The Killings (An Olivia Miller Mystery Book 1) (12 page)

“My aunt’s a lawyer but she doesn’t handle cases like this. She could refer you to someone.”

“I don’t think I need one. Not yet, anyway,” Kayla said. She finished Olivia’s tea. “So if you and your side-kick didn’t tell the police that I was in Christian’s apartment, who did? Luke?”

“I don’t think he would, but I can’t say for certain,” Olivia said.

Kayla said, “Eric pissed him off the other night. Would that make Luke call the police? To get back at me? To get back at Eric? Does Luke think I did it?”

“I don’t know. Maybe you should talk to Luke. I don’t know him well enough to be able to say if he would call the police or not. Who else knows you were there that night?”

“I thought just the three of you,” Kayla said. “And, Eric.”

“Somebody else must have seen you there.”

“Well, who the heck could it be?” Kayla mumbled, trying to think of who might have seen her at Christian’s that night.

Olivia considered something, not sure if she should ask, but went ahead with it. “You were arrested for assault?”

Kayla’s eyes widened. “How do you know that?”

“Eric told us.”

Kayla’s lips pressed together. “Why the hell did he tell you that?”

“He wants us to stay away from you. He doesn’t want us dragging you into it. He explained that you didn’t want to go to the police because you had a record.” Olivia paused for a few seconds. “Why were you arrested?”

“I’m not telling you that.” Kayla looked like she wanted to run away.

“Eric said you had an abusive boyfriend.”

“Jesus.” Kayla was fuming. “Has he ever heard of privacy?”

“Was your boyfriend abusive to you?”

Kayla’s eyes flashed around the room. “That hasn’t got anything to do with my life today.”

Olivia was quiet.

“I’m not talking about the past,” Kayla said.

“Okay,” Olivia said. She kept her face neutral.

“I don’t have a record. The charges were dropped,” Kayla said.

“Okay.”

Kayla cocked her head, hesitated for a moment, and then asked, “You think I killed them, don’t you?”

“It’s a weird coincidence isn’t it?” Olivia’s tone was thoughtful.

“What is?” Kayla’s lips were tight. A muscle in her cheek twitched.

“That you and the killer had ski masks on that night.”

Kayla stiffened. “What are you implying? That there were two killers? That I’m one of them?” Her voice shook.

Olivia shrugged, and then shook her head. “I’m not implying anything. Really. I’m just thinking out loud.” Olivia just couldn’t picture Kayla as a killer. There was something about her. She couldn’t quite put her finger on it. Something, under the spiked hair and tough exterior that she tried to project, there was something vulnerable, and almost sweet. Olivia also knew that she could be misperceiving everything about Kayla and could be very wrong about what she might be capable of. Olivia gave herself a mental shake. “It’s just a very odd coincidence, isn’t it?”

Kayla said nothing. Her woolen cap had flattened her usual spikey hair. It hung in soft wisps over her forehead. A pink flush colored her porcelain skin.

Something had been picking at the back of Olivia’s mind, but try as she might, she just couldn’t bring it to the forefront. She exhaled a long breath and studied Kayla’s face. She held her hand out for the fork. Kayla passed it to her, and Olivia speared a chunk of cake and placed it in her mouth. She chewed, swallowed, and said, “Did you want Christian dead? For breaking up with you?”

Kayla blinked. “Well, yeah. Sometimes. He hurt me.”

Olivia raised her eyes to Kayla. It was an honest answer. Wouldn’t lots of people say they wished ill to the person who hurt them? But not really mean it.

“
That
probably isn’t something you should reveal to the police if they interview you again.”

Kayla said, “Oh, I never would have hurt him. You know. One day you wish he would get run over by a bus and the next day you imagine how you’d forgive him with open arms when he comes running back to you saying what a terrible mistake he made.”

Olivia knew exactly what Kayla meant. Olivia and her aunt spent every summer in Ogunquit, Maine since Olivia was a toddler. From the time she was a little kid until she was fourteen, she whiled away every day of summer hanging out with her best friend, Brad. They would bike and swim and kayak and lay in the grass reading under the apple tree. When they were fourteen, Brad developed a crush on a girl and abandoned Olivia for the last two weeks of summer in order to moon over the newcomer.

