Her Last Word(27)

Kaitlin slowly folded a sheet of notebook paper, buying time before saying, “He says he knows where Gina is.”

Mrs. Hayward’s serene face crumpled, revealing raw pain. She raised a trembling hand and pressed it against closed eyes, until finally she opened them. Watery blue eyes reflected a blend of sadness and unchecked anger. “Randy is a liar. You know that.”

“I do. I’ve reminded myself a dozen times in the last few hours. But he knew details no one else did.”

“What details?”

“I don’t think I can say,” Kaitlin said.

“Why not?”

“The police are looking into it.”

Mrs. Hayward tipped her head, holding back tears desperate to spill. Her lips trembled before she steadied herself and met Kaitlin’s gaze. “Don’t let him use Gina to get out of this latest charge. He used me more times than I can remember. I had hoped time in prison would make him a better man, but it’s made him even more evil.”

“Do you know about the current charges against him?”

“I keep track. If I hadn’t helped him after Gina vanished, there would have been less suffering in the world for all of us, you included.”

“What was he like around the time Gina vanished? Did he act more jumpy than usual?”

“He rarely slept then. I would hear him come in at all hours, and when he was here he was either watching television or pacing. I soon learned that meth could keep him up for a week or more. He spent a lot of time in the garden shed.”

“Did you ever look in the shed?”

“Yes. One day he left the house in such a rage. Randy was in one of his moods, and it scared me. I went to the shed, thinking I’d find his drugs. I was going to destroy them.”

“What did you find?”

“Nothing. I remember feeling so relieved.” She twisted a pearl earring.

“Is the shed still there?”

“I had it demolished ten years ago.”

If Gina had been in the shed, the evidence was long gone. “I remember Randy was close to Derek Blackstone and Brad Crowley.”

Mrs. Hayward rose and moved to a Queen Anne desk, opened a bottom drawer, and removed a framed picture. She smoothed her hand over the image. “It was easy to love Randy then. He was so funny. So charming.” She looked up. “That little boy died a long time ago.” She handed the picture to Kaitlin. “Here he is with Brad and Derek. By the time Gina went missing, those two had moved on with their lives, whereas Randy was stealing my silver for drugs.”

Kaitlin studied the image of the three boys who were standing in front of a fifth-grade graduation banner. “They all went to Saint Mathew’s, didn’t they?”

“Yes. Graduated with Randy. Did you hear Brad became a plastic surgeon?”

“Yes. He married Erika Travis.”

“Does Erika seem . . . happy with Brad?”

“Hard to say. We only spoke briefly.”

“Derek is a very successful lawyer. He called me after Randy’s latest arrest. I didn’t answer the phone, but he left a message. He wanted me to know he would protect Randy.”

“How?”

“I supposed he’d act as his lawyer.” Instead of explaining more, she shifted the topic, saying, “I heard about Jennifer on the news. Terrible.”

“Yes.”

“Randy couldn’t have killed Jennifer.” The mother still couldn’t resist defending her son.

“No.” Kaitlin scribbled down the names of Randy’s friends. “Do you mind if I snap a picture of this?” she asked.

“Sure.”

Kaitlin took several pictures of the smiling boys with her phone. “Thank you, Mrs. Hayward. Do you want me to call if I find out anything?”

Her lips thinned. “No, child. I don’t want to know. Goodbye.”



Kaitlin had not revisited the spot by the river since she left Richmond fourteen years ago. Returning now was harder than she’d imagined. Her chest tightened and her hands trembled as she stood on the narrow road hugging the river just under Mrs. Hayward’s house.

The afternoon sun cast a warm glow on the rippling water lazily drifting past large rocks. The warmth of the sun took the edge off the cold and blustery air as she walked toward the outcropping of boulders that would be packed with sunbathers in only a few months. It looked so peaceful. So innocent.

She closed her eyes. The soothing sounds of nature grew silent in the wake of Gina’s screams. Her cries. And when she opened her eyes, for a brief second, she saw the menacing clown mask.

Every fiber in her demanded she run now.

Run, Kaitlin. Run.

Her fingers curled into fists.

Breathless, she retraced the same path she had walked with Gina. She hugged the shoulder of the narrow road, remembering as an occasional car came flying by full of kids not paying attention. With each step, she felt the pull of the past.

“You’re such a bitch, Gina. Can’t you wait up?”

“Hurry up.”

“God, I hate you.”

Kaitlin was now a half mile from Pony Pasture and standing at the spot. Her heart pounded as fragmented memories rushed her from all sides.

The knife to Gina’s throat and then her ear. Gina’s screams. The blood. The seconds when she didn’t remember but must have stood in shock and utter denial that this could be happening. A memory of those missing moments reached out and teased her, but it quickly drifted away. Why couldn’t she remember?