“You must be cold,” the bartender said, casting an eye over the bar at Maggie’s bare legs.
Maggie’s black leather skirt extended to midthigh, and when she sat down, she kept her legs glued shut to avoid giving the world a glimpse of her bright pink panties. Her red wool coat was draped over the barstool next to her. She wore a sleeveless burgundy silk blouse.
Yes, she was cold.
“What’ll you have? Cup of hot tea?” the bartender asked, smiling.
Maggie smiled back and ordered a tall mug of tap beer.
When the bartender returned, he laid the beer in front of her. Ice clung to the side of the glass and floated inside. “What are you, a model or something?” he asked.
Maggie laughed. “That’s a good line. I like that one. In fact, I’m a cop.”
“Yeah, right.”
Maggie reached over and flipped the flap of her red coat on the bar stool. Her shield, pinned inside, gleamed up at the bartender. He raised his arms, surrendering. “Okay, you win. Isn’t there something about cops not drinking on duty?”
“Who said I was on duty?” Maggie asked.
In fact, she was still on duty, but she needed a drink.
Maggie sipped the beer slowly. It was Monday night, and the bar was half empty. All day long, she had suffered under the leering stares of teenage boys. And it all resulted in nothing. Nada. Zip. She didn’t find a single boy who would admit that he or anyone else had ever fucked Rachel behind the infamous barn. Each one of them had plenty to say when Maggie was casually crossing and uncrossing her legs, but they clammed up tight at Rachel’s name. No one wanted to paint a target on his chest for the police.
She noticed a nervous teenager standing next to her.
“Are you Ms. Bei?” Kevin Lowry asked.
Maggie gave him a quick once-over. He was a solid kid, heavy and strong, with blond hair shaved almost down to his scalp. He wore the basic uniform of the restaurant’s waiters, including black jeans and a red T-shirt that barely stretched around his barrel chest. Like all the other boys, Kevin let his eyes travel quickly up and down Maggie’s body, taking note of her legs.
They chose a small table in the corner of the bar, away from the smoke and noise. Maggie brought her beer with her. She asked if Kevin wanted a soft drink, but he shook his head. Maggie relaxed, leaning close to Kevin with her elbows on the table. Kevin sat uncomfortably across from her.
“I don’t bite,” Maggie said with a warm smile.
Kevin responded with a smile that came and went quickly. “How’s Mrs. Stoner?” he asked quietly.
“It was touch and go, but the latest word from the hospital is that she’ll be fine.”
“I feel bad. She’s had a tough time.”
“Because of Rachel?” Maggie asked.
Kevin shrugged. “Sometimes. Parents and kids always have some kind of problems.”
“Seems like they had more than their share,” Maggie said.
A ghost of a grin. “Maybe.”
“Why do you think she took the pills?”
“I guess she couldn’t take it anymore,” Kevin said.
“Take what?” Maggie asked.
“All of it.”
Maggie waited until Kevin looked up. “People tell me you’re close to Rachel. They said Rachel would have been better off with you, but she never really appreciated you. That must be frustrating.”
Kevin sighed. “Rachel has always been kind of a fantasy. I never really expected anything to come of it.”
“So what about that last night?” Maggie asked sharply. “You told us that Rachel came on to you.”
“That was nothing. She can be cruel that way.”
“Could she have been meeting someone else that night? Another boy?”
“Maybe. Rachel dated a lot. We didn’t talk about it.”
Maggie nodded. “You know, it’s funny. I talked to dozens of guys at the high school today. No one admitted going out with Rachel.”
“Big surprise,” Kevin said. “Everyone’s scared. They know what you found at the barn.”
“So they’re lying.”
“Sure,” Kevin said. “I bet she dated all of them.”
She could hear the bitterness in his voice.
“How about you?” Maggie asked.
“I already said no.”
“Except for that night,” Maggie said. “That’s kind of weird, don’t you think? She comes on to you, and that night, she disappears.”
She saw anxiety instantly bloom in his eyes.
“What do you mean?”
“You said Rachel made a date with you for Saturday night. But when you arrived at her house, she was gone.”
Kevin nodded.
“You’re sure the date wasn’t for Friday night? You didn’t make plans to go to her house later?”
“No!” Kevin told her, his voice rising.
“You didn’t go back?”
“No, I didn’t. I went home. The police talked to my parents. You know that’s what happened.”
Maggie smiled. “I know a lot of kids who are pretty good at slipping out without their parents knowing. Look, if Rachel wanted to disappear, you would have helped her, wouldn’t you? You would have done anything she asked.”
Kevin bit his lower lip and said nothing. He looked around as if he were hunting for an escape.
“So did you? Did you help her run away?” Maggie said.
“No,” Kevin insisted.
