You Only Die Twice - By Christopher Smith Page 0,19
we’ll tell him what happened. He and others will then begin their investigation at The Grind. I’m assuming you left Cheryl there?”
“In the parking lot.”
“Then they’ll check the parking lot. And they’ll question the owners. And they’ll question the regulars the owners know by name to see if they were there last night and saw anything unusual. I’m sorry, Patty. This is awful―I understand that. But you didn’t do anything wrong. Between us, Barbara wasn’t exactly the first woman I had relations with. When you’re in the Army and away from home and living in Paris, as I was in my early twenties, things happen and I don’t regret any of it. Especially Eveline. But when Barbara and I married? That was that. You’re a single woman and a consenting adult who had a crime committed against her. Those are the facts. You did nothing wrong. All right?”
“All right.”
“Now, we need to follow procedure and we need to act quickly. Are you willing to do that?”
“I’ll do anything for Cheryl.”
“That’s good to hear, but soon you’re going to have to start doing things for yourself. You matter as much as Cheryl does. Are we clear on that? What happened to you last night was terrible. We’ll get to the bottom of it. We don’t know where Cheryl is now, but we’ll find her. I need you to believe that. That girl is as special as you are. We will find her.”
He got up from his desk and called downtown to one of his detective friends. “Steve,” he said. “James. Fine, fine. It was good seeing you and Mary last week. I know―he tends to get that way. Listen, I have an issue. I need you to meet me at the emergency room at Eastern Maine in ten minutes if you can. I’ll be there with a Miss Patty Jennings.” There was a silence and in that silence, James Coleman frowned. “I’m not sure if she’s the Patty Jennings you know of, Steve, but we’ll see you there in ten? Good. And Steve? A favor for an old friend? I’ve come to you with this for a reason. For as long as possible, would you keep this quiet for me? I understand. But whatever you can do would be appreciated. See you soon.”
He hung up the phone and looked at her. “Are you ready?”
“Do you think he’ll call the press?”
“Not right away, but eventually, if Cheryl does go missing for more than twenty-four hours, it will come to that. At that point, she’ll be a missing person and the two stories will become one.”
She stood. “So, let’s do this,” she said.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Kenneth Berkowitz stopped cold when he heard the shriek far off in the distance.
He listened to the woods. He listened to the breeze and he breathed it in. He felt the beat of the sun on his face, he listened to the leaves fall from the trees, and he heard birds signing. He tuned in hard to his surroundings, fully aware of all that could be lost to him if he didn’t listen carefully.
In spite of having run far, he was so fit, he hadn’t broken a sweat and he was breathing normally. And so he listened with no interference. A silence passed. Then, he thought he heard movement in the underbrush, but it was too far away to tell if it was human movement or an animal’s movement.
In woods this deep, it could be anything.
But he knew the shriek he heard was human, and that it belonged to the cigarette-smoking whore that was Cheryl Dunning. He was certain of that. Was she dead? Had Ted killed her without him? Did Ted have no choice because God commanded him to do so? He wasn’t sure. The only thing he knew is that what he heard was Dunning and that right now, her death might already have happened.
If that was the case, he felt cheated and disappointed. Was he not to be there for each death? Was he not to help deliver the divine calling with those he targeted with Ted? He would never, ever challenge God’s will, so he only could accept what might have happened and that Ted was meant to learn something from that kill for a reason.
Still, as much as he wanted to believe this, he knew he was, after all, a divine spirit that existed above Ted. He knew that Jesus Christ viewed him differently. He was brighter than Ted. He had a vision for their