The Killings (An Olivia Miller Mystery Book 1)

  THE KILLINGS

  An Olivia Miller Mystery - Prequel

  J.A. Whiting

  Copyright 2015 J.A. Whiting

  Cover copyright 2014 www.humblenations.com

  Formatting by www.polgarusstudio.com

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, or incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to locales, actual events, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this publication can be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, without permission in writing from J. A. Whiting.

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  For my twisted sister, with love

  December 15, 1943 - January 6, 2015

  Chapter 1

  A huge yellow-orange moon rose over the treetops, as wisps of dark clouds passed across its glowing face. Olivia Miller and her roommate Melissa walked along the brick sidewalk of the Somerville, Massachusetts neighborhood near the edge of the university campus.

  “Look at the moon,” Melissa said, her brown eyes beaming.

  “Looks just like a Halloween moon,” Olivia said. “Perfect for tonight.” She was carrying a plate of freshly-baked chocolate chip cookies. Melissa had a six-pack of beer in one hand and a bottle of red wine in the other. Olivia and Melissa were dressed as crows. They and three other friends made matching costumes of black pants and black sweatshirts with a crow’s beak attached to the hoods. They had spent hours cutting and sewing on the beaks and the fabric feathers. The girls were pleased with how the costumes came out and with their idea to be a “murder of crows” for the night’s pre-Halloween party.

  Olivia and Melissa strolled along tree-lined streets past two and three-decker apartment houses. Some of the houses were rented by families or long-time Somerville residents and others were rented by university students. The groups peacefully co-existed in this area of the city, unlike in other parts where students were often rowdy and noisy and the residents called the cops and complained. Many of these homes had pots of mums sitting side by side with pumpkins to decorate their front porches. At the end of the month, children would take to the sidewalks disguised as ghosts and witches and vampires on the prowl for candy to fill their bags.

  “I shouldn’t be going out tonight,” Olivia said, pushing a strand of her long brown hair behind her ear. “I have to get my applications finished up and I have a paper due on Monday.”

  “Those law school applications can wait,” Melissa said. “I need to get my med school apps finished, but we need to have some fun. And you’ve been working on that paper all week. We don’t have to stay at the party long. A couple of hours and then we can head back if we want. We shouldn’t be hermits. It’s our senior year of college. We should be able to have some fun too.”

  Olivia knew that Melissa was right. They both had been buried in school work lately and Olivia was looking forward to relaxing, listening to music, and talking with friends. “It was nice of Colleen to invite us to the party,” Olivia said. “I know she lives with a couple of guys. I’ve seen them around, but I’ve never met them.”

  “I hung out with Gary once or twice with a bunch of other friends,” Melissa said. “I don’t know him well at all, but he seemed nice. I’ve never met Christian though.”

  The girls approached the apartment building where the party was to be held. It was a brick structure of six floors with four apartments on each floor. The side street was empty with no one else in sight. A breeze rustled the leaves around their feet.

  “Are we early?” Olivia asked looking up at the second floor windows. There were lights on in the apartment but she couldn’t hear voices or music playing and didn’t see anyone moving around inside.

  “We must be,” Melissa groaned. “I hate being first.”

  They walked up the front porch steps and Melissa scanned the mailbox names looking for the button to press for the correct apartment.

  “The door’s open,” Olivia said. “No need to buzz.”

  Olivia and Melissa stepped into the small lobby and climbed the staircase to the second floor apartment.

  “Mel, do we have the right night?” Olivia asked. “It’s so quiet. I can’t hear anyone inside.” She knocked on the apartment door and the pressure nudged it open a crack. A prickle of anxiety ran through Olivia’s body.

  Melissa put her hand on the door and pushed it wider. “Hey? Anyone home?” She stepped into the small vestibule. Several shoes were lined up on a mat along the right side of the entry. Jackets hung from white hooks screwed into the wall above the shoes.

  Olivia hesitated. She didn’t understand why, but something felt off. Under her jacket, a flash of panic skittered over her skin and she had the urge to run away. She brushed off the sensation and followed Melissa into the apartment. There were three bikes leaning against the left side wall of the entryway.

  “Colleen?” Melissa called. “Where is everybody?”

  Olivia and Melissa walked through the entryway into the apartment’s main hall. Melissa stopped short in the living room’s arched entrance and Olivia almost collided into her back.

  “Liv.” Melissa’s voice quavered. “No. No.” The bottle of wine slipped from her hand, clunked against the wood floor, and rolled a few inches away.

  “What?” Olivia looked over Melissa’s shoulder. Her throat constricted and she gagged. Her hands trembled and she almost dropped the plate she was holding.

  Melissa spun around, pushing past Olivia. She ran out of the apartment and back into the second floor hall. She stood near the staircase, hunched over, breathing hard and making a small wailing sound.

  Olivia took a shaky step into the living room, her eyes wide with shock.

  A young man was lying face up on the floor in front of the couch. It was Gary. Blood had soaked through the front of his skeleton costume. His eyes were wide open. Olivia shifted her gaze to the right side of the room. Christian was sprawled in an easy chair, his upper body hanging over the arm of the seat at a weird angle. A cowboy hat had fallen from his head. Blood dripped from a gash in his throat and formed a good-sized puddle on the floor next to the chair. His arms hung loose. He was wearing a fringed suede vest over what was once a white T-shirt. Now it was red. The skin of Christian’s face was so ghostly pale.

  There was a strange metallic smell in the room. Olivia stared at the blood puddle just as another drop fell from Christian’s throat. Her stomach clenched. Blood roared in her ears. She wanted to run but her limbs were so weak that she couldn’t summon the enormous effort required to move them. All she could do was stand frozen in the doorway.

  The room started spinning. Olivia placed one hand against the wall. Her eyes moved over the bodies, the blood. Her brain, sluggish and slow, struggled to process what was before her. Olivia had never seen a young person dead. The image was so unnatural that part of her expected the young men to sit up and laugh, that the whole scene was staged by them as an early Halloween stunt to frighten the guests arriving for the party.

  Olivia glanced down at the plate in her hand and was struck by how stupid and trivial it was to still be holding a platter of cookies.

  Melissa was whimpering in the hall. Olivia managed to take several backward steps out of the living room. Her senses were heightened, everything seemed to be shimmering and buzzing. Voices and footsteps could be heard on the stairs. Olivia sucked in a breath to try to clear her head and she turned around to face the open front door
of the apartment. Her body moved as if she was wading through quicksand.

  The group of people arriving saw Melissa at the top of the landing and called to her. Melissa cried out and Olivia could hear the footsteps rushing up the staircase. