The Killing Kind (19 page)

March 26

Rob was getting pretty sick of motel rooms. Roxie preferred to stay in the real sleaze pits to conserve cash and blend in with the other shady characters. The Starline Economy Inn, located on US 17 just outside of Myrtle Beach, was typical of the type. These dumps all looked basically the same, with some small variations in overall grime level to spice things up. He was missing the small but neat and comfortable apartment he shared with Lindsey a little more each day. He was weary of all the killing and drama, of course, but an even bigger factor in his deepening disenchantment with the situation was Julie Cosgrove.

He stared at her from his seat by the table. She sat cross-legged in the center of the bed, with the stolen notebook computer propped open in her lap. Her eyes were intent on the glowing screen as her fingers tapped rapidly on the keyboard. Every so often she’d start typing a little faster and a little harder, and when she did this, the tip of her tongue would emerge at a corner of her mouth and stay there until the typing pace slowed again. The girl was a fucking Internet junkie. Even Roxie, who generally treated her like a long-lost little sister, was showing signs of annoyance with the girl’s online obsessions.

She laughed at something on the screen and her fingers started flying over the keyboard again.

Rob shook his head and took a slow pull from a longneck Bud bottle.

He and Roxie had been sort of flying under the radar, but Julie’s face was all over the cable news networks and the front pages of newspapers nationwide. She was a missing cute white girl and the media thrived on that shit. At least she’d done some things to alter her appearance. The hair was the most obvious thing. It made her look like Linnea Quigley in
Return of the Living Dead.
The shoulder tattoo and the eyebrow piercing helped some. Neither, obviously, were in any of the pictures circulating. Some subtle makeup tips from Roxie even seemed to change the shape of her face a little. But if you stared at her long and hard enough, it was still possible to discern the girl from the pictures. He was worried someone would guess who she was and bring the law down on them in a hurry.

Roxie came out of the bathroom wearing a black skull shirt and the short black skirt he liked. She scrubbed her wet hair with a towel and tossed the towel aside. She saw Rob staring at her and struck a pose, placing a hand on a thrust-out hip. “You like?”

Rob swallowed. “Yeah.”

Roxie smiled. “Julie?”

“Yeah?”

“Take that thing in the bathroom.”

“Huh?” Julie stopped typing. “Why should I…? Oh. That skirt is hot.”

Roxie didn’t look at her. “Bathroom. Now.”

Julie got up from the bed with a huff. “I don’t see why I have to hide somewhere every time you guys fuck. Can’t I stay out here and watch?”

“No.”

“But—”

“No.” Now Roxie did look at her. “That’s final. Now go.”

Julie huffed and stalked off to the bathroom, slamming
the door shut behind her. A few muffled curses emanated from the bathroom, but she soon fell silent and they again heard the dim sound of fingers tapping keys.

“We should take that fucking thing away from her. Sooner or later she’ll say something online that’ll give us away.”

“I doubt it. She’s smarter than you think.”

“You’re not worried at all?”

Roxie strutted over to him and leaned over him, bracing her hands on the arms of the chair. “Only thing I’m worried about right now is your failure to tear my slutty clothes off and ravish the fuck out of me.”

Rob slid a hand up her leg and under her skirt. “No panties.”

She giggled. “You like me, Rob?”

“Yeah.”

“A lot.”

“God, yes.”

Another giggle. “So show me.”

He showed her.

When it was over, Julie came out of the bathroom with the closed laptop tucked under her arm. She smirked at the sight of their curled-together nude bodies. “Guess what?”

Roxie raised her head off Rob’s chest. “What?”

“Once you guys got started, I opened the door a crack and watched.”

Rob groaned. “Jesus.”

“It was a pretty good show. My favorite part was—”

Roxie threw a pillow at her. “Shut up.”

Julie dodged the pillow and took a seat at the table, where she once again opened the laptop.

Roxie looked at Rob. “Maybe you’re right about that thing.”

“You’re not taking my laptop. I’ll crack your skulls open and eat your brains if you try.”

“Eat our brains?”

“You heard me.”

Roxie glanced at Rob and rolled her eyes. “Kids.”

Julie snorted. “You’re barely any older than me.”

“Old enough to make a difference.”

“What, three or four years? Yeah, big fucking difference.”

Roxie rolled off the bed and gathered up her clothes. Rob followed her cue and did the same thing.

Roxie pulled on her T-shirt and stepped into the little skirt. “You are being careful, right? Not saying or doing anything that might lead the cops to our door?”

“Whatever. I heard your little discussion. More of that treating-me-like-a-child bullshit. Relax. I’m doing all my posting and shit behind a proxy server to disguise the IP address. And I’m not saying anything that’ll give away our location.” She looked up from the keyboard to glare at them. “Okay? Happy?”

Rob finished dressing and sat on the edge of the bed. “Listen…there’s something we should all talk about.”

Roxie and Julie traded puzzled glances.

Roxie folded her arms beneath her breasts. “Gosh, that sounds serious. Is this gonna piss me off, Rob?”

“It shouldn’t.”

“So spit it out.”

“This thing with the spring breakers. We’re doing it tomorrow, right?”

