Robert Browne - Kill Her Again

“She watches us while Mommy’s at work. She’s in high school.”

“I see. Is it just the four of you in the house? Or is anyone else there?”

“Just me and Kimmie and Tammy.”

“Okay. What time does your mom usually go to work?”

“Right before Batman and Friends. But we’re not gonna watch, ’cuz Tammy wants to play Donkey Kong instead.”

“Then let’s go forward a little. Look down at your remote again and find the yellow button. The yellow one takes you forward in time, but not too far, just a little skip. You see it?”

“Uh-huh.”

“Go ahead and press it once.”

“Okay.”

“Now after a quick spin, just a few hours have passed and Batman and Friends has been over for a while. It’s around dinnertime and your mom is at work. Where are you now?”

A pause. “In my room.”

“And what are you doing there?”

“Talking to Tammy.”

“What about?”

“She says she’s got a secret she doesn’t want Kimmie to hear.”

“What kind of secret?”

“I dunno. She won’t tell me. She says it’s a surprise. But she’s gonna have to break the rules and she doesn’t want Kimmie to cry.”

“What rules?”

“When Mommy’s at work, we’re not supposed to leave the house. But Tammy says we have to.”

“Why? Where does she want to go?”

“To the rec center. She says there’s somebody there she wants us to meet.”

“Who?”

“I dunno. But we’re not supposed to leave and Kimmie’s gonna cry, so Tammy says we have to pretend we’re gonna meet Mommy. We’re not supposed to lie, either, but Tammy says it’s okay if it’s for something good.”

“How far away is the rec center?”

“Far. It’s over by Kmart. But Tammy’s gonna drive us. She’s got her license and everything.”

“Okay. You’re doing great, Evan. Now I want you to look down at your remote again, give the yellow button a press, and take another little jump forward until you’re at the rec center. Can you do that for me?”

“Uh-huh.”

“Good. So where are you now?”

“In the gym, watching the big kids play basketball. Tammy bought us Slurpees.”

“Is she there?”

“No. She went to find her friend. She says he’s late.”

“Do you know her friend’s name?”

“She called him Rick.”

“Is he one of the high school boys?”

“No. Tammy say he’s older.”

“Older, huh? How much older?”

“I dunno. But I wish they’d hurry up because Kimmie’s almost finished with her Slurpee and she wants to know where Mommy is.”

“Okay, let’s go forward again. Push the yellow button and jump ahead a little.”

“Okay.”

“Where are you now?”

“At McDonald’s. Rick took us there in his Mustang.”

“He drives a Mustang, huh? What color is it?”

“Black. With an orange flame on the side. It’s really cool.”

“Are you inside McDonald’s or out in the car?”

“In the car.”

“Are Kimmie and Tammy there, too?”

“No, they went to get burgers and fries.”

“So it’s just you and Rick, then, huh? What does he look like?”

“Tall. Really tall. With black hair and a ring in his eyebrow and a tattoo of a dragon on his neck. Him and Tammy were holding hands and kissing and stuff, but he looks like he should be her uncle or something.”

“Is he Tammy’s boyfriend?”

“I dunno; I guess so.”

“Okay. So what are you and Rick doing right now?”

“Talking.”

“What about?”

“All kinds of stuff. Baseball, video games…”

“Anything else?”

“He says he’s been wanting to see me and Kimmie for a really long time.”

“Oh? Has he told you why?”

“Yeah, but I think he might be playing a joke or something. Like April fools.”

“Why do you think that?”

“I dunno. I just do.”

“You must have a reason.”

A pause.

“It’s okay, Evan. Just stay relaxed. Nobody’s going to hurt you.”

“If it was true, he’d be kissing Mommy, not Tammy.”

“If what was true? What did Rick tell you?”

A longer pause.

“Evan?”

“He says he’s… He says…”

Another pause.

“Evan?”

It came on without warning.

Evan uttered a small cry of distress; then suddenly his entire body went rigid.

“Oh, shit,” Pope said.

Then the boy began to convulse, bucking violently on the bed, chest heaving, legs kicking.

McBride moved toward them, face full of alarm.

“-what’s happening?”

“Grand mal seizure. He must be epileptic.”

His breathing uneven and labored, Evan sucked in air, then stopped breathing altogether as foam began to gather at the corners of his mouth, his face darkening.

Pope reached down and grabbed the boy’s jeans, working to unfasten the button, loosening the waistband as Evan continued to buck and kick, making the task more difficult than it should have been.

“He’s turning blue,” McBride said.

“He’ll be fine. We just have to let it run its course.”

“What about his tongue? Shouldn’t we stick something in his-”

“No. That’s TV bullshit. Just let him be.”

Evan let out a loud, shaky breath-some of his color returning-then suddenly sucked in another, uttering short animal-like grunts as his body continued to convulse.

“We have to do something.”

“There’s nothing to do,” Pope said. “Trust me. My grandfather was epileptic; I’ve seen this a hundred times.”

Eyes still shut, mouth foaming, Evan bucked and kicked, his small body violently shaking the bed, reminding Pope of Linda Blair in full possession mode — then, finally, thankfully, the convulsions began to subside until the boy was still.

Pope quickly turned him on his side, letting the fluids drain from his mouth onto the bedspread. Sweat had formed on Evan’s forehead and McBride crouched next to him and carefully wiped it away with her hand, smoothing his hair back.

He opened his eyes then and blinked up at them, his voice high and thin and shaky.

“I want my mommy,” he said, and burst into tears.

“ Evan had a seizure. Looks like epilepsy.”

“Oh, Jesus,” Worthington muttered. His voice sounded as if it were coming through a wire stretched between two tin cans.

Anna hated cell phones.

She had considered calling Royer, had known it was proper protocol, but hadn’t felt like dealing with the inevitable headache. She figured she was sparing him one as well.

Instead, she’d dug out the business card Worthington had slipped her just as she and Evan were climbing into the cruiser, and had called him directly.

“I’m sure glad we had that medic take a look at him,” Worthington said sourly.

“It’s not like he was wearing a sign. But Pope told me if he’d known, he never would’ve put him under.”

“I wouldn’t think so. Is Evan all right?”

“I’m sure he’s been better. The hotel doctor is checking him over.”

“Hotel doctor? At the Oasis?”

“I have a feeling it’s one of Pope’s poker buddies.”

“Figures,” Worthington said. “What about the session? You have any luck?”

“Not much, but it may be enough. Turns out the babysitter broke the house rules and took the kids on a surprise field trip. Introduced them to a guy Evan thinks was her boyfriend-only he’s probably twice her age.”

“That sounds promising. You get a description?”

“Adult male, first name Rick. Dark hair, eyebrow ring, dragon tattoo on his neck. Drives a black Ford Mustang with a flame on the side.”

“Should be easy enough to track. I’ll put out an alert and we’ll check with Tammy’s friends, but it doesn’t sound like anyone from around here.”