Olivia would sit in the rocking chair on the small porch of the house, imagining terrible things happening to Brad and his “mistake” like capsizing in their kayaks and drowning in the ocean. She pictured Brad, as he took his last breath, realizing the error of his ways and wishing he could see Olivia one last time. After that year, Brad’s family decided not to summer in Maine anymore and that was last she ever saw of Brad. Thinking of him, a little twinge squeezed Olivia’s heart.

Funny. To still miss someone after all these years.

Kayla turned to the window and looked out at the lights of the city twinkling in the darkness. A wistful smile played at the corner of her mouth. “Christian was just so great,” she said, and then her face took on a look of immense sadness. “He’s gone. It’s time to stop pretending that I’ll wake up from all this and he’ll come back to me.”

Chapter 17

Olivia came out of the bedroom dressed in a black cocktail dress and black heels. The sleeveless dress had a high neck and the fabric followed the trim lines of her body ending several inches above the knee. She had her hair styled the way she usually did for a more formal party, with it half up and half down, gentle waves falling just past her shoulders. Olivia didn’t usually wear much makeup, just some mascara and lip gloss, but tonight she had applied a smudge of eyeliner and a bit of blush.

Melissa sat in the easy chair in the living room, fiddling with the small buckle on the strap of her heels.

“I can’t get this thing tight enough. There. I pushed it through.” She looked up at Olivia. “Wow. You look great. That dress fits perfectly.” Melissa stood. She had on an emerald green cocktail dress with spaghetti straps. A necklace of blue and green stones circled her neck and she wore dark green heels. She had curled her long, nearly black hair and the waves settled around her shoulders and cascaded down her back.

“Damn. You look like a movie star.” Olivia smiled. “You’re like four inches taller than usual. Now you’re my height,” she kidded her petite friend.

Melissa ignored Olivia’s teasing. She grabbed her clutch and a sweater. “Come on, let’s go dazzle some guys.”

Olivia put on a black velvet jacket and the two went down to the street to the waiting cab. They drove across Cambridge, over the bridge that crossed the Charles River, and into the center of Boston, where the cab stopped in front of a swanky hotel. The college and university formal event was held in a different hotel ballroom each year and, drawing both undergraduate and graduate students from many area schools, it sold out annually. The young women joined couples and groups of friends as they entered the lobby and made their way to the ballroom.

Cut glass chandeliers cast a warm glow over the crowd. The room was decorated with flowers, pumpkins, and tiny white lights. Tables were laden with appetizers and desserts, and waiters carrying trays of hors d'oeuvres wove around the groups of people standing together chatting and laughing. A bar was set up on one side of the room and a DJ played on a stage at the rear. Music pulsed in the air and a large number of people danced in the area in front of the stage.

“What a crowd,” Melissa said. “This is going to be fun.”

They milled about until they found some friends standing on the other side of the room. Olivia thought how great it was that people were out having a good time together knowing that many of them needed a break from the sorrow and horror of recent events. It would be helpful to have a reprieve from things for a short while. Olivia and Melissa joined their friends on the dance floor and stayed there for almost an hour.

Olivia grabbed Melissa’s arm and said, “I’m going to get a cold drink.”

Melissa decided to get something too so they approached the line in front of the bar. Four guys stood to the side talking. Two of them joined the girls at the back of the line and struck up a conversation. Olivia could feel her heart start to beat a little faster when the tall, athletically-built blonde with blue eyes stood next to her. The other guy was fit but a bit huskier with longer dark hair and hazel green eyes. They introduced themselves and they all shared where and what they were studying.

“I’m doing my doctorate in chemical engineering at Boston University,” the blond guy named Jason told them.

“Where did you do your undergraduate work?” Melissa asked.

“MIT.”

“We have some friends studying at MIT,” Olivia said. “Do you know Luke Smithson?”

“No, I don’t. Different department no doubt,” Jason said. “Although even in the same department we all don’t know each other. What are you studying, Olivia?” He smiled at her and held her eyes.

“I’m finishing my degree in international relations and I’ll be applying to law school soon.”

“Do you have a first choice of law school?”

“Not really. It would be nice to be admitted to one of the schools in the Boston area though. I’d like to stay in Massachusetts.”

