The Killings (An Olivia Miller Mystery Book 1) (2 page)

“You found the bodies?” he asked.

Olivia and Melissa nodded.

“I got to the apartment just before the cops arrived. I can’t believe this happened,” Jack said. He ran his hand over his forehead. “I came up the back staircase.”

Olivia perked up. “Did you happen to see a guy dressed in black wearing a ski mask leave out the back way?”

Jack’s eyes widened. “Yeah. Why?”

“You saw him?” Olivia’s voice was excited.

“He came out of the building. Why? Who is he?”

Olivia said, “He was in the apartment. Hiding, in one of the bedrooms. What happened when he passed you?”

“Is he the killer?” Jack asked.

“I don’t know. Maybe.”

“God. He passed me? I was smoking outside the back entrance before I went up to Gary and Christian’s. The guy ran out of the building. I didn’t think anything of it. A few people left the building in costumes while I was out there. I figured it was just another person going to a Halloween party.” He shook his head. “I could have tackled him. If, I only knew.” He stared at the girls. “Wait. Two people came out wearing ski masks.”

“What? Two people? Did they come out at the same time?” Olivia’s mind raced.
Were two people working together? Were there two killers?

“No. They came out separately,” Jack said. “One left the building right when I got there. I took out a cigarette, lit it, sat down on the steps to smoke. A couple of people came out in costumes and then the other person wearing a ski mask ran out the door and up the street.”

“Two people wearing ski masks?” Melissa said. The muscles around her mouth quivered and she looked as if she might cry.

“They didn’t seem like they were together,” Jack offered. “Maybe it was just a coincidence.”

“Did you get a look at them? Were any parts of their faces visible? Did you notice anything about them that stood out?” Olivia asked.

“Nothing. No. I don’t know. I didn’t really pay attention,” Jack said. “God. The killer went right by me? I can’t believe it.”

“Did you see a knife?’ Olivia asked. “Was either guy carrying a knife?”

Jack thought for a second. “I didn’t notice a knife.”

A detective walked up to the girls and interrupted their conversation with Jack. He moved Melissa and Olivia closer to one of the squad cars. After the girls talked with the detective, they were led to the back seat of the police car and taken to headquarters where they were questioned further. Pictures of the scene flashed through Olivia’s mind and she wondered if the images would burn into her brain forever from having to tell and retell what she found in that apartment.

The lights in the police station reflected off the stark white walls and the brightness made Olivia wish she had a pair of sunglasses. Every cell in her body seemed to emit a low-level hum like her system was on high alert. Colors and sounds cut into her eyes and ears. Scents were too sharp. Her skin was tingling like when she had a fever.

It was one o’clock in the morning when they finished at the police station and a cab picked the women up and returned them, still wearing their crow costumes, to their own apartment building in Somerville. Melissa and Olivia dragged themselves up the stairs to their sixth-floor apartment and went to the tiny kitchen where Melissa collapsed at the small table and put her head facedown on top of her arms. Her long black hair spread over the wooden surface.

“I’m going to make tea,” Olivia told her.

“I’m too exhausted to even swallow,” Melissa mumbled.

Olivia put the water on, took out two mugs, tea bags, and some milk. She sat across from Melissa to wait for the water to boil. Her shoulders hunched forward, her muscles suffering the after-effects of the adrenaline that had rushed through them earlier in the night.

“What the hell happened back there, Mel?” Olivia asked. Her nerves on edge, she fiddled with the empty cup on the table.

Melissa raised her head and looked at Olivia with teary, red-rimmed eyes. “Who would kill them? Why?”

“Drugs?”

Melissa shook her head. “Colleen didn’t do drugs.”

“But did the guys? Did they sell drugs?” Olivia asked.

“God, no. Colleen wouldn’t have anything to do with drugs. She wouldn’t live with people who did drugs. The guys were athletes.”

“Athletes can do drugs.”

“Not these guys,” Melissa said. “Colleen knew Gary and Christian from her home town. They’ve been friends for years, since they were little kids. They went to school together. That’s how they were sharing an apartment here. The guys graduated last May. Christian was working at a start-up in Cambridge. Gary was working as a math teacher at a middle school in Boston.”

