Shed made a move for him. Chess pieces had fallen to the floor. And hed had a lot of wine, a lot of pain, a lot of guilt and self-recrimination, and a lot of longing. Sheila was beautiful. So overtly sexual she was impossible to ignore. Maybe men were nothing more than slightly evolved beasts. She hadnt been wearing a damn thing beneath her red dress, and shed made a point of letting him know it.
Sheila, Im telling you, it just wouldnt be right. But there had been a guttural quality to his voice then.
I dont care, Dane. I dont care. I just want to stay. For one night. She stood then. With definite talent, she let the red dress fall to the floor. Call it a mercy fuck, she pleaded.
He wasnt sure he could throw her out naked. He wasnt sure he wanted to.
It hadnt occurred to him that she was scared of leaving. Chalk it up to arousal and maybe even a certain ego. Before he knew it, she was on her knees before him. Her eyes were pleading.
And Sheila was good at what she did.
They hadnt wound up in his bed, but right there, on the couch, where theyd played chess. Hed awakened feeling a dull throbbing in his head. Sex. Like eating food with no taste. Breathing in and out because the lungs did so without the commitment of the conscious mind. He didnt want to hurt Sheila. Theyd both been banged up enough. He didnt want to talk, either.
Hadnt needed to.
Sheila had gotten right up, grabbed the red dress and walked to the door, pausing long enough only to look out to make sure it was light. Thanks, shed said, not turning back.
Hey, my pleasure, he said lightly, hoping to make them both feel better.
Still, she hadnt looked back. That was when she had said it.
Help me, Dane.
Im trying to help you, Sheila. You dont want to listen to me.
Then, still with her back to him, You cant help it that you dont love me. I dont expect you to. I dont love you, eitherWell, as much as anyone, butI just
Then shed turned for a minute.
I need help.
Sheila, we can get you some help
Shed laughed, cutting him off. A psychologist for my nympho tendencies? She shook her head. You dont understand. And I cantexplain. She had stood in his doorway just a moment longer. In the soft pink light of dawn, he thought he saw a brief look of desperation cross her face.
I look tough, butIm afraid.
Jesus, Sheila, then youve got to change your lifestyle. His outburst had brought him to his feet. Quit picking up strangers and going off with them. Settle down with a different goal in mind, rather than striking a blow against men for all women, or whatever it is you think youre doing.
A slow smile had crossed her face. None of you have ever known just what it was like, being me. Andas for my crusadeOh, Dane! You just dont know how fucked up men are.
And then shed left.
God, she had needed help! He hadnt seen, hadnt known, how much.
It was the last time he had seen her.
Alive.
And nowsuddenly, even his palms were sweating. What was the killer going to do next to implicate him?
He had to get to the truth.
Andy Latham lived on the Gulf side of the key.
It was something that had always pleased Kelsey, although she wasnt sure exactly why. Key Largo wasnt big enough for her to feel any advantage of distance just because he lived on the other side of US1. But she had never liked Andy Latham, and during all the years when they had been growing up, Sheila had hated her stepfather.
He fished for a living, as many people in Key Largo did. He lived off the main road on a little piece of property that tenaciously clung to the ability to be called land, off a small street that had once been little more than mangrove swamp but had been turned into viable land with fill from the dredging for a nearby hotel harbor that had been built in the late fifties.
It wasnt more than a ten-minute drive from the duplex to Andy Lathams house. Once upon a time it had been a pretty decent structure. Back in the fifties, contractors had known the full vengeance of storms. The home had been built well out of concrete block and stucco. It was a small house, two bedrooms, a kitchen, a living room and an open back porch that led straight to the dock and Andys fishing boat. Kelsey knew the house fairly well because Sheila had lived in it until she had turned seventeen, when she had gotten work at a now defunct seafood restaurant. She had never asked to stay with any of her friends but first had taken a little room at the home of the restaurant owner, then gotten her own apartment on the day she turned eighteen. Kelsey could remember her folks talking about Sheila, saying that they should take her in. But there had been a hesitance in their wanting to do the good deed, and since Sheila had pointedly told Kelsey she wanted to be entirely on her own, she hadnt pushed the matter.
She wondered now if things might have been different if she had.
