The Monet Murders (The Art of Murder 2)
No lie.
After another minute, he pushed out of Sam’s hold and turned onto his back. “Sorry. God. It’s just…every time I go to sleep, I see him.”
“It’ll fade. The memory. You’ll stop dreaming about it.”
Sam spoke with the certainty of experience. Jason nodded, but what he was thinking was maybe it shouldn’t fade. The horror of Shipka’s murder, yes. He needed to stop seeing that every time he closed his eyes. But Shipka himself, he needed to remember. What Shipka had been trying to achieve—justice for Paris Havemeyer—that shouldn’t be forgotten.
He realized he hadn’t answered Sam. In the dark, every motion, every gesture was a rustling sound to be interpreted, but he thought Sam was pretty good at reading him at any time of day or night.
“It can’t be your guy,” Jason said. “The unsub. It can’t be your unsub. That’s not the same psyche at work. Is it?”
Kennedy said, “It’s not the same kind of crime, no. That was a rage killing. But my unsub may not be working alone. He may have a partner.”
“A partner.”
He felt Kennedy’s assent.
“Double the fun.” His voice sounded off even to himself, and Kennedy reached over and traced a gentle hand down his chest.
“Listen. You’re out of it now. This is my case, not yours.”
Jason gave a disbelieving laugh. “It’s kind of my case. Shipka came to me. He brought me information I can’t just ignore. It’s relevant to my case.”
“And you’ll keep working that angle. The larceny and fraud angle. From the safety of the LA office.”
Jason raised his head, trying to read Sam’s face in the dark. He didn’t want to get into an argument over boundaries and authority, but if Sam thought Jason was okay with being relegated to the “safety of the LA office,” he had another think coming.
He said, “Shipka knew about Donald Kerk, but he didn’t mention interviewing Kerk. Or Berguan, for that matter.”
“Who’s Berguan?”
“Rodney Berguan was with Kerk the night Havemeyer disappeared. The three of them shared a taxi when they left the party at the gallery. Havemeyer said he wasn’t ready to call it a night, so Kerk and Berguan continued home. They were the last people to see Havemeyer before he disappeared. Berguan went with Kerk to file the MPR when Havemeyer didn’t turn up after a few days.”
Sam made a noncommittal noise.
“It seems like Shipka would have started there, but he never mentioned interviewing Kerk or Berguan.”
“Kerk was out of the country and maybe he couldn’t locate Berguan. It was a long time ago.”
“Maybe he’s dead,” Jason said. “Everyone else is.”
“You’re not,” Sam said. “I’m not.” He leaned over and kissed Jason.
Jason said, “I didn’t think there was any chance of this again. Not after LA.”
Sam shook his head. Not the most reassuring response.
Jason gave it a few seconds, but Sam still said nothing.
Jason’s throat closed. But it would be better to know. He forced the words out.
“So is this it? Ar
e we saying goodbye?”
The silence that followed seemed to last forever. Finally, Sam said, “I didn’t think it would be this difficult.”
“Which part?” Jason asked tersely.