A Dark Mind (24 page)

“I’m a rare breed—a mix of overconfidence, competitiveness, and salesmanship, with only a touch of compassion.”

“Oh, really,” she said, thoroughly amused and intrigued, especially by his mouth and his dark, smoldering eyes.

He laughed. “I’m kidding. I have a degree in finance, but at the moment, I’m working construction to pay off my student loans. Since working this job, I’ve been burning the candle at both ends. I like to rock climb, play a little golf, read financial books, and visit family when they come to town.” He put both hands on the table between them and leaned forward. “Secretly, I’m looking forward to the day I can settle down with the right woman. How about you?”

Jessica sighed. Guys like Magnus didn’t usually pay her much attention, and that was her first clue that something wasn’t right. Not that she wasn’t worthy of a date with a hot guy; she was an eight out of ten in the looks department—not too thin or overweight. She had curves. She wasn’t a genius like Hayley, but she was no dummy, either. And she liked to think she had a sense of humor. “My life isn’t too exciting. As you know, I work for a private investigator, and I’m going to be straight with you. I need you to tell me what’s going on with Dominic Povo.”

“Who wants to know?”

“His fiancée.”

He exhaled and then seemed to relax a little before he said, “Tell her to run as fast as she can.”

“I suppose you’re not going to tell me why?”

He shook his head.

“Is he dangerous?”

“Extremely.”

“Can you tell me anything about the garbage bags delivered to the site a few weeks ago?”

He looked taken aback. “I’m not sure what you’re talking about.”

She wasn’t sure whether or not she believed him, but the truth was she hadn’t seen Magnus in the area when the delivery was made. “There were a couple of bulky plastic bags delivered to the site,” she told him, “and the shape and size of the bags, together with the lumpiness of the delivery, made me think there could be a dead body inside. But I have an overly active imagination and I’ve been known to jump to conclusions, which is why I haven’t yet called the police.”

“Leave the police out of this.”

“Why should I listen to you?”

“Because I like you and I’m trying to help you.”

“But you can’t tell me what Povo’s up to?”

He shook his head.

“If you’re in some sort of trouble, Magnus, you need to get away from Povo, because in two weeks, when his fiancée returns from Europe, I’m going to set up a meeting with her and my boss and tell them everything. At that point, since I have no proof, I’ll let them decide what needs to be done.”

He scribbled his number on a napkin and handed it to her. “Here’s my number in case you ever need to talk.” He looked at his
watch and then gazed into her eyes as if he were trying to decide how much he could tell her. “Stay safe, Jessica.”

And that was it. She watched him walk away, wishing they had met under different circumstances. She didn’t bother following him outside to see what kind of car he drove. She needed to think about things. Coffee with Magnus had been bittersweet.

She liked him. But he was hiding something, which meant he was too good to be true. Hayley was right. She needed to be careful. She needed to use her instincts, too. Magnus was twenty-nine. If he wasn’t exaggerating about his degree or his fondness for rock climbing, he was smart and adventurous, and he was also a bad boy.

What’s not to like?

Butterflies had flittered inside her belly the entire time he sat across from her.
Pathetic.
High school all over again.

For the next ten minutes, she sipped her coffee and read one of the magazines the coffee shop made available to customers. Her phone vibrated. She glanced at the caller ID and hit Talk. “He couldn’t have possibly gotten to work already.”

“He didn’t go back to work,” Hayley said.

Jessica’s heart skipped a beat. “Where did he go after he left the coffee shop?”

“You’re not going to like it.”

“He met with Dominic Povo, didn’t he?”

“Yes. Tommy’s still watching him, but he called to let me know.”

“Damn.”

Silence.

Jessica let out a breath. “I need to check out the construction site when nobody else is there, maybe this Friday after the crew is gone. Do you think you could go with me?”

“I would love to.”

“Thanks. I’ll talk to you later.” Jessica disconnected the call and stared straight ahead. The woman working the main counter came over and asked her if she needed anything.

