would a teammate's injury drive him to leave school and run off to another state? And what, if anything, did it have to do with what was happening now?
All right. What next? Think!
Kid bummed around for a while. Eventually went back to school, to Maryland State, where he got his degree. Why there? And what else could have happened there? It was where he met his first Destination. Who was she? Why did that end? Kid said it was because she chose another man. Who was it? Did any of that matter?
Why did Kid come back to New York? What was he into that would lead to his death?
It kept coming back to the same thing: the women.
The Entertainer: He'd found her, she was just as Kid had described. Beautiful and smart and sad. She'd given Kid five thousand dollars that he'd never returned. Kid had told her it was for his tuition but he'd lied. He'd given the money to Samsonite. Why did he lie? Because he was giving it to another woman? Because the Entertainer would have been jealous? Jack thought that the money was irrelevant. But what had the Entertainer known? Why was she killed? She said she'd heard things, noticed things, but what? Did her killer take anything from the apartment?
The Rookie. Grace. Jack checked his notes and saw that Kid had told him that the Rookie was dangerous. He couldn't believe that Grace was capable of violence, though. Jack realized that he was attracted to her, that he liked her; it was hard to be objective. But why hadn't she called McCoy? Why hadn't she called him? Where was she now?
Where was she when Samsonite had been murdered and Jack had been shot at?
The Destination #1: She seemed unlikely. Out of the picture for a long time. But the Destination #2 – Who was she? Grace? Jack was fairly certain that's what she'd evolved into, but he couldn't be positive. Was there someone else out there? Someone else with a secret? Someone who knew Kid's secret?
The Mistake. Kid hadn't talked much about her. He'd seemed particularly evasive. They hadn't had sex, he'd said. But the relationship was sexual. Was the Mistake in love with Kid? Had she been in love with him all these years? Did she kill him because that love was unrequited?
Finally, the Murderess. Jack didn't have much to go on. She'd been scarred by an accident in her youth. That was pretty much it. McCoy had said she could be anyone. Who? Someone he knew? Some link between him and Kid?
Who?
Jack got up from his chair and began pacing. He was getting nowhere. The more information he had, the more confused he was becoming.
What was he missing?
All right, he thought. Dig into the specifics. Go back to Samsonite. A sick girl, no question about that. But she didn't deserve to die like that. No one deserved to die like that. He knew he'd never get the image and the fear that came with it out of his mind.
Stop it, he told himself. Don't think about that now. Think about what you learned. What you can still learn. What had she said?
Christ, what I don't know about you. Your stupid red-meat crematorium. Your fantasy apartment. The whaddyacallit, the balcony you're terrified of…
Jack felt violated, thinking about the things Kid had shared. Things he had told these women about the man they knew only as the Butcher.
Your big affair in London…
Jesus Christ! How could she have known about that? How could Kid have known about that? It wasn't possible. Had she really said it? Or was it part of his own psychedelic fantasy?
How you tried to have a baby but your wife had an abortion…
No, it was impossible! She couldn't have known that! He'd tried to forget it himself. It was too painful; he'd shut down the memory. He had never even been able to tell Dom. They had wanted a child so desperately. Caroline had been pregnant when he'd gone off to England. When he'd had the affair with Emma. And when he returned, right after he got back, Caroline aborted the baby. She told him she'd done it, that she no longer wanted the child and, although neither of them had ever acknowledged it, they both knew it was because of what had happened in London. How she'd known what had occurred there, he never discovered. He had his suspicions but they didn't matter. What mattered was that he had hurt her and this was the only way she knew to respond. They had created the child out of love and she had destroyed it out of pain.
They'd recovered from it, though, individually and as a couple. He had wounded her, the scar had healed. Ultimately, she had understood and that understanding had made them closer. It was something that had been so private, so personal; the healing process had drawn them together Jack straightened up and stopped his pacing. There was something gnawing at him now, he didn't know exactly what. But something didn't compute.
It had been so private.
So how did Samsonite know about it? And about the affair? How?
His stream of consciousness took him to the front of Grace's apartment building. He remembered standing with her, asking her what Kid had told her that had frightened her.
This might sound crazy, she'd said, hut I had the feeling he wanted me to know certain things in case… in case you found me… I got the feeling there was something going on that had been going on a long time. For years. I think he felt responsible for certain things, people getting hurt. Maybe even getting killed.
What people? Jack had asked. But she didn't know.
Then he flashed on Samsonite again: How you tried to have a baby but your wife had an abortion…
What was wrong with that?
There was something going on for along time. For years.
How many years? What had been going on for years?
He felt responsible for people getting hurt. Maybe even getting killed.
What people?
But your wife had an abortion…
How did she know?
Maybe even getting killed.
Who? What people?
Your affair…
An abortion…
'Oh my God.'
Jack said it out loud; the sound of his own voice made him jump. He knew now what had frightened him about searching the past. Somehow he must have known all along. He knew what the connection was. He didn't understand it, didn't want to understand it, but he knew.
Kid had told Samsonite about Caroline's abortion.
But Jack had never told Kid.
Jack had never told anyone. Not a soul. Which meant only one person could have told Kid.
Only one person…
But how was that possible? How? Why? And when?
Jack, forcing himself to move slowly, refusing to bow to the urgency that was kicking at his midsection, sat back down at his computer, immediately logged on to the CylockHolmes program. He knew what he was looking for and he scrolled down until he found it.
FIND: License Plate Numbers Social Security Numbers Business Records Unlisted Phone Numbers Unknown Addresses
And then: LOCATE Long-Lost Friends DISCOVER Dirty Secrets Your In-Laws Don't Want You To Know Criminal Search Background Check* Find Out About Your Daughter's Boyfriend NEIGHBORS! Find Out What They Have To Hide! Education Verification! Did He Really Graduate From College! Find Out!
Education Verification.
Jack double-clicked on it. At the prompt, he typed in Kid's real name, George Demeter. Typed in his home address on Staten Island. Listed St. John's and Maryland State College, then clicked on the 'Verify' button and
