Shannon blushed. He was right. She hadn’t thought about him even once. She had been busy answering questions from the press and talking about her tour. Everyone had been pulling at her; there simply was no time to think about him. Why couldn’t he understand that?

  “I thought so,” Joe said. Then, he slapped her.

  Shannon went stumbling backward against the massive granite counter. She hurt her back in the fall. Shannon whimpered, then got up on her feet again with much effort. Her cheek burned like hell. A little blood ran from the corner of her mouth. She wiped it off.

  Careful what you say, Shannon. Careful not to upset him further. Remember what happened last time. He’s not well. He is hurting. Careful not to hurt him any more.

  But she knew it was too late. She knew once he crossed that line into that area where all thinking ceased to exist, it was too late. She could appeal to his sensitivity as much as she wanted to. She could try and explain herself and tell him she was sorry, but it didn’t help. If anything, it only made everything worse.

  His eyes were bulging and his jaws clenched. His right eye had that tick in it that only showed when he was angry.

  You got to get out of here.

  “Joe, please, I…”

  A fist throbbed through the air and smashed into her face.

  Quick. Run for the phone.

  She could see it. It was on the breakfast bar. She would have to spring for it. Shannon jumped to the side and managed to avoid his next fist, then slipped on the small rug on the kitchen floor, got back up in a hurry, and rushed to reach out for the phone.

  Call 911. Call the police.

  Her legs were in the air and she wasn’t running anymore. He had grabbed her by the hair, and now he was pulling her backwards. He yanked her towards him, and she screamed in pain, cursing her long blonde hair that she used to love so much…that the world loved and put on magazine covers.

  “You cheating lying bitch!” he screamed, while pulling her across the floor.

  He lifted her up, then threw her against the kitchen counter. It blew out the air from her lungs. She couldn’t scream anymore. She was panting for air and wheezing for him to stop. She was bleeding from her nose. Joe came closer, then leaned over her and, with his hand, he corrected his hair. His precious hair that had always meant so much to him, that he was always fixing and touching to make sure it was perfect, which it ironically never was.

  “No one disrespects me. Do you hear me? Especially not you. You’re a nobody. Do you understand? You would be nothing if it wasn’t for me,” he yelled, then lifted his clenched fist one more time. When it smashed into Shannon’s face again and again, she finally let herself drift into a darkness so deep she couldn’t feel anything anymore.

  8

  JANUARY 2015

  “HI THERE. BEN, is it?” I asked.

  The boy was sitting next to his dad in the hospital bed, the dog sleeping by his feet.

  “He won’t leave his dad’s side,” Marty said.

  Ben looked up at me with fear in his eyes. “It’s okay, Ben,” I said, and kneeled in front of him. “We can talk here.”

  “I know you,” Ben said. “You’re Austin and Abigail’s dad.”

  “That’s right. And you’re in their class. I remember you. Say, weren’t you supposed to be at the zoo today?”

  Ben nodded with a sad expression.

  “Well, there’ll be other times,” I said. I paused while Ben looked at his father, who was sleeping.

  “He’s completely out cold,” Marty said. “He was complaining that he couldn’t control his arms and legs, had spots before his eyes, and he felt dizzy and nauseated. Guess it was really heavy last night.”

  I looked at the very pale dad. “Or maybe it was something else,” I said.

  “What do you mean?”

  I looked closer at the dad.

  “Did you talk to him?”

  “Only a few words. When I asked about last night, he kept saying he didn’t remember what happened, that he didn’t know where he was. He kept asking me what time it was. Even after I had just told him.”

  “Hm.”

  “What?” Marty asked.

  “Did they run his blood work?” I asked.

  “No. I told them it wasn’t necessary. He was just hung over. The doctor looked at him quickly and agreed. We agreed to let him to sleep it off. He seemed like he was still drunk when he talked to us.”

  “Is my dad sick, Mr. Ryder?” Ben asked.

  I looked at the boy and smiled. “No, son, but I am afraid your dad has been poisoned.”

  “Poisoned?” Marty asked. “What on earth do you mean?”

