Daddy's Little Killer (35 page)

"So what makes people do bad things if its
supposed to feel good to be part of the pack?"

"Evolution.  Genetic variance. 
Reinforcement of bad behaviors that conditions a pleasure response
when negative behavior is exhibited.  Nobody can say for sure,
but there are plenty of theories."

"What's your theory, Helen?  Don't tell
me you don't have one.  You've rubbed elbows with some very
bad dudes over the years."

"Some might say the worst of the worst," I
agreed.  Then again, there was my personal gene pool in
evidence in my mind.  Still, with all the so-called evil done
at the hands of my father, I understood his ethics in a way that no
one else possibly could.  Wendell had a code he not only
practiced, but passed onto me.  There wasn't a pair of
innocent hands on the roll call of Dad's hit list.  There
wasn't a child he placed elsewhere that had grown up hungry or
neglected.  There wasn't a business that folded because of his
theft.  On the contrary, it was their thieving insurance
companies who ultimately paid the well deserved price. 

"And?"  Charlie intruded into my
thoughts with a verbal nudge.

"I think that people ultimately make
choices.  We all have the capacity to find good in the evil
deeds we might commit or the polar opposite.  It's all a
matter of perception."

"Is that a fancy way of saying you don't
have a theory?"

"I liked yours just fine, Charlie. 
Some people are born with a head full of bad wiring."  What
gnawed in the back of my brain was another tidbit of my
perception.  Even though Orion struck me as annoying and
reluctant to share what he knew, I didn't get the same sense from
him that I get when I am confronted with truly evil men.

"Charlie, there's something else you should
know about what happened to me before I came to Darkwater Bay,"
words that were difficult to form clawed their way off the tip of
my tongue.

"What?  Is this about Kelly and
Varden?"

"Not exactly.  Indirectly maybe."

"What was it?"

"I believe it was their intent to abduct
me.  Someone stopped that from happening.  Someone from
Darkwater Bay."

I heard the frown in his question. 
"Who was it?"

"Johnny Orion."

Chapter 33

Charlie hit the outskirts of Downey and
didn't slow down.  Instead, the lights on the unmarked car
flashed in warning to motorists to get out of his way. 

"Why aren't you saying anything?"

"I'm not sure what I should say,
Helen.  Don't think think that was a rather important detail
to omit?"

"I promise you, whatever Kelly and Varden
did was unrelated to this case.  How could it have been? 
Gwen Foster was still alive when it happened."

"You're saying you've got some other link to
this city, one that you don't want to explain?"

I was convinced that Haverston had what it
took to make a good detective.  He missed very little. 
"It's complicated, Charlie.  And no, the link wasn't mine
personally.  It involved someone I once knew very well. 
At least I thought I knew him well."

"I need to know the truth."

"What you need to know pertains to this
investigation.  Everything else is background noise. 
Let's get back on topic.  Candy Blevins wasn't scared of the
guy we're trying to find.  How he reacted to that is the
significant point in the evolution of his pathology.  Perhaps
he was getting bored, feeling that his routine had become
stagnant.  He might've given Candy a chance to spice things up
for him."

"How?"

The truly horrific thought that occurred to
me earlier returned.  "By offering someone who not only fit
this guy's exacting and specific type, but would be terrified of
him."

"Sweet mother.  You think Candy offered
up her own sister?  Not just a sister, her twin?"

"I suspect that the only emotion Candace
Blevins feels is negative.  She would hate her sister, because
Carrie is sweet and kind and loving.  Even through all of
this, Carrie is the only person who refuses to give up on her
sister."

"She hoped that Carrie would fight this guy,
didn't she?"

"In a way, it makes a lot of sense. 
It's all theory until we can find Candy and talk to her.  I
should warn you in advance.  You've never been manipulated
until you've tried to pry the truth out of a true antisocial. 
They're the best natural profilers in the history of mankind."

"Are you telling me something about
yourself, Helen?"

"I don't follow."

