Drop Dead Gorgeous (13 page)

Sean remembered suddenly how he had met Lori the very first time, how she’d been this angelic waif, lost to the harassment of Ted and Ricky. He’d thought her the most fragile and delicate creature he’d ever seen. She’d hated both Ricky and Ted for years—then she’d decided they were just jerks. She’d told him that the night she’d stayed by his side when he’d learned that Daniel had been killed. The worst night of his life. Not even sitting in jail, listening to the cops tell him that the D.A.’s office meant to throw a murder one rap at him and he’d fry in the electric chair had
been as bad as learning that Daniel had been killed. She’d been there for him then. Not so fragile. He’d discovered his angel had an inner core of steel.

Then again, none of them were kids now. The 4F Club was far behind them all. Ted and Ricky were both working cops, and they seemed to have their heads glued on right, something Lori couldn’t help but notice.

Next to him, Susan inhaled on a shaky breath.

“All right?” he asked her.

She squeezed his hand, her fingers delicate on his. “Sean, I just can’t believe it! Something so awful. I mean, I’ve seen stories like this on the news, in the papers, but for something like this to happen to Ellie
…
oh, God! I read an article that talked about her wild lifestyle, as if she was asking to get killed because she went to clubs. Can you imagine!”

He shook his head. “Susan, people know that stuff like that is a bunch of crap. Ellie was single, Ellie went out. She didn’t owe anybody any explanations.”

“She just wanted to be happy, Sean. She was looking for the right guy, And having a little fun. She wasn’t doing drugs
, she was honest, hardworking…
oh, God, I’m so scared!”

“Don’t be scared. If you’re really worried, just lay low for a while—”

“It wasn’t a
bad
club she was hanging out at. I’ve been there—”

“I went there, too. You’re right. There was
nothing wrong with the place. She just met the wrong guy there.”

“God, Sean, it’s really good to see you.”

“Thanks, Sue.”

“If you get the urge to move in with me, let me know, will you?”

He smiled. “You know what? It’s a tempting offer, but you’re a special friend, and I want to keep it that way.”

“Don’t want to sleep with me, huh?”

“You’re as sexy as they come. But no. I’ve had lots of women, Sue, and not many friends. I value my friends.”

“Think I should buy a gun? Or a Doberman?”

“I think you should keep your door locked and be smart.”

She nodded. “You’re right.” The waitress went by, and Sue lifted her glass. “Excuse me, I’ll have another Merlot, please.” She smiled at Sean.

It was her third glass of wine.

“Sue, where’s your car?”

‘‘Don’t worry, I took a cab to the funeral— my eyes were too red for me to drive. You can get me home.”

“
Ricky brought me. He, Ted, Michael, and I came together.”

“Good. I can get driven home by two cops and two hunks.”

“You got it.”

Smiled. Looked into her wine, and started crying again. Sean set his hand on hers, and looked down the length of the table. Lori
was listening to Michael, watching him. He wondered what his brother was saying.

L
ori enjoyed lunch. She felt guilty, enjoying the occasion when they had just buried Ellie, but her brother and Ted were fun and pleasant, and they were both as interested as she in what Michael was telling him about his work.

After high school he’d followed Sean to California, where his brother had told him they were both going to pull up out of the muck, make lives for themselves, and take care of their father. They’d taken jobs in restaurants, and gotten into UCLA. Following Sean to a biology class one day, Michael had developed a crush on a marine biology major. The affair with Sara lasted only six months, but his love for the water became a lifelong thing. He was now working at a place called Anderson’s Cay, just south of Islamorada. His main work was with dolphins, though he did a lot of work with manatees as well, since they were endangered. People killed them with boat propellers, or maimed them and left them to die under horrible circumstances.

He was earnest, passionate about his work. Lori found herself watching him, thinking that he was a lot like his brother, his eyes so intense, dark hair unruly and prone to fall over his forehead.

“Michael, man, it’s great that you’ve done so well,” Andrew told him. “Remember the rap sheet you had as a kid?”

“I was a punk,” Michael said flatly. He shrugged and looked down the table. “But after Sean went to court over Mandy’s death
…
well, the world got pretty serious. Turned me around.”

“And Sean,” Josh murmured.

Michael shook his head. “Sean never needed turning around. He was always on the straight and narrow. Life’s funny, though. He might not have been such a popular commercial success as an author if things hadn’t happened the way they did. I thought he’d go into law, after what happened—a way to get back at the system. But he went into forensics instead. The
n he started with the writing…
damn, it’s good to have him here, though. Hope he stays awhile.”

“How long does he intend to stay?” Lori heard herself asking.

“I don’t know. Probably long enough to do some research. I can’t see him coming back for good, can you? To a place that all but crucified him?”

An hour later they paid the bill and rose. Outside in the parking lot, they hugged one another, saying good-bye, agreeing to get together again. Lori was alarmed to realize that she was trying to keep her distance from Sean. “We need to have a party,” Jan said.

Brad sighed softly. “Jan, we’ve just been to a funeral—”

“I know. And that’s what happens when people get old and drift away. It’s like families— people only get together for weddings and
funerals, and funerals are sad and terrible and I don’t want the next time we get together again to be another funeral.”

“You have a point there,” Lori said, defending Jan.

“The ex-women in my life!” Brad said, and groaned.

“Very, very ex on my part,” Lori reminded him. She inadvertently glanced at Sean and flushed when she realized he was studying her. She couldn’t tell what he was thinking. He w
as wearing the Ray
Bans again. “I should get home. Check on Brendan,” she said.

