Love You More: A Novel (49 page)

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Authors: Lisa Gardner

Tags: #Fiction, #Mystery & Detective, #General

BOOK: Love You More: A Novel
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HOLDER

Damn it—

 

SARAH

It’s okay, I got it.

 

Holder tries to help, making more of a mess.

HOLDER

My bad, my bad.

 

Hold picks up the box, she takes it.

HOLDER (CONT’D)

Here.

 

He moves to the other side of the desk. Starts unpacking his own box.

HOLDER (CONT’D)

So, I hear you’re moving to LA.

 

SARAH

San Francisco area.

 

HOLDER

Oakland?

 

SARAH

Sonoma.

 

HOLDER

Sonoma. It’s nice.

 

SARAH

Yup.

 

Beat. She continues to clean up, not interested in engaging.

HOLDER

Nice weather. Ocean. The beaches … Hate that shit.

 

Holder shoots a ball into a hoop/trash can. Sarah smiles grudgingly.

SARAH

You must love this place then.

 

HOLDER

Ouch.

 

He’s glancing at one of Sarah’s files. CLOSE ON gruesome crime scene PHOTO of an ADDICT — white, trashy, fatty (think Courtney Love) — cut ear to ear. Beneath, a SKETCH: a lonely grove of trees on the sand. Beautiful.

HOLDER (CONT’D)

Crack head thought she was Picasso?

 

SARAH

Crack head’s six year old son drew it.

 

HOLDER

He get iced, too?

 

SARAH

No.

 

Sarah takes the sketch. Puts it away. Holder waits for more. None coming. Fort Knox this woman.

HOLDER

So what happened to the kid—?

 

LT. OAKES — 50s, soft touch for Sarah — enters.

OAKES

Don’t waste your time moving in, do ya?

 

HOLDER

No. County cut me loose early. So, I …

 

OAKES

Well, you got a tough act to follow. You wrapped up here, Sarah?

 

SARAH

Yup. All done.

 

Oakes hands her a PAPER.

OAKES

Good. Got a call down at Discovery Park. Check it out.

 

SARAH

On my last day? My flights tonight—

 

OAKES

You’re still on the city’s dime.

(off her look)

You can hand it off end of shift. Six o’clock. Go on do your job. Take him. Show him how to work a scene.

 

HOLDER

(quietly)

I know how to work a scene …

 

Reluctantly, Sarah grabs her coat and a box—

SARAH

Grab a box. We’ll take my car.

 

HOLDER

Alright.

 

SARAH

(indicating a nearby box)

Over there.

 

As Sarah and Holder exit, boxes in tow, Holder shuts the door with his foot.

EXT. DOWNTOWN SEATTLE - AERIAL SHOT - DAY

Transition.

INT/EXT. SARAH’S CAR - DAY

Sarah drives, Holder yaks. Wipers flipping across the rain-soaked windshield. Squat factories — abandoned, graffii-marred — slide past their windows.

HOLDER

 … They tapped me out of the Academy like first year, boom straight to

(MORE)

 

HOLDER (CONT’D)

undercover. So I was working vice, narco. I don’t know, I guess narco kinda stuck to me, so …

 

SARAH

(no shit)

You? A UC? I never woulda guessed.

 

Holder shoots her an amused look.

HOLDER

Whatever. It’s mostly like street level buys and busts, you know, Joaquim shooting Rakim, blah blah blah.

 

SARAH

You think Homicide’s gonna be any different?

 

HOLDER

Least you got a bad guy.

 

SARAH

Yeah? Who’s that?

 

Holder looks at her, waiting for more. No luck. They stop at a light.

On the sidewalk, a TEEN RUNAWAY — 16, male, filthy dreads, kindly face — slouches numbly against a monstrous duffel bag. Rain drizzling down.

Holder presses two fingers against the glass: “Peace”. The Teen Runaway lazily sticks up his middle finger: “Fuck you”.

Holder grins, gives him the finger back. As they pull away—

HOLDER

Is that why you running away, Linden? Cuz you don’t know no more?

 

She doesn’t even look at him. Off which—

EXT. SEATTLE - AERIAL SHOT FROM A DISTANCE - DAY

Transition.

EXT. DISCOVERY PARK - FIELD - DAY

Sarah drives down the fire road, pulling up to the scene. A scattering of UNIFORMS in a desolate field, woods in the near distance, lonely fire road. Rain abated for now.

Exiting their car, Sarah and Holder make there way to the scene and are approached by a young, UNIFORM in charge—

UNIFORM

Detective Linden …

 

SARAH

Where’s the body?

 

UNIFORM

Still lookin’. School kids on a field trip this mornin’ found this.

 

He hands a clear Evidence BAG to Sarah — inside a shimmery pink SWEATER. Torn, blood-smeared.

