over possible rejection by girls, passing the MCATs, loss of Heidi’s affection, and now the police. He shakes her into a wakefulness he knew was there all the time. Her eyes are open and alert.
“Get dressed.” He throws her the same pink-and-white dress.
“Get up! Now! Someone’s here.” His words arebookended by another round of raps at the front door.
She scrambles into the dress, staggers across the room and then down the corridor as she rubs her wrists with alternate hands.
“Not a word,” he tells her in a hoarse whisper. “Or I’ll kill you and whoever else is there.”
He hoists the gun above his head to be sure she sees it and waits at the edge of the corridor where he can see both her and the front door, yet stay unobserved.
“Police.”
She opens the door. From his hidden position, Stern sees that the zipper on the back of her dress is half open and she’s not wearing shoes, but the cop won’t see anything unusual. Overall, she’ll appear as normal as anyone who’s just woken up.
“Morning, ma’am. Just checking in to see how you’re doing.”
“I’m fine. I just got up. Sorry it took so long to answer the door.”
“That’s okay. Sure everything’s fine?”
“Quite sure, thank you. Goodbye then and thank you for stopping by.”
Stern pictures the cop tip his hat as the door closes. He waits until he hears the engine cough its way into smoothness, and then ten seconds more before he checks the front window just in time to watch the taillights turn out of her driveway and onto the main road.
“Too many cops around here. We need to leave,” he tells her in a matter-of-fact way as they walk back down the corridor toward the bedroom. A distant observer might think they were discussing a movie date or details for a picnic rather than a life-threatening circumstance.
“Put enough things for a few days in a small bag and be ready in ten minutes.”
He doesn’t know why he says this, and then realizes he does it to make her think it’s all just temporary, and that in a few days everything will revert to normal. She does seem calmer at this point, and he assumes his ruse will work. He also senses a kind of serenity working its way through his own body. This is the upside. If he can’t get it up, at least he can begin to act like a normal person. He’s already glad he didn’t force himself on her last night.
She takes a few items from a top dresser drawer and turns to him.
“Where are we going?”
“Not far,” he answers as his mind impels an image of a gnarled sand pine and the ground beneath it. “Not far at all.”
CHAPTER 26
She begins to relax as soon as he agrees to let her change into pants and a sweater. They take the Audi and he drives. As soon as they’re on the main road heading east toward Montauk village, he glances sideways at her.
“You don’t look like her at all anymore.”
“It was the dress. I was supposed to wear the dress to fool you and the other person.”
“You mean Posner?”
“Yes.”
“He did it you know. He killed Heidi and buried her. That’s where we’re going now. To where she is. To be sure.”
“How do you know he killed her?”
This time Stern steals a longer look but keeps driving. He is no longer the wild person she remembers from yesterday. Maybe he’s taken some medication. Maybe he realizes she’s not a threat.
“He told me so. Oh, he first gave me some bullshit story that she had an accident in his house while he was out, and then when he came home and found her he got scared and buried her. But he killed her. Either he raped her or he tried and killed her when she resisted. He killed her all right.
“Second, and most important, I know I didn’t do it. I loved her. I still do.”
He pauses and she sees one eye begin to well up. He makes no move to wipe it.
“I know that. She told me.”
“She told you? When? What did she say?”
He doesn’t wait for an answer. They are nearly through the village of Montauk when he makes a sharp turn onto South Edison Street. He drives until the street ends and pulls into a small stretch of alley behind two shuttered seasonal motels, and then stops. A dumpster blocks any cursory view from the road. There is a narrow sliver of beach and ocean through the front windshield. He turns the engine off and leans back.
“I have to rest. Too tired. Need to rest for a bit.”
She says nothing. After a minute he leans forward and pulls out a packet of Winstons and offers her one. She accepts and he lights them both up. The digital clock on the dash flashes 9:44 as he puts the lighter back.
“Now tell me. Please.”
She looks around at the quiet space they sit in and then back at him.
“Don’t be afraid anymore.”
She looks at him, sees the earnestness of a teenager, and begins to relax.
“Now tell me everything she said.”
CHAPTER 27
Wisdom parks behind the cruiser that waits on the road apron some fifty feet west of Brigid’s driveway. In less than a minute, two more blue-and-whites appear. Wisdom directs them to park on the east side of the driveway. He sends two men to cover the road access and two more to the rear of the house.
“No one in or out. SOP.” They all voice agreement. Logistics aren’t an issue. They’ve all been trained.
Wisdom walks down the driveway to the front door, which is slightly ajar. He identifies himself and slowly pushes the door open. He turns and calls for one of the uniforms to join him.
He advises the men in the back by radio to stay on the outside.
“Anything moving back there?” he asks.
“Negative. But there is a car parked here.”
“What make?”
“White Chevy Malibu. Two years old.”
“Stay where you are. We’re going in.”
“Ten-four.”
Even as he pulls the Glock from his holster belt, Wisdom wonders about Brigid’s red Audi. Is it parked in a garage somewhere in back or is she gone? Gone with Stern?
He moves forward into the house and announces his presence. Police presence. There’s no answer. They cover every room. The house is immaculate except for one bedroom. A bed is messed up and two nylon stockings lay discarded across a pillow. The pink-and-white dress is on the floor. He asks one of the uniforms to pack it up together with the nylons.
The search is futile. The house is empty. There is no Audi. No obvious clues as to where she might have gone. Wisdom returns to his car and calls in. He decides to leave two uniforms at the house and passes instructions to get the plate number on the rented Audi. A call to Weis confirms that it’s from a local Audi dealer. Shouldn’t take long. As soon as they confirm the plate, every cruiser in the area will be alerted with an APB.
He sits in his car after passing out instructions. Frustration overwhelms him. His anger is directed internally more than anything else. It’s all his fault. He should have protected Posner. If he had, Posner’s wife would still be alive. He shouldn’t have gotten involved with Brigid’s masquerade idea. He should have picked up Stern earlier. All the things he should or shouldn’t have done. All the things he’s fucked up just on this one case.
A call from Bennett shakes him back. Yes, Bennett had already heard about Stern and Brigid. But he has