After finishing drinks, Jason and Olivia, and Melissa and John, took to the floor in front of the DJ and mixed in with the throng of dancers enjoying all of the latest hits.

Olivia and Jason danced to a number of songs before deciding to take a break and find a table to sit down at and talk, so they moved away from the crowded dance floor and saw some people that Olivia knew. The group called them over and Olivia and Jason sat with them and chatted. A guy that Olivia didn’t know introduced himself to her.

“Nick,” he said shaking her hand. “I graduated last year. Now I’m working for a start up in Kendall Square.”

“Which one?” Olivia asked. “We have friends working in Kendall.”

“LearnApp. We do educational products for middle school kids.”

The company name sounded familiar to Olivia and then she placed it. “I met someone recently who worked there. He got laid off.”

“Really? Who?”

“His name is Eric. I don’t know his last name.”

Nick’s face went serious. “Eric Daniels?”

“Maybe.”

“How do you know him?” Nick asked.

“I met him through a friend. I don’t know him well at all,” Olivia said.

“Then you’re lucky.” Nick scowled.

“Why?”

“He was a problem. Things would set him off. Sometimes he was friendly, a nice guy, then he would turn nasty. Would say mean things to people. He didn’t work well with the rest of the people at the company.”

“So they laid him off?”

“Well.…” the guy shrugged.

“He got fired?” Olivia asked.

“One day, out of the blue, he stormed into the CEO’s office, ranting about a co-worker. The CEO had to call the building security. It was all about nothing. Eric had a fit over some difference of opinion with someone. Nobody wanted to work with him because of his moods. He was volatile.”

“Wow,” Olivia said. “I wonder if this is the same Eric.”

“I think it must be. Nobody’s been laid off at our company.”

Olivia thought over what she had just heard.

Nick said, “Eric’s like some technical genius. I always thought he should be working for the government, CIA or something. But with his temper and personality, that’d be out of the question. Eric wants to do everything his own way. He’s not a team player. I don’t think he’ll be working at any startups anytime soon. People know each other around here. Word gets out.”

Olivia nodded. “I only met him in passing.” She craned her neck to see if she could find Melissa. She wanted to tell her what this guy had just shared. “I’m going to go look for my friend. Nice talking with you.” She stood and headed off to find Melissa.

“Olivia.” Good looking Jason called to her. “You’re not leaving are you?”

“I’m going to find Melissa.”

“Can I come with you?”

“I’ll be back,” she told him. She didn’t know if she would be back. Jason made her slightly uncomfortable. Somehow she got the feeling that he might be possessive. Olivia had so much to do with schoolwork and law school applications that she wasn’t sure she wanted to get involved with anyone. She spotted Melissa coming out of the bathroom.

“Mel,” Olivia called to her.

Melissa smiled and walked over to meet Olivia. “How’s it going with Blondie?”

“He’s okay. He might be a pain. I haven’t decided yet.”

Melissa laughed.

“What about the guy you were dancing with?” Olivia asked.

“I get the feeling he has a girlfriend.”

Olivia rolled her eyes. “Listen to what a guy I just met said about Eric.”

“Kayla’s Eric?”

“Yes.” Olivia proceeded to tell Melissa all of the details. “The guy should never have spilled so much about Eric but I think he’s had a few too many drinks so he told all of that stuff.”

“That’s wild. But actually, I believe it. Didn’t you get the feeling something was weird with Eric? He’s so…I don’t know … bitchy.”

“Yeah. The way he was so critical of Christian even though he had only met him once,” Olivia said. “But I suppose he was just looking out for his friend.”

“He’s still odd,” Melissa said. “Speaking of one too many drinks, I think I’ve had enough for the night.”

“You want to go home?”

“I’m starting to feel sick,” Melissa said.

“Let’s get out of here, then.” Olivia took Melissa’s arm, went to pick up their things, and then headed for the exit. “Just don’t throw up in the cab.”

***

Olivia paid the cab driver and the girls stepped out onto the dark sidewalk in front of their building. When they reached the front stairs, someone called out to Olivia, and they turned towards the voice, startled.

Jason from the formal dance was sitting on the hood of his parked car. It was a bright red Porsche 911 convertible. He hopped off the hood and leaned back against the front of the automobile, smiling. “You didn’t say goodbye,” he said to Olivia.