Fun and Games - Duane Swierczynski [102]
Bullshit, BULLSHIT, BULLSHIT!
A man in a black sedan followed her all the way back to the hotel room, and then the airport.
The university cut her loose in early March. Her parents claimed not to understand, but then again, they didn’t ask too many questions, either. They continued to pay her rent and send her living expense money.
Julie continued investigating.
Spring break—of course Taylor would come out and visit her in beautiful California.
Taylor Dixon was the high-school ex, and Julie was sure that visions of their time together on that mattress in the high-rise were dancing through his head. She insisted that he bring a friend. She didn’t exactly specify why, but from the excited “Yeah” she heard over the phone, she assumed Taylor had put things together. Either Julie had a friend who was looking to hook up, or Julie wanted to try a little ménage action.
Neither was the case. She thought it would be easier with three shovels instead of two.
Taylor arrived with his pal Drew Nardo, a case of Miller Genuine Draft, a bottle of Jack Daniels, and a gleam in his eye. Julie didn’t exactly rush them, but before Taylor and Drew knew it, they were all driving out to Stockton to do her a “little favor.” Predictably, the boys freaked a bit when they heard what Julie had in mind. I mean, seriously—a graveyard? But Julie was persuasive. She told them that she’d given Bobby her father’s college ring (a lie), something she didn’t have permission to do, and unknowingly his family had buried him with it (another lie). And now her father was asking about his missing ring, and Julie couldn’t bring herself to tell him the truth (the third lie). The boys seemed to buy it. Julie also implied a wild night if they’d just help her with this one little thing, even though it was a little creepy…
The dirt was cold and hard-packed. In the two months since the burial, the earth had frozen and refrozen thanks to some freak cold blasts in this part of California. The boys worked hard, though, fortifying themselves with swallows of Jack with every foot they unearthed.
“Do they really bury coffins down six feet?” Taylor asked. “I mean, did you do your homework on this one? Because we’ve been out here all night.”
“I did,” Julie said, quietly. She’d been graveside during the funeral. She saw exactly how deep the hole went down. It took a tremendous amount of self-control to resist running toward the casket and prying it open and looking, just to confirm to herself that she wasn’t losing her mind, that Bobby was just missing, not dead…
And that was the point of this evening: to unearth the coffin and see if Bobby’s remains were indeed inside.
They’d only made it three feet down when bright lights flashed in the distance. A truck engine revved.
“What—what the fuck’s that?” Taylor asked, wiping the edge of his wrist across his forehead.
They weren’t alone. Shadowed figures swept across the graveyard, too many to count. Flashlights in their hands, beams cutting through the gloom. Thick, shadowy forms moved around headstones and mausoleums with precision. They weren’t trying to hide. They were trying to make it clear that they were in control, and that running would be futile. Of course, that didn’t stop Taylor from trying, screaming drunkenly and kicking up dirt as he scrambled into the darkness. He didn’t make it far.
The life Julie Lippman knew was over when the crack of the first gunshot echoed throughout the graveyard.
Contents
Front Cover Image
Welcome
Dedication
Epigraph
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Interlude with Mildly Famous Killers
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31