HOLDER

This park’s like Tweaker Central at nights. Ho-bags bringin’ their tricks down. Could be some basehead—

 

SARAH

(hands the evidence bag back to the Uni)

The owner’s not an addict. At least not the kind who hangs around here.

(off Holder’s look)

It’s a wool sweater. Looks recently cleaned.

 

HOLDER

Brought it to the coin wash, so what.

 

SARAH

You dry clean wool? Do you know any tweakers who drop their wardrobe off at the cleaners?

(to uniform) Anything else?

 

UNIFORM

This. ATM card.

 

He holds out a baggie: inside, a bank CARD. Imprinted on the front: “STANLEY LARSEN”. Holder takes it—

HOLDER

‘Stanley Larsen’. Guy loses his wallet while he’s gettin’ his knob polished?

 

ON Sarah as she steps away from Holder and the Uni, surveys the field — taking it in.

HOLDER (O.S.) (CONT’D)

(to Uni)

Anyway, keep lookin’. Search the field …

 

SARAH

(to Uni)

You find anything else, mark it, don’t move it. And call in Sex Crimes. This is theirs for now.

 

She heads to the car. Holder, surprised, follows—

HOLDER

Yo. We got here first.

 

SARAH

Yeah and we don’t got a body.

 

HOLDER

Not yet.

 

Sarah, impatient, checks her watch.

SARAH

You wanna follow it up, go for it.

 

HOLDER

You’re my ride, Linden.

 

SARAH

So, I’ll drop you off at the station, I need to finish packing up—

 

HOLDER

I thought you were done.

(off her look)

Flight’s not til nine, right? I won’t let you miss it. Promise.

 

Holder grins, walks ahead.

HOLDER (CONT’D)

Let’s have a talk with this Stanley Larsen.

 

Sarah clocks something on the back of his neck, peeking above his collar: a TATTOO. The top of an ornate CRUCIFIX. Sarah, curious, follows.

AUTHOR’S NOTE AND
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
 

With all due respect to Detective D. D. Warren, my favorite part of embarking on a new novel isn’t spending time with old characters, but rather, researching new and inventive ways to commit murder and mayhem. Oh, and, um, also spending quality time with law enforcement professionals who remind me why a life of crime really isn’t a good idea, and thus I should continue to hope the whole writing gig pans out.

For
Love You More
, I got to fulfill one of my lifelong dreams of conducting research at the University of Tennessee Anthropology Research Facility, aka the Body Farm. I am deeply indebted to Dr. Lee Jantz, who is one of the smartest people I know, working one of the coolest jobs on the planet. She can look at a pile of cremated bones and tell you within thirty seconds pretty much everything about the person, including gender, age, chronic health issues, and what kind of dental floss he/she used. I had many moments with Dr. Jantz I would’ve liked to have put in the novel, but I didn’t think anyone would believe me.

Readers interested in morbid things like decomp, identifying
skeletal remains, and post-mortem insect activity should absolutely check out
Death’s Acre
, by Dr. Bill Bass, creator of the Body Farm, and coauthor Jon Jefferson. You can also visit my Facebook page for photos from my very informative research trip.

Oh, this is the part where I add anthropologists are trained professionals, whereas I just type for a living, meaning all mistakes in the novel are mine and mine alone. Plus, just as an FYI, I would never accuse Dr. Jantz, who has a T-shirt reading
Don’t piss me off—I’m running out of places to hide the bodies
, of having made a mistake.

I am also deeply indebted to Cassondra Murray, Southern/Western Kentucky Canine Rescue & Recovery Task Force, for her insights into training cadaver dogs and life as a volunteer dog handler. I had no idea that most canine SAR teams are volunteer organizations. These groups and their dogs do amazing work, and we are indebted to them for their hard work, dedication, and sacrifice.

Again, all mistakes are mine, so don’t even think about it!

Next up: Officer Penny Frechette, as well as several other female police officers who preferred to remain off the record. I appreciate the time and candor shared by these women, and enjoyed my first ride-along in a police cruiser. I was nervous! She was not. For those of you into police procedure, my character Tessa Leoni’s experiences are an amalgamation of different jurisdictions, and not necessarily representative of the life of a Massachusetts State Trooper. The Massachusetts State Police is a fine, upstanding organization and I appreciate their patience with suspense authors who exercise plenty of fictional license.

Under other nerve-wracking and noteworthy experiences, I must thank Superintendent Gerard Horgan, Esquire, and Assistant Deputy Superintendent Brian Dacey, both of the Suffolk County Sheriff’s Department for a fun-filled day at the Suffolk County Jail. It’s not every day I drive all the way to Boston just to be incarcerated, but boy did I learn a lot (basically, stick to writing fictional crimes, because let me tell you, I wouldn’t last a day behind bars). They showed me a first-class operation. I, of course, used the facility for yet more murder and mayhem, because hey, that’s what I do best.

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