Chapter 24

 “I think I’m going to be sick,” I said, gulping back the bile that had found its way into my throat. I dry-heaved again before lurching forward and putting my head between my legs.

“Ah, naw, girl. Not on my new sheepskin!” Zhara yelled, racing to the kitchen to grab something in case I threw up.

After placing a tiny garbage can near my feet with a clang, Zhara sat down beside me and began petting my head soothingly.

When the wave of nausea finally passed, I took a deep breath, but kept my head down just in case. “Your rug is from IKEA,” I said to him, welcoming any conversation that didn’t involve ice picks and eyeball scoopers.

“But it’s new,” he argued. “This is why we can’t have nice things.”

I rolled my eyes even though he couldn’t see me do it.

I felt him get up from the couch again and when he came back, it was with a cold paper towel that he gently placed on the back of my neck.

“Thanks, Zhara,” I said, appreciating the cool-down. “And sorry about almost throwing up on your new rug. I guess I didn’t realize how much talking with Tina would affect me.”

That was the understatement of the year. While I’d managed to keep it together in front of her and Agent Walker, once I was alone with my best friend, I’d pretty much lost it.

Zhara had been waiting for me when I got home from the station, along with a plain-clothes police officer named Marcus, who’d explained that he was there to keep watch. Taking Agent Walker’s earlier advice, I didn’t let the guy into my apartment until I’d confirmed that what he was saying was true.

I’d told Agent Walker that I’d be more careful and I intended to keep my promise.

Zhara, however, was so confused by the turn of events that he’d refused to let me into my apartment until I’d explained everything to him. So, the three of us—my new shadow in tow—relocated to Zhara’s, where he’d promptly sat me down and demanded all the gory details.

And I’d given them up.

How Kyle had broken out of custody. That he was probably planning how to kill me even as we spoke. Tina’s recount of that night.

Everything.

“So what’s next?” Zhara asked once I’d gotten ahold of myself again. I looked over to where Marcus was sitting in the kitchen. He was leafing through a magazine that had been left on the table, but I had a feeling he’d been listening to us the whole time. It’s what I would’ve done if I were a cop. I gave Zhara a look that said to be careful what he said next. Catching on, he lowered his voice and added, “We are doing something next, right?”

I discreetly gave him a nod and then stood up.

“Next, I’m going to the bathroom,” I announced loudly enough for Marcus to hear.

“You know where it is,” Zhara waved me off. “But girl, burn the candle if you need to. I like my bathroom smelling like roses.”

“You’re disgusting,” I said walking away.

Once I was behind the locked door, I turned on the faucet and then grabbed the piece of paper from where I’d tucked it in my purse after walking through the last metal gate in prison. I stared at its contents for a few seconds and then punched the number into my phone and waited for it to connect.

Zhara was right. I did have a plan, and it included getting more information on Kyle. The kind of details I couldn’t get from his victims alone. I needed to know who he was. Specifically, who he’d been before he’d started killing.

“Hello?” someone with a lazy Southern drawl said. I’d only talked to him that once, but right away I recognized his voice.

“Um, Levi? This is Emmy. I met you the other day at San Quentin? You said that I could call you if I ever wanted to talk about Kyle?” I said, hoping he hadn’t changed his mind.

“Oh, hey. Yeah, of course. I’m glad you called,” he said easily.

“I know this is a lot to ask, but would you mind meeting with me?” I asked hopefully. “There are a few things I’d love to ask you about. Things that maybe only you can help me with.”

“Well, I’ll certainly do my best,” he said, sounding like he was thinking things over. “Kyle did have some interesting things to say when we talked. Just tell me when and where, and I’m sure I can accommodate.”

“How about the café on 8th Street in about an hour?” I said, thinking fast. The place was always busy and would be bustling enough to drown out our conversation. Besides, they had great tea and I’d need the caffeine boost if I was going to stay alert.

 “I’ll be there,” he said and hung up.

*          *          *

An hour later, I was seated at a table in the far corner of the café, sipping on an iced passion tea nervously. I hadn’t thought much about what I was going to ask Levi, but figured I wouldn’t be at a loss for questions. After all, there was very little that I actually knew about Kyle. Well, except for what he’d told me during our brief visits, and what he’d written in his diary. And I knew that most of that was either made up or severely distorted. I needed information that was a little less…tainted.

My eyes were glued to the large window near the door as I chewed on the straw of my drink, waiting for Levi to arrive. Occasionally, I looked around at the other café patrons and tried to guess what their stories were. I bet none of them were anything like mine.

I glanced at the counter that followed the windows around the café, and settled on Marcus as he munched on a muffin and surveyed the people walking by outside. We’d told him that we were meeting friends at the café, and he’d just nodded and trailed behind us in his own nondescript car. The change in venues didn’t seem to faze him. I was getting the feeling this wasn’t his first time on protective detail.