“The killer was there when we got to the apartment.” Olivia crossed her arms over her chest and hugged herself. “If we were a few minutes earlier…”

She and Melissa exchanged frightened looks.

“Did we just miss getting killed?” Melissa’s voice shook. “Hell.” Her face was pale. “Did you get a good look at that person in the hallway?”

Olivia’s face muscles tensed. “Not really. It was dark in the hall. He might have been a bit taller than me, but it was hard to tell. Slender. Dressed all in black, had the ski mask on.” She hesitated. “He looked me in the eye. I didn’t see his face but he sure got a good look at
me
.”

“Oh, hell,” Melissa breathed. “Do you think…?” She paused. Her forehead wrinkled with concern.

“He’ll come looking for me?” A shudder shook Olivia’s body. “I don’t know.” She rubbed her forehead. “Why would he? He knows I couldn’t make out his face. It would be too risky to come after me.” She tried to convince herself as much as Melissa. “Wouldn’t the best thing be for the killer to just lay low? Let things blow over.”

The tea kettle whistled and both women jumped. Olivia dragged herself to the stove, lifted the kettle, and poured the boiling water into the mugs. She carried the tea to the table and sank down onto the chair.

Melissa put her hands around her mug. “What about what Jack saw? Do you think there were two killers? Were the two people in ski masks together?”

“It’s possible,” Olivia said. “It’s also possible they weren’t.”

“Do you think the killer knew there was going to be a party?” Melissa asked.

“Seems sort of dumb to plan to kill two guys right before a bunch of people are going to show up for a party,” Olivia said. “But anything’s possible.”

“The killer must have known the guys,” Melissa said. “It couldn’t have been random. Could it?”

“I guess it could’ve been. The front door was open. It was easy to get in.” Olivia was thinking out loud. “The guys were sitting in the living room. The killer comes in. But maybe they knew him because they were sitting, like they were just relaxing. Or if the killer came in wearing a ski mask, then they maybe thought he was there for the party.”

“Yeah, they probably thought the ski mask was a costume. So either they knew the killer or they didn’t suspect anything because they were just thinking it was someone who came for the party,” Melissa said.

“Either way, the killer would have had to act fast. He could have taken the first guy by surprise, but the second guy would have tried to defend himself,” Olivia said. “He wouldn’t just sit there waiting for the killer to come over to him. That must be why Gary was on the floor in front of the couch. Christian was probably stabbed first, and then Gary stood up to fight the attacker. The killer had to attack before the guys could really react. Or maybe there were two killers and each one took out one of the guys?”

The girls sat in silence for a few minutes thinking over different scenarios.

Olivia said, “Was the killer after only one of them or did the killer intend to kill both of them? What was the reason?”

“What about Colleen?” Melissa asked. “Was she supposed to be a victim too?”

“When I found her,” Olivia said, “she said something like, ‘I heard them.’ She must have heard noises, bad enough noises that she hid in the closet.”

“I wonder what she heard. Words? Scuffling? Screams?”

“She wasn’t specific.” Olivia took a sip of her tea and sighed. “I think I need a shower. I just want to wash this whole night away.”

“I don’t know if I can sleep,” Melissa said. “Even though I’m exhausted.”

Olivia dumped her barely touched tea down the sink, rinsed the mug, and headed to the shower. When she came out and walked to her bedroom, she stopped short at the door. Melissa’s petite body was lying on the floor in a sleeping bag next to Olivia’s bed.

Melissa lifted her head from the pillow. “No way I’m sleeping alone in my room.”

Olivia nodded. She took off her bathrobe and slipped under her blanket.

“Can we leave the light on?” Melissa asked.

“I was going to suggest the same thing,” Olivia admitted.

Both girls closed their eyes but neither one got much sleep. They were too alert, too focused on listening for any noise, like hushed footsteps or the click of a doorknob turning.

Chapter 3

On Saturday, Olivia, Melissa, Colleen, and Ynes arranged to meet for lunch to talk about the events of the previous night. Colleen’s parents were driving up from Connecticut and would arrive later in the afternoon to take her home. Melissa talked to her parents by phone and she planned to head back to western Massachusetts for a couple of days after meeting the other girls for lunch. Olivia made a call to her Aunt Aggie and Joe to tell them what had happened.