“Yeah.”

“Okay. So…what comes after that?”

Roxie frowned. “What do you mean?”

Rob sighed. “I’ve been thinking…we can’t maintain this lifestyle forever. It’s a dead end.”

“I guess you have some alternative in mind.”

“I do. And it’s totally workable. Look…I haven’t even been gone a week yet. I can still go home and make excuses. I’ll say I met you and took off on a wild, romantic adventure. And everyone will buy it, because you’ll be there with me. When they get a look at you, they’ll totally get why I did it.”

Roxie chewed on a thumbnail. “I don’t know about this. Where would we stay?”

“I already have an apartment. You’ll move in with me. You’ll just be my new girlfriend.” He saw the doubt in her expression and pressed on. “You have to see how perfect this is. We can have a
normal
life together. Doesn’t that appeal to you at all?”

She stared at the floor and toed a tear in the carpet. “What about Lindsey?”

“What about her?”

“This shit would piss her off. It wouldn’t work.”

“You don’t even know her.”

“She’s a girl. She lives with you. She wants you. I can feel it.”

“That’s crazy. You sound fucking crazy right now. I
know
Lindsey. Trust me, she won’t—”

“What about me?” Julie’s voice, quieter than usual. “I notice you’re not talking about me at all.”

Rob looked at her and didn’t say anything.

Julie scowled. “I don’t fit into this big plan at all, do I? I guess I’m supposed to slink back home and make with the big apologies to Mom and Dad.”

“I’ve heard worse ideas,” Rob said.

“Fuck that and fuck you.”

“Fuck me? Listen, girl—”

“Shut up!”

Roxie’s strident tone silenced them. She sighed. “Rob. Baby. I love you. You know that. But I’m not gonna settle down into some nice fairy-tale life. I need to move around. Constantly. That’ll never change. And Julie’s welcome to stay with us as long as she likes. End of story.”

“That’s that, huh?”

“Yes. What I say goes. Thought we’d already established that.”

Julie loudly cleared her throat. “A-hem. Besides, your plan isn’t a realistic option anymore.”

Rob looked at her. “What?”

Julie turned the laptop screen toward him. “Looks like you’re about to become as famous as me.”

Rob got up and walked over to the computer. The first thing he saw was a picture of the abandoned Galaxie. That was bad enough. It accompanied a story about his disappearance on a Nashville paper’s website. As he began to read it, a sense of dread took root deep within him.

“Oh, shit. Fuck. I am so fucked.”

“Okay, maybe not as famous as me, because I’m pretty fucking famous. I’m like a real deal movie star. You’re more of a B-lister.”

Julie grinned at him from the other side of the table. His life was falling apart and she was
amused
by it. Fucking snide little bitch.

“You think this is funny? Shut your face, you little cunt.”

Julie’s grin froze. “Don’t talk to me like that.”

Roxie hushed them again. “When was the last time you talked to Lindsey or your uncle?”

“Shit. Fucking shit. The day after you took me.”

Roxie came over to stand next to him. “Looks like you were reported as a missing person the next day.”

Rob scrolled down some more and groaned. “Goddamn. They found that guy you shot in the woods.”

“I see that.”

“They’ve connected me to that. I’m a fucking person of interest in a fucking murder, Roxie.”

Roxie laughed. “That’s wild.”

He turned on her, his features twisting in disbelief.
“Wild?
That’s all you’ve got to say? It’s fucking
wild?
I can’t believe this. What about this is fucking funny? Both of you are insane. Please tell me what it is about the end of my world that’s so hilarious. I’d really like to know.”

Roxie shrugged. “This is no big deal.”

“How can you say that? There’s nothing about you in this article. No hint of an accomplice at all. So maybe this isn’t a big deal to you. Hell, maybe it just makes it easier to ditch me later. I mean, that’s what you’re planning anyway, right? After you’re done having your fun with me?”

She shoved him against the table and got right up in his face, giving him a forceful reminder of how intimidating she could be. “It’s not a big deal because I’m used to dealing with shit like this. I’ve been in the news before, too. For stuff I’ve actually done. I killed my whole rotten family. Butchered them. People freaked the fuck out and it was all over the news. But I didn’t get caught and the press forgot about me after a while. Same thing’s gonna happen with you. I’ve gotten real good at figuring out how to stay free. When to lay low. When to move. How to look different. I can help you do the same. They’ll never catch up to you as long as you’re with me.”

Her face was little more than an inch from his own. He trembled. He was in awe of her. It was like being within grabbing distance of the twitching, exposed end of a live electrical wire. He was afraid to touch her. He cleared his throat. “You promise?”

She smiled and placed a hand on his shoulder, giving it a reassuring squeeze. “I fucking
promise.
” Then she squeezed harder, digging her fingers painfully into his flesh. “And if you ever accuse me of planning to ditch you again, I’ll fuck your shit up but good. That’s a promise, too. Understand?”

Rob nodded. “Jesus. Yeah. I understand.”

Roxie relaxed the pressure on his shoulder and looked at Julie. “How do you think my man would look as a blond?”

