Harlan Coben - Just One Look

First things first. He packed Rocky Conwell into the trunk of his Toyota Celica. He moved Jack Lawson, whom he had originally jammed into the Honda Accord’s trunk, to the back of the Ford Windstar. Once the bodies were out of sight, Wu changed license plates, got rid of the E-ZPass, and drove the Ford Windstar back to Ho-Ho-Kus. He parked the minivan in Freddy Sykes’s garage. There was still enough time to catch a bus back up to Central Valley. Wu searched Conwell’s car. Satisfied that it was cleared out, he took it to the Park-n-Ride on Route 17. He found a remote spot near the fence. A car being left there for days, even weeks, was not unusual. The smell would eventually bring attention, but that would not be anytime soon.

The Park-n-Ride was only three miles from Sykes’s house in Ho-Ho-Kus. Wu walked. Early the next morning, he rose and caught the bus back to Central Valley. He picked up Sykes’s Honda Accord. On the way back, he took a brief detour past the Lawson residence.

A patrol car was in the driveway.

Wu considered that. It did not cause him great concern, but perhaps he should nip any police involvement in the bud. He knew just how.

Wu drove back to Freddy’s residence and turned on the television. Wu liked daytime TV. He enjoyed watching shows like Springer and Ricki Lake . Most people poo-pooed them. Wu did not. Only a truly great society, a free one, could allow such nonsense to air. But more than that, stupidity made Wu happy. People were sheep. The weaker they are, the stronger you are. What could be more comforting or entertaining?

During a commercial-the theme of the show, according to a graphic on the bottom: “Mommy Won’t Let Me Get a Nipple Ring!”-Wu rose. It was time to take care of the potential police problem.

Wu didn’t need to touch Jack Lawson. All he had to say was one sentence: “I know that you have two children.”

Lawson cooperated. He made the call to his wife’s cell phone and told her he needed space.

At ten-forty-five-with Wu watching a mother and daughter wrestle across a stage while a crowd chanted “Jerry!”-a call came in from a prison acquaintance.

“All okay?”

Wu said yes.

He pulled the Honda Accord out of the garage. As he did, he noticed the woman who lived next door standing in the window. She was wearing lingerie. Wu might not have thought much about the scene-a woman still in her unmentionables after ten in the morning-but something about the way she suddenly ducked away…

That might have been a natural reaction. You parade around in lingerie, forgetting to pull down your shade, and then you spot a stranger. Many people, perhaps most people, would move away or cover up. So it could be nothing.

But the woman had moved very fast, as if in a panic. More than that, she had not moved when the car first pulled out-only when she’d spotted Wu. If she had been afraid of being seen, wouldn’t she have pulled the shade or ducked down when she first heard or saw the car?

Wu pondered that. He had, in fact, been pondering it all day.

He picked up his cell phone and hit the button to dial the last incoming number.

A voice said, “Problem?”

“I don’t think so.” Wu turned the car around and started back toward the Sykes house. “But I may be late.”

Grace didn’t want to make the phone call.

She was still in New York City. There was a law against using a cell phone while driving unless it was hands-free, though that had nothing to do with her hesitation. With one hand on the steering wheel, she felt around on the floor of the car. She located the ear attachment, managed to untangle the cord, and jammed the earpiece deep into the canal.

This was supposed to be safer than using a handheld?

She turned on the cell phone. Though Grace hadn’t called the number in years, she still had it programmed into the cell. For emergencies, she supposed. Like this one.

The phone was answered on the first ring.

“Yes?”

No name. No hello. No company greeting.

“This is Grace Lawson.”

“Hold.”

The wait was not long. First Grace heard the static and then, “Grace?”

“Hello, Mr. Vespa.”

“Please call me Carl.”

“Carl, right.”

“You got my message?” he asked.

“Yes.” She did not tell Carl Vespa that it had nothing to do with why she was calling now. There was feedback on the line. “Where are you?” she asked.

“My jet. We’re about an hour outside of Stewart.”

Stewart was an air force base and airport about an hour and a half from her house.

Silence.

“Is something wrong, Grace?”

“You said to call if I ever needed anything.”

“And now, fifteen years later, you do?”

“I think so.”

“Good. And your timing couldn’t be better. There’s something I want to show you.”

“What’s that?”

“Listen, are you home?”

“I’ll be there soon.”

“I’ll pick you up in two, two and a half, hours. We can talk then, okay? Do you have someone to watch the kids?”

“I should be able to find someone.”

“If you can’t, I’ll leave my assistant at your house. See you then.”

Carl Vespa hung up. Grace kept driving. She wondered what he wanted from her now. She wondered about the wisdom of calling him in the first place. She hit the first number on her speed-dial again-Jack’s cell phone-but there was still no answer.

Grace had another idea. She called her friend of the no-ménage, Cora.

“Didn’t you used to date a guy who worked in e-mail spam?” Grace asked.

“Yep,” Cora said. “Obsessive creep named-get this-Gus. Hard to get rid of. I had to use my own version of a bunker buster on him.”

“What did you do?”

“I told Gus he had a small wee-wee.”

“Ouch.”

“Like I said, the bunker buster. Works every time, but there’s often, uh, collateral damage.”

“I might need his help.”

“How?”

Grace was not sure how to put this. She decided to concentrate on the blonde with the X across her face, the one she was sure she’d seen before. “I found this photograph…,” she began.

“Right.”

“And there’s this woman in it. She’s probably late teens, early twenties.”

“Uh-huh.”

“It’s an old picture. I’d say fifteen, twenty years old. Anyway, I need to find out who the girl is. I was thinking maybe I could send it out via spam mail. It could ask if anyone can identify the girl for a research project, something like that. I know most people erase those e-mails, but if a few looked, I don’t know, maybe I could get a response.”

“Long shot.”

“Yeah, I know.”

“And wow, talk about creeps coming out of the woodwork. Imagine the replies.”

“Got a better idea?”

“Not really, no. It could work, I guess. By the way, you notice I’m not asking you why you need to find the identity of a woman in a picture from fifteen, twenty years ago?”

“I do.”

“I just wanted it noted for the record.”

“So noted. It’s a long story.”

“You need someone to tell?”

“I might. I might also need someone to watch the kids for a few hours.”

“I’m available and alone.” Pause. “Sheesh, I have to stop saying that.”

“Where’s Vickie?” Vickie was Cora’s daughter.

“She’s spending the night at the McMansion with my ex and his horse-faced wife. Or as I prefer to put it, she’s spending the night in the bunker with Adolf and Eva.”

Grace managed a smile.

“My car is in the shop,” Cora said. “Can you pick me up on the way?”

“I’ll be there right after I grab Max.”

Grace swung by the Montessori Enrichment program and grabbed her son. Max had that near-tears thing going on, having lost several of his Yu-Gi-Oh! cards to a classmate in some dumb game. Grace tried to humor him, but he wasn’t in the mood. She gave up. She helped him get his jacket on. His hat was missing. So was one of his gloves. Another mother smiled and whistled while bundling up her little bundle in color-coordinated knit (hand-knit, no doubt) hat, scarf, and yes, matching gloves. She looked over at Grace and faked a sympathetic smile. Grace did not know this woman, but she disliked her intensely.