The Bone House (36 page)

    'Go
fuck yourself.'

    Amy
cringed, expecting another blow, but it didn't come. He sat in the chair
silently, not moving.

    'Unless
you tell me, I'll have to start choosing for myself. I'll start with the people
you care about. Your parents. Your friends. Maybe you don't care what happens
to yourself, but what about them? Do you want them to suffer too? They don't
have to, Amy. You can spare them.
Tell me.'

    'I
didn't tell anybody. That's the truth.'

    'You're
lying,' Gary said. 'That's not going to save you.'

    'Why
the hell are you doing this?' Amy asked him. She felt blood bubbling out of her
mouth. 'Why? Is it because of your wife? You killed her, too, didn't you?'

    Gary
inhaled loudly. 'I loved my wife.'

    'So
you pushed her off a cliff. Did Glory find out about it?'

    'Don't
try to understand me,' he advised her. 'This isn't psychology class. This is
about life or death for the people you love. Believe me, I know how painful it
is to watch someone you love die.'

    'Everyone
knows you were having an affair.'

    Gary
leaned in closer. 'Everyone? Who's everyone? Who told you that?'

    Amy
bit her lip and said nothing. She cursed herself in her head. She didn't want
to give him a roadmap that would lead him anywhere near Katie. Or Hilary.
Tell someone, send someone.

    'OK,
Amy, we'll do it the hard way.'

    He
stood up, and she could feel his presence above her, growing more ominous. She
tensed, waiting for whatever was coming next, knowing it would be bad. Even so,
she swore to herself that she wouldn't cry and she wouldn't beg. Not to him.
Not in front of this monster. She just had to buy time and hope that someone
would look for her. Come to the door. Find her.

    At
that moment, someone did.

    Downstairs,
she heard a muffled noise, and she realized it was the sound of the antique
doorbell chiming. Gary flinched. Amy sucked in a breath to scream, but he
anticipated her intention and was on her immediately, clapping a hand over her
mouth. He squeezed her jaw, forcing her lips open, and jammed the ribbon of wet
cloth back inside, choking her, cutting off any sound from her throat. When he
was done, he slapped tape back across her mouth. She was mute again, other than
a low squealing through her nose.

    'I'll
be back,' Gary said. He slammed the door of the room shut as he left.

    She
heard his muffled footsteps as he ran down the stairs. She fought, trying to
move the bed and make a noise that would be heard below her, but she was running
out of strength. She kept breathing through her nose, struggling to swell her
lungs, but she began to cough bile into the thick gag. Panic made her gasp for
air.
Help me.

    Somewhere
in the house, she heard him talking. Gary had answered the door. She wanted to
cry, knowing help was so close and yet out of her reach.

    Find
me.

    Cab
held up the folder with his Florida badge to the man who opened the door.

    'Mr
Jensen? My name is Cab Bolton with the Naples Police. I'm investigating the
murder that occurred at the hotel where you were staying last Sunday. I believe
you talked to someone in my department about the events you witnessed from your
room that night.'

    Gary
Jensen looked flustered by Cab's arrival. His face was flushed, and he peered
nervously over his shoulder. 'Oh. Oh, yes, Detective Bolton, of course. You
took me by surprise. Your people told me that there would be a follow-up
interview, but I just assumed it would be by phone. I didn't think you would
come all the way up here to talk to me in person.'

    'The
victim in this case was from Door County,' Cab told him, 'so I've been
conducting an investigation in that area. Since you're only an hour away, I
thought it would be easiest to talk to you face to face.'

    'Yes,
of course.'

    'I stopped
by the university, and they told me you were home today.'

    'Right.
Good. I'm glad you found me.'

    Cab
stared past Gary Jensen at the gloomy interior of his house. 'Do you mind if I
come in?'

    'Oh,
yes, yes, I'm sorry. Please. Come in.'

    'I
apologize if this is a bad time. I should have called you first. It's a bad
detective's habit, I'm afraid. We show up unannounced.'

    'No,
come in. This is fine.'

    Jensen
swung open the door and gestured with his hand. Cab stepped over the threshold
into the foyer, which was dimly lit. Ahead of him, twisting stairs with an
ornate iron banister wound to the second level. He saw a living room furnished
with dark wood and heavy furniture immediately on his left, but Jensen pointed
the opposite way down the hallway. The walls were lined with framed photographs
of college teams in action.

    'I
could use a Coke while we talk,' Jensen said. 'I'm pretty dry. Do you mind?'

    'Not
at all.'

    Jensen
led him through swinging doors into a compact kitchen with dated yellow
appliances. He checked his watch and switched on a radio as he passed the
counter, and Cab heard the dialogue of a sports talk program. The volume was
oddly loud. Jensen opened the refrigerator and popped a can of Coke and
gestured at Cab.

    'You
want one?'

    'No,
thanks. Do you mind turning down the radio?'

    Jensen
made the volume marginally lower. 'Sorry, the spring training report is coming
up next. The Brewers are in Maryvale.'

    Cab shrugged
but didn't protest further. He took a seat at the kitchen table and pointed the
chair outward where he could extend his legs. Jensen took a seat opposite him
and drank his Coke straight from the can. The man acted uncomfortable, but Cab
wasn't surprised. Most people lost their bearings when a police officer showed
up on their doorstep. He liked the element of surprise, before witnesses had a
chance to practice their story.