  “Dizziness, confusion, blurry vision, difficulty talking, nausea, difficulty controlling your movements all are symptoms of Rohypnol poisoning. Must have been ingested to have this big of an affect. Especially with alcohol.”

  “Roofied?” Marty laughed. “Who on earth in their right mind would give a grown man a rape drug?”

  “Someone who wanted to kill him and his wife,” I said.

  I walked into the hallway and found a nurse and asked her to make sure they tested Brandon Bennett for the drug in his blood. Then, I called the medical examiner and told them to check the wife’s blood as well. Afterwards, I returned to talk to Ben.

  “So, Ben, I know this is a difficult time for you, but I would be really happy if you could help me out by talking a little about last night. Can you help me out here?”

  Ben wiped his eyes and looked at me. His face was swollen from crying. Then he nodded. I opened my arms. “Come here, buddy. You look like you could use a good bear hug.”

  Ben hesitated, then looked at his dad, who was still out cold, before he finally gave in and let me hug him. I held him in my arms, the way I held my own children when they were sad. The boy finally cried.

  “It’s okay,” I whispered. “Your dad will be fine.”

  My words felt vague compared to what the little boy had seen this morning, how his world had been shaken up. His dad was probably going to be fine, but he would never see his mother again, and the real question was whether the boy would ever be fine again?

  He wept in my arms for a few minutes, then pulled away and wiped his nose on his sleeve. “Do you promise to catch the guy that killed my mother?” he asked.

  I sighed. “I can promise I’ll do my best. How about that?”

  Ben thought about it for a little while, then nodded with a sniffle.

  “Okay. What do you want to know?” he asked.

  “Who came to your house last night? I heard your parents had guests. Who were they?”

  9

  APRIL 1984

  TIM TOOK ANNIE down to the lake behind campus, where they sat down. The grass was moist from the sprinklers. Annie felt self-conscious with the way Tim stared at her. It was a hot night out. The cicadas were singing; Annie was sweating in her small dress. Her skin felt clammy.

  Tim finally broke the silence.

  “Has anyone ever told you how incredibly beautiful you are?”

  Annie’s head was spinning from her drink. The night was intoxicating, the sounds, the smell, the moist air hugging her. She shook her head. Her eyes stared at the grass. She felt her cheeks blushing.

  “No.”

  “Really?” Tim said. “I find that very hard to believe.”

  Annie giggled, then sipped her drink. She really liked Tim. She could hardly believe she was really here with him.

  “Look at the moon,” he said and pointed.

  It was a full moon. It was shining almost as bright as daylight. Its light hit the lake. Annie took in a deep breath, taking in the moment.

  “It’s beautiful,” she said with a small still voice. She was afraid of talking too much, since he would only realize she wasn’t smart, and then he might regret being with her.

  Just go with the flow.

  “I loathe Florida,” Tim said. “I hate these warm nights. I hate how sweaty I always am. I’m especially sick of Orlando. When I’m done here, I’m getting out of this state. I wanna go up north. Don’t you?”

  Annie shrugged. She had lived all her life in Florida. Thirty minutes north of Orlando, to be exact. Born and raised in Windermere. Her parents still lived there, and that was where she was planning on going back once she had her degree. Annie had never thought about going anywhere else.

  “I guess it’s nice up north as well,” she said, just to please him.

  Tim laughed, then looked at her with those intense eyes once again. It made her uncomfortable. But part of her liked it as well. A big part.

  “Can I kiss you?” he asked.

  Annie blushed. She really wanted him to. Then she nodded. Tim smiled, then leaned over and put his lips on top of hers. Annie felt the dizziness from the drink. It was buzzing in her head. The kiss made her head spin, and when Tim pressed her down on the moist grass, she let him. He crawled on top of her, and with deep moans kept kissing her lips, then her cheeks, her ears, and her neck. Annie felt like laughing because it tickled so much, but she held it back to not ruin anything. Tim liked her and it made her happy.

