Buch lesen: «What Janie Saw»

CHAPTER ONE

KILLING SOMEONE IS not nearly as simple in real life as it is on television.

“What the...” Janie Vincent sputtered. She grabbed her coffee cup, more for comfort than for the caffeine at this late hour, and ordered herself to stop reading.

But she was already hooked.

She glanced back at the art book’s cover. Yup, this was Derek’s book, the one he’d done as an assignment for the Intermediate Canvas class Janie was assisting in. His first two pages had stayed true to the assignment: he’d drawn thumbnail sketches of what he was working on for the class’s main project. Page three was where he’d strayed. Oh, he’d included thumbnail drawings amidst his prose. But prose didn’t belong in the workbook unless he was summarizing his ideas for future drawings. She seemed to be looking at a mixture of fact and fiction, original art complementing a master. Derek had drawn windy, mountainous roads with sharp curves, a dark four-door car, and a re-creation of The Scream by Edvard Munch.

The re-creation had more hair.

He had, however, made no indication of what medium he intended to use or final dimension. Maybe he was planning a graphic novel?

Even though it was obvious that Derek had not adhered to the assignment guidelines, she continued to read:

For one thing, murder is black-and-white and mostly soundless after the bullet fires. Maybe the sound of the report temporarily deafens you? Or maybe you go into shock?

Derek, by far, was her darkest student. What he created in class always centered on battle scenes. Occasionally, he included bleeding dragons and eerie castles in the distance.

But they didn’t scare her as much as the drawings in this art book. Derek had somehow managed to make his stick figures ominous. Frowning, she stopped reading long enough to take another a sip of coffee. Her hand, clutching the cup, shook a little. Then, because anyone could be watching, she glanced around the student union to make sure no one had noticed her shocked response. She’d hate for a student to think she was this aghast over his homework.

She didn’t expect to see Derek; he’d been absent a full week—since he’d turned in the art book last Wednesday.

I knew Chad and Chris planned to kill her before we even stopped the car. She knew it, too, and looked at me with pleading eyes as if realizing I was the only sane person in the car. Before that night I was sane. But from the moment I figured out he was going to kill her, and from the moment she stared at me, silently begging me to intervene, I was no longer sane. I was simply the man in the backseat. The only one close enough to her that she could make eye contact with.

If this were truly a graphic novel, then it was pretty good. Too good.

In the drawing, a lone mailbox braved the wind by a tall, dark, ragged tree. Four people occupied the vehicle. They were stick figures, but he had added minute details—a big nose on one, hair sticking straight up on another—that made Janie long for a magnifying glass. The tiny license plate even bore minute letters and numbers.

But Derek Chaney’s fiction didn’t really belong in an art book.

A tiny sliver of concern snaked its way up Janie’s spine. Surely Derek wasn’t keeping track of actual events...?

Chad was cussing and driving. Chris wasn’t saying a word, just stared out the window that wouldn’t roll down. And, for the first time, no one complained about the broken air conditioner. Maybe Chad was thinking about heat. He’ll feel it soon enough; Hell is hot. And that’s where he’s going because Chad pulled the trigger. He better get used to the heat.

Derek had always been a disturbed young man. As a brand-new teaching assistant, first time in a college classroom, Janie had been ill equipped to deal with his mood swings. She’d tried to give him some stability by partnering him with other students.

But they mostly avoided him.

She’d sought help early on from Patricia Reynolds, the course’s main instructor and chair of the art department.

“Derek needs this class more than anyone else,” was Patricia’s response. “Right now he’s antisocial with a bad temper, but if he can make a connection with art, feel good about something he’s created, who knows how his future might change.”

Janie had nodded. There’d been a teacher in her past—Mrs. Freshia, seventh-grade English—who’d read one of Janie’s personal art-book entries and taken the time to ask, “Are you all right?” And then she’d believed Janie when she’d said, “No.”

Mrs. Freshia had testified in court on Janie’s behalf so that she could go live with her sister, who at just eighteen years old, wanted to be her guardian.

Katie had wanted her. Janie had hoped somebody wanted Derek.

