Paradise Falls (20 page)

“There’s nothing to do. He’s dead.”
 

Jennifer bit her lip and looked back up at the apartment. The girl was in her window, watching them pull away.
 

“I have a theory,” said Jacob. “It goes like this. The let the kid out of lockup and tell him to settle his affairs. Probably told him to keep his mouth shut or they’d hurt the girl. They let him call her to make sure she doesn’t start asking questions. His mother isn’t going to raise a stink.”
 

Jennifer nodded. “So they killed him too, and they’ll just say they never found him.”
 

“Right,” said Jacob.
 

The steering wheel creaked in his hand.
 

“It’s a wonderful thing you’re doing for her,” Jennifer said, softly. “You’re a good man.”
 

“No,” said Jacob. “I’m not.”
 

Jennifer didn’t press him.

They were stepping out of the car when Katie’s Beetle trundled up the hill and pulled to a crunching stop on the gravel. Katie leapt out of the little car, stormed up to Jacob, and jabbed her finger in his chest.
 

“You,” she snapped, “We need to talk.”

6.

Jacob gazed down at the girl that just jabbed her finger in his chest. She was clearly Jennifer’s sister. They had the same pale skin, and freckles, though this girl’s eyes were a clear blue rather than storm gray, and her hair was a lighter shade, a true red that she kept to shoulder length where Jennifer let hers hang past her waist. She was more curvaceous compared to Jennifer’s lithe, angular beauty. Jacob recognized her.

Katie Brennan. She was two years behind him in school, even after he was held back. She had her fist pressed into her hip and her finger jabbed into his chest and was staring up at him, bristling.
 

“Excuse me?”
 

“Are you the guy?”
 

“What guy?”
 

She drew her hand away, only to put her other fist on her hip and rear up to her full height, such as it was. “I came looking for my sister this morning and I found her house trashed, and she wasn’t answering her phone. The last guy she told me about was
you
. Her landlady said she was up here with you.”
 

“Guilty,” said Jacob. “She’s been staying with me since Elliot trashed the house.”
 

“I’m right here,” said Jennifer.

Katie turned her nose up. “Are you some kind of freak? Do you make her wear a ball gag?”
 

“Katie!” Jennifer snapped, grabbing her arm.

Katie shook loose. “Well? You were supposed to call me, then I hear on the news that those kids got shot, and then I find out your house is trashed and your landlady thinks you were kidnapped by the CIA. What am I supposed to think?”
 

“I’m not in the CIA,” said Jacob.

“Then what are you in?”
 

Jacob sighed. “I’m a math teacher.”
 

“Oh bull
shit,”
said Katie.
 

“Let’s go inside,” said Jennifer.
 

Katie stepped back, folding her arms under her chest. “How do I know I can trust this guy?”
 

“Katie,” Jennifer growled. “Inside. Now.”

Jacob stepped back, and watched the two glare at each other. Katie broke first and headed up the stairs to the front door. Jennifer shot Jacob a withering look and followed her. When he opened the door Katie stomped across the carpet and flopped on his sofa, looked at Jennifer, and patted the space beside her. Jennifer sat down and the two of them stared at Jacob.
 

“So,” said Jennifer, glancing at Katie.
 

“What the hell is going on?”
 

“Let me explain it to her,” said Jennifer.

“I don’t know if that’s a good idea,” said Jacob.

Both women scowled at him.

“Fine,” he said. “I’ll be downstairs if you need anything.”

Jennifer nodded. Katie continued to glare at him as he passed into the kitchen, only turning away as he dropped out of her sight. Jacob grabbed a protein bar and a shake and headed down into the basement. He chewed on the rubbery supplement bar while flicking through the photographs from last night and scribbling notes.
 

There was more data, now. Much more. At some point, Ellison Carlyle busted two kids for dealing pot, probably small amounts from their own personal grow operation. Later on, the Fiore boy was dealing drugs at the school, and in between he was putting away money, or at least told his girlfriend he was.