  “Boy, you’re hot,” he said, groaning, as he kissed her throat and moved further down her body. He grinned and started to open her dress, taking one button at a time. Annie felt insecure. What was he going to do next?

  Tim pulled the dress open and looked at her bra, then he ripped it off.

  “Ouch,” Annie said. She tried to cover her breasts with her arms, but Tim soon grabbed them and pulled them to her sides. He held her down while kissing her breasts. He groaned while sucking on her nipples. Annie wasn’t sure if she liked it or not. He was being a little rough, and she was afraid of going too far with him.

  Whatever you do, don’t sleep with him. No matter what.

  “Stop,” she mumbled, when he pulled the dress off completely and grabbed her panties. Tim stopped. He stared at Annie. She felt bad. Had she scared him away? Was he ever going to see her again if she didn’t let him?

  No matter what.

  No. She wasn’t ready for this. She had saved herself. This wasn’t how it was supposed to happen. Not like this. Not here.

  “I want to go home,” Annie said.

  Tim smiled and tilted his head, then leaned over and whispered in her ear. “Not yet, sweetheart, not yet.”

  He stroked her face gently and kissed her cheeks, while she fought and tried to get him off her body. In the distance, she heard voices, and soon she felt hands on her body, hands touching her, hands slapping her face. She felt so dizzy and everything became a blur of faces, laughing voices, cheering voices, hands everywhere, groping her, touching her, hurting her. And then the pain followed.

  The excruciating pain.

  10

  JANUARY 2015

  BRANDON BENNETT WAS still out cold when I had to leave the hospital. I decided to wait to interrogate him till later. Ben had told me that he had been asleep, so he hadn’t seen who was at the house, but there were two of his parents’ neighbors who usually came over to drink with his mom and dad. I got the names and called for both of them to come into the station in the afternoon. Meanwhile, I had to drive back to the zoo to pick up the kids and get them back to their school.

  “Daddy!” my kids yelled when I opened the doors to the school bus and they stormed in, screaming with joy. Both of them clung to my neck.

  “How was the zoo?” I asked.

  “So much fun!” Abigail exclaimed. She was the most outgoing of the two, and often the one who spoke for them. I had a feeling Austin was the thinker, the one who would turn out to be a genius some day. Well, maybe not exactly a genius, but there was something about him. Abigail was the one who came up with all their naughty plans, and she always got Austin in on them.

  “Good. I’m glad,” I said and smooched their cheeks loudly.

  “You would have loved it, Dad,” Abigail continued. “You should have come. What was so important anyway?”

  I exhaled and kissed her again, then let go of her. “Just some work thing. Nothing to worry about.”

  The twins looked at each other. Abigail placed her hands on her hips and looked at me with her head tilted.

  “What?” I asked.

  “You only say for us to not worry if there is actually something to worry about,” Abigail said. “Am I right?” She looked at Austin, who nodded.

  “She’s right, Dad.”

  I smiled. “Well, it is nothing smart little noses like yours should get into, so get in the back of the bus with your friends and sit down. We’re leaving now.”

  Abigail grumbled something, then grabbed her brother’s shirt and they walked to the back. The bus gave a deep sigh when I closed the doors and we took off.

  The atmosphere on the bus driving back was loud and very cheerful. Loudest of all were my twins, but this time I didn’t mind too much. After the morning I had spent with a dead body and a poor kid who had lost his mother, I was just so pleased that my kids were still happy and innocent. They didn’t look at me with that empty stare in their eyes, the one where you know they’ll never trust the world again. That broken look that made them appear so much older than they were.

  “Grandma and Grandpa will pick you up,” I said, as I dropped them off at Roosevelt Elementary School.

  “Yay!” they both exclaimed.

  I told their teacher as well, then parked the bus and gave the keys back to the front office.

  “Thank you so much for helping out today,” Elaine at the desk said. “It’s always wonderful when the parents get involved.”

  “Anytime,” I said.

  I walked to my car, a red Jeep Convertible. I got in and drove to the station with the top down. I bought my favorite sandwich at Juice ‘N Java Café, called Cienna. It had a Portobello mushroom, yellow tomato, goat cheese arugula, and pesto on Pugliese bread. I figured I had earned it after the morning I had.

  The police station was located inside of City Hall, right in the heart of Cocoa Beach. I knew the place well, even though I was usually located at the sheriff’s offices in Rockledge. Cocoa Beach was my town, and every time they needed a detective, I was the one they called for. Even if they were cases that didn’t involve homicide. As I entered through the glass doors, Weasel came towards me. Two officers flanked her.

  “Going out for lunch?” I asked.

  “Yes. I see you’ve already gotten yours,” she said, nodding at my bag with my sandwich from the café.

  “I’m expecting two of the neighbors in for questioning in a short while. Any news I should know about?” I asked.

  Weasel sighed. “The ME has taken the body in for examination. They expect to have the cause of death within a few hours, they say. They’re still working on the house.”

  “Any fingerprints so far?”

  “Lots. We asked around a little and heard the same story from most of the neighbors. The Bennetts were a noisy bunch. Nothing that has ever been reported, but the wife and husband fought a lot, one neighbor told us. He said they yelled and screamed at each other when they got drunk. He figured the husband finally had enough. I guess it sounds plausible. He killed her, then panicked and tried to dismember her body to get rid of it. But the dog interrupted him. He decided to pretend he had been asleep through the whole thing. When we arrived, the dad was asleep when Joel went up, but he might have pretended to be. Joel said he seemed out of it, though. Might just be a good actor.”

  “It’s all a lot of theories so far,” I said with a deep exhale. It was going to be a long day for me. I was so grateful I had my parents nearby.

  I grew up in Ft. Lauderdale, further down south, but when I left for college, my parents wanted to try something new. They bought a motel by the beach in Cocoa Beach a few years after I left the house. The place was a haven for the kids. They never missed me while they were there. That made it easier for me to work late.

  “I’ve cleared an office for you,” Weasel said. “We’re glad to have you here to help us.”

  I put a hand on her broad shoulder. “Likewise. I’ll hold down the fort. Enjoy your lunch.”

  11

  JANUARY 2015

  “IT ALL STARTED when they lost their daughter.”

  It was late in the afternoon at the station. I had interviewed two of the neighbors who usually came to the Bennetts’ house to drink with them, but hadn’t gotten anything out of them. They didn’t even know the Bennetts very well, they told me. They just knew that there was free booze. The Bennetts were loaded, and every drunk in the neighborhood knew that they could always find a party there. Only one of the two, Travis Connor, had been at the Bennett’s house the night before. He told us he was the only guest at the time, but he hadn’t stayed long. He had left the house at ten o’clock and gone to the Beach Shack to hang out with some buddies. I called, and they confirmed his alibi. The next-door neighbor, Mrs. Jeffries had told my colleagues that she had seen Laura Bennett walk onto the back porch at eleven to smoke a cigarette. So, I let the guy go. His hands were shaking heavily, and I guessed he was in a hurry to find a drink somewhere.

  Around three o’clock, a woman had come to the station and asked to talk to someone about the killing of Laura Bennett. Her name was Gabrielle Phillips.

  The front desk sent her to me. Now, I was sitting across from her as she explained why she had come.

  “They lost their child last year, and that’s when it all went wrong,” she continued. “I’ve known Laura since high school,” she said. “She never used to drink. But when their daughter died in her bed at night, everything changed.”

  “Sudden Infant Death Syndrome?” I asked, and wrote it on a notepad.

  “Yes. After that, they started drinking. Well, to be honest, Brandon has always drunk a lot, but she never did. Never touched a drop. It wasn’t her thing. She didn’t like to lose control.”

  “So, they drank and partied because they lost their child?” I asked.

  “Well, Brandon always liked to party. Especially after Laura inherited all that money. He didn’t have to work anymore. He had always liked to drink, but it got really bad. She was actually considering leaving him and taking the kids, but then the daughter died in her sleep, and she couldn’t take it. She had a drink and then never stopped again. I tried to talk to her, but she shut me out and told me it was none of my business.”

 

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