The Killings (An Olivia Miller Mystery Book 1) (6 page)

Melissa reached for something hanging on the doorknob. When she realized what it was, she screamed and flung the thing down the hallway.

Adrenaline shot through Olivia’s body. “What? What is it?”

“Look!” Melissa wailed. “Look what it is!”

Olivia inched towards what Melissa had thrown down. She bent and reached to lift it from the floor.

A black, ski mask.

Chapter 8

“Drop it, Liv,” Melissa howled. “Don’t touch it.”

“It’s okay. Let’s go inside and check it out.” Olivia tried to calm Melissa by keeping her voice steady and low, but her heart was pounding like a sledgehammer. She scanned the hallway as she herded Melissa back towards their door.

Melissa fumbled with the key and pushed the door open to let Olivia enter first. “Wait.” She grabbed Olivia’s arm and yanked her back. “What if someone’s inside?” she whispered.

“If someone’s inside, they probably wouldn’t warn us by hanging a ski mask on the doorknob.” Olivia spoke softly just in case someone
was
inside. Standing at the threshold, she reached her arm in to find the switch pad to flick on the overhead lights. She stepped into the bright room, her heart hammering in her chest.

“Let’s check the other rooms.” Melissa spoke in a hushed tone, her body practically rammed up against Olivia’s back.

When they entered the small kitchen, Melissa picked up a steak knife from the counter.

Olivia eyed it. “Not sure that will help,” she mouthed. She worried that someone might grab the knife from Melissa’s hand and turn it on them.

“Better than what you’re holding,” Melissa whispered. Olivia still gripped the ski mask in her right hand.

They inched down the hall, Melissa close behind Olivia, holding the knife in one hand and clutching Olivia’s shoulder with her other hand. They peeked into the bathroom, pushed back the shower curtain, entered each bedroom and checked the closets and under the beds. Melissa breathed a sigh of relief.

They returned to the living room where Melissa pulled all the shades down. It was becoming a habit. “We should turn the lights off so no one can see us from the street.” She was holding the knife out in front of her.

“We can’t just sit here in the dark every night,” Olivia told her friend. “You can probably put the knife down now.”

“You’re still holding that stupid mask.”

Olivia turned it over in her hands and looked inside. “I was hoping there might be a note or something pinned to it.”

“Should we call the police?” Melissa moved away from the windows.

“Maybe,” Olivia said. “But.”

“But, what?”

“What are we going to say? We found a ski mask? Then they’ll ask if it came with mittens, too.”

“Ugh.” Melissa groaned and walked to the coffee table to place the knife on it.

A loud knock sounded on the apartment door. Olivia whirled and Melissa let out a yelp. They both stood wide-eyed staring at the door.

Olivia swallowed. “Who is it?” She could barely squeak out the words.

Melissa picked up the knife with a trembling hand.

“Who’s there?” Olivia asked again.

The girls shuffled to the door straining to hear. Olivia was about to place her eye up to the peephole, when her friend pulled her back and shook her head. Melissa raised her hand, her finger pointed like a gun and pointed at Olivia’s eye. Olivia made a face.

A knock sounded. The girls jumped.

Melissa mimed opening the door. Olivia nodded, took the knife from Melissa and flattened herself against the wall. The chain was in place on the door. Melissa gestured that she would open it just a crack to see who was there.

Olivia decided that if someone tried to force his way in, she would push the ski mask onto his face and plunge the knife into the hollow of his throat. She grimaced at the thought of doing such a thing. She held tight to the knife in her hand, looked at Melissa and nodded. Melissa unlocked the bolt and opened the door a crack.

“No one,” Melissa whispered. She raised her hand to remove the chain.

“No.” Olivia placed her hand on Melissa’s arm. “Let’s not open it any wider. Someone might be hoping we step into the hall.”

Melissa shut and locked the door, and ignored her own advice by putting her eye up against the peephole. “I don’t see anyone.” She stepped back. “Is someone playing a prank?”

Olivia sidled to the door, looked through the peephole, and startled back. Someone stood in front of the door, a hand raised to knock again.

Olivia leaned close to Melissa. “It’s that girl from outside Jack’s building,” she whispered.

“What girl?”