Andrew slipped a brotherly arm around her. “We’ll get you right home, sis.”

“I think a party is a great idea, too,” Jeff Olin said.

“Why not?” Andrew murmured. He glanced at Sean. “Would our visiting celebrity attend?”

Sean nodded behind the RayBans. “Yeah, sure.”

“We’d have our own cops on the scene,” Ricky supplied.

“And attorneys—should we decide to sue one another,” Andrew said.

“My house, Friday night,” Jan said.

Lori glanced at Sean. It eased her out of a private dinner for him on Friday night.

He was watching her. He was thinking the same thing, but he didn’t protest. He seemed amused.

“I’d love a party!” Susan said wistfully. “I’m so scared now, it’s probably the only time I’ll have any fun in the next year!”

“Then, it’s settled. Jan’s house, and you’re all invited,” Brad said.

“Wait a minute, if it’s my house, I should be doing the inviting,” Jan said.

“Not when I’m still making the payments,” Brad told her.

“I love it when you talk alimony,” Jan murmured sexily.

“Cute, isn’t she? And they call women the weaker sex,” Brad moaned.

He had his hand on his ex-wife’s back and was propelling her toward his car. Lori had the feeling that they’d be together for the next hour or so, even if they did both have to get to work later.

They should just remarry, she thought. It was the nicest divorce she’d ever seen.

“Party, Friday night! Eight o’clock!” Jan called.

“Let’s get going, shall we?” Andrew said.

Lori nodded, wondering if Sean was going to say good-bye.

But he was already gone, seated next to Ricky in his Mercury Cougar.

T
ina Jackson wasn’t supposed to be in the Grove alone. But she was there, after school, determined on her plan of action. Her friend, Bobby Sue, had copped out on the shopping mission, and with the excitement of a very special new guy in her life, Tina had to have some new clothes. She’d gotten a ride from a school friend’s mom, and she figured if worse came to worse, she’d have to splurge on
her spending money and take a taxi home. Her mom and dad both had the funeral that morning, so they’d probably hang out together for a while in the afternoon—nostalgia and all— and then, her mom had clients scheduled from four o’clock until seven. It was unlikely that she could get caught.

In a funky store just off Main Street, she found the perfect jeans, and the perfect top. The jeans hung stylishly low. The top hugged her growing breasts. Seeing herself in the mirror, she was excited by her image. She looked at least sixteen. Maybe seventeen, since she would be fourteen almost any day now. If she only had a pierced navel! Of course, that wasn’t happening, but a delicate little ring would look just fantastic
…

No body piercing, her mother had commanded. Maybe she’d break her down in another year or two.

At the moment she wasn’t going to whine to herself over what she couldn’t have. She liked the outfit so much she paid for it, and kept it on. She had friends working in some of the stores in the area—older brothers and sisters of schoolmates. She could try out the outfit. The clerk said she looked like a million bucks. She hoped it was true, and not just sales talk.

T
he killer cruised down the street
,
anxious for little more than a good dinner before heading home.

He was in no great hurry to kill again: he still
felt remarkably sated from the last kill. And he was careful, he was fastidious. After all, he was not
crazy,
he was totally in possession of all his faculties; he could wait.

Then he saw her. Walking along the street, looking far older than her years. Tall, slim, budding, beautiful. Long blond hair down her back, belly bare. She was growing breasts, she was
…

Ripe. Man, that was it, ripe for the picking. He gazed at the smooth length of her throat, and envisioned his fingers there. Smooth, oh, yeah, her flesh was so smooth. So young, so beautiful. He saw himself ripping off her clothing, saw the fear in her eyes as his hands went all over that perfect smooth young skin. He itched to touch her, ached
…

And somewhere, in the back of his mind, he felt the rage growing, despite his determination that he was not a
crazy,
he was a smooth operator, invisible, because he was just so damned
normal.
But the rage was there. She was a tease. So young, so quick, she was a tease. Like her mother, like her mother’s friends, like all women. She was just a cunt.

And her time would come.

T
ina saw
him
and nearly passed out. Darn! She’d had it all figured out, and now
…

“Hey, gorgeous!” he called to her. He sounded angry. Was he going to tell? Order her home? Her mom would ground her for a month.

She smiled and hurried over to his car. “Hi!”

“What are you up to down here all by your lonesome?”

“Shopping.”

“All alone?”

“Yes, but don’t tell Mom, please, please, don’t tell her if you see her!”

He smiled. He knew it was a drop-dead gorgeous smile, and that she would be charmed. “It’s our secret, sweetie. We’ll never tell on one another.”

“Never,” she agreed.

“Want a ride?”

Tina hesitated. She should take the ride, get the hell home. Before she could get caught.

“Tina!”

She started and looked up. Bobby Sue was across the street, waving to her madly. Her friend had come to meet her after all, and that meant Bobby Sue’s mom would be coming to pick them up in an hour or so.

“No, but thanks! See ya!”

She moved away from the car, waving.

T
he killer sat still, watching her. Behind him, horns began to beep. He started to drive away.

His smile faded, and he was not gorgeous anymore.

He caught a glimpse of his own eyes in the mirror. They were pure evil, he thought, terrifying.

That thought cheered him.

And he smiled once again.

Gorgeous
…

He could take any woman he wanted.

And he would.
And they’d never catch him.

Everyone
trusted him; he was smart as a whip.
They’d
never get him.