The Anniversary (57 page)

he gave? She thought of the heart-wrenching story he’d told 8

about his boyhood friend. Was it just an elaborate subterfuge?

9

Could he have made it up? And what about Anna? Had Rick 10

really guessed that Steven was her father? Or was it something 11

that he’d discovered a long, long time ago?

12

The doubts were eerily familiar, sweeping her into the past.

13

She was back in her Nashville apartment, thinking,
Could he?

14

Could he? Could he?

15

But that was Steven. This was Rick. They had nothing in 16

common.

17

Nothing?
said a voice at the back of her mind.

18

You. They have you.

19

h

20

21

It was dark in the tree house and a little cold, but Rick Evans had 22

a perfect view. Through black branches, he peered down at the 23

snug white house below. The only light came from behind the 24

closed blinds of her bedroom window. In front of the house, a po-25

lice cruiser silently stood guard. Inside the car was Tod Carver, 26

supposedly his friend. Now, the single pressing question was how 27

to get rid of him.

28

h

29

30

She was losing it, she really was.

31

She decided to take a bath.

32

From Bernie to Kevin to Rick. Who would she think of next?

33

The fact was that none of these suspicions had any solid founda-34

tion. A few coincidences in timing. Nothing more than that. She 35 S

tossed her Filofax back in her purse and turned off the computer.

36 R

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The water was rushing into the tub when she heard the door-1

bell ring. Her first impulse was to ignore it, pretend she wasn’t 2

home. But that was stupid; whoever it was would know that she 3

was here. Peering out from behind the shades, she saw the police 4

cruiser. Reassured by its stalwart presence, she headed down the 5

stairs.

6

She tiptoed up to the front door and looked through the peep-7

hole. At the sight of the uniform, her mouth went dry, then she 8

realized it wasn’t Rick. Same uniform, different face. The man on 9

her porch was Tod.

10

Relieved, she turned off the security alarm and unlocked the 11

door.

12

Tod was standing a bit to one side, hands stuffed in his pockets.

13

“Hey, Callie,” he said, apologetically. “Hope I’m not bothering 14

you.” He gestured to the empty cruiser. “That’s me. I’m on assign-15

ment. I saw that your lights were on upstairs. Thought I’d say 16

hello.”

17

“You’re not bothering me at all,” said Callie. “I’m dying for com-18

pany. Why don’t you come in for a bit? I could make us some tea.”

19

He glanced toward the car, then, shrugging, turned back to 20

her. “I guess I can watch you as well from inside as I can from out 21

in the car.”

22

“Better, I’d say,” Callie quipped. “I won’t be out of your sight.”

23

24

h

25

He waited another minute or two after Tod disappeared into the 26

house.

27

It had taken several nights, but the coast was totally clear now.

28

Carefully, Rick climbed down the flat steps nailed in the trunk 29

of the tree. When he reached the ground, he scanned the street.

30

Silent. No cars. No people.

31

It was ten yards or so from where he stood to the bushes beside 32

her house.

33

With a deep breath, Rick stepped from the shadows and 34

quickly crossed the street.

S 35

R 36

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1

h

2

3

Tod was sitting at the kitchen table piled with snapshots of 4

Anna. He picked up a stack and filed through it. “Beautiful girl,”

5

he said.

6

Callie had just put on water to boil. “She’s everything to me.”

7

“You’ve had a pretty rough time,” Tod said.

8

“Yes,” said Callie. “I have.”

9

It was soothing having Tod here, someone who understood.

10

“Do you think it’s over?” Callie asked.

11

“Over? What do you mean?”

12

“There’s a theory that maybe there are two killers. Crain and 13

someone else.”

14

Tod shook his head. “I’m just a guy on patrol. I leave this stuff 15

to the detectives.”

16

“And what do they think? What does Lambert think?”

17

“I don’t know that either. I mean, I could speculate, but I don’t 18

know anything.”

19

“Okay, then speculate,” Callie said. “What do you
think
he’s 20

thinking?”

21

“Well, he’s chief of detectives in a college town with a good bit 22

of tourist trade. He’s under a lot of pressure to make folks feel safe 23

again. At the same time, he isn’t going to want to take unneces-24

sary risks.”

25

Callie nodded. “That’s pretty much what I thought. They’re 26

playing it both ways. They let the press think that they’ve got the 27

guy, but you all are still watching me.”

28

The kettle began to whistle. Callie picked it up.

29

“Caf or decaf?” she asked Tod.

30

“Caf. Definitely.”

31

She dropped an English Breakfast bag into one mug, cham-32

omile into another, poured in boiling water, and carried the mugs 33

to the table.

34

“Careful,” she said, setting down Tod’s mug. “You’ll have to let 35 S

it cool.”

36 R

She pulled out a chair across from him and cleared a place at 3 2 4

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the table, pushing aside a stack of snapshots so she could put her 1

mug down.

2

“How’s Rick been doing?” she asked. She was careful to appear 3

offhand.

4

“Fine, I guess,” said Tod. “I haven’t really seen him much in 5

the past couple weeks.”

6

Callie picked up her tea and blew on it. Still too hot to drink.

7

She wondered if Tod was telling the truth or just sidestepping the 8

question. He was Rick’s friend more than hers; his loyalty was to 9

Rick.