"You're pretty damned good at this profiling
thing yourself.  Without your insight, no way would we be this
far on the case.  In fact, I'm pretty sure that Rogers and
Daltry would be at the bar by now, tossing back a few cold ones and
watching the NBA finals."

Maybe Charlie was right.  Except I
didn't suffer from a conduct disorder when I was a child, which is
a prerequisite for the diagnosis of antisocial personality
disorder.  Or so we in the field believe.  Even viruses
mutate and evolve.  Was I the next stage in conscienceless
killers?

"Hey," he reached across the console in the
car and bumped a fist into my shoulder.  "I was kidding."

"Candy Blevins won't be easy to coerce into
honesty.  I'm not sure she knows how to tell the truth. 
Anyway, her interview is moot if we can't find her."

"Adams and Taylor will get the job
done.  We've got Carrie helping now, remember."

"Right now, I can't put off talking to
Orion."

"I figured as much.  We're only a few
minutes away from central."

"Has anyone had time to move my car to the
house?"

Charlie shot me a sheepish grin.  "We
got your luggage wedged into the car, but didn't have time to move
it out of the garage at central.  I'm sorry, Helen."

"It's just as well.  It'll be
convenient if you and I need to split up after I talk to
Orion."

"Don't I get to be part of this
interview?"

"You can observe from the room, but I want
him to believe this is a one on one chat with me.  If you're
there, I doubt he'll be the Johnny Orion I've come to expect."

By the time we reached central, the
detective squad room was quiet as a tomb.  "Did Thieg or Adams
mention how they knew there was a powwow up here tonight when Orion
was brought in?"

"The place was buzzing when they showed up
for their briefing with the sergeant tonight.  Before you ask,
Thieg never mentioned why.  You're probably right that it's
this thing with Captain Martin.  Police captains generally
don't disappear around here."

"No, but a former chief of detectives did
die in this building."

"Right.  McNamara, wasn't it? 
That way way before my time."

Ironies, coincidences, horrible murders
unsolved … they started to worm around in my gut.  My sense of
unease grew.  I glanced over one shoulder expecting to find
David and Seleeby watching me from the shadows. 

"Get Orion up into the interview room. 
I'm gonna hit the bathroom for a minute."

"Are you all right, Helen?  You look
tired."

"Fully recovered since the end of our
interview with Carrie Blevins.  I'll meet you by the interview
room in five."

I splashed water in my face, washed my hands
and stared at the mirror.  Charlie was right.  So many
events in so few days was taking a toll.  There was something
to be said for taking time away from work after a
tragedy. 

Gwen's tragedy weighed heavily on my
mind.  My little problems with the FBI paled in comparison to
her fight for life.  She too learned to go through the
motions, much like the man who attacked her when she was a
child.  She spent more than eighteen years waiting for the day
he'd be back to finish what he started.

Had it really been as simple as all
that?  Were all this man's victims equally at risk for a
reunion?  Something still didn't fit.  What prompted this
man to come back to Gwen?  She hadn't simply
disappeared.  No, he left her body where it would be
found.  And who would've he expected to find it?  I knew
he must've stalked his victims in some of the cases.  Until I
interrogated Candy Blevins, I wouldn't know if she had anything to
do with helping this guy find a substitute.  Probably a wild
theory.

All sorts of things raced around in my
head.  David and the FBI investigation were still on my mind
more than I wanted to admit.  I fingered the cell phone in my
pocket.  I could call.  A simple apology might make David
drop his guard.  At the very least, I could ask if he and
Seleeby were still nosing around in Darkwater Bay.  What if,
while following Kelly and Varden follow me, they learned the
identity of the person who hired my shadows?

I dialed a number nothing could ever erase
from my memory.

"Levine."

"David, it's Helen."

"Hi."

All right, he didn't sound thrilled to hear
my voice.  My perception of our relationship over the years
might've been misjudged too.

"Is this a bad time?"

"You were the one who closed the door on
communication.  Was I supposed to divine another message from
that?"

