Closer Than You Think

  ‘That’s nice,’ Bishop said, ‘but it doesn’t explain why you didn’t ask for our help when you discovered your brother had been murdered.’

  Stone blew out a breath. ‘I’m trying to explain. Mom wanted a family. Wanted the illusion. Jeremy gave that to her, but then his lover pressured him to come out, to leave Mom for him. Mom said she agreed. She’d gotten Audrey and had had ten good years of marriage. Jeremy was a good man, she always said. Which he is. After I got over being mad and hurt, I forgave him. I even liked his last partner. He made Jeremy so damn happy.’

  ‘His last partner?’ Deacon asked. ‘Not Keith?’

  ‘No. Jeremy’s last partner was Sammy. Keith had known Jeremy longer – since high school – but it was Sammy that Jeremy loved. Keith was friends with Sammy too, but I got the sense he was a third wheel. Even as a kid, I understood the three’s-a-crowd concept.’

  ‘You think Keith was jealous?’ Deacon asked.

  ‘I know he is. And he has a temper. After Sammy was killed in the accident that ruined Jeremy’s hand, Keith helped him through the grief and then they became partners. I’ve see Keith give men black eyes if they look at Jeremy too closely. I’ve seen him beat up a guy who called Jeremy a fag. Put the guy in hospital.’

  ‘He wasn’t charged,’ Bishop said. ‘We ran checks on all of you.’

  ‘Jeremy paid the homophobe and made it go away.’

  ‘I repeat,’ Bishop said. ‘You’re still not explaining.’

  ‘Be patient,’ Stone snapped. ‘I have a concussion. Mom always passed off Mickey as the son of a Russian businessman she’d lived with for a short time after Jeremy left. But last week, Mickey did one of those genetic grids in biology class and figured out that the Russian couldn’t be his father. Mom had to tell him the truth – that Jeremy was his father.’

  Now Deacon understood. ‘Keith wasn’t the only one comforting Jeremy after Sammy died.’

  ‘Exactly,’ Stone said. ‘Keith was furious. He had never liked Mickey and none of us really knew why. When the truth came out, my sister Audrey and I thought that maybe he had always had a subconscious feeling that Jeremy was Mick’s dad. When I found Mickey’s body . . .’ Stone shuddered out a breath. ‘I thought that Keith had . . .’ He let the thought trail.

  ‘You thought Keith had killed Mickey,’ Deacon finished.

  ‘Understandable,’ Bishop said. ‘But still not explaining why you didn’t tell us about the damn bodies. Nor does it explain why didn’t you report Keith. I mean, you believed he’d killed your brother. Why wouldn’t you warn Jeremy that you thought Keith was a killer?’

  ‘Keith wouldn’t hurt a hair on Jeremy’s head,’ Stone said. ‘But it would have killed Jeremy to know that his son was dead because his own lover had murdered him. I hadn’t even had a chance to breathe when I got home yesterday before the two of you busted in. And then you told me that an Earl Power guy was dead and I knew I’d seen his body. Keith might kill in fury, but not like how you were talking, not all planned and calm. And he wouldn’t abduct women or girls. I figured someone else had killed them and maybe the missing woman you told me about would know who it was. So I didn’t suspect Keith anymore, which would spare Jeremy pain, and I could find out who the hell killed my baby brother. I tried to find Corinne Longstreet. I found her trail near the deer blind. I tried to talk to her, to help her, but she went ballistic like a crazy woman and beat the hell out of me.’

  Bishop rolled her eyes. ‘She went ballistic because she’d heard her best friend being tortured for days. She thought you were the one who’d done it. But none of this explains why you didn’t tell us the goddamn truth. If you suspected someone else, why didn’t you say something? You could have saved us time. Spared Corinne hell. We could have gotten to Roza before a psycho killer did. He’s killed a lot of people in the hours since we last talked. Their blood is on your hands, Stone. Yours.’ She got in his face, more furious than Deacon had ever seen her. ‘Why didn’t you tell us the truth?’ she shouted.

  ‘Because I knew you’d blame Jeremy!’ Stone spat out. ‘As soon as you said Cousin Faith’s name, I knew. Because I knew the lies his family told about him. I knew because I was there the day he came home from the reading of his father’s goddamn will. He was devastated.’

  ‘Because he was cut out of the will,’ Bishop said.