Even as she turned off the main road and headed southwest down the poorly kept county road that led to the few scattered houses on the street, the sun seemed to take a sharp drop toward the horizon. There were still some pinks and grays in the sky, which was good, since Latham had no outside lights on, and the front yard was dangerously overgrown with shrubbery and weeds.
So much for it being daylight.
Kelsey couldnt quite get her little Volvo into the drive, so she parked on the heavily rutted street. Getting out of the car, she wished she had changed into jeans. Twigs and high grass teased her legs as she made her way to the excuse for a front walk, and she was certain that every creepy crawly thing in the brush was making a beeline for her bare legs.
At the door, she knocked, looking at the sky. She reminded herself that she wasnt afraid of Andy Latham, he was just a scuzz.
Yeah? What do you want? Latham demanded, throwing open the door.
The strange thing about Andy Latham was that he wasnt a bad-looking man. He had been younger than Sheilas mother by about five years when they had married, Kelsey knew. She reckoned that made him about forty-five now. He was tall, with the lean strength of a man who spent his life occupied in physical labor. When he wasnt fishing, he worked odd construction jobs and had managed to keep his lean appearance all these years. His face was weathered, like that of many men down here who had spent years outside in the sun. He had keen hazel eyes and a full head of dark hair, only lightly dusted with gray. Tonight, he was dressed decently in jeans that appeared to be both clean and fairly new. He was wearing a polo shirt that also appeared to be clean and even pressed.
Why, if it isnt little Kelsey, all grown up, Latham said before she could speak.
Hi, Mr. Latham. Yes, its Kelsey Cunningham.
Come in, come in, he said, stepping back. Kelsey felt as if he were wearing the look of a spider who had unexpectedly come across a fly already caught it its web.
Looking past him, she could see the interior of the living room. It hadnt changed much. The old place actually had a coral rock fireplace, and the overstuffed chair in front of it was the same one that had been there as long as Kelsey could remember.
And also just as she had remembered, there were beer cans littering the floor next to it, along with wrappers and leftovers from various fast food chains. Latham had never air-conditioned the place, preferring to leave the back glass doors open to the patio all the time for the breeze. Air-conditioning cost too much money; natural air was cheaper. Many people relied on it when their houses were set in the shade of overgrown trees, taking advantage of the cooler air that came off the water. But in Lathams case, the open doors didnt seem to bring in the breeze. The smell of decaying fast food and fish seemed to permeate the house. Flies buzzed around an empty French fry wrapper.
And also just as she had remembered, there were beer cans littering the floor next to it, along with wrappers and leftovers from various fast food chains. Latham had never air-conditioned the place, preferring to leave the back glass doors open to the patio all the time for the breeze. Air-conditioning cost too much money; natural air was cheaper. Many people relied on it when their houses were set in the shade of overgrown trees, taking advantage of the cooler air that came off the water. But in Lathams case, the open doors didnt seem to bring in the breeze. The smell of decaying fast food and fish seemed to permeate the house. Flies buzzed around an empty French fry wrapper.
Kelsey didnt want to set foot inside the house.
No, no, Mr. Latham, I didnt come by to bother you. Looks like youre ready to go out.
I am, I am, but theres always time for an old friend. Come on in. Can I get you something? Beer, orbeer or water, I guess. Arent you looking fine, young lady. Well, I guess big city life agrees with you.
I have a good job that I like very much, Kelsey said. Really, I dont need to come in, I just came by to ask you about Sheila.
If she was going to talk to Latham, she was going to have to step inside, Kelsey realized, since he was already walking into the living room.
She entered cautiously, leaving the door open behind her.
Latham had to check two beer cans before finding the one that still had something in it. His back was to her as he finished off the contents and stared into the fireplace.
Mr. Latham, I was just wondering if, by any chance, you knew where Sheila was.
He turned to face her then, hands on his hips, staring at her.
Why? What has the little tramp done now?
She hasnt done anything, Mr. Latham. She was supposed to meet me down here, but she hasnt shown up since Ive arrived. We were supposed to meet yesterday at lunchtime. She hasnt been home, and it seems no one has seen her in a week.
To her amazement, he started to laugh.
Shes only been missing a week, and youre worried?
We had plans, Mr. Latham.
He looked her up and down for a long moment. You can call me Andy, you know. Youre an adult, all grown up.
Yes, Kelsey said politely. But since youll always be Sheilas stepdad to me, its just more comfortable to call you Mr. Latham.