So Janie had offered him alternatives to some of his more gruesome ideas. She’d tried to be friendly, to engage him in conversation. He’d smirked, then drawn a scar down the side of one of his female warrior’s face. A scar just like Janie’s, maybe a bit more pronounced.

She’d long ago come to terms with her physical scar, though. He couldn’t hurt her that way.

She’d lent an ear, but he hadn’t wanted to talk. So she’d backed off, hoping Patricia was right. Derek hadn’t been willing to talk to her, but maybe he’d been willing to draw and write.

I’ve never been a nature boy. I prefer the city with its bright lights, crowds and constant noise. I never want be hot again. It was so hot that night. The radio man said we’d broken a record for heat. I never want to hear the noises of nature again. I hate the eerie sound the wind makes. It’s like someone’s walked over your grave. It’s like a loud whistle, probably to get your attention. It says, “I know what you’re about to do.”

Janie heard the wind outside the student union windows and shivered. If she were painting tonight’s scenery and mood, she’d only use black, white and grays.

Her least favorite colors unless she was painting zebras.

In the animal world—and she was a nature artist—bright colors dominated. Tigers were orange, giraffes were yellow and camels smiled.

As a rule, she didn’t watch horror movies or read scary books. Like this one...

Brittney Travis didn’t scream. She didn’t beg. She tried to run and stumbled. Why do girls always stumble? Then, Chad shot her in the back. It was all in black and white. The blood was even black. Funny, I expected to see red, even in the darkness.

The art book dropped from Janie’s hands, and a shiver of doubt spiraled with such sincerity that she stood up, almost upending the chair she’d been sitting on.

Brittney Travis?

Janie knew the name...but from where? She wasn’t sure. Couldn’t remember.

Suddenly, there wasn’t enough light in the student union, not enough people, and the air seemed to decrease in volume. Scanning the room, she searched for a familiar face: a teacher, a student, even a janitor would do. Two students, not hers, cuddled in a corner. They were young, innocent. She recognized one of the English adjuncts. CeeCee Harrington. She was an animated woman who would talk your ears off if given a chance. As the shadows of evening fell, people were leaving. At this time of night, people didn’t linger.

Except for Katie.

Pulling out her cell phone, Janie started to call her big sister, but changed her mind. Katie was eight months pregnant and didn’t need the worry. Besides, this could be nothing. Just the crazy rant of a student wanting attention.

Right?

Patricia would still be in her office. Janie was supposed to take her the art books when she finished checking them anyway.

Holding the art book pressed to her chest, Janie hustled out the main doors and headed for the building that housed the faculty offices. Patricia didn’t leave until every class had ended and every light was turned out. Which was why in a hallway that housed more than a dozen faculty offices, hers was the only door open and the only beckoning light.

The cold finger of doubt tapped Janie on the shoulder. What if she was overreacting? What if Derek was just trying to scare her because she was young and new to her job?

She needed this opportunity, needed to do well at it and get a glowing recommendation so she’d have a shot at her dream: an artist residency in Africa.

Yet tonight, her feet didn’t falter; her mind didn’t change.

After all, she might have just read an art book detailing a murder.

When she finally got to the professor’s office, though, she wasn’t sure how to begin, so she simply stood in the doorway, trying to find her voice.

There were stacks of art supplies on every surface of the room, including chairs. Textbooks were stacked in towering rows. When Janie’d come in last August for her interview, she’d had to stand and answer Patricia’s questions.

Finally, she managed to clear her throat. Patricia turned around, all smiles.

While her office was a study in organized chaos, Patricia wasn’t. She wore a blue pantsuit with a red blouse underneath. Her hair was short and she had a thing for red high heels, almost stilettos. An angel pin was clipped just above her heart. It was her most cherished possession. Her father had given it to her before he died. It was solid white gold with a natural diamond.

Taking one tiny step into the room, Janie handed Patricia the art book. “I just read something, written by a student, and I think you need to take a look.”

“Personal issues? Is a student in trouble?”

Janie paused. Personal issues might be one way to sum up Derek’s art book. “It’s Derek, and I’m not sure.”

