The Next Victim (41 page)

Nash blinked, looking stunned, then recovered and shot her a grin. "What makes you think I knew her?"

"You were at a party earlier in the summer. Some kind of adult entertainment event. You and Olivia spent time talking."

He regarded her thoughtfully as he poked at his food with his chopsticks.

"I know my brother was a financial backer," she said, "so if you're worried about keeping his name out of it, don't be."

Nash nodded. "John turned me on to the opportunities. It can be a profitable business. We both made out pretty well. John put the bug in Reed's ear, too."

"Was Reed at the party? Did he know Olivia?"

Nash sipped his beer. "He wasn't at the event, but he must have known Olivia through Sloane."

"So tell me about her."

"There's not much to tell. I talked to her at the party. I talked to a number of women there. That was the fun of going. As you can imagine, I nearly keeled over when I heard about the murders and learned she was the young woman Sloane had taken in."

"Why didn't you say something?" Kali asked again.

"What was there to say? That I invested money in X-rated enterprises? That she'd acted in a few films? None of it seemed relevant." He paused. "Is it?"

Kali leaned back. "I don't know. But don't you think it's odd that John would wind up accused of her murder?"

"It was Sloane's murder he was actually accused of. I got the impression Olivia just happened to be there."

"That was the original theory," Kali said. "But the police may have been wrong about that."

Nash raised an eyebrow. "Why would he kill Olivia? He wasn't at the party. I doubt he'd ever met her."

Nash's words were reassuring. He and John had been friends, after all. And they both had financial ties to the porn industry. If John had been involved in something illicit, wouldn't Nash have known about it?

"It wasn't just Olivia." Kali told him about Hayley and Crystal, and the photo she'd found tucked inside John's dictionary. "John never said anything about these girls?"

Nash shook his head. "It was strictly about the money as far as he was concerned."

Kali was about to press him further when her phone rang.

"Ms. O'Brien? It's Joanna Sommers, Olivia's friend. I see that girl you were asking about."

Kali's heart jumped. "Crystal? Where?"

"Outside a liquor store. It's on Sixth near Speedway. She's just standing around, like she's panhandling or something."

"Thanks, Joanna. I appreciate you calling me." Kali flipped off her phone and turned to Nash. "I hate to run off, but someone just saw one of the girls I told you about. I need to talk to her. I may be getting close to having some answers."

"You have to go right away? Don't you want to finish your dinner first?"

"I don't know how long she'll be there." Kali pulled out some money to put on the table, but Nash stopped her.

"My treat," he said.

"Thank you."

He signaled the waitress for the check. "If you insist on leaving, why don't I come with you?"

"That's not necessary."

He smiled. "Necessary has nothing to do with it. I was looking forward to your company for a bit longer."

Kali was tempted. But two of them might scare Crystal off. Better to do this alone. "We'll do dinner again," she said. "My treat next time."

"You sure you don't want me to come along? What if there's trouble?"

"Nothing's going to happen. I just want to talk to her."

Kali grabbed her purse. As she rushed for the exit, she saw Nash reach for his billfold, his gaze following her out the door. She would definitely have to make it up to him.

Kali found the liquor store near a busy intersection and pulled over to the curb half a block away. From where she sat, she might not have recognized Crystal if it hadn't been for the burgundy-hued birthmark on her jaw and neck. The hair that had been shoulder length in the photo was now short and spiky, and platinum instead of honey brown. The face in the photo appeared fresh and animated. Not so the one now trying to catch the eyes of passing strangers. Crystal's expression was wary, her posture lifeless as she slouched against the building. Despite the warm night, she wore a sweatshirt, which fell over her jeans to midthigh.

As Kali watched, an occasional passerby dipped into his pocket for spare change or a single bill, but most people walked past without acknowledging the girl's presence.

After maybe five minutes, Kali got out of the car. As she locked the door, she glanced across the street and recognized Nash's silver BMW parked at the curb. She checked traffic, then crossed over. He rolled down the window when she approached.

"What are you doing here?" she asked. "Did you follow me?"

He gave a sheepish smile and held up his hands in mock surrender. "I wanted to make sure you were okay."

