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“Is your dad also a big reader?”
He shrugged. “No, not really.”
“Your mom, then?”
His gaze shifted back to the wall. “Maybe. I’m not sure.” His Adam’s apple bobbed. “She died when I was seven.”
“I’m so sorry. I assumed your parents were divorced.”
“That’s okay.” He met Holly’s gaze. “I don’t remember that much about her. Mostly just what my dad tells me.”
Holly studied him, feeling bad for bringing it up. “It’s hard to lose someone you love.” She wondered how his mother had died. Her gaze travelled to theXon the wall where Meg’s body had been found.
“Well, I better go,” he said. “I promised my dad I’d help make dinner, and I’ve got some homework to do.” He looked down at the faded paperback in his hand. “Thanks for the book. I should have it back to you sometime this weekend.”
Holly waved a hand through the air. “Take your time.”
“It was nice to talk to someone about books,” he said as Holly followed him down the stairs. “My friends are only into video games.”
“They’re missing out.”
He nodded, throwing her a lopsided grin. “Definitely.”
Holly paused halfway down the staircase. “If you likedHelter Skelter, I have another book you might like calledTill Death Us Do Part. It’s written by that same attorney. If you have a minute, I’ll run up and see if I can find it.”
“Sure.” He nodded. “Thanks.”
“Be right back.” Holly bounded up the stairs, only to return a few minutes later without having found it. “I looked through the boxes I packed, but it must still be at my houseboat. Sorry.”
“That’s okay. I’m excited to read this one.” The boy stood tall after tying his shoelaces when Holly reached the bottom of the stairs.
She appraised the well-mannered teenager as he opened the front door. Clint had done a great job raising such a nice kid as a single parent. It couldn’t be easy to do alone.
“Thanks again for the book,” he said before stepping outside.
“You’re welcome.”
He turned, reaching into the front pocket of his hooded sweatshirt. “Oh. I almost forgot.” He pulled out a mass market paperback copy ofThe Last Broadcast.“Would you sign this for me?”
Holly blushed. It didn’t matter how many books she’d signed; she still felt flushed whenever someone asked. “Sure.” She took the book as he pulled a pen from his pocket and held it out to her.
Her cheeks felt hot when she opened it to the title page but for a completely different reason. “Oh, my gosh. Sorry, I don’t think I got your name?”
“It’s John.”
“John,” she repeated as she signed the book to him. She smiled, closing the book and handing it back. “It was nice to meet you.”
Chapter 28
JOHN
John separated the navy-blue curtains and peered out his upstairs bedroom window, watching Holly return to work. His bedroom gave him a clear view into Holly’s office window. It had been hard for him not to react when he’d seen the photo of the woman who’d disappeared from Albertson’s a few nights ago tacked to her wall. What if his dad had picked her up and killed her after John went to bed that night?
What worried John more was the list of names Holly had written beneathBus Stop Killer. John had never heard that nickname before. Not everything on Holly’s wall was right, but she was a hell of a lot closer to the truth than the police were. It had taken all his willpower not to show his amazement—and fear—after seeing those familiar faces laid out like that.
John studied the true crime author as she pulled a pair of headphones over her head and began to type. Holly Sparks was a problem. His dad had been much more careful about his kills over the last five years, and it seemed so had the Green River Killer. How had this crime writer connected the dots to Sally and Jennifer Duran when even the cops couldn’t figure it out? Whatif she somehow connected them to his dad? It made his heart hammer in his chest like a trapped bird.
John vividly recalled the moment when he asked his dad if he’d killed Jennifer Duran. It was right after they’d gotten home from Fairbanks where John had seen the news in the motel that the Seattle waitress’s body had been discovered. His father had admitted it, and it had been the last time he’d spoken to John about his kills.