 At first I’d been worried about how we were going to keep him away from Levi, but when we’d arrived, Marcus had immediately retreated to the front of the shop and told us he’d be there until we were ready to leave.

Zhara, however, was more difficult to get rid of.

“Uh-uh, no way,” he’d said on our drive over. “You are not benching me for the big game.”

“Wow, you must be serious about this if you’re using sports references,” I said as he zoomed down the street, seemingly forgetting that there was a cop behind us. “And I’m not trying to bench you. I just don’t think Levi will respond well to there suddenly being a random guy interrogating him. I don’t want to scare him off.”

“I wasn’t going to interrogate him,” Zhara said, grumpily. “I just wanted to ask him a few questions…”

“Zhara, I know you. It would’ve been an interrogation,” I said seriously.

“But I already have my detective outfit on,” he said, whining. It was true. Before we’d left, he’d insisted on changing into a long trench coat and an old-school fedora. I’d explained to him then that we wouldn’t need disguises to meet with Levi, but he’d been adamant about looking the part. Secretly, I thought he’d actually draw more attention with his outfit, but at least it would be away from Levi and I.

“And you look great,” I said, trying to avoid getting pulled into an argument. “It’s perfect for surveillance. Which is what I need you to do. Stay nearby and observe. I really need an extra set of eyes on this. Just…not at our table.”

Zhara gave me a look that said he wasn’t happy about my version of our plan, but sulkily agreed.

Glancing over to where he sat, just two tables away, I could tell that his mood hadn’t improved much since our car ride. Only now, he was brooding into the smoothie he’d made me buy him, while typing furiously on his cell phone. At least he was already playing his part and acting like he didn’t know me.

“Emmy?” a voice said all of a sudden, breaking me out of my thoughts. “Sorry I’m late.”

I jumped as he spoke, but when I saw it was Levi, I relaxed and gave him an apologetic smile.

“No problem, Levi,” I said. “I know this was sort of short notice. I just appreciate that you could meet with me.”

He nodded, looking friendly. “Anything I can do.”

“Do you want a drink or something?” I asked him, trying to appear polite despite how antsy I was. “It’s on me, of course.”

“Oh, that’s very kind of you, but I’m okay,” he said. “Not much of a caffeine drinker really.”

“You’re probably better off for it,” I said, showing him my hand, which was shaking slightly. He smiled at me sympathetically, and I continued. “Well, I was hoping you could tell me about Kyle? I didn’t get to know him very well and with everything that’s happening, I just feel like I need to know who he really is. Get some kind of understanding of…why.”

Why he was the way he was. Why he killed. Why he picked me. And why he didn’t kill me, when he had the chance.

Levi took a deep breath and let it out like he was trying to figure out where to start. “Like I said, Kyle and I met in grade school. Fourth grade, actually. I’d just transferred from out-of-state and didn’t have any friends. Kyle and I didn’t even really like each other at first. I thought he was cocky and loud and always had to be the best at everything. He thought I was bossy and competitive.”

 “But once we figured out that we were better off joining forces, we became friends and never looked back,” Levi said. “Bein’ boys, we’d often go on adventures, makin’ forts out in the woods, ridin’ bikes for hours on end, creatin’ mischief. But nothin’ too serious.”

 The bell on the door of the shop jangled and I looked over distractedly, as Levi talked. Startled, I watched Scarlett and Preston walk inside, sucking in a breath before I could stop myself. Preston’s smile promptly turned to a frown, and without being able to control it, I began to sweat. It only took Scarlett a moment to notice me too, and then they were both fixed on me, neither of them too happy that I was there.

Which was fine, because the feeling was mutual.

After a brief staring contest, Scarlett placed her hand on Preston’s arm and led him over to the counter where they proceeded to order drinks. The act made my stomach lurch, but I forced myself to turn back to Levi, who’d noticed the whole exchange, but didn’t ask me about it.

“Things seemed to change when we went into fifth grade. Kyle started to up the ante on our little…adventures. We began to dare each other to do dangerous or scary things, until one of us either got hurt or chickened out,” Levi said, shaking his head. “Our friendship changed when Kyle took things too far durin’ one of our pranks. I’d dared him to steal a frog from biology class. We weren’t allowed to dissect ’em yet—that didn’t come until middle school—but the teachers kept ’em around in jars, either for the ambiance or to keep us interested. Anyways, Kyle accepted the challenge, of course, but instead of stealin’ just one of the frogs, he decided to take them all.”

“Sounds like something my younger brother Donny would do,” I said, thinking about some of the disgusting things he’d gotten into growing up.