  ‘No. Because his family thought he could actually molest his own niece. He came home and cried. I’d never seen a grown man cry and I remembered that. I didn’t understand why he was so upset at the time, but I do now. He was heartbroken – to be accused to begin with, and because his own sister didn’t defend him. She stood there and let her husband beat him up. So yeah, I didn’t tell you any of this. Somehow you’d find a way to pin it on Jeremy. Does that satisfy your need for an explanation, Detective?’

  Bishop slowly straightened. ‘Yes. Yes, it does. Finally.’ She looked away for a minute, then turned back to him. ‘You say you saw him come home that day from the reading of his father’s will. Do you happen to remember when that was?’

  Stone blinked at her. ‘Around three. It was a Friday and we’d just come home from school.’

  ‘You seem to remember it well,’ Deacon said thoughtfully. ‘Why?’

  ‘Because the next day was Saturday. Mom wanted to cheer us up, so we went to Kings Island and rode the Beast all day. It’s a roller coaster.’

  ‘I know,’ Deacon and Bishop said together.

  ‘All day?’ Bishop asked.

  ‘Yes,’ Stone insisted. ‘Why?’

  ‘Just establishing a timeline,’ Deacon said quietly. ‘Your cousin Faith remembers things a little differently that day.’

  ‘Well, she’s wrong. Ask Marcus. Ask my mother. They’ll tell you the same thing.’

  ‘We will,’ Deacon said. He returned his attention to Stone. ‘Speaking of Marcus, how does he fit into this picture?’

  Stone sighed. ‘I needed to get out of the house to look for Corinne Longstreet, but your people were watching so I called Marcus and asked him to meet me at a bar downtown. Your Fed tailed me all the way into town. I met with Marcus and asked if he’d take my car back to Jeremy’s and sleep in the guest house for the night. I told him I had a story lead to follow. Which wasn’t exactly a lie. This will make one helluva byline.’

  ‘He believed you?’ Bishop asked.

  ‘Of course.’

  ‘Why did he think he was leading the Feds away from you?’ Deacon asked, frowning.

  ‘Because some of my stories are controversial. I’ve been tailed by Feds before.’

  ‘You didn’t tell him about Mickey?’

  ‘No. I didn’t tell him any of it, because he would have called you. He’s just wired that way. I wanted to buy some time. And I wanted him near Jeremy, just in case he found out about Mickey. Marcus is better with him than I am.’ Stone’s body sagged. ‘Marcus is better with everyone than I am. He led your Fed back to Jeremy’s in my car and I drove Marcus’s Subaru to the cabin.’

  ‘How did he fool my Fed?’ Deacon asked. ‘You two look nothing alike.’

  ‘Not lying down and bleeding and shit,’ Stone muttered. ‘But standing up, if Marcus is wearing my coat and we pad it a little, and it’s dark? Yeah, he can pass as me. We’ve done it before, when we needed to fool Mom. I texted him when I came to after that woman cold-cocked me with the shovel. Told him to follow the trail the woman and girl had left behind. He was so pissed when he found me. He’d been watching the news. He knew what was going on and why the woman had stabbed me. Said I got what I deserved for lying to the cops and for leaving poor Corinne to wander around the woods. Pretty much word for word what you said, Detective.’

  ‘Okay, so that’s how you got out,’ Deacon said. ‘Why did Jeremy sneak out the back way? Why did he go to so much trouble to evade the agents out front?’

  ‘Marcus got Jeremy and Keith out,’ Stone said. ‘Marcus said that Mom came home from a trip last night and realized that Mickey was missing. Audrey
and I hoped we could find him and bring him home before Mom got back, but . . . Anyway, Mom called Jeremy and he went to sit with her. He went out the back way partially because he didn’t want to arrive at Mom’s being followed by the cops and partially because none of them knew why Mickey had run. Mom immediately thought he’d been kidnapped and she didn’t want the cops involved.’ His cheek twitched as he clenched his jaw. ‘She asked Jeremy not to involve the police.’

  ‘Didn’t Audrey tell them Mickey had run away?’ Bishop asked.

  ‘Yes, and Marcus went out looking for him, not realizing I knew where he was because I, like a fool, hadn’t told him. Marcus told them that we’d find him. He’s angry with me for keeping this from him. He gave Mom and Jeremy false hope.’

  ‘Agent Novak? Detective Bishop?’ State Trooper Williamson was pointing to the sky. ‘Chopper’s here. And we need to talk.’

  ‘All right,’ Deacon said. ‘One more question. Do you know who killed your brother?’