“Did you go back later anyway? Did she have another date? That would have pissed you off, right? I can understand, Kevin. You’ve loved her your whole life. She’s your fantasy. And then she starts playing games with you. That must have made you mad.”
Kevin shook his head fiercely.
“It didn’t? You didn’t go over and wait for her? Try to convince her that she was wasting time with all those other guys? They weren’t right for her. You were. But she rejected you.”
Kevin was angry now. “I didn’t see her. I didn’t go to her house.”
“You have to admit you’ve got a great motive.”
“Cut it out,” Kevin said.
“Maybe you two went out for a drive. Just to talk. And maybe you ended up at the barn. Maybe the talk didn’t go so well.”
Kevin clenched his fists. “That’s a lie.”
“We found blood and condoms at the crime scene, Kevin. What are we going to find when we do a DNA analysis?”
Kevin stood up. He was trembling with rage. “You’ll find out it’s not mine! Because I wasn’t there!”
Maggie stood up, too. She touched his arm softly, but he yanked it away. She tried to coax him into looking at her. “Sit down, Kevin. I know you weren’t there. But most of the time, I don’t know—not until I push people. The guilty ones don’t push back. Please. Sit down.”
“Rachel’s the last person in the world I would ever hurt,” Kevin said.
“I know. But it looks like someone did hurt her. So, if you didn’t go to Rachel’s house, who did?”
Kevin shook his head. “Don’t you think I’d have told you if I knew?”
“You don’t remember anything Rachel said? You didn’t hear any rumors at school? From what I understand, the barn was a popular place. It’s hard to believe there weren’t stories going around.”
“Oh, sure, everyone knows about the barn. Lots of people talk about it. But who knows what’s real and what’s just locker room bullshit, you know?”
“But you’re sure she went there,” Maggie said.
“I don’t know it for a fact. But I can’t believe she didn’t.”
“Why?”
Kevin spread his arms in exasperation. “She talked about having sex all the time.”
“Was it just talk?” Maggie asked. “Or did she really do it?”
“I don’t know. She didn’t mention names.”
Out of the corner of her eye, Maggie saw a plump teenage girl with chestnut hair standing in the doorway of the bar. Hands firmly on her hips, the girl swiveled her head, studying each table like a velociraptor. When she spotted Kevin in the corner, her face lit up in a smile. Then she saw Maggie, assessed her outfit in a single glance, and frowned. She marched toward them.
“Hello, Kevin,” the girl said loudly.
Kevin glanced up, surprised. “Sally!”
He leaped to his feet and planted a kiss on Sally’s lips.
“I came in with my parents for dinner,” Sally said. “Paula said you were in here. She was sort of pissed.” Then she added bluntly, “Who’s this?”
“This is Ms. Bei,” Kevin said. “She’s with the police.”
“The police?” Sally said, her eyebrows raised.
Maggie stood up and extended her hand, which Sally shook limply.
“We’ve both talked to the police already,” Sally said.
“I know. Kevin was just telling me he didn’t really know any of Rachel’s boyfriends,” Maggie said. “We’re thinking someone must have gone over to her house after she left the two of you. Can you think of anyone?”
“I don’t think anyone was special to Rachel,” Sally said. “She used people up and threw them away.”
“That sounds like a good way to get people pissed off,” Maggie said. “Anyone sound like he was obsessed with Rachel? Did she ever complain about someone who wouldn’t leave her alone?”
“Complain?” Sally said. “Not hardly.”
“Okay, let’s forget about Rachel for a while. What about other girls at school? They ever talk about boys who were giving them a hard time?”
Kevin scratched his chin. He looked at Sally. “What about Tom Nickel? Remember how Karin said he was always sending her those creepy notes? Real prick.”
Sally shrugged. “Sure, but that was two years ago. He graduated last year.”
“But he goes to UMD,” Kevin said. “He’s still in the area.”
“I suppose.”
Maggie wrote down the name in her book. “Anyone else?”
“Most of the guys in school are jerks,” Sally said. “That’s why I’m so lucky.” She slung an arm around Kevin’s waist, and he kissed her hair.
“How about girls who had a bad time at the barn?” Maggie asked.
There it was.
It lasted only a split second, but Maggie saw the look in Sally’s eyes. Her whole demeanor changed, the cool arrogance replaced by fear. Then, just as quickly, the moment passed. Sally turned and kissed Kevin again, not looking at Maggie. When she turned back, she had pasted a mask on her face.
“I don’t hang out with girls who go to the barn,” she said.
Maggie nodded. “I understand.”
“Kevin!” Someone shouted from the doorway to the bar. A fifty-something woman with a hassled scowl waved a stack of menus at them. “We’re dying out here. I need you now, you hear me? Right now!”
Kevin turned to Maggie. “Was there anything else? I have to go.”