“Men, boys, whatever,” Jessica said, “they all suck.”

“Yeah, they do. More coffee?”

“Sure.”

You feel the last bit of breath leaving their body. You’re looking into their eyes. A person in that situation is God!

—Ted Bundy

Sacramento

Thursday, May 31, 2012

As he lay in bed, staring at the ceiling but seeing only shadows of darkness, his mind worked overtime.

Three days had passed since the bitch had bashed his nose in. He didn’t have the luxury of going to the hospital, but he was certain it wasn’t broken—maybe just fractured. But that didn’t mean he wasn’t in pain. His face felt as if he’d been hit by a car. It was a mess, a kaleidoscope of colors, and there was no way he could stay on schedule now. His plan had been to be inside Kassie Scott’s house tomorrow afternoon. Now, with the way he was feeling, he was going to have to put things off for a week.

Lizzy Gardner was going to suffer for her bad behavior. No more silly cat-and-mouse games. She would die, but not before he strategized long and hard over her demise. There would be torture involved, of course, and darkness and endless days and nights of not knowing what would happen next. He knew
that going after her these past weeks had been a gamble. Just as screwing with Eli over the years was an added risk he didn’t need to take. But fucking with other people’s heads was just plain fun. When people like Eli tried to get into his business and mess with his everyday life, he liked to turn their nosy ways on them and show them who was boss—show them how powerless they really were.

He would lie low at his parents’ house for a few more days.

He thought about better days when Mrs. Beck cooked for him, always aiming to please. The Becks had coddled him and treated him like he was still thirteen years old. It used to drive him absolutely insane; all that petting of his head and oohing and ahhing over his bullshit accomplishments.

But after the embalming incident, it seemed they spent their days and nights watching TV.

Their sudden coldness and lack of interest in him had been the turning point.

Everything had changed after that. Inevitable? Perhaps.

It was almost midnight, but he couldn’t sleep. Pushing himself off of the bed, he caught his balance before he made his way to the window. It was an old window with a crank handle, and he had to put his muscle into it to get the window to open a few inches. No longer a young boy, he felt at ease amid the eerie high-pitched sound of the pine sawyer beetles.

Look. There was one now.

It took some doing, but he managed to get ahold of the beetle before it could disappear in the crevice of the window frame. He picked up the beetle and brought it within millimeters of his eyeball so he could examine it more closely, wondering why the beetle had ever spooked him to begin with. Then he popped the bug into his mouth and enjoyed the feeling of its legs on his tongue as
it moved around, trying to find a way out. When he grew bored, he crunched down on its hard brittle body, enjoying its squeals right before he felt a squirt of bug juice drip down his throat. As he chewed and then finally swallowed, he tried to imagine what it would be like to be an insect with no brain, no thoughts, just a big dark canvas of nothingness.

Antelope

Friday, June 1, 2012

It was five minutes past eight and the sun was setting as Jessica parked her car. Hayley was sitting on the curb waiting for her just as she had said she would be. They were headed for the construction site to look for anything that might be suspect, like dead bodies. Povo and his crew should be long gone.

Hayley opened the passenger door and climbed in.

“What’s going to happen if Lizzy beats you home and you’re gone?” Jessica asked.

“I locked my door and went through the window. She’ll think I’m sleeping.”

It took them only a few minutes to get to where they needed to be. Jessica drove up to a curb and shut off the engine. They would walk over an empty field of dirt to get to the house.

Hayley pulled a tight cap over her head and then fastened an elastic band with a tiny flashlight around her forehead. Jessica had worn her hair in one long braid. No head covering needed.

Locate the garbage bags. In and out, that was their goal.

Neither of them said a word as they made their way across the field. The construction site was in a cul-de-sac. If they had
parked next to the model homes or anywhere on the same street and somebody showed up, they would be trapped.

As they approached the site, Jessica scanned the area for vehicles. There were no cars or trucks parked near the unfinished home. No lights on in the trailer where Dominic Povo and his men worked during the day. Jessica had to jog to keep up with Hayley, who always walked with focus and determination. Tonight was no different.

