“About time you got here,” his dad said. He set down the carburetor. “Working?”
“Yeah.”
Mark reached below his workbench to a small refrigerator that he kept stocked with beer. The beer was supposed to be a secret from Eileen who monitored her husband’s blood pressure like a hawk. But Eileen had discovered her husband’s secret long ago. Maintaining the pretense had become a game.
His dad pulled out a brown bottle filled with a microbrewery beer. He twisted off the top and handed the bottle to his son before grabbing one for himself. “Don’t tell your mother.”
A smile played on Garrison’s lips. “Never.”
Mark held up his bottle. “To Debbie.”
Garrison raised his bottle and clinked it against his father’s. He took a long pull, needing the moment to wrestle the surge of emotion from his chest. Shit. He’d lost a sister. “Their deaths never get easy.”
“Sucks.”
“How’s Mom?”
“You know Mom. She keeps a smile on her face, but I caught her watching home movies last night. We bawled like babies.”
“Which ones did you watch? ”
“Remember the beach vacation from hell? The one where it rained and you and Debbie fought the whole time? You must have been in sixth grade.”
Debbie had felt good that summer so their parents had opted for the family’s first vacation. “Christ, she annoyed the hell out of me that week. She kept stealing my stuff so I’d have to track her down and demand it back.”
“That last night on vacation you two sang ‘Happy Birthday’ to your mother. I taped it.”
“I’d forgotten about that.” For the first time in a long time his smile was genuine. “Debbie had painted a mustache on me while I slept.”
His father chuckled. “They weren’t kidding when they said permanent marker. Of course the hearts you traced on her cheeks to get back at her didn’t help the situation. ”
“She had it coming.”
“So there are my two kids, looking like rejects from the circus, singing ‘Happy Birthday’ off-key and as loud as they could to their mother.”
“Pretty bad.”
He heisted his beer and took a swig. “Nope. Pretty great.” Mark sniffed back a tear and set his bottle down on the workbench with a thud. “So tell me about your case before I bawl again.”
Garrison welcomed the distraction. He cleared his throat. “Remember that fire at the homeless shelter on Monday night?”
“Yeah. There was a fatality.”
“The victim wasn’t killed by the fire. She was stabbed to death.”
“Really?” His father’s eyes sparked with a hunter’s gleam Garrison had seen so often as a kid.
“The killer did something odd to his victim. He burned stars into her skin before killing her.”
His father frowned, his cop’s mind working full speed now. “Really. What kind of star?”
“Interesting you should ask. A four-pointed star. The killer used a branding iron.”
“Really?” Mark Garrison sipped his beer. “Any forensics?”
“The killer is very careful. Organized. We thought we might have a witness, but the guy was found dead in a Leesburg apartment. Also stabbed.”
Mark took a pull on his beer. “Were all the points of the star even or shaped like a cross?”
Deacon’s attention sharpened. His dad’s mind still worked like a cop’s. “Even. What do you know?”
Mark shook his head. “There was a case in a small town thirty miles south of here about ten years ago. I didn’t work the case but heard about it. The victim was branded with a four-pointed star.”
“Was she stabbed?”
Mark rested his hand on his hip as if sinking into the past. “No. She lived.”
“Do you remember the particulars?”
He rubbed the back of his neck. “The guy brutally raped her and then took her necklace, heated it on the stove and burned her skin. The prosecution turned things around and made it look like the victim and rapist were lovers. I remember being pissed for the victim. ”
Eileen pushed through the door that connected the garage to the kitchen. She had a plate with a roast beef sandwich, pickles and chips. In her other hand she held an iced Coke. “You two look deep in thought.”
“I was just telling The Boy about an old case. You remember the Price University case?”
Eileen set the plate on the workbench. “I do. That was about the time we adopted Carrie.” She shrugged. “Of course the two have nothing to do with each other. We mothers mark the time with our children.”
“What was the girl’s name?” Mark said.
“I don’t remember her name, but I do remember the case. I saw her in the news and she looked so lost. My heart went out to her.”
“Dad said she was burned with a star-shaped pendant,” Deacon said.
“Yes.” She dropped her gaze and frowned. “As I remember, the girl attended Price University on scholarship. What did she and her friends call each other?”
Mark hesitated then snapped his fingers. “The Shining Stars.”
“No, that wasn’t it.” She frowned and then snapped her fingers. “The Rising Stars. One of the girls had pendants fashioned up for each girl. They were in a sorority together. ”
Mark nodded. “That’s right.”
“I don’t remember how the rapist knew the girls. Maybe he dated one of them.”
Mark nodded. “That’s right. He came to the house the last day of the semester. Broke into the house, found her alone and brutalized her. When the other girls returned, the house was on fire. They barely saved the victim. The story got a lot of media attention because it involved a pretty girl and a rich boy.”
Anger burned hot in Deacon’s gut. “And the attacker? What happened to him?”
“The victim killed him,” Eileen said.
Grim satisfaction rose in Garrison. “Really?”
“Not so good,” Eileen said. “The boy was Josiah Cross and his father was Darius Cross.”
“The wealthy businessman?”
“That’s right. He refused to believe his son could be a rapist. And he went out of his way to prove that the sex was consensual and the girl killed him in a jealous rage.” Eileen shook her head. “Your dad told me he’d seen the case files. Said no way a reasonable man could look at her bruising and medical reports and believe they had consensual sex. B
ut the girls from the sorority house all testified that they saw the girl kill the boy. Hit him with a poker. ”
Garrison took a pull on his beer. “What happened?”
Mark’s lips flattened into a grim line. “She was convicted of manslaughter and sent to jail.”
“Shit.”
Mark shrugged. “Darius Cross would not be denied. He wanted his son’s memory cleared and this girl punished. I’m not so sure if it has anything to do with your case.” Mark shrugged. “Silly to recall an old case. I doubt the two are connected. The star brand jogged my memory. ”
“When did you say this happened?”
“Ten or so years ago. While you were still in the air force.”
Deacon picked up a chip and ate it. “Couldn’t hurt to look and see if either of my victims were connected to the case.”
Moonlight glistened on the street as Eva draped one arm around a customer as she held up her other hand to hail a cab. The man walking beside her wobbled with each step and he smelled of the gin he’d spilled on his pants. He’d shown up at King’s drunk about an hour ago. At first she’d not realized he’d had too much so she’d served him. But when he ordered his second gin and tonic in less than ten minutes she’d cut him off and called a cab.
“I’m fine, little lady,” he slurred.
At least he was a happy drunk. “I know.” The cab stopped and she leaned him against the side as she opened the back door. “Remember, come to King’s tomorrow for your car key. We’ll have it for you behind the bar.”
He gifted her with a sloppy boyish grin. “I will never remember that.”
“I’ve tucked a note in your pocket just in case.” She guided him into the seat and fastened his seat belt. She gave the driver the man’s address, which she’d gotten from his driver’s license. “Be careful, Harvey.”
His head dropped back against the seat. “Will do, doll.”
She closed the door and the cab drove off. Her back ached and her feet had grown to the size of watermelons. Shaking off the fatigue, she went back inside. Over the next half hour, she cleaned the bar and put the chairs on the tables for tomorrow’s cleaning. King remained in his office counting the day’s receipts and preparing the night drop at the bank.