The Christmas Killer (27 page)

The station was unnaturally quiet when Jake and Mills returned. Everyone knew Johnny; they all regarded him as a harmless nut, and many of them had given him a bill from their wallets. Now he had killed, and it was like the family dog had turned on them and needed to be put down.

Jake spotted Gail Greene’s car as she pulled up. But this time his heart didn’t skip a beat. He didn’t want to face her because to face her was to face the fact that it had been his taunting that had pushed Cooper to this. Jake had the same blood on his hands as Johnny did.

He walked the short distance to the detective bureau. A few of the guys were around. Mills had gone ahead and was at his desk, going over witness statements. Jake walked up to his partner. ‘Mills, I want to talk to Johnny.’

‘No way,’ said a cold voice behind him. Normally the husky tone would have caused a slight tremble in his knees, but not now. He turned and looked at Gail Greene.

‘I’m sorry,’ he said softly.

‘Not good enough. Johnny was a sick man. You changed that. You turned him into a killer.’

Jake took her by the elbow and pulled her into the canteen. He winced when he saw the damaged vending machine.

‘I need to talk to him,’ he whispered through gritted teeth, ‘to find out—’

She pulled her elbow from his grasp. ‘If he blames you? I think you’ll find everybody blames you.’

‘Gail—’

‘Don’t you dare try to play dumb, Jake. You know what you did, and you’re smart enough to know that you did it because you just
have
to be the smartest guy in the room. You’re the alpha male, the dominant one. And now there’s a killer out there who’s fooling you at every turn. You can’t get a handle on him so you take it out on other people. You don’t need a professional to tell you this, because you already know it. The unfortunate part with guys like you: it’s always
in retrospect
. After the damage has been done.’

Jake let his eyes drop to the ground. He wanted to respond, but what could he say?

She wasn’t finished. ‘This isn’t the first time you’ve lost control. Didn’t you learn anything from what happened with your friend in Chicago?’

‘Ex-friend,’ said Jake.

‘It’s always someone else’s fault,’ she snapped. ‘Now a man is dead, and Johnny’s life is ruined. Whose fault is it now?’

Jake knew the answer to that.

‘I hope you’re happy with yourself.’ She strode past
him to the door but did not leave right away. Instead, she turned back and said, ‘I’ve recommended to Colonel Asher that you are not to communicate with Johnny. It’s the least you can do for him now.’

Jake felt a pang of irritation as he watched her leave. He really didn’t have time for this. Johnny Cooper was no longer a priority. And Johnny had made that decision himself.

His phone buzzed. Glancing down, he saw it was Leigh. More problems.

‘What’s up?’ he asked wearily.

Leigh’s voice was strained and clipped. Not angry or worried. Just tired, resigned. ‘Your mother has gone for another one of her walks.’

There it was – the burning deep down in his stomach. He half-expected to look down and see smoke wafting from a hole in his flesh.

‘What happened?’

‘I don’t know. She was sitting quietly watching the news. I went upstairs to give Jakey a bath, and when I came back down she was gone.’

‘How long ago?’

‘Within the last twenty minutes.’

Jake rubbed his eyes. He’d have to take an early lunch.

He walked out of the canteen back into the detective bureau. Gail was standing at the desk, talking to Mills. He barely glanced at them.

‘Jake …’ she said.

He kept walking.

Jake drove around the house in ever-expanding circles. It shouldn’t be difficult; his mom was on foot and hadn’t been missing long. Roughly twenty minutes by the time he had left the station, plus the six more minutes Jake had been driving. That meant she had had less than thirty minutes of walking time. She was elderly; that meant about a mile radius, maximum. But how many city blocks did that cover?

Traffic was light, but the highway construction was creating problems everywhere. There were diversions throughout the city, and Jake found himself driving down smaller roads that he was less familiar with. He needed GPS.

Suburbia, with plenty of leafy lanes and avenues, and lots of nice houses, most of which should have been decked out in garish Christmas decorations. But most of them had been taken down – hardly anyone seemed in the mood right now. And if the PD didn’t break this one swiftly, Jake could imagine the next few Christmases being tainted by association.

If his mom had stuck to the roads, he might find her.
But if she went into driveways or a park, he could cruise for the whole day with no luck.

To top it all, he wasn’t quite sure where he was. The streets of Littleton all looked the same to him: the same green hedges, turned brown now by winter; the same well-tended yards; the same mom-and-pop stores on the corners. The only real landmark was the steeple of the Church of Christ the Redeemer. He was in the heart of the construction zone now, with signs everywhere saying
LOCAL ACCESS ONLY
and
DANGER – CONSTRUCTION
. Dust hung in the air and settled on all the surfaces, and most of the vehicles were diggers. The church, slated for demolition, stood out by its height. At least it gave him a point of orientation. That was something.

Jake looked at the church. Two lanes led to it, and there was an area of open space in front. It was secluded, the perfect spot for an old woman to lose herself in.

And there was one!
Jake felt an instant shot of relief diluted with confusion – could that briskly walking woman really be his mother? If it was, she was moving faster than Jake had seen her shift in years. She was walking as if she had a destination in mind.

Jake turned the car and headed down the street. As he drew near, he recognized her coat, and then he pulled level and could see her face. He stopped the car and got out.

‘Hi, Mom.’

‘Oh, hi, Jake,’ she said with an automatic smile.

She recognizes me today – that’s something.

‘Mom,’ he said, rushing round the car to hold her by the shoulders. ‘What are you doing out?’

‘I’m just looking for someone to talk to,’ she went on, trying to sidestep him.

