James Andrus - The Perfect Scream

“The victim in Daytona isn’t dead. He is in a coma.”

“Regardless, the killer, if there really is one, could just as easily live in Atlanta or Daytona or anywhere in between. I’m not sure there’s a reason to bring media scrutiny just on Jacksonville. I’d like to see your detectives work on this as quietly as possible.”

Before Sergeant Zuni could express her true feelings, which was what she was about to do, there was a rap on her office door.

The sergeant called out, “Come in.”

The door swung open and John Stallings stood in the doorway, surprised to see the lieutenant sitting inside the small office.

The lieutenant glared at him and said, “C’mon, Stall, spit it out.”

“I, um, I just needed to speak to the sergeant for a moment.”

The lieutenant said, “Go ahead, speak to her.”

The sergeant looked between the two former partners and saw neither was going to give ground in this standoff.

Stallings nodded and said, “I have some news.”

It was the lieutenant said, “On what?”

The way Stallings glanced at the sergeant told her the news was about Zach Halston. He was weighing the dangers of revealing his continued investigation after the lieutenant had taken him off the case.

Sergeant Zuni said, “I let John work on the missing fraternity brother because he’s the best there is at finding people. I take full responsibility for putting him on the assignment.” She held the lieutenant’s stare, not wanting to back down. This was one of the most important jobs a sergeant had.

Lieutenant Hester was silent for a moment as her eyes shifted back to Stallings.

He said, “One of my snitches says Zach was alive just a few days ago.”

Sergeant Zuni said, “What else did he say?”

“Zach had been in a business hassle with a couple of other pot dealers. One of them was someone dealing to the college crowd.”

“You think that’s why he’s laying low?”

“It’s a reasonable assumption.”

The lieutenant’s poker face made Sergeant Zuni uneasy. The lieutenant didn’t mind sitting in silence either. That made everyone uncomfortable.

Finally Stallings said, “C’mon, Rita, put me back on this thing. I’ll find Zach Halston and maybe he can shed some light on all this other bullshit.”

Now Sergeant Zuni understood just how close Stallings and Lieutenant Hester were. She had never heard anyone talk to the lieutenant like that before. Sergeant Zuni also recognized the lieutenant hadn’t gotten to where she was by sitting back. She got results and knew who could get results for her.

After almost thirty seconds, the lieutenant said in a very even voice, “Will you give me your word you won’t look for Jeanie while you’re on this case?”

Now it was Stallings’s turn to hesitate. He said, “No, I can’t do that.”

Sergeant Zuni said, “John.”

He just shrugged and mumbled, “Sorry, I’m not a liar.”

Then the lieutenant said, “Fuck.” She shook her head, then stood to face Stallings. “I’ll have to take my chances with you. There’s too much potential for all of this to blow up in our faces if we don’t get a handle on it now.”

A slight smile broke across Stallings’s face.

The lieutenant said, “Don’t count on me changing my mind too many times. I know what the girl means to you. It broke my heart too when she disappeared. But I’ve already given the photograph to other detectives and I expect you to pass on anything you find out about her to them.”

Stallings just nodded.

Patty Levine sat on a bench in a large common area of the University of North Florida. The campus was one of the nicest in the South and the school had a reputation for looking after its students. On the bench next to her was a junior majoring in business administration and a former girlfriend of Zach Halston’s. Patty had found the girl through other students who had been at the Halloween party two years before. That’s how most police investigations evolved; one interview led to more and more.

The pretty young woman had a wistful smile when she recalled meeting Zach at the party. “He was down because some girl had just dumped him. You know how it is, a guy who needs fixing is hard to resist.”

Patty didn’t quite share those sentiments, but she nodded anyway to keep the girl talking.

“Anyway, he was busy during the party keeping everyone happy and the beer flowing. I mean it got wild. Then we started talking and he seemed really sweet.”

“Did you see anything unusual? Was anyone getting out of hand or girls upset?”

“Not anything more than usual at a Tau Upsilon party. Zach was also pissed off at one of his brothers, but I don’t know why. A couple of them kept telling him to let it go and relax.”

Patty kept scribbling notes and asked about potential female partygoers who felt violated after the party. But the girl didn’t know anything. Then Patty asked, “Did you know which brother he was mad at?”

“No, but Zach said he was going to have to ‘go gangsta’ on him. You know how men act tough, but it never works out. I figured it was all talk.”

Patty said, “Is there any chance you can recall the name of the girl who had just dumped Zach?”

She thought about it for a few seconds, then said, “I think it was Kelly.”

John Stallings was surprised he felt so nervous, fidgeting by the front door of his former residence, but that was the nature of his relationship with his estranged wife. He hadn’t called to give her notice he was coming over and he knew both of the kids were out. Lauren had gone to the movies with two friends, and Charlie was at a birthday party for one of his soccer teammates. Stallings figured he had at least two hours of quiet with Maria. Something told him now was a good time to sit down and work out the problems in the relationship. He still wasn’t going to tell her about the photograph of Jeanie, even if it would make her look at him in a different light. It just wasn’t right to play with her emotions like that.

He knocked on the door instead of ringing the bell and for some reason felt hopeful. He thought she might view this as a romantic gesture as he looked down at the bouquet of assorted flowers he had bought at Publix for $13.99. For a moment he thought he heard voices; then he clearly heard footsteps on the hard wooden floor of the downstairs.

The knob turned and the door opened inward. He plastered on the best smile he could muster and held up the flowers, but before he could say, “Surprise,” he felt shock ripple through his system. He stood there silently, staring at the man who cheerfully said, “Hello there, come on in.”

Stallings dropped the flowers to the porch but kept his eyes on Brother Frank Ellis.

Patty Levine liked the upscale restaurant where Ken had taken her to sample Spanish delicacies in the form of tapas. The outdoor balcony looking down on a walkway bordering the St. Johns River only added to the romantic atmosphere. But there was something bothering Patty about her new boyfriend. She couldn’t put her finger on it, but looking across at him now didn’t fill her with the same sort of excitement she felt when she looked across at Tony Mazzetti when they had been dating. Ken was handsome and refined and everything else a girl would want in a boyfriend. That only added to her feelings of frustration.

She’d already learned to tune him out when he started to blab about upgrading from his BMW to a Mercedes or the expensive speakers he had added to his home entertainment system. Somewhere in the back of her head she heard her name called three times and snapped back to reality.

Ken said, “I lost you there for a minute.”