“But would he take the frogs and nail them to the door of every classroom?” Levi asked me carefully.

My mouth dropped open as I pictured the limp froggy bodies impaled and oozing down the doors. It was sick. Levi was right. It was something only a serial killer would do.

“He actually did that?” I asked horrified.

Levi nodded. “And he didn’t care if people knew it, either. He tossed all the empty jars into the dumpster behind the school, but kept the tools in his locker. Nails, hammers, all the evidence was right there. But the thing that tipped the teachers off was the fact that he reeked of formaldehyde. For days. He hadn’t bothered to try and get the smell off of himself, so it was pretty obvious he was involved.”

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Preston and Scarlett leave the counter and look around for a place to sit. Not here, I thought. Don’t come over here. I began to panic as they glanced my way again. It would ruin everything if they came over now. Levi was right in the middle of telling me about Kyle’s childhood, and I was sure he would clam up if others were around.

Unfortunately, they began to walk our way, and I started to get up from my chair to run interference. Then my heart swelled with gratitude as Zhara waved them over to his table instead.

“Hey guys!” Zhara said, way too enthusiastically. “You can sit here!”

Preston and Scarlett looked at each other, slightly confused by the offer, but Zhara was already pushing them into the empty seats. Preston shrugged at his partner and then gave a small smile to mine.

“Thanks,” he said to Zhara as he relaxed into his seat, his back to me.

“No problem,” Zhara said quickly. “So, what are you guys up to?”

Thank you, Zhara. We caught each other’s eye and I gave him a grateful look before sitting back down in my seat.

“So, er, Kyle was trying to get caught then?” I continued, trying to ignore everything going on around us.

“Maybe. But I think it was more like…he was challenging them? Tauntin’ them? Which was just stupid, because Kyle had already gotten into trouble for little things around school and things were beginnin’ to pile up. They were going to crucify him for the frog thing,” Levi said. Then he took a deep breath. “So, since he had strikes against him, and I was clean, I agreed to take the fall. After all, I’d been the one to dare him in the first place. And he was my only friend.”

I was surprised to hear that Levi would cop to doing something so horrible. But I could tell how much his friendship to Kyle had meant to him, and in a bizarre way, I kind of understood. The desire to protect the people you love is one of our most basic instincts as human beings. I’m not sure that changes when the one you love does something terrible.

“I figured I’d get detention for a while, maybe even be suspended, but the administration ended up kicking me out of school and forced me to see a therapist,” he said. “Once the guys at school got ahold of that information, they came after me. Teasin’ me, bullyin’ me, eventually they started beatin’ on me. One day when I was alone, they cornered me and I picked up a baseball bat to defend myself. I didn’t mean to hurt anyone, but I wasn’t sure how far they’d go. After that, I was arrested and sent to juvie. Then I lost touch with Kyle—his mom didn’t think I was a good influence on him, can you believe it? I really only thought about looking him up a few years ago. Found him on Facebook. I figured maybe we could rekindle the friendship we’d had when we were boys. But then, well, you know what happened…”

“Geez,” I said. It was sad to think of everything he’d gone through in the name of friendship, and that Kyle had still turned out the way he had.

Levi started to tap the table with his fingers lightly. “He talked about you after you left, you know,” he said, carefully.

A nervous feeling erupted in my stomach and I almost couldn’t ask. “What did he say?”

Levi gave me a look. “Are you sure you want to know?”

“It can’t be any worse than what he wrote in his diary,” I said, exasperated. “Or what he said to me in San Quentin.”

Levi’s head popped up. “He kept a diary? Of the things he did?” he asked, sounding surprised.

“Yeah,” I said. Levi shook his head, frowning. “The cops found it when they raided his place. He tried to hide it, but not very well. Kind of like with the nails in his locker back in school.”

“He told me the cops had nothing on him. No evidence to link him to the crimes,” Levi said, looking up at the ceiling sadly. “What’d it say? In the diary, I mean.”

“I only read the entries that were about me, and those were mostly lies. Details about him stalking me, conversations we’d had, things he said happened that never did,” I said, disgusted to admit this out loud. “I didn’t read the rest, but one of the FBI agents told me he wrote about his kills in there, too.”

“I can’t believe it,” Levi said, like it was finally sinking in that his friend was indeed, a killer. “He refused to tell me anything about the murders the other day. He’d only talk to me about you and how he was being treated in prison. He deflected all my questions that had to do with the case against him. But thank God he didn’t do anything to you.”

“That’s actually why I wanted to meet with you today. I’m afraid he might try to finish what he started,” I confessed. “I was hoping he might’ve said something to you that could help me.”