Julie tilted her head and narrowed her eyes, studying him. “Could work, maybe. Do that really bright blond thing and cut his hair, make it spiky.”

Rob shook his head. “No. No way.”

Roxie laughed. “Sorry, Rob. What I say goes, remember?”

Julie clapped her hands and hopped up and down in her chair. “It’s fugitive make over time!”

An emotional numbness came over him as he listened to them talk excitedly about look possibilities, and he excused himself to go to the bathroom. Once he was inside, he closed the door and locked it. Then he sat on the toilet seat and covered his face with his hands.

How do I get out of this?

He sighed.

He didn’t share Roxie’s confidence in her abilities to keep him beyond the reach of the law indefinitely. That would be a far easier thing for one person traveling alone to manage.

Face it,
he thought.
You’re fucked.

He was. He was sure of it.

And he had a sinking feeling they were just about at the end of the line.

March 26

The rhythms of the tide were even more soothing at night. The ocean was a mass of shifting darkness out there beyond the pale slice of beach. There was something more suggestive of the primordial about the dark waters at night, a feeling that instilled her with a level of peace that was elusive in her regular life.

The door behind her opened and Annalisa stepped out on the balcony with a drink in hand. She wore shorts and a purple halter. Her mop of strawberry blonde curls was still wet from the ocean and hung almost straight, the lustrous tips brushing her shoulders. “Mind if I join you?”

Zoe forced a smile. “Of course not.”

She did mind. A little. The time alone had been nice. There had been precious little of it since their arrival in Myrtle Beach. And she felt a little weird around Annalisa in light of what Emily had told her about Sean. Still, Annalisa was her friend. She wasn’t to blame for Sean’s boorishness.

Annalisa sat in the rocking chair next to the one occupied by Zoe. “Nice out here.”

Zoe’s smile became genuine. “Mmm…yeah.”

Annalisa cleared her throat. “I sort of had sex with Emily.”

Zoe’s eyes became perfectly round for a moment and she
twisted around in the chair to look fully at her friend. “What? Are you fucking serious?”

Annalisa winced. “Yeah.”

Zoe gaped at her. “How do you ‘sort of’ have sex with somebody? Either you did or you didn’t.”

Annalisa raised the glass to her mouth and took a sip. She licked her lips and stared out at the ocean. “Right. Okay. I did. I had sex with her.”

“I can’t believe this. Jesus.”

“Sorry. I know I’ve kind of blindsided you with this.”

“What about Sean?”

Annalisa grunted. “What about him? This doesn’t change anything. It was just a fun experiment.”

“I thought you hated her.”

“Still don’t like her. I’m not dumb. I know she’s just using me somehow, the way she does with everybody else.” Annalisa stared at her lap and rolled the glass between her hands. “But, shit, Zoe, she’s just so ridiculously hot. It’s like I was helpless. I knew better, but couldn’t stop myself.”

Tell me about it,
Zoe thought.

“That face. That body. So exquisite.” She laughed and knocked back some more of her drink. “Plus…I was sort of sloshed. Had something like four or five margaritas before she cornered me.”

“Funny how often alcohol’s involved when you do things you wouldn’t normally ever consider.”

Annalisa laughed again. “I’m such a fucking cliché. Getting wasted and getting it on with a chick on spring break. Only thing missing was the
Girls Gone Wild
camera crew.”

Zoe chuckled. “Yeah. I’m sorry, but you’re right.”

Annalisa groaned. “I know, I know.” She shook the glass. “I need a refill.” She started to rise. “Can I get you something?”

“No thanks.”

Annalisa paused with her hand on the door’s handle. “You don’t seem to be partying very much. Something wrong?”

“No. I just don’t feel like getting wasted. Maybe tomorrow night.”

“Suit yourself, party pooper.”

Annalisa opened the door and stepped back inside.

Zoe was happy to be alone again. The only person she wouldn’t mind spending some time with was Chuck, but he was too busy slamming the drinks back with the guys. And there was a nasty edge in the ongoing banter between Chuck and Joe. She kept expecting them to come to blows. It hadn’t happened yet, but it seemed like a real possibility. And it wasn’t just those two. Something had happened to poison the atmosphere between all of them. No. Not something. Some
one.
She knew who was to blame. She wasn’t completely blind. But it wasn’t something she wanted to deal with right now. It raised too many hard questions.

A strong and sudden impulse to be away from it all got her up and moving. A staircase at the left side of the balcony led down to the swimming pool. She hurried down the stairs and padded across the cement deck to the gate at the back of the pool. She opened the gate and glanced back at the house. The second and third floor balconies were both empty.

Good.

No one to see. No one to know where I’ve gone.

She closed the gate and crossed the short bridge to the barrier dune. She paused at the far side of the bridge to remove her sandals. Then she was moving down the beach, relishing the gritty feel of the sand beneath her bare feet. The gritty texture gave way to a spongy feel as she neared the water. The tide was louder down here. More primal. It was like the roar of some great and ancient beast. She waded into the dark depths, kept going until the water
was nearly over her shoulders. She took a deep breath and dove.

Darkness enveloped her.

It was like floating in an endless, sightless void.

She wished she could stay there forever.