“The blonde who was staring at me.” Olivia faced the door and demanded, “Who’s there?”

“I need to talk,” a woman’s voice spoke from the other side of the door.

“Who are you?”

“I was a friend of Christian’s.”

The girls stood in silence, blinking at each other, unsure of what to do.

“I saw you at their apartment.” The voice paused. “The night of the murders. I was wearing the ski mask.”

Olivia yanked the door open.

“Can I come in?” the blonde asked.

“I have a knife,” Olivia warned.

“Me, too,” Melissa blurted, even though she didn’t have one.

“I didn’t kill them,” the blonde said. She was fine boned, about Olivia’s height. She had high cheekbones and skin like porcelain. Her blue eyes, fringed with long black lashes, were mesmerizing.

Something about the girl made Olivia step back so that the young woman could enter the apartment. Melissa locked the door and the three of them stood there awkwardly shifting from foot to foot.

“I’m Olivia. Why don’t we sit?” She indicated the sofas.

“I’m Kayla,” the blonde said, and sat down on the sofa across from Olivia and Melissa.

“Why were you hiding when we opened the door?” Melissa asked.

“I wasn’t. I started down the stairs because you hadn’t answered. As I was going down, I heard you open the door. So I came back up.”

Olivia looked the young woman over. She couldn’t imagine why this girl had come to speak with them.

“How did you know the guys?” Melissa asked.

“I really only knew Christian. I work as a barista in a coffee shop in Kendall Square.” The girl clutched her hands together in her lap. “Christian would come in every day, sometimes twice a day. We’d talk. I’m a musician in a band. Christian came to see us play a few times. He invited me to the party that night.”

“Do you generally wear a ski mask to parties?” Melissa asked.

Olivia flashed Melissa a look. She thought that getting information from Kayla would go better if their tone wasn’t antagonistic.

“It was a Halloween party,” Kayla said. “Christian and I had been talking about Halloween and costumes. We were fooling about masks and knives.” Her voice hitched. “I wore the mask to mess with him. As a joke.”

“You were the one I saw in the hallway,” Olivia said.

Kayla nodded.

“What happened when you arrived at their place?” Olivia asked.

“I came up the back stairs. Someone was coming out of the building and let me in. I didn’t have to buzz. I decided I’d put the mask on when I got to their door, knock, and scream when they opened it,” Kayla said. “But the back door was open. They must have left it that way so they wouldn’t have to keep answering the door when people arrived.” She took a deep breath. “I went in. I walked down the hall. I heard someone using a blow dryer. But then I heard yelling. At first I thought people were fooling around. But there was something, an edge to it that made it seem urgent, like they weren’t kidding at all. The voices were angry, threatening. I heard some knocking around, furniture moving or lamps falling. Thuds. I thought there must be a fight. I stayed where I was. Someone screamed. I was so scared, sort of frozen there. A guy came out of the bathroom. He yelled something like, ‘what’s going on.’ The hall was dark. He didn’t see me. He ran into the living room. I heard punches, a grunt, someone falling. I ducked into the room on my right, crouched down behind the bed, lay on the floor. I heard running footsteps. I cursed myself for not rushing out the back as soon as I heard things going wrong.”

Olivia watched Kayla’s face closely. “Why didn’t you just take off out the back way instead of going into the bedroom?”

“I had no time. If I ran for the back door, whoever was coming out of the living room would have seen me.”

“What happened then?” Olivia asked.

“I could hear someone walking down the hall. He stopped at the room across from the one I was in…turned the doorknob…opened the door. The door to the room I was in was open already. I didn’t shut it when I ran in there to hide. I could see his feet from under the bed. I could see his feet in the hall. I knew he was going to kill me.” Beads of sweat had formed on Kayla’s forehead. Her skin was pale. She leaned her head back on the sofa cushion.

“Did he come into the room you were in?”

Kayla shook her head. “No. You two came into the apartment just then. The guy took off out the back when he heard your voices.”

Melissa and Olivia exchanged a long look realizing how close they had come to being face to face with the killer.

“It was one guy?” Olivia asked.

“That’s all I saw, but I can’t be sure.” Kayla leaned forward, putting her elbows on her knees and her head in her hands. “I didn’t see anything that went on. I only heard it.”