Patricia frowned. “What’s in it that concerns you?”

“Does the name Brittney Travis mean anything to you?”

Patricia leaned forward, her expression so stern that Janie almost took a step back. “Why are you asking?”

“Her name’s in his art book, and it’s worrying me. He wrote and drew pictures of her murder.”

Janie didn’t quite catch the interjection Patty muttered under her breath, but she could guess what it might have been. Patty scooted her chair to the left, lifted a manila folder and took a page from it. She scanned the words before handing it to Janie.

It was a campus email alerting faculty and staff that over the winter holiday an Adobe Hills Community College student had gone missing.

Brittney Lynn Travis.

* * *

SHERIFF RAFAEL SALAZAR didn’t need another thing to do this morning. He already had a full slate. He was due at the courthouse in a little over an hour and still had three phone calls to make before he could leave. None of them involved good news. His afternoon included a long drive to Phoenix and an overdue visit to a correctional facility.

So when his phone rang, Rafe wished he could ignore it.

“Salazar!” he barked into the phone. Maybe his tone would let the caller know what an inopportune time this was.

“Morning, Rafe.”

Suddenly, court dates, phone calls and the visit to the correctional facility seemed irrelevant.

Nathan Williamson was a detective and the director of the drug task force in nearby Adobe Hills, Arizona, located right outside of Tucson. Adobe Hills was not part of Laramie County, the area Rafe was in charge of. But occasionally their paths crossed, and usually the two departments worked well together.

Right now, Rafe and Nathan only had one case in common, and it was cold.

The Brittney Lynn Travis case.

She was from Rafe’s town, Scorpion Ridge, but she’d gone missing from Nathan’s town, Adobe Hills.

Nathan’s voice sounded terse, and in the background, Rafe could hear the sounds of other people, probably cops, doing their job.

“What’s going on?” Rafe asked, cop’s intuition telling him this wouldn’t be good news.

Nathan didn’t even pause. “What do you know about Janie Vincent?”

“Why do you want...?” Rafe started to answer but stopped when the door to his office flew open.

The woman in question stood in the doorway, looking tense. At her side was her big sister, Katie Rittenhouse, eight months pregnant and with an expression that said she was ready to take on the world.

“You have to talk to him,” Katie was telling Janie. “You can trust him. I promise.”

Janie didn’t appear convinced.

Behind them, his front-desk officer, Candy Riorden, hurried up. “I tried to tell—”

He halted Candy’s admonition, dismissed her with a wave of the hand, and motioned Janie and Katie toward the chairs facing his desk. Without missing a beat, he continued, “They’re here right now. But, to answer your question, Janie’s from Texas. Her sister and brother-in-law run BAA, Bridget’s Animal Adventure.”

“I need her to come here sometime today so we can question her.” Nathan didn’t sound interested in Janie’s connection to wildlife. “I’ve spent the last hour at Adobe Hills Community College, and I’ve got more questions than I have answers.”

“Questions about what? You haven’t exactly said why you want to speak with her.”

Janie was looking at the door as if she were ready to bolt.

“The kind that will help me solve a case!” Nathan snapped, bringing Rafe’s full attention back to the phone.

“Is it about—” Rafe started, but Nathan butted in.

“You’re aware she teaches at Adobe Hills Community College?” Nathan said quietly. “Well, Miss Vincent apparently read something in a kid’s art book last night, a kid by the name of Derek Chaney. I’ve spoken with the chair of the art department, Patricia Reynolds, but apparently your Miss Vincent is who I really need to speak with. Whatever she read might have been a murder confession about our missing coed.”

“Brittney Travis,” Rafe said slowly.

Across from him, Janie pressed her lips together and nodded.

Rafe gripped the phone, hard. He prayed—prayed that it was some kind of mistake, some kind of joke, that Brittney wasn’t dead, hadn’t suffered. He prayed that he could still save her.

This wasn’t the kind of closure Rafe had been hoping for.

“Yes.” Nathan’s voice was terse, guarded.

“Have you had time to—”

“We can’t do anything until we speak with Miss Vincent in person.”