‘You can talk to me,’ he said, blocking her path again.

She looked at him for a moment, then looked away. ‘I’m just looking for someone to talk to,’ she repeated.

It was sad. She was making sense and seemed perfectly lucid. But she didn’t know who she needed to speak to and couldn’t tell him why. It was like her brain was still engaged but was travelling down a track that never quite intersected with anyone else’s. But seeing her focused like this, fixated on an idea, however bizarre, was better than seeing her thoughts scattering to the winds.

‘So talk to
me
,’ he offered again.

‘No, dear. I need to talk to someone.’ She set off again and Jake walked beside her.

‘I know a psychiatrist,’ he suggested.

‘No!’ she shouted, grabbing his arm. ‘No doctors! I want you to promise me, Jake. Don’t bring in the doctors.’

Jake didn’t know how to respond. Not only was she moving with more urgency and ease than he had seen in a long time, she had rather a strong grip on his arm too. Her long nails were sharp – even through Jake’s sleeve. It was a grip he remembered from childhood: strong,
dominant but flexible. He was suddenly struck with a memory from his childhood:
trying to escape her is useless; she has me too tight.

He shook the thought away, and his eyes fell on a familiar figure walking up the street towards them. It was Father Ken, the priest from the condemned church.

‘Detective Austin, hello.’ The old man was smiling and had his hand extended. It was encased in a thick winter glove, making the handshake awkward. ‘Is everything OK?’

Jake felt embarrassed. ‘My mother had just gone for a bit of a ramble, but I’ll be taking her home now.’

‘A pleasure to meet you,’ said the priest, turning to Jake’s mom. ‘Your son is doing a fine job policing our community. I hope you’re proud of him.’

Jake’s mother looked at the priest, her face re-forming into the old familiar blankness.

Father Ken looked from Jake’s mother to Jake. ‘I’m just returning from my morning walk. Why don’t you both stop in for a cup of coffee? I’m just around the corner.’

Although he wanted to get back to the investigation, Jake thought he could spare a few minutes. If his mother was so set against doctors and psychiatrists, perhaps she might talk to a priest?

Just then Jake’s pager buzzed. Irritably he took a quick look. It was the office. He killed the sound, then turned to Father Ken. The priest was smiling.

‘Anything urgent?’

‘It can wait.’

‘Don’t you be worrying,’ said the priest. ‘Go do what you have to do. I’ll look after your mother and drive her home in half an hour or so. Let her relax and enjoy a cup of coffee, and you can be on your way.’

Jake hesitated. ‘Are you sure?’

The priest smiled. ‘I have nothing else to fill my day. It’s not a problem.’

Jake felt relieved. Ten minutes, he’d be back on the case. He could do without the hassle and drama of returning to the house and having to deal with Leigh and Jakey on top of his mother.

‘Thanks, Padre.’

He could hear his mother talking behind him as he turned away: ‘Father, I think I’m ready to unburden myself now.’

As he walked briskly to his car, Jake wondered what, exactly, his mother needed to unburden herself of.

This is too good. Simply perfect. A kind of divine destiny. Austin and his mama both dropped into my lap. Your guiding light led them to me. You really do work in surprising ways.

He did his best to look sympathetic as Jeanette Austin began to open her wicked, sinful heart to him.

‘I feel my mind is slipping, Father. There are days when I don’t remember things that everyone thinks I
should
remember.’

He smiled and nodded.

‘Sometimes I wonder if this is my punishment.’

‘Do you feel you need to be punished?’ he asked her.

‘Yes,’ she said. ‘For all my sinning.’

‘I know,’ he muttered. Of course he knew.

‘There’s no need to upset yourself by going through it all again. I understand,’ he said.

He understood, but at the same time his hand, under the table, gripped the cosh tightly. For a moment he considered killing her right away, but that would have created problems. Her son – a detective, no less – would wonder why he hadn’t driven her home, and within a
very short time Father Ken’s work would come crashing down on him, unfinished.

‘Jake has forgotten everything,’ she went on. ‘He’s completely blanked it out, as if it never happened.’

His hand relaxed on the cosh.
Maybe not today
… If Austin had really forgotten everything, then that meant his guard was down about it. He was vulnerable to a sucker punch from the past. That was good, very good.

You have taken away his memory, and now my pieces are in place. It shows the righteousness of my work. Soon it will be checkmate.

‘And did you have any other children?’ he asked her, even though he knew the answer.

‘Never,’ she said with a wistful smile. He noted that she answered without hesitation, as she would have answered any question he asked. She seemed to be in his thrall still, even after so many years. If he asked her to take up a knife and plunge it into her own chest, he believed she would do it without question.

‘Jake has a daughter,’ she went on. ‘In some ways she reminds me of Jake when he was a boy. It frightens me. Maybe you could talk to her?’

It’s an intriguing idea – to put my head in the lion’s mouth.

His decision was definite. He would not kill her today. That would be rash. He had been smart up to now, and he was not prepared to let that desert him. Besides, he hadn’t helped Jeanette and her son escape their troubles all those years ago only to kill them now. That would be cruel.

And I am not a cruel man.

It would make no sense to undo the good deed I did back then, unless I have to. I’ll let her go. But the Lord has delivered Jake Austin to me. That is no accident. I know what it means … I see it all now. The beautiful design of his master plan for us.

The three of us … connected by that place.

Father Ken stood up calmly, feigning a stiffness in his hips that wasn’t there.

Raising his arm he made the sign of the cross over Jeanette, muttering a blessing. Then he smiled.

‘Jeanette, let me take you home.’

She followed him out of the house and to his car like a woman in a trance.