Aggie had raised Olivia from the age of one and Joe lived in the house next door to them in Ogunquit, Maine. He was like a dad to Olivia and had been there for her for the past twenty years. Until Olivia went off to college, Aggie and Olivia had lived in Cambridge and spent the weekends and summers in Maine. Aggie had recently retired from university teaching, and the Ogunquit house was now her permanent residence.

Aggie and Joe were in Paris so that Aggie could attend an international law conference and when they heard what had happened in Somerville, they wanted to fly home immediately to be with Olivia.

“No, no,” Olivia insisted. “I’m okay. I think it’s better to just stick with my normal routine.”

“I don’t know, Hon,” Aggie told her. “I don’t want you to be alone. We’ll come home and we can all go back to Maine together. Maybe you should take the rest of the semester off.”

“No way,” Olivia said. “I’m graduating in May and I’m not letting this interfere with my plans. And I’m not alone. My friends are around.”

“Sweet pea,” Joe said. He and Aggie were on speaker phone. “I think Aggie’s right. This sort of thing can be hard to deal with. It can take a toll on you.”

“If I have trouble dealing with things, then I’ll call you. If I need you, you know I’ll call. I won’t suffer in silence.” Olivia tried to lighten the mood. “You know I’m a wimp,” she kidded.

“You are many things, and not all good,” Joe teased.

“Thanks a lot, Joe,” Olivia said.

“But a wimp is not one of them,” Joe added.

Olivia smiled to herself. Joe had a knack of always being able to make her feel better. “I’ll be okay. If I need to, I’ll talk with one of the campus counselors.”

“Go speak with them,” Aggie said. “It might help you process the whole mess.”

Joe said, “Don’t be alone. Stay with your friends. Keep busy.”

“I never have trouble keeping busy,” Olivia told them. “I’ll be okay.”

“We’ll come back if you want us to,” Aggie said. “Just say the word, if you change your mind and need a break from school…if you want to get away from there for a bit. Or, come here and visit Paris with us. Joe and I will pay for your ticket.”

“We will?” Joe said in mock surprise.

“That’s quite an offer,” Olivia said. “But it’s mid-semester. I don’t want to jeopardize my credits. I want to graduate on time.”

“I understand,” Aggie said. “Call us anytime if you want to talk. Don’t worry about the time difference. Let us know what’s going on. And take care of yourself. Be sure to eat well and get rest.” She hesitated a moment before saying, “Be careful, Liv. Be alert. Lock your doors. The killer is still at large.”

“I’ll be careful,” Olivia said. “I promise.”

“We love you,” Joe said. “Call us if you need anything.”

“I love you both. Don’t worry.” Olivia ended the call. Just hearing their voices made her feel less sad and unsettled, but a sense of loneliness suddenly tugged at her. She wished they were at home in Maine, because despite what she said, Olivia would have liked to have gone home for a few days to be around them. She sighed and went to her room to get ready to go out.

Olivia and Melissa left the apartment and walked to Davis Square where they caught the subway known as the “T” which took them to the Harvard University area of Cambridge. They walked down Massachusetts Ave to the restaurant where they would meet the other girls. They were ushered to a booth near the window. Colleen was waiting for them.

Colleen had checked into a hotel in Harvard Square even though she had been invited by friends to stay with them. She was completely devastated by her roommates’ murders and was struggling with having been in the apartment while the crime was committed. She preferred to stay out of apartments for the time being and thought that hotels provided more security. Olivia didn’t agree with that. She thought Colleen should be around friends, not staying alone in a hotel room, but she kept her opinion to herself.

Colleen had dark circles under her eyes and her face looked pale and gaunt. She had no makeup on and her auburn hair barely seemed brushed. It was a stark contrast from the way she usually looked, always so put together and polished. Olivia could see that Colleen was unraveling and it gave her a sinking feeling in her gut.

Colleen hugged Melissa and Olivia.

“How are you doing?” Melissa asked. She knew it was a lame question.

“I’m okay.” Colleen picked at the paper napkin that was under her silverware. Her eyes flicked about the room like a hunted animal waiting for a predator to strike.

“Were you able to sleep at all last night?” Olivia asked.

“Not much.” Colleen shrugged. “I slept a few hours this morning. I think.”