“I’ll escort her myself,” Rafe promised. “I can free up my late afternoon.”

Katie reached across and took hold of one of Janie’s hands.

Nathan immediately snapped, “Late afternoon? I was hoping it would be sooner. And why do you have to escort her? You think she’s the type to skip?”

“No.” Rafe eyed Janie and Katie. “I don’t think that at all.” Katie couldn’t run, not in her condition, and while Janie was the type, she only ran when she felt no one was listening to her.

Well, if what she’d found was a true account of a murder, she’d have plenty of people willing to listen to her. Too bad it wasn’t Katie who’d read the art book. Solid, businesslike and driven, Katie would be the kind of witness cops dreamed about.

Janie, on the other hand, was flighty, whimsical and always believed the grass was greener on the other side. She acted and spoke without much forethought and a bit rashly.

Rafe said to Nathan, “I intend to be involved in every step of this new lead. So, along with you, I’m Janie’s new best friend.”

Janie raised one eyebrow and looked askance at her sister.

Actually, Rafe had a home-court advantage over Nathan. He might not be Janie’s best friend, but he knew her fairly well. He knew things like she only enjoyed coffee if she had French-vanilla creamer to add to it. That she could sit at a table at the Corner Diner and draw for an hour without being aware of anything that was going on about her. That if the very pregnant waitress happened to serve Janie, Janie tripled the tip.

His mother, Lucille, owned the diner and had noticed these traits first. She’d passed every observation on to Rafe, whether he wanted to hear it or not.

Mom had been playing matchmaker for Rafe over a decade now. She wasn’t very good at it, though admittedly, he’d always found both sisters intriguing. Katie Rittenhouse played with tigers. Janie Vincent painted them from a safe distance. Though the scar on the left side of her face indicated that hadn’t always been true.

“Is there something I should be aware of?” Nathan asked. “She ever been in trouble?”

Rafe had twice been called out to Bridget’s Animal Adventure, the animal habitat Janie’s big sister and husband managed, and where Janie spent much of her time. Once, he’d investigated the plight of two tiny bears, declawed and abandoned. On the second instance, he’d had to make sure the big cats were all accounted for, as there’d been a sighting in town. The cougars, leopards and mountain lions at BAA were all in their enclosures. Rafe never did find out whether it had been an actual sighting or whether someone in Scorpion Ridge owned a very large black domestic cat.

“No, she’s never caused me any trouble,” Rafe said.

It was a lie.

Janie Vincent had caused him trouble, but it was not the kind that made its way into a police report. No, it was the kind that messed with a man’s mind.

During the large-black-cat incident, he’d asked Janie out. He’d not been concerned about a conflict of interest because he’d been sure by then that the case was merely mistaken identity.

They’d gone out once, but he hadn’t called her for a second date.

It had been clear from the start that they were too different—she was a free spirit; he was rules and realistic.

He’d also very clearly gotten the sense that Janie didn’t have much use for cops, and that she’d only gone on the date to appease her sister.

“As a matter of fact,” Rafe continued, “she just walked into my office. Seems she wants to help.”

He wasn’t exactly sure want was the right word. More likely felt obligated to help was a better choice.

Nathan muttered a few choice expletives, all having to do with her being there and not in Adobe Hills.

Looking across his desk at the pretty woman in question, as she so impatiently held herself in check, Rafe thought maybe he’d been an idiot not to call her again.

“Okay, it’s good she’s there,” Nathan finally said. “But please see that she gets here, and soon. I don’t want her to forget anything. Apparently Brittney’s name and her death were chronicled in that art book. I want to know what it said, every detail.”

“I want to see this art book—” Rafe said.

Janie shook her head.

Rafe started to protest, but Nathan, still on the phone, gave a long sigh before saying in a tight voice, “This whole thing’s turned into a mess, which is why I need your help. Campus police locked the book up last night after Janie’s boss handed it over to them,” Nathan said. “Patricia, along with the dean of students and the campus police, opened the safe this morning. Then, they called me.”

“And—”

But before Rafe could ask his question, Nathan said, “It’s gone.”