Kelsey didnt know why it seemed imperative to keep as close to the door as she could, but it did.
Latham started shaking his head as if he were looking at one of the craziest people on earth. Then he laughed again, a sound with no amusement. Well, missy, I can promise youIm the last person Sheila would come to and report her whereabouts. Raised her when her ma up and died on me, and what the hell did I get for it? A slap in the face and a kick in the ass. She never once thanked me for keeping her after her ma died. Never realized that I hadnt adopted her, that I didnt owe her squat, that I put myself out to keep her in clothes and put food in her mouth. From the time she was ten years old, she was a little bitch, hassling me for the way I lived, knocking me for not making enough money. She hightailed it out of here the minute she could. And she only comes back when she wants money.
Despite her unease, Kelsey felt compelled to defend her friend. If Im not mistaken, Mr. Latham, Sheilas mother left money to you for the express purpose of raising Sheila. And I believe there are also several joint trust accounts.
Little wiseass, arent you, girl? The whole lot of your generation, not a bone of gratitude in you. What do you think it costs to keep a kid in school? Go to the doctor, the dentist, buy books, paper, clothes. Hell, her mother couldnt have left enough money for what Sheila has cost me. I dont give a damn whether I ever hear from her again or not.
But she has to keep in touch with you, because of the money, Kelsey persisted.
Latham took a step toward her.
Out on the streets, she thought, he wouldnt have scared her. If she hadnt known him, he might even have appeared to be a decent looking and friendly kind of fellow. An all-around American male, the type to watch football on a Sunday afternoon, play armchair quarterback and show up for work on Monday morning to talk over the game with the guys.
Except that he smelled a little like fish.
But she did know him. She knew he had taken a belt to Sheila several times when she had lived at home.
And he made her nervous as hell.
She took a backward step toward the door.
Look, Im really worried about Sheila, Kelsey said. If you do hear anything from her, anything at all, please have her get in touch with me right away.
And where would that be, missy? he asked. He was walking toward her again. She had the strangest sensation that if he touched her, she would somehow be marked for life. The remaining light outside had faded. The living room was lit by one weak bulb in a lamp with no shade. The pale light fell on the carcasses of mounted fish on the wall, and the head and neck of a tiny key deer with glassy eyes.
Just tell Sheila to get ahold of me if you hear from her. Shell know where I am.
Youre staying out at her place, eh?
Mr. Latham, you did raise Sheila. You must have some feelings for her.
Yeah, I hate the little bitch.
Im worried, and shes missing. And the police will be around to talk to you, Kelsey said, her sense of both uneasiness and indignation rising within her.
The cops? Latham said, then he repeated the words, his voice seeming to rise to a roar. The cops! You called the cops on me because that little twit of a girl has gone off with some poor Joe she intends to milk for all hes worth?
At that point he was almost upon her. Dignity and courtesy be damned, Kelsey was getting out. She turned and headed for the door. She heard him following after her. She felt his breathing.
His hand clamped down on her shoulder. She almost screamed as he spun her around. Dont you go causing trouble for me, you hear? You mark my wordsSheila is off with some mana fool with money, with any luck. Getting the police involved is just going to get her into trouble. Maybe shell even see some jail time, understand? Dont go getting the cops involved with Sheila and me. Dont you do it over that riffraff girl!
He had powerful fingers. They were digging into her shoulder. His face was taut with tension, and his eyes had a hard yellow gleam about them.
The stench of fish wafted over her.
Let go of my shoulder.
He smiled. The man had amazingly good teeth. Very white. It could have been a good smile, but instead it was full of menace and pleasure at the fear he was sensing in her.
You came to my house to throw accusations in my face, little lady, he said quietly, not releasing her.
Accusations? Kelsey said. I didnt accuse you of anything. I asked you if you had seen Sheila, and if you could tell her Im looking for her if you do see her.
If you didnt accuse me of anything, why are you calling the cops on me?
His grasp had a definite biting quality. He was strong, or, at least, stronger than she was.
Cindy had been right. She shouldnt have come here. Alone. At night.
Alone at any time, she thought.
She wanted to remain calm and rational; she also wanted to scream and jerk away from him. She tried to remember all the movies she had seen, all the programs she had watched about dealing with dangerous situations. Dont show fear? Or scream like blue blazes, push away with all her strength and run like the wind?