    Other
than his demeanor, there was nothing unusual about Gary Jensen. He was
middle-aged but athletic, with a narrow face and pointed chin. There was no
pouch of fat on his neck. He wore a navy blue fleece hoodie and mesh sweatpants
and brightly colored Nikes. It was easy to imagine him as a college coach,
intense and competitive, hollering on the sidelines at students who were
substantially taller and larger than he was. The longer Jensen sat with Cab,
the more the man made a show of relaxing. He eased back into the chair. A smile
came back to his mouth, but it looked artificial and forced.

    'Am I
keeping you from something, Mr Jensen?' Cab asked.

    The
coach shook his head. 'Not at all.'

    'I
appreciate your calling us about what you saw.'

    'Of
course. I would have called sooner, but our bus left early in the morning on
Sunday, so I had no idea that something had happened at the hotel. I saw news
reports during the week, and I realized I should get in touch with your
department.'

    'I'm
glad you did. I'd like to go over some of the details again, if you don't
mind.'

    'Yes,
sure.'

    'Are
you a full-time employee at the university?' Cab asked.

    'That's
right.'

    'Do
you do anything other than coach?'

    'I
also teach physical education.'

    'Did
any other university employees participate in this trip to Florida?'

    Jensen
shook his head. 'No, it was just me and the students. We contracted with a
local bus service for a vehicle and driver.'

    'Did
anyone else share your hotel room with you in Florida?'

    'No,
it was just me.'

    Cab's
eyes flitted to the ring on Jensen's left hand. 'Your wife didn't come with
you?

    'Sorry,
I'm no longer married,' Jensen explained, twisting the ring. 'My wife passed
away last year.'

    'I'm
very sorry.'

    'Thank
you.'

    'So
on Saturday night, you were alone in your room?' Cab asked.

    'That's
right.'

    'Tell
me what happened.'

    Jensen
took another swig from his can of Coke. 'I couldn't sleep. You know what hotel
beds are like. Around two thirty or so, I took a cigar out on the balcony and
figured I'd relax with a smoke. My room faced the Gulf. Great view. Big moon. I
think I was on the tenth floor. Anyway, I sat outside for about half an hour or
so. I don't know what time it was, but at some point, I saw a man walking from
the hotel down to the beach right below me.'

    'Can
you describe him?' Cab asked.

    'I
wish I could. It was pretty dark. He looked like a fairly big guy, but from
that height, it's hard to tell. All I saw was his yellow tank top. It was
bright, so it was easy to spot. I'm not sure I would have remembered him, but I
saw him again a while later, down close to the water. It looked like he was
making out with a girl.' 'Where did this girl come from?' Cab asked.

    Jensen
shook his head. 'I don't know.'

    'Did
you see her leave the hotel?'

    'No,
I only saw the guy. I noticed her for the first time when the man approached
her on the beach. He came from the north, and she was already there when I
spotted them. I couldn't see anything about her, other than it was a girl in a
bright bikini.'

    'Are
you sure it was the same man you saw leaving the hotel?'

    'Well,
it was the same shirt,' Jensen said.

    Cab
stopped and looked up at the water-stained ceiling as he heard a heavy thud on
the floor overhead. Jensen's face seized with dismay.

    'I'm
sorry, did you say you live alone now?' Cab asked.

    The
coach looked embarrassed. He spread his hands as if to say:
You caught me.
'I live alone, but I'm finally at a point where I don't always sleep alone,
Detective.' 'Ah.'

    'You can
see why I was a little surprised when you showed up. I was sort of occupied, if
you know what I mean.'

    'I
understand,' Cab told him. 'Just to confirm, you didn't have anyone in the
hotel with you in Florida. Right?'

    Jensen
nodded. 'That's right.'

    'What
happened when this man in the yellow shirt approached the girl on the beach?'
Cab asked.

    'They
talked for a while,' Jensen said. 'Then it was more than talking.'

    'Meaning
what exactly?'

    'I
could see them kissing.'

    'Are
you sure that was what they were doing?' Cab asked.

    Jensen
hesitated. 'I just assumed it was what they were doing. Their arms were wrapped
around each other, so that's what it looked like. You don't think he could have
been hurting her, do you?'

    'You
tell me.'

    Jensen
rubbed his hands over his balding head. 'I'm really not sure. I mean, you see
two people together like that, you assume they're making out, but now that I
think about it ...' His voice trailed off, then he started again. 'I don't
know, maybe she was struggling. I hope I'm wrong. I hate to think I was
watching him kill that poor girl, and I didn't do anything.' 'What happened
next?' Cab asked.

    'I
went back inside and went to bed.'

    'You
didn't stay on the balcony and watch?'

    Jensen
smiled. 'I'm not a pervert, Detective. I wasn't going to hang around to see if
they had sex. Besides, by that point, I could barely keep my eyes open.'

    'What
time was this?'

    'It
must have been a little after three. I remember noticing the clock shortly
after I got back in bed, and it was just about three fifteen.'

    'Could
you identify the girl or the man you saw?' Cab asked.