to Kingston’s house, he waited around nearby for him to come home.”

“He was actually taking a big risk.” Charlie closed her eyes for a moment as she realized how differently things could have worked out. When she opened them again, it was to discover Tony watching her with concern. She gave him a small, reassuring smile: I’m fine. “Kingston could have gone anywhere in that van. Given that Haney had already surprised him in the house with Bayley, it’s a wonder that Kingston didn’t just take off with Ha

Tony smiled back. “But, see, Haney knew Kingston had a police sca

“I see.” Charlie nodded. “Haney was right about that, too.”

“Haney was right about a lot. Having burned Kingston’s house, if he had found and killed Kingston and made it look like Kingston had killed Ha