"I said I would be, didn't I?" Kali supposed she should be flattered that he cared about her safety. She wasn't one of those women who took affront at male chivalry. But at the same time, she didn't like others micromanaging her life. Or ignoring her wishes.

"I was also hoping we could go out for a drink or something when you were done," Nash added.

"Not tonight. I'm sorry."

"You're not mad that I'm here, are you?"

She allowed a hint of a smile. "A little. But I won't hold it against you."

He nodded. "Be careful, okay?"

Kali crossed the street again. As she neared the liquor store, Crystal mumbled, "Spare change, ma'am?"

Kali reached for her wallet and handed over a dollar. Crystal tucked the money into the front pocket of her sweatshirt. "Thanks."

"There's more if you'll talk to me," Kali told her.

"What do you mean, 'talk'?"

"A conversation."

Crystal eyed Kali skeptically. "That's all?"

Kali nodded and took out a five-dollar bill. "I'm John O'Brien's sister."

"Who?"

"John O'Brien."

Crystal looked away. "Whatever."

"I know you were a friend of Olivia Perez's and Hayley Hendrix's, too."

Crystal's gaze bounced back to Kali, her expression sparked with alarm. "I don't know what you're talk..." Her breathing quickened. "I haven't said a word. I swear."

"About what, Crystal?"

She shook her head, nervously scanning the sidewalk to either side of her.

"How do you know John?" Kali asked.

But the girl was no longer listening. Lightning quick, she grabbed the five dollars from Kali and bolted up the street. Kali sprinted after her, hobbled by open-back sandals and the awkward weight of her shoulder bag. She pushed past a sauntering pair of baggy-pant teens and grabbed Crystal's sleeve.

"Please," Kali urged. "Talk to me. I want to help you."

Crystal yanked her arm free, spilling the bills and coins from her sweatshirt pocket onto the pavement. For an instant, she hesitated, glancing with anguish at the lost treasure, then took off again, zigzagging past pedestrians and into traffic.

"Watch out!" Kali screamed, just as a taxi swerved to avoid the fleeing girl. There was a sound of ripping metal as the taxi sideswiped a sedan parked at the curb.

Kali raced after Crystal, ignoring the angry words and gestures spewing from the taxi driver.

Half a block farther, she caught up with Crystal again. But just as she got hold of the girl's wrist, a wiry guy in a bicycle helmet tackled Kali, knocking her to the ground. Crystal pulled free and slipped away.

"Listen, lady, I saw it all."

Kali gasped for air. The wind had been knocked from her lungs, her left leg felt as if it were on fire, and her palms stung from scraping the pavement where she'd caught herself. She sat on one hip, holding the knee that had gotten the worst of it. The pain was intense but already ebbing by the time she caught her breath.

Crystal was nowhere in sight.

She glowered at the bicyclist. "What do you think you're doing?"

"Holding you until the cops get here. What gives you the right to hassle that poor girl? She wasn't hurting anyone. You caused an accident, lady. And you about got me killed."

Kali shut her eyes. "That's not what happened."

"The hell it isn't. I saw it."

"I wasn't hassling her," Kali argued. "We have a mutual friend. I merely wanted to talk to her."

"Well, she obviously didn't want to talk to you."

On that point the young bicyclist was dead-on.

The driver who belonged to the parked car emerged from the liquor store and started yelling at the cab driver. A deep gouge ran the length of the sedan, and the cab's bumper was still crumpled against its fender. A cop car pulled up moments later and the shouting intensified. Kali limped over to explain as best she could.

When she looked for Nash, he was gone. Not that he could have helped right then, but despite her earlier protests of independence, she'd have welcomed a little moral support.

An hour later, following a stern lecture and a ticket for impeding traffic, Kali pulled into the driveway at John's. She wanted a hot shower and a stiff drink, not necessarily in that order, but when she saw the now familiar black sheriff's sedan in the driveway, she knew she wasn't going to get them. Not right away.

"My God. What happened?" Sabrina asked, rushing to greet Kali at the door.

"I'll explain later." She gestured toward the car in the driveway. "Is that who I think it is?"