The pained look on the girl’s face when she asked if the boy was dead clouded his vision for a moment and he rubbed his face in his hands. He could use a few hours sleep. Instead, he put down the rest of what he knew.
 

Ellison Carlyle and the light-haired boy with the Leviathans were present at the shooting, and the biker was one of the shooters. Ellison may have been one of the others, or the wheelman or simply set it up. Someone pulled strings to get Fiore out of lockup on Saturday morning, he said his goodbyes in the afternoon, disappeared, and then the authorities came out to put the murder on him.
 

Jacob tapped the page with his pencil, and sent an email to his people to get down the girl’s details and see that she was taken care of. Hunter Fiore was not coming home, and he was not going to meet his twins.

He leaned back in his chair.
 

That wasn’t much of a plan. Sooner or later someone would ask questions, ask why they simply gave up looking for their prime suspect. Of course, if James Katzenberg was involved, strings would be pulled, and he didn’t come back to his little home town and leave his Washington machinations behind out of grief over Krystal Summers, no matter what he said. Jacob thought of that man standing up there with his fake smile, his manicure and his styled hair, and his hands closed into fists. The pencil in his hand snapped.
 

Katie and Jennifer were staring at him. He looked over and forced the rage down to a background boil.
 

“Wow,” said Katie. “So where’s Alfred?”

Jennifer sighed and rubbed at her temples with her fingers.
 

“What did you tell her?” said Jacob.
 

“I thought you were crazy at first,” said Katie. “I’ll be blunt. Feeding my sister a line about the bridge being some kind of conspiracy is a
great
way to get her to open up to you, Mister Kane.”
 

Jacob looked away.
 

“Add in the other stuff, though, and…” she shrugged. “You’re on to something here with the whole drugs thing, but so what? What are you going to do about it?”

“Whatever I can,” said Jacob, rising.

“Yeah, yeah,” said Katie. “I’ve already heard the whole ‘police can’t handle it’ thing.” She waved her hands dismissively. “You’re going to… can I talk to you alone?”
 

She looked at Jennifer.
 

Jennifer glanced at Jacob. Her eyes flashed, and she turned, limping a little. “I’ll be upstairs. I need a nap. Don’t hurt him, Katie.”

Katie waited for Jennifer to be fully up the stairs before she turned back.
 

“Did she tell you what Elliot did to her?”
 

Jacob shook his head. “I have some idea. I’m observant.”

“Yeah,” said Katie. “Look, I shouldn’t tell you this. I’m not completely sure why I am, except that she likes you a lot and she won’t do anything about it on her own.” She looked up the stairs again and chewed her lip, nervously.

Katie paced around the room, stopping to look at everything. She gave the safe a strange look.

“Mom was really hard on Jennifer. Really hard. Mom wanted Jennifer to do gymnastics, like really, really bad. When she was little she was good at it, but when she hit her first growth spurt she got really tall, really fast, and she was kind of awkward. She hurt her ankle and had to quit. Mom convinced her it was because she was fat and Jennifer started starving herself. She’s been doing it for years.”
 

Jacob sat down. “I gathered that.”

“She wasn’t allowed to go out, or have boyfriends or anything, so she snuck out. I was little when it happened, but she went to a party at Elliot’s uncle’s house. She’d never had anything to drink before, and I don’t think she’s ever had a drink since, but you know what kind of party it was.”
 

Jacob sat calmly on the chair, with his hands folded on his lap, still as a statue, but he could feel every muscle in his body drawing into a tight iron wire, heating up from the rage pulsing out from his chest. Katie sensed it for all his stillness, and paused.
 

“I was there when they brought Jennifer home. Dad just wanted to make sure she wasn’t going to get sick from the booze, but Mom exploded. She sat Jennifer in a chair in the kitchen and screamed at her for hours. She lost her mind. She almost hit her, but Dad stopped it. Dad had a fight with Mom after I took Jennifer upstairs and put her in my bed, and they never slept in the same bed again. Our Dad died about six months later.”

“Why?” said Jacob.
 