10

“Did you go to that training thing with him in Springfield just 11

before my dinner party?”

12

“Training thing?”

13

“A class or something. I’m not exactly sure what.”

14

Tod dropped his eyes. “You’d have to ask Rick about that.”

15

“So it wasn’t something everyone went to?”

16

“You know, I’d rather not get into this.”

17

But now that she’d started, she wanted to know. She couldn’t 18

stop herself. She was putting Tod in a difficult position, but she 19

didn’t seem to care.

20

“Have you ever talked to his partner’s widow? That woman he 21

claimed to visit?”

22

“Claimed?” Tod looked taken aback. “You . . . you think he’s 23

lying?”

24

Callie gave a tight smile. “I don’t know what to think.”

25

For a moment or two, she hesitated, then plunged forward.

26

“I was going through my calendar,” she said. “Diane’s murder.

27

Melanie’s attack. Anna’s kidnapping. All three times Rick was 28

out of town. At least, that’s what he said.”

29

She could see the look of astonishment spreading across Tod’s 30

face. She raised a hand to stop him from interrupting her.

31

“Okay, I know you think it’s ridiculous. Maybe you’re right.

32

But he meets the criteria of the profile. And he had the opportu-33

nity.”

34

Tod was shaking his head, slowly, side to side.

S 35

“It wasn’t Rick, Callie. I can promise you that.”

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“But how do you know?” she asked him. “How do you know for 2

sure?”

3

“Because I know Rick. I know the kind of guy he is.”

4

And she . . . something was happening . . . a kaleidoscope in 5

her brain. Tod had always called to mind her old boyfriend Larry 6

Peters. But now she suddenly wondered why, where she’d found 7

the resemblance. Larry’s hair was dark brown. Tod’s was almost 8

red. She’d never realized until tonight how bright the highlights 9

were. His voice, too, that was different, slow, almost a drawl.

10

Then she wasn’t thinking of Tod, she was thinking of Lester 11

Crain. When she’d run into him on that island in Maine, she 12

must have noticed the accent. While it hadn’t registered con-13

sciously, at some level she’d known. Southern, he’d sounded like 14

a southerner. Just like Tod did now. Tod used to live in Virginia, 15

which must be where the accent came from. And yet . . . and yet, 16

there was something more. Or was it her imagination?

17

Her mind was out of control now, flashing random thoughts.

18

She thought next of the Easter egg hunt, how Tod had come up 19

behind her. It was something that Steven used to do, and for an 20

instant, she’d been frightened.

21

She was aware of Tod looking at her, his face marked with con-22

cern. “What’s wrong, Laura?” he asked her.

23

Laura.
He’d called her Laura.

24

Confused now, she stared at him, her thoughts spinning even 25

faster. Of course, he knew now, everyone knew, but why would he 26

use that name? Again, for no particular reason, she thought of 27

Larry Peters. What was it about Tod exactly that reminded her of 28

her one-time beau? She’d always assumed it was the smile, but 29

now she wasn’t sure. But if it wasn’t the smile, then what? They 30

were two quite different men.

31

Misattribution. Unconscious transference.

32

The phrases lit up her mind.

33

The confusion of one person with another.

34

A mistake of memory.

35 S

An image, a face, was rising up through the dense fog of the 36 R

past. She was back on the couch in her Nashville apartment, lis-3 2 6

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tening to the news. She could feel the springs beneath the sag-1

ging cushions, the pressure in her belly. She could hear the ha-2

tred and rage spewing from Dahlia Schuyler’s brother. “He ruined 3

my life. He ruined my family. Death is too good for him.”

4

Tod had reminded her of someone, but it wasn’t who she’d 5

thought.

6

His face was Tucker Schuyler’s face.

7

He was Dahlia’s brother.

8

“You know who I am,” he said flatly. “I can see it in your face.”

9

“Know?” Callie said nervously. She stumbled to her feet.

10

Then Tod — Tucker — pulled out a gun. His eyes were hard 11

and cold. He raised the gun a fraction higher.

12

“You’re not going anywhere, Laura.”

13

Callie stood absolutely still. Inside, her mind was racing. She 14

thought of her newly purchased pistol, upstairs in her dresser 15

drawer. No way that she could reach it, not with Tucker blocking 16

the door.

17

“If you kill me, they’ll know it’s you,” she said. “You’re sup-18

posed to be protecting me.”

19

“Someone broke in through the back door.” He seemed to be 20

thinking out loud. “It was dark. I didn’t see them. I can’t see 21

everything.”

22

“There’s a light there now. A spotlight. They’ll never believe 23

that story.”

24

“That’s possible,” he said. “But it doesn’t really matter. Lives 25

aren’t measured in years, Laura. I’ll have done what I set out to 26

do.
Many die too late.
You know who said that?”

27

“No.”

28

“Nietzsche. He’s a German philosopher.”

29

“Really.” She gave him an engaging smile. “I don’t know much 30

about him.” Anything to win time now. To give her a chance to 31

think.

32

But he didn’t seem to hear her. He was thinking of something 33

else. “You know, when Gage was executed, I thought that I’d feel 34

better. But when I woke up the next morning, everything was the S 35

same. For three months, I didn’t do anything, just lay in bed, R 36

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thinking. And finally I figured out what the problem was. All of 2

you who’d supported him, you still hadn’t paid. You were out there 3