Sabrina nodded. "They just got here."

"What do they want?"

"They have some questions for you."

Could they have heard about her encounter with Crystal already? Did they have new information about John? Or maybe it was simply a follow-up to the information she'd passed along about the poetry book.

Kali limped into the living room, where her sister had settled the detectives in with coffee. Shafer looked ready to snap her head off, but Michelle Parker had that same soft-eyed, swallowing-a-smile look she always did.

"What can I do for you?" Kali asked, without a trace of diplomacy. "Is this about Tony Perez?"

"Indirectly," Michelle said.

Shafer interrupted before his partner could continue. "He tells us you showed him a photograph of Olivia with two other girls--Hayley Hendrix and a third girl he assumed from your questions was Crystal Adams."

Kali nodded. No use denying it. She wasn't sure she wanted to anyway.

"What are you doing with a photograph of two, possibly three, murdered girls? What's your interest?"

"Only two," Kali said. "Only two of them are dead. Crystal is still alive. I just saw her." That was the silver lining in today's disaster. Crystal was alive and Kali wanted to keep her that way, so she was going to tell the detectives everything. Even if it cast John in a bad light.

"That doesn't answer the question," Shafer said.

Kali dropped into an empty chair. "I found the photo. John had it."

Sabrina shot her a dirty look. "Kali, be careful."

"Your brother John?" Michelle asked.

"Right. I have no idea where he got it or why he had it. At first, I didn't think much about it. Then I saw a news picture of Olivia Perez and recognized that she was one of the girls in John's photo." She turned to Michelle. "When I was in your office and saw the artist's sketch of Hayley Hendrix, I realized she was one of the other girls."

"But you didn't speak up?"

"Do you blame me?" Kali could feel anger beginning to churn inside her. "You were so sure John was a murderer. You wouldn't even seriously consider the notion that he might have been murdered himself. You"--she pointed to Shafer--"all you cared about was covering your own ass."

"That's not true!"

"Why are you still involved in this, anyway?"

Michelle Parker put a hand out. "Let's not spin our wheels on what's in the past. Your brother clearly had ties to the three girls. Any idea what these ties were?"

Kali ignored Sabrina's stony glare and told the detectives about Hayley's and Olivia's involvement in porn. And John's. "From what I can determine, his interest was purely financial, though."

Shafer got up and paced the room. "You've been sitting on vital information," he snapped. "We should haul you in for obstruction of justice."

"Maybe if you'd actually done your job," Kali shot back, "you'd have learned what I did."

Michelle leaned forward. "What else can you tell us?" Her voice was soft.

Kali handed over the photograph. "That's Crystal Adams," she said. "Only her hair is short now and bleached. Her real name is Raelene. Her mom's dead and her dad lives in San Diego."

"Does she make porn movies, too?"

"I don't know. My brother hired a private investigator to locate her parents, but I have no idea why. She was outside a liquor store on Sixth near Speedway earlier this evening. She ran off when I tried to talk to her." Kali closed her eyes. She needed some Motrin and a drink. Not a good combination, but right then, a necessary one. "That's everything. Now please leave."

Shafer grumbled. Michelle handed her card. "I wrote my cell number on the back," she said.

While Sabrina showed them out, Kali mentally relived her encounter with Crystal. She'd handled it badly. The girl was clearly scared, and Kali had managed to spook her further. She could only hope the detectives would succeed where she'd failed.

"What do you think?" Erling asked Michelle once they were outside the house.

"I don't know. None of it fits as nicely as I'd like."

"No matter what Kali says, John O'Brien has to have been involved somehow."

"Involved in what, though?" Michelle asked. "And with whom?"

Erling opened the car door, slid behind the wheel, and waited for Michelle to buckle up before starting the engine.

"Anyway," she added in a tone just short of accusatory, "it's not your case now. I'll fill Bob Morgan in on today's events and we'll take it from there."

Erling knew he'd brought his troubles on himself, but this being shunted aside still rankled. Besides which, Morgan was a lightweight who cared more about seeing his name in print than nose-to-the-ground investigation.