The construction workers had done a good job of keeping debris in piles, no loose nails or random pieces of wood scattered. Jessica followed Hayley through the garage. All of the walls had been framed, as had the stairs. There were shingles on the roof, but doors and windows were still missing.

Hayley stopped and pointed to a dark plastic bag close to the door leading into the house. After turning on the minilight on her forehead, she undid the knot on the top of the bag and looked inside.

Jessica held her breath.

“Trash.”

Thank God
. “OK, let’s check the house.”

“Wait a minute,” Hayley said. “Look at the ground.”

Jessica came closer and peered at the area where Hayley pointed. Smooth gray concrete. “What is it?”

“The foundation is usually the first thing they pour before the framing begins. But this flooring was poured in the past forty-eight hours. It was just cured. I can smell it.”

Shivers coursed up Jessica’s spine. “This was a really dumb idea. I think we should go to the police.”

“What are you going to tell them? That you saw a couple of large plastic bags being delivered to the site and you think there might be dead bodies buried beneath the garage floor?”

“OK, fine. Let’s do a quick search and get this over with. In and out. We’ve already been here too long.” Jessica decided this was by far the dumbest idea she’d ever had. She should have listened to Magnus and stayed away.

They headed inside. Jessica went upstairs while Hayley moved straight through the lower part of the house.

Upstairs, there were three bedrooms, all with good-sized closets. Jessica stepped into the master bedroom. Moonlight filtered in through the window opening. All of the rooms had been swept clean. An empty package of Camels sat on one of the windowsills, but that was it. No plastic bags stashed away in the unfinished closets.

Jessica froze at the sound of a car pulling into the driveway.

“Shit.”

There were two windows in the room. She peeked out the window overlooking the driveway. Two vehicles pulled in and parked in front of the garage. Jessica ran to the top of the stairs. She took two steps down before she could hear male voices in the garage. If she took another step, they would see her for sure. She ran back to the room she’d just left and hid in the closet. She sank quietly down to the floor. Her heart thumped against her chest.

What was she thinking, coming here? She wanted to be a criminologist, not a policewoman or an investigator. Hoping Hayley had heard the cars and escaped through a window opening, she stuck her head out of the closet space and listened. The voices had moved to the backyard. She crawled across the floor and stopped beneath the window overlooking the yard. A patio area had also been newly poured with concrete, and there was a Dumpster half-filled with garbage.

Three male voices—they were arguing about something.

“Where’s Povo?”

“He should be here any minute.”

“We don’t have time for your bullshit. Did you bring the money, or not?”

“He said he’d put it in that storage bin over there.”

The last voice sounded familiar. Pressed to the wall, Jessica slid upward until she could see shadows outside. Based on his build alone, she knew one of the men. It was Magnus. As Magnus led the way to the storage bin and began to work on unlatching the bolt, she saw one of the guys following him pull out a knife.

She sprang to her feet, gasping and knocking the cigarette package out the window in the process.

All three men turned toward the sound.

Magnus must have seen the knife, because a struggle broke out. As they wrestled on the ground, she couldn’t tell who was who.

“What are you doing?”

Jessica looked to where a door should be. Hayley stood under the frame, scowling. She ran inside, grabbed Jessica’s arm, and ushered her down the stairs and out the way they had come, through the garage.

Pop. Pop.

Gunshots?
Were they being shot at?

Hayley grabbed her arm, pushing her to run faster. The only sounds were their heavy breathing and the slap of their shoes against pavement as they sprinted down the street, across the road, away from the dirt field they had crossed to get to the house.

Hayley half climbed, half jumped over a four-foot chain-link fence that surrounded the model homes. “Hurry up,” she said, pulling Jessica to the other side before she could jump.

Jessica’s shirt snagged on something and ripped. Her left knee hit the sidewalk on the other side, but Hayley hardly gave her time to find her balance before she grabbed her arm again.