Jeffery Deaver - The Lesson of Her Death

"Best wait here, Bill."

"I'd like to be with my boy."

"He didn't say anything?" Ribbon asked in a low voice.

"He says he was alone, didn't see the girl or anybody."

"Do you think he's lying?"

Corde looked into Ribbon's eyes. "No. Now if you'll excuse me."

Ribbon touched his arm. "We talked about it, Bill. We think it's better if you're not there."

"He's a minor. I've got a right to be present during…"

Corde's voice faded and Ribbon verbalized Corde's sudden thought. "He's not a suspect, Bill. We're just treating him like a witness."

"I -"

Ribbon shook his head. "It's better for the investigation and better for you not to be in there. We want to avoid any, you know, appearances of impropriety."

Corde turned toward the door. Thinking how easy it would be to lift Ribbon's hand off his arm and walk out of the office and into the room where Jamie was. What he did was to take off his hat and drop it on a nearby desk.

Steve Ribbon stepped away, stood for a minute looking out the window then said, "We've got to go fishing one of these days."

Corde said softly, "You bet, Steve."

"You little shit." Charlie Mahoney walked slowly around Jamie.

Mahoney was impressed the boy wasn't crying. He decided he'd have to try harder. "You're a fucking liar. I know it. Your father knows it. And you know it."

"I was by myself." Jamie looked at the door. Deputy Ebbans had left a few minutes ago to get Cokes. Jamie was just now catching on that he wasn't coming back.

"Oh, cut the crap. What do you think this is? Like breaking curfew? You think you're gonna get fucking grounded for this? You think they're going to take away your allowance? I'm talking prison! I'm talking about hard time up in Warwick. You're how old? Sixteen?"

"Fifteen," Jamie said.

Now the boy's voice was quivering.

"You're fifteen now but by the time you come to trial -"

"Me?" His voice cracked.

"You'll be sixteen and they'll send you into the adult wing. That's it, kid. You're fucked."

And he was starting to cry.

"I didn't do it. I swear I didn't."

Mahoney sat and leaned forward. "You don't know jack shit, you little prick! Jack shit. We've gotta find somebody. And 'cause we don't have anybody else, as far as I'm concerned that somebody is you."

Jamie wiped his face. "Where's my father?"

"He said he was leaving."

"No! He said he was going to be here with me."

"He just said that to get you in here. He told us you're lying."

Jamie looked at the door. His teeth touched and he breathed hotly. "He did not."

"He said you lied to him and you'd lie to us."

"He didn't say that. He wouldn't."

"Who the hell were you with? You have a daisy chain going, pulling each other's dicks?"

"I'm not a homo!"

"You're not? Then you wouldn't mind a little pussy. A pretty girl walking by herself. A pretty little college girl. Were you the one that came all over her?"

The tears were thick. "I didn't do anything."

"How many times did you see the movie?"

"What movie?"

Mahoney leaned forward and screamed, "Will you cut out this bullshit?! How many times did you see The Lost Dimension?"

Jamie looked down and picked at a ragged fingernail. "A couple. I don't know."

Mahoney said slowly, "You know, your father gave us some of your shorts. Ones you'd been wearing while you were beating off. We've got samples of your come. We're going to match it against what we found in the girl."

"My father…" Jamie whispered.

"We know there were two of you. We've -"

"He gave you my underwear?"

"We've got enough now to convict you. But we don't want to leave that other asshole wandering around the streets. You give his name to us and you'll walk. I guarantee it."

Jamie looked desperately at the door.

"I was alone."

Mahoney waited for a long, long minute then kicked back his chair and stood. "I gotta crap. People like you make me want to shit. I'll be back in three minutes. Think real hard, kid."

Mahoney left the room. The door remained open about six inches and through the gap Jamie could see the back door of Town Hall. He gazed through the half window at the parking lot and the thick trees beyond.

Outside, it was a May school day. The sun was brilliant and insects zipping through the light flashed like sparks. Outside, kids were lining up to be picked for softball in PE class, they were jogging, playing soccer and tennis, swatting golf balls.

Outside was an entirely different dimension from that in which Jamie Corde now sat.

The sunlight grew in radiance. No, it had moved closer to him! He was astonished to find himself on his feet, no longer sitting in the hard chair. Now, walking across the interrogation room. Now, pushing into the dark corridor, staring all the while at the back window. In the hallway, pausing. The light began to approach him, slowly at first then picking up speed, rushing toward him, as his heart thudded with a shockingly loud pounding, beating ever faster. The light filled his vision, it illuminated his flushed skin, it grew very close. And Jamie understands that no no the sound is not his heart at all but the drumming of his running shoes on chestnut floorboards. His hands rise palms out fingers splayed, the back door explodes outward and a million splinters of glass precede Jamie Corde into the golden light.

One man jumped at the sound. The other did not.

Mahoney looked at the shocked face of T.T. Ebbans, who ran into the corridor behind the Sheriffs Department and stared as the back door, now lacking most of its glass, swung slowly closed once more.

He stepped across the hall to the interrogation room and looked inside then glanced out the broken door and saw Jamie sprinting away from the station house.

"Deputy, you better -"

Ebbans turned his gaunt face to Mahoney. "Jamie wouldn't run like that. What'd you say to him?"

Mahoney nodded toward the shattered door. "You better stay on him. You know where he's going."

Ebbans said evenly, "I should tell you, sir, I think you're a real son of a bitch."

"Deputy, he's getting away."

"What are you doing here?" Corde asked.

Mahoney, walking through the squad room, glanced at the coffee he sipped. "Devil's brew."

"Were you in there with my son?"

"I just looked in on him. He and T.T. were talking."

Corde stepped into the corridor and saw the empty room. He returned as Mahoney was dumping sugar into his cup. "Where is he?"

"Your kid? I think T.T. said they were going to the lake and look around. I don't know."

Corde walked to the front door. "He should've told me."

Mahoney noticed the evidence envelopes containing the Polaroids and the messages they carried. "What's this?"

Ribbon answered tentatively, as if asking for Corde's approval, "Somebody left them for Bill. He thinks they might be his daughter."

"You show them to her, ask her about it?"

"She didn't see them, no. My daughter has a learning disability. She's going through a rough time right now. This would upset her."

"Well," Mahoney said with an exasperated laugh, "that'd be a shame, but -"

"I asked her if anybody'd taken her picture recently and she said no."

"You say she's slow?"

"She's not slow," Corde said evenly. "She has an above-average IQ. She has dyslexia and dyscalculia."

"Does she now? Maybe somebody talked her into posing and warned her not to tell anybody about it. That happens all the time."

"I know my daughter."

Mahoney, fingering the photos, said, "Your son, does he have a Polaroid camera?"

Corde turned to Ribbon. "Can I see you for a minute, Steve?"

The men walked into the sheriffs office, Corde leading. Ribbon left the door open. Corde reached back and closed it. He hardly ever lost his temper but the problem was he couldn't tell when it was going to happen.