Levi looked at me sadly. “From what I gathered Emmy, he really did care about you. He mentioned something about not letting anyone else have you. He was very clear about that,” Levi said. “His feelings for you and the desire to keep you separate from his killing life was probably what saved you. I don’t think you have to worry about him anymore.”

“I guess,” I said, but it didn’t make me feel any better. Especially since the last time I’d seen Kyle, he’d been threatening me. I wasn’t his darling anymore. “I hope you’re right, given the circumstances.”

“What circumstances?” Levi asked.

“Kyle breaking out of custody,” I answered. When he looked shocked by this piece of news, I added, “Nobody knows where he is or what he’s planning to do next.”

“Well, isn’t this a surprise,” a voice said out of nowhere, interrupting the flow of our conversation.

I turned to see Scarlett walking up, hands on her hips, and a saccharine smile plastered across her face. I’d been so entranced by Levi’s story that I hadn’t noticed she’d wandered away from the other table.

“Hi, I’m Scarlett,” she said, ignoring my glare and holding out her hand to Levi. “And you are…”

“Levi. Nice to meet you,” he said, hesitant but friendly enough. “You a friend of Emmy’s?”

“Something like that,” Scarlett said, staring at me hard.

“What do you want?” I asked her between clenched teeth. I looked over to see Zhara fully engrossed in a conversation with Preston. So much for being my lookout. He hadn’t even realized she was gone. I briefly wondered if I could put Scarlett on my list of people Marcus should keep away from me. For both of our sakes.

“Oh, I was just saying hi,” she said. “At first I thought you were with your…boyfriend. But I guess I was wrong.”

“Yep,” I said, getting up and trying to lead her away from Levi. “Just meeting up with a friend, and we’re sort of in the middle of something…”

“I can see that,” Scarlett said, raising an eyebrow.

“I’ll talk to you later, okay?” I said, practically pushing her back toward Zhara and Preston.

“Count on it,” Scarlett said, narrowing her eyes at me. Then, she smiled and gave a little wave. “It was nice meeting you, Levi!”

“You too,” he said, distractedly.

I watched her retreat and reminded myself of what Preston had told me about her the other day. That she was a broken teenager with daddy issues, and didn’t need another person in her life tearing her down. I took a deep breath before sitting back down across from Levi, but by this time he was already getting up.

“I should probably go, too,” he said to me apologetically.

“Uh, sure. Of course,” I said, disappointed that our conversation was ending. There was so much more I wanted to know, but I couldn’t exactly hold Levi hostage. “Thanks so much for doing this. You were a huge help.”

“Happy to hear it,” he said, holding my hand in both of his. “Take care of yourself, Emmy.”

I nodded and watched him turn around and walk out the door.

A pool of condensation had gathered around my cup of iced tea and made a ring on the tabletop. Running my fingers through the water, I made little designs on the surface as I thought over everything Levi had told me about Kyle.

Although it was more than I’d known before, I was afraid it wasn’t going to help me much.

Grabbing my drink, I stood up and called out to Zhara, motioning that I was leaving. I tried to avoid Preston’s gaze, but couldn’t help it. He was staring at me with questions in his eyes. Questions I didn’t know how to answer yet.

There was a pang in my gut as I turned on my heel and headed toward Marcus, letting him know that we were heading home.

“Wait up,” Zhara said as he scrambled to catch up with me in the parking lot.

I stopped when I’d reached Zhara’s car and waited impatiently for him to unlock the door. Once he did, I collapsed into the front seat, wishing I was already home.

“What did he say?” Zhara asked when we were finally on the road again. “You guys were talking for a while.”

“I’m surprised you noticed,” I said pointedly.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” he asked.

“It means, that you were so caught up in flirting with Preston to notice that Scarlett came over and scared Levi away,” I said, gesturing wildly with my drink. A drop of water dripped onto my foot and made its way to the surface of my flip-flop. As I leaned over to wipe the moisture away, my hand brushed up against something rough and jagged. Curious, I picked up the folded piece of paper from the floor and without thinking, began to open it.

“Excuse me, but I was just trying to keep them occupied while you got the dish,” Zhara said defensively. “And then your boy started asking all about you, thank-you-very-much. He wants to be all up in your business, Em. Though, with your current level of bitch-itude, I don’t know why.”

His comment barely registered as I stared down at the paper that had been on the floor of Zhara’s car. The words were scrawled in black pen and spanned the surface of the page. Each letter was written in caps, like the message was urgent. I read it over and over, trying to convince myself it hadn’t been left for me. But I knew it had been.

YOU’RE FINISHED, BITCH.

I looked up at the window to find that it had been left open an inch while we’d been inside the café. Just enough space for someone to drop the paper into the car. On my side.

This wasn’t just a random piece of trash. It was a warning.