  ‘No. That’s why I wanted to find Corinne Longstreet. I figured she knew. That’s the truth.’

  ‘We’ll talk more when you’re patched up,’ Deacon said and backed away.

  ‘What’s going on?’ Bishop asked the trooper when Stone O’Bannion had been loaded into the helicopter.

  ‘State police sent a forensic unit to the cabin,’ Williamson said.

  ‘What?’ Deacon exploded. ‘That cabin is under federal jurisdiction.’

  Williamson put his hands up. ‘The Feds are there too. They’re duking it out.’ He shook his head. ‘They found four bodies, just like your caller told you, Detective Bishop.’

  ‘The caller was Marcus O’Bannion,’ she told him. ‘He went in the first helicopter. Who’s the fourth victim?’

  ‘A woman who meets the description of Elise Lasker, who disappeared – along with her red truck – from a hospital in Cincinnati early this morning. The Fed up there asked me to tell you that the truck’s been added to the BOLO. He said that other than removing the floorboards, they’ve touched nothing and are in communication with . . .’ He pulled out a notepad. ‘Sergeant Tanaka and Agent Taylor. Those names sound right?’

  ‘Yeah,’ Deacon nodded, relieved. ‘Good to see everyone playing well in the sandbox.’

  ‘I wouldn’t go that far. Anyway, they’re waiting for you two. We’ve got the scene secured here. I’ll make sure whoever processes this scene checks for the shooter’s blood.’

  ‘Tell them to check around the front of the Subaru,’ Deacon said. ‘Can you tell us the fastest way up to the cabin?’

  Williamson pulled a folded map from his pocket. ‘You can pick up the road that’ll take you there about a mile north. I marked it, here.’ He gave them the map, then tipped his hat to Bishop. ‘Let me know if you need anything.’

  ‘Ready to play peacemaker in the sandbox?’ Deacon asked her.

  Bishop shook her head. ‘No. I’m tired and hungry and if they behave badly, I might just take a shovel to them.’

  ‘I almost wish I could see that. Meet you there.’

  Mt Carmel, Ohio, Wednesday 5 November, 2.15 P.M.

  Faith watched nervously as Tanaka took photos of the dumbwaiter door and the faux cabinet that had covered it. She didn’t want to know what was back there. But she needed to know. For every woman who’d died here, she needed to know.

  ‘Are there any other spaces like this?’ Kimble asked.

  ‘Not this big, no, but there are other dumbwaiters in the fireplace mantels all over the house. The side opens up. My mother said they used to bring up firewood that way in the old days – and coal too, until my grandfather installed central heating. I know there was a laundry chute. A safe in my grandfather’s office. And a crawlspace in Gran’s sewing room. Family legend has it that there was a tunnel, too, because this house was part of the Underground Railroad, but my mother thought that wasn’t true.’

  ‘I can’t comment on the Underground Railroad part, but the tunnel is probably there,’ Sophie said. ‘Our GPR scan showed the remnants of what looked like an old tunnel outside. It appeared to have a cave-in about ten feet away from the house, so I don’t think it’s usable anymore. It’ll be in my report. I was focusing on any readings that might be bodies first.’

  ‘Exactly what we needed you to do,’ Tanaka said as he cut through the lock on the dumbwaiter door.

  ‘Let’s see what’s in here and then we’ll check the other places,’ Kimble said. ‘Vince, hurry up. The suspense is killing me.’

  Tanaka pulled the door open, revealing nothing but black, empty space.

  Faith almost cried with disappointment until Kimble said, ‘Clever,’ once again.

  Kimble reached into the empty space and pulled out a densely woven chain, painted black. He tugged on it experimentally, then nodded. ‘He keeps it oiled.’ He pulled more chain, raising a tray into the empty space. It was bigger than a cafeteria tray, but empty.

  He continued to pull and a second tray rose up, also empty. It nested with the first, a few inches above the upper border of the doorway, like collapsing window blinds. A third empty tray followed. And a fourth, which was not empty. Not at all.

  ‘Oh God,’ Kimble said quietly. ‘Looks like we found his collection.’

  Faith refused to look away even though every instinct she had was screaming for her to run. The fourth tray was filled with jars. The jars had big dark . . . things floating in them.

  ‘They’re labeled,’ Tanaka said heavily. He aimed a beam of light at one of them. ‘This one says “Heart of Simpson”. She’s one of the victims the ME has already identified.’

