Robert Browne - Kill Her Again

“Don’t start,” a voice told her.

Pope.

“We’ve been worried about you, Danny. Especially Jake. You’re so isolated out there. And living so close to the prison-that’s just creepy.”

“Turns out I’ve been evicted,” Pope said. “I won’t be going back anytime soon.”

“Good. We’ve got plenty of room here.”

“That might not be a good idea.”

“Why?”

“Take my word for it,” he told her.

“Because of your friend? Invite her to stay awhile, too.”

A small laugh. “We aren’t exactly friends. I barely know her.”

“You wouldn’t have gone to all the trouble of bringing her here if she didn’t mean something to you. She could just as easily be lying in the back of an EMT wagon.”

“Somebody collapses in your arms, you tend to feel responsible for them.”

The woman smiled. “Of course it doesn’t hurt she looks like a supermodel.”

“Really? I hadn’t noticed.”

“Oh, please. Just tell me this isn’t another one of your conquests.”

“You don’t think much of me, do you?”

“What’s to think about?” the woman said. “Back in high school, you would’ve come after me if Jake hadn’t put a stop to it.”

“Good old Jake,” Pope said. “Ruined it for everyone.”

They laughed. And while the laughter seemed a bit forced, even melancholy, there was a warm camaraderie between them that Anna envied. She had few friends and less family and spent most of her time on the job. She’d never been close to her father. After her mother died, she’d been cared for by a succession of nannies, some good, some bad, but none of them worth remembering.

She hadn’t known Pope for more than a couple hours, yet she knew he was a man who kept his pain private. But at least he had the option of sharing it with people who cared about him. Like this woman.

Anna didn’t have that option.

She did, however, know where she was now.

Worthington’s house.

Why they had a special room for Benjamin Pope wasn’t quite clear.

As the woman and Pope continued to laugh, the woman’s gaze shifted slightly. “You still hungry, hon? You want another bowl of cereal?”

“No thank you.”

Evan. Subdued yet polite.

“You want to go lie down again? I can put the TV on. Find some cartoons.”

“Is Kimmie coming here?”

The woman’s smile froze on her face as Anna’s gut tightened. They hadn’t told him yet.

Why hadn’t they told him?

Turning, she moved to the TV set on the dresser and quickly searched through the pile of movies. When she found the one she wanted, she stepped into the hall and a moment later was standing in the kitchen doorway.

“Hey, kiddo, look what I found.”

She held up a copy of The Jungle Book.

Three pairs of surprised eyes turned to her. Evan, who sat at a small dining table next to Pope, flew across the room, wrapping his arms around her waist-a move that both startled and pleased Anna.

She tousled his hair. “Easy, hon, I’m a little banged up.”

“Did you find Kimmie?”

“We’re gonna have to talk about that. But why don’t we give good old Mowgli a spin first?”

Evan nodded. “Okay. Will you watch with me?”

Anna exchanged looks with Pope and the woman, who she could only assume was Worthington’s wife. She gave Evan a squeeze.

“I wouldn’t miss it for the world,” she said.

Most people in law enforcement would agree that the best way to break bad news to a family member is to simply come out and say it. But it’s never easy. Never tidy. And reactions may vary, but they’re never good.

Evan’s was no exception.

They were sitting in the Worthingtons’ living room, halfway through the movie, Evan’s interest in Mowgli and the bare necessities waning, when she finally told him.

“Kimmie won’t be coming home,” she said.

Evan looked up at her. “Why not?”

“She’s with your mommy.” Red Cap’s words tumbled through her head. “She’s with the angels now.”

“No,” Evan said. “I want her back. They have to come back.”

But he knew that wouldn’t happen and he burst into tears, throwing himself against Anna, pressing his head into her chest. And she did her best to comfort him for the second time in the last several hours, murmuring softly that he’d be okay, that everything would be okay.

But it wouldn’t be.

All these years later, Anna still lived with her pain. And while the worst of it had passed, a dull, persistent ache continued to plague her and she knew it always would.

She supposed the fact that Evan’s father was still in the picture was some small consolation for the boy, but she didn’t imagine Mr. Rock and Roll’s involvement in his life would ever amount to much.

Something she could relate to.

They were orphans. Both of them. And as she glanced at Pope, who sat in an armchair across from her, she saw the face of yet another orphan.

What a sorry bunch they were.

What a sorry bunch indeed.

“ I’ll share my secrets, if you share yours,” Pope said.

Evan was asleep again, curled up next to Anna on the sofa. Worthington’s wife-Ronnie-had run to the market despite Pope’s insistence that they wouldn’t be staying.

It may have been Anna’s imagination, or simple intuition, but Pope seemed uneasy. The way he kept glancing out the front window, she wondered what kind of trouble he’d gotten himself into back at the Oasis.

“Secrets, huh?”

“Share and share alike,” Pope said.

“Then you won’t mind telling me who you’re running from.”

He raised his eyebrows. “Am I that obvious?”

Anna shrugged. “To trained eyes, I suppose.”

“Then let’s just say I got on the wrong side of a wannabe bad boy with some very nasty friends.”

“Let me guess,” Anna said. “Gambling debts?”

“Among other things. But the cops are already on to him and I made a promise that I wouldn’t talk to anyone about it. Especially the FBI.”

“If it means anything to you, I’m about to be retired.”

“A promise is a promise,” Pope said.

“Just tell me this: Are you expecting one of those friends to show up here?”

“That would be pretty stupid of them, but the sooner I get out of here, the better I’ll feel.”

“So what’s stopping you?”

Pope hesitated. “Evan, for one. He’s just lost everyone he has and I don’t want him to feel abandoned.” He paused. “Besides, it’s not every day you stumble across a psychic kid.”

“You’re still on that kick?”

Pope looked at her. “I don’t think you’re as skeptical as you pretend to be. The way you reacted to the news, I’ve got a feeling there’s a whole lot going on inside that brain that you’d just as soon not talk about. So maybe I’m not the only one who’s on the run.”

Touche, Anna thought. And it struck her that perhaps Pope wasn’t just some peripheral player in this drama. That he was as much a part of this thing-this cosmic plan-as she was.

But to what end?

“Do you believe in fate?” she asked.

Pope took a moment to answer. “I guess certain things happen for a reason, but I also think we make our own fate. The universe gives us guidelines, and it’s up to us to either follow them or discard them.”

“You’ve thought about this.”

“When your wife poisons your kid, then fries him in the family car, you tend to think about a lot of things.”

His bluntness caught her off-guard. “Your son’s name was Benjamin, right?”

Pope nodded.

“And that room you put me in. That was his?”

Another nod. “Thanks to Susan, Ben spent a lot of his time in and out of hospitals. First in Vegas, then here in Ludlow. Jake and Ronnie wanted him to have a place to stay where he felt comfortable.”