Maggie shook her head. Kevin kissed Sally again and rushed out of the bar. Sally began to follow him, but Maggie tugged gently at her arm.
“Can you spare me another minute?” Maggie asked.
Frowning, Sally sat down where Kevin had been. Maggie sipped her beer and kept her eyes on Sally. The girl watched her nervously. When Maggie put the mug down, she put a hand over Sally’s on the table. Sally looked at her, confused and afraid. The feisty jealous girl was gone.
“Do you want to tell me about it, Sally?” Maggie asked quietly.
Sally tried to act surprised. “I don’t understand. Tell you what?”
“Come on,” Maggie said. “Kevin’s not here anymore. Your parents aren’t around. It’s just us girls. You can tell me.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Maggie gripped her hand tightly now. “Something happened to you. I mentioned the barn, and you practically fainted. You’ve been there, haven’t you? Look, I’m not judging you. But if you were out there and someone took advantage of you, I have to know.”
Sally shook her head. “It wasn’t like that.”
“You don’t need to make excuses for me. I’m a sister, okay? I know what men can be like.”
“I don’t want to get anyone in trouble,” Sally said. “I never thought it was anything important. I mean, I’d pretty much forgotten about it. And even when they said Rachel’s bracelet was found at the barn, well, I didn’t think there could be any connection.”
“Tell me what happened,” Maggie urged her.
Sally sighed. “I never told Kevin. I never told anyone.”
“That’s okay. You can tell me. I can help, you know?”
She watched the tangled emotions in the girl’s face. “Do you really think it could be important?” Sally asked. “It’s just too crazy.”
Maggie wanted to tear the words out of the girl’s throat, but she patiently caressed Sally’s hand and waited.
Sally’s lower lip trembled. “About six months ago, I was biking out in the countryside north of town. I drive out there sometimes and park, so I can bike on the back roads. It’s always really deserted on Sunday mornings, so I thought it would be all right.”
Maggie leaned forward. Oh, God, it wasn’t a boyfriend. It was a psycho. Damn, damn, damn. She thought about Kerry McGrath, and she tried to let her eyes communicate the message. That was stupid, girlie.
“And?” Maggie said.
“My bike busted a chain. Someone picked me up.”
“Someone?”
Sally nodded. “I mean, I knew him, so I wasn’t scared.”
“You went with him voluntarily?” Maggie asked.
“Yeah. I was miles from my car.”
“Did he try something on you?”
Sally hesitated. “Sort of. Well, no, not really. But he stopped at the barn.”
Bells began going off in Maggie’s head. She could feel goose bumps rising on her skin, the way they always did just before a case blew wide open. Finally, finally, they were going to get answers.
“What happened, Sally?”
Sally swallowed hard. She stared down at her hands folded in her lap. Suddenly, she seemed very young. It was strange, Maggie thought, how these teenagers could pretend to be so adult and mature, and then when you scratched the surface, they became children again.
“We were just talking. He told me how nice I looked. He said it was a really hot outfit I was wearing, that I was obviously in great shape. He just seemed way too—serious, I guess. It started out harmless, but after a while it got creepy.”
Maggie nodded. “Okay, what happened next?”
“Well, we were getting near the road that led to the barn. He asked me if I’d ever been there. I said no, I hadn’t. He was teasing, saying we should check and see if anyone was making out there. And then he really turned. He started heading there. I was freaking out.”
“Did you say anything?”
Sally shook her head. “I was too scared.”
“So he drove you to the barn,” Maggie said.
“Yeah. He pulled in behind it. I was ready to run. But he didn’t try anything. He just kept talking, small talk, you know. It was like he was trying to decide if he was going to make a move on me.”
“Were you afraid he was going to rape you?” Maggie asked.
“I don’t know what I thought. I mean, it was really weird.”
“But nothing actually happened.”
Sally nodded. “Another car pulled in behind us. So he took off. It was like he didn’t want to be recognized, you know? He hardly said a word to me the rest of the way, just took me back to my car and dropped me off. That was it.”
“Nothing actually happened between you?”
Sally shook her head. “No. Like I said, I was sure he was going to try something. But after it was over, I began to think I was just being stupid.”
Maggie took one of Sally’s hands. “I really need you to tell me who it was.”
“I know,” Sally said. “I thought about coming forward before, but—I didn’t really think it was important. I guess I had just convinced myself I was crazy, you know? He didn’t really mean anything.”
“Now you don’t think so.”
“I don’t know. I really don’t know.”
“Okay,” Maggie said. “Did anyone see the two of you together? Did you recognize the car that came in behind you?”
Sally shook her head. “We were out of there so quickly.”
“Tell me, Sally. I won’t let him hurt you. Who was it?”
Sally bent closer and whispered a name in Maggie’s ear.
Maggie immediately pulled her cell phone out of her coat and dialed Stride’s number.