  He resumed pulling on the chain until the tops of the jars on the fourth tray met the underside of the third. Seconds later, a fifth tray appeared, and then a sixth.

  ‘More jars,’ Faith whispered. Dozens of them. Labeled with the likes of ‘Heart of Parker’, ‘Lips of Smith’, ‘Thumbs of Dreyfus’ and ‘Brain of McCall’.

  ‘How many trays are down there?’ Sophie asked softly.

  Tanaka shook his head. ‘I don’t know. But I think there are some above, too.’

  And then he pulled up a new tray, loaded with jars. The ink on the labels was dark black. They looked brand new. ‘Heart of Dupree’. ‘Tongue of Dupree’. Roxanne Dupree. Roxie.

  ‘Oh God.’ Faith backed away, her stomach roiling like an angry sea, her throat burning from bile. Her eyes stinging with tears. ‘I need some air.’ She made it to the hall and sat heavily on the third stair from the bottom, scooting over when Sophie followed her out.

  Sophie took the stair below and dropped her chin to her chest. ‘Don’t feel bad,’ she said, her voice muffled. ‘I’ve been digging up the dead for years and this is hard for me, too.’ She pulled her cell phone from her pocket and started flipping through photos, all centering around one blonde pre-schooler and a black-haired toddler who looked about a year old.

  Faith found herself drawn to the comfort of those photos. ‘Your kids?’ she whispered.

  ‘Yes. Anna is four and Michael will be a year old on Christmas Eve.’

  ‘They’re gorgeous,’ Faith said. ‘You’re lucky.’

  ‘I know. I look at them when I get overwhelmed with all the death. There was a mudslide in Central America last summer . . . These faces were all that kept me going. And this one, of course.’ She flipped to a man with dark good looks, and a naughty gleam in his eye. ‘My Vito.’

  ‘He’s very handsome. But maybe a little uncontrollable. Like a rogue pirate.’

  Sophie’s laugh was unsteady. ‘That’s him to a T. Do you mind music?’

  Faith blinked. ‘Excuse me?’

  ‘Do you mind if I play a little music? I’ve got earbuds in my coat pocket if you’d rather.’

  ‘As long as it’s not hip-hop,’ she said, and Sophie laughed again.

  ‘No.’ She chose a song from her playlists and a second later the air was filled with the most beautiful baritone Faith had ever heard.

  ‘Oh.’ Closing her e
yes, she let the music in, let it soothe her. And when the final notes faded, she found her cheeks were wet. ‘I need to buy that song.’

  ‘You can’t buy it, but I’ll send it to you. My husband sang that at Anna’s christening.’

  ‘You are very lucky indeed.’

  ‘I know. Deacon and I listened to this song a lot last year when we were digging up graves in West Virginia. It helped him, too.’

  Faith met her gaze. ‘He’s going to be upset with me. I wasn’t supposed to come here without him. He’s worried I’ll get shot – or get the person standing next to me shot.’

  ‘Then why did you come?’

  ‘Because Lieutenant Isenberg asked me to and Detective Kimble was willing to take the risk. It gave me a chance to do something. I’ve felt so helpless. It’s not only the ten victims but their families, too. So many destroyed lives.’

  Sophie hesitated. ‘Not ten, Faith. I’d just finished scanning the last of the interior when you all came down the stairs. I found seven more bodies in all.’

  Seven more. ‘Seventeen bodies,’ Faith whispered. Here. In her grandmother’s house. ‘Roza’s mother could be one of them.’

  ‘Or maybe Roza’s mother is still alive and with Roza and Corinne.’

  ‘If they’re still alive. I’m starting to lose hope.’

  ‘Don’t lose hope!’ A smiling Tanaka ran from the torture room, nearly skidding to a stop at the stairs. ‘We just got the call from Isenberg. Corinne is alive!’

  Faith pressed her fingers to her mouth, tears of relieved joy springing to her eyes. ‘Where?’ she whispered. ‘How? Who found them?’

  Tanaka’s smile dimmed. ‘Not them. Just Corinne.’

  The air slammed out of Faith’s lungs, leaving her reeling. ‘Roza’s dead?’

  ‘She was recaptured. Corinne managed to get her from your uncle’s cabin to the main road, through nearly twenty miles of forest, but a man in a ski mask showed up at the same time as two would-be rescuers – your cousins, Stone and Marcus. Ski Mask shot Marcus and Corinne and got away with Roza.’