"I'm sorry, David.  This has been a
difficult time for me.  Add to that the fact that I'm working
a case that at best is a nightmare, and find out that I'm being
followed by a couple of sleazy PI's from Darkwater Bay who broke
into my hotel room and stole from me, and perhaps you'll understand
why I was short with you the other night."

"Ah, Mr. Kelly and Mr. Varden."

"Were you following me?"

"Hmm."

"David, please talk to me.  Were you
lying when you said that the FBI doesn't think I'm part of Rick's
criminal enterprise?"

"I know you're innocent.  I have no
doubt that Sully Marcos had Rick murdered."

"You, but not the FBI."

"It will blow over.  They'll find
evidence that points toward the guilty party, Helen."

"Were you following me?"

"I was concerned that you were getting in
over your head out there."

"You've gone back to Washington?"

He chuckled softly.  "After we put the
fear of God into those investigators following you."

"When was that?  What day?"

"Thursday.  Is that important? 
Are they harassing you again?"

I heard his favorite leather office chair
squeak.  It wrapped around me like a hug.  "No,
David.  I noticed that they weren't following me anymore
today."

"We detained them after you entered a store,
Apple, I believe."

"When I replaced my laptop.  Did you
find out who hired them?"

"Some nobody, Helen.  We suspected to
find out it was somebody from Marcos' clan, like Mr. Datello, who I
can only warn you to stay away from because we already know he had
nothing to do with Rick's death."

"Did you see the man who hired them?"

"Tall guy.  Dark hair.  Thin
without being skinny.  Why?"

Two-thirds of David's description matched
what Carrie Blevins said about her rapist.  How on earth could
he know I might be hired by the police in Darkwater Bay?  It
was a secret shared by three men, possibly a fourth in the form of
… now missing Rodney Martin.

"Oh my God."

"What?  Helen, what's wrong?"

"I'll call you soon.  Gotta go."

Charlie had Johnny Orion tethered to the
table with cuffs in the interview room.  "Are you sure about
this, Helen?  He's pissed enough to tear that table apart with
one hand."

We watched him for a few minutes through the
glass in silence.  "I'm sure.  You didn't say anything to
him about who wanted to question him, did you?"

"No.  He has no idea why he's here,
only that he was arrested for suspicion of murder."

"Watch and learn, Charlie.  Things are
about to get interesting."

I mussed my hair and
paused at the door. 
Wanna play
games, Orion?  Let's play.
 

The door to the interrogation room opened a
crack.  Orion's eyes snapped into focus on that gap.  I
felt it.  Quickly, I stepped inside, spun around and peeked
through the crack I left when I swung the door shut.

"Doc?"

"Shh.  They're out there.  I had
to sneak in.  I came the second Charlie found out our
investigation has been compromised.  I figured you went out
looking for me when I got back to the penthouse and you were
gone.  The interview ran long.  I fell asleep waiting for
you to come back."

"They arrested me on suspicion of
murder.  My alibi is solid, you know that."

I nodded and crept toward the table.

"Let me out of these cuffs."

"Johnny, I can't help you escape, but I can
tell you why you're here."

"Why?"

"Because they suspect that you're an
accessory after the fact.  Gwen was already dead when she was
dismembered."

"And they think
I
did it?"

I sat across from him and reached over to
grip his hands.  "I'm being cut out of the case because I let
you go that night.  Lowe is livid.  Rogers, Daltry and
Myre couldn't rub it in hard enough that they were right and I was
wrong.  Surely you heard the buzz around the division when you
were arrested."

"I heard they were all here, but had no clue
why.  Doc, are you all right?  You look terrible."

Part of my body wanted to recoil every time
he used that little nickname, but the stakes were too high. 
The game had to be played.  "A little tired, but I'll
survive.  We don't have long before whoever really wanted to
talk to you comes in here."

"Listen, Charlie was the one who brought me
in here.  Are you sure he's not –"

"He's also the one who
helped
me
get in
here without being seen.  He'll keep them away as long as
possible, but I'd rather not press my luck.  We're going to
keep searching for whoever killed Gwen, but we've got to do it off
the radar."