“I don’t know,” said Jennifer. “Mom just… she was always so
mean
. She wasn’t so bad with me, but when I wasn’t little anymore I did everything I could to avoid her. When I could move out to go to school, I did. I guess she knew I wasn’t moving back, since she packed up, sold our house, and left. I talk to her on the phone once in a while, but only when she calls me. I don’t think Jennifer has talked to her since…” Katie shook her head.
 

“Jennifer left for college as soon as she could, and she ran into Franklin again. They started hanging out together. I mean, I never thought they were dating or anything like that, but I’m not sure Jennifer knows
how
to date. When she graduated, she announced that they were getting married. Mom was furious, and Franklin’s family wasn’t happy, either. Jennifer and Franklin got married by a judge over in Port Carol. I was the witness.”
 

Jacob sighed.
 

“That’s not all,” said Jennifer. “Elliot showed up. He was drunk, and tried to throw his weight around, stop the ceremony. He’s crazy.”

“I know,” said Jacob. “Believe me.”
 

Katie paced the room, surveying the exercise equipment. “Something’s bugging me. Why now? He’s always messed with her, but he’s never tried to literally kidnap her before. What the hell does he want?”

“I don’t know,” said Jacob. He sank back into the chair. “I haven’t had time to think it out, but you’re right. Did he say anything while you were there?”
 

 
Katie shifted on her feet. “He just kept saying he wanted to talk.”

Jacob stood up. “Fine. You’re in school, aren’t you? Don’t you have classes?”
 

“My sister is more important,” said Katie. “Besides, I told my professors I was having family issues.”
 

“You should go back. Jennifer will worry about you.”
 

He chin tilted up, and her eyes hardened.
 

“I’m not trying to get rid of you,” he added, quickly. “There’s a guest bedroom upstairs. Why don’t you set up in there?”
 

She blinked a few times, and her expression became guarded. “Fine. I’m going to go talk to Jennifer.”

Jacob turned away as she walked upstairs, barely sparing her a glance. He turned back to his notebook and slowly replayed the conversation with the girl, Liz, in his mind. She was the only real source of information they had on the Fiore boy. Some detail was eluding him, something important.

7.

Jennifer retreated up the stairs and into the bedroom and rolled onto the bed. The ceiling held no answers for her. A few minutes later, Katie tapped on the door and came in without waiting for an invitation. She walked slowly into the dark room and turned around, whistling softly.
 

“You know,” she said, “this was probably our great grandpa’s bedroom.”
 

Jennifer scowled at her.
 

“Just sayin’. In case anything happens in here.”
 

 
“Nothing happens in here,” said Jennifer, and folded her arms under her head.

Katie closed the door, drifted over to the bed and sat on the edge.
 

“I don’t know what to think.”
 

“Color me surprised.”
 

Katie wrinkled her nose at Jennifer.
 

“He’s really intense, and… Jesus Christ, Jennifer. You should take him up on the ‘get out of town’ thing. You don’t belong mixed up in something like this.”

“I can’t.”
 

“Why?”
 

A surge of fury clenched in her chest, followed by a cold, nauseous swirl of sorrow. “They killed Krystal.”
 

“Do you really think Elliot had something to do with that?”

“It’s all connected somehow.”

Katie shifted up onto the bed and folded her legs under herself. “How? What do drugs and those kids have to do with the bridge and whatever else?”
 

Jennifer sat up, rested her elbow on her knee, and propped her chin on her hand.
 

“Money,” she said.
 

“Money?” said Katie.

“Jacob thinks the bridge repairs were a scam. James Katzenberg embezzled the money, or skimmed off the top or something. Why do people sell drugs? Money. Ellison Carlyle is tied up in the drugs, and the Carlyles work with James and Elliot. There’s something bothering me about that girl. Liz.”

“What about her?” said Katie.
 

Jennifer shrugged. “She said something about her boyfriend getting a job at the fracking place, but there is no fracking around here.”
 

“Why not? There’s oil,” said Katie.

“I know, but… come on.”