“Have you gone to the police?” Melissa asked.

“No.” Her voice was small.

“Why did you run when I came down the hall?” Olivia asked, her blue eyes questioning.

Kayla looked up. “I just wanted out of there. I didn’t know who was who or what was what. I panicked. All I wanted to do was escape.”

“You should tell the police,” Olivia said. “Tell them what you saw, and heard.”

Kayla let out a long breath of air. “It wouldn’t help. I only saw feet.”

“It could help. When the police question you, something might come up that you forgot…or you suppressed,” Olivia said.

“I don’t think so.” Kayla shifted on the sofa and put a hand up to her eyes.

No one said anything for a few moments, then Olivia thought of something and straightened up. “Did you follow me home the other night?”

Kayla blinked and hesitated. She looked like she wanted to stand up and dart from the apartment, but then she said, “Yes.”

“Oh, thank God,” Melissa said. “So it was you tailing Liv.”

“I followed you,” Kayla said, locking eyes with Olivia. “But I wasn’t the only one who did.”

Chapter 9

An icy chill rippled down Olivia’s back.

“What do you mean?” Melissa’s voice sounded near a shriek. “Someone else was following Liv?”

Kayla ignored Melissa and said to Olivia, “I wanted to talk to you. To tell you I was in Christian’s apartment the night of the murders. It wasn’t hard to figure out what university you went to. I hung around campus looking for you. I happened to see you go into the library on Saturday. You were in there for hours.”

“So you waited until I came out and followed me home?” Olivia asked.

“Yeah. It isn’t very hard to do. I used to be a dancer. I know how to move, to be light on my feet. I kept you in my sights. I was quite a ways back. I wasn’t sure if I could talk to you that night, but I wanted to find out where you lived.”

“Who else was following me?” Olivia braced for the answer.

“A young guy. Maybe a college student or someone trying to look like one. Average build, on the trim side. He had on dark corduroys, a dark wool jacket, cut like a baseball style jacket. He was wearing a baseball hat, was carrying a backpack.”

“How do you know he was following me?”

“He was sitting outside the library for a long time. Then he went in and didn’t come out until just after you left the building. He made every turn you did. I followed him, following you. When you stopped to tie your shoe, he stepped into the front yard of a house so you wouldn’t see him.”

“You saw all this?” Olivia’s jaw was set. She couldn’t believe that two people followed her home.

“Yeah. Like I said, it isn’t hard to tail someone.”

“What did he do when I got home?”

“That little park across from your building? It’s more like a little common. He ducked in there. Sat on a bench for a while pretending to be texting, but he was watching your windows.”

“Where were you when he was in the park?”

“I slipped two streets over, walked behind a few houses, came around behind him. I watched him for a while, and then I left.”

“How long did he sit there? How long did you stay?” Olivia asked.

“An hour. But he was still there when I left.”

“An hour?” Melissa’s voice was high-pitched. “Son of a bitch. Why didn’t you call the police?”

“And say what?” Kayla asked, her eyes on Melissa. “There’s a guy sitting on a bench. Occasionally he glances at a building. I’m sure they would have rushed right over.”

“Unfortunately, it’s not against the law to sit in the park,” Olivia said. “What color hair did he have?’

Kayla shrugged. “It was dark out. He had on the hat. Brown?”

“Long hair?”

“No. Not really short either. Cut like a regular guy’s hair.”

“That’s not very specific,” Melissa said.

“It’s more than what you knew.” Kayla’s eyes flashed at Melissa and then she turned to Olivia. “Watch your back. Who knows what he’s up to, maybe nothing. But he was watching you.”

“Thanks.” Olivia’s mind was racing.
Who the heck was following me? And, for what reason?

“Do you think it’s the killer who followed you?” Melissa asked. She looked frightened of the answer.

Olivia’s eyes were wide. “How would he know who I was?”

“Well,
she
found out who you are.” Melissa gestured towards Kayla.

“But the killer didn’t see us at the apartment the night of the murders,” Olivia said. “The killer was gone when we got there. How would he know who I was?”

“If he reads the paper, he knows who we are now, since that stupid newspaper printed our names,” Melissa said.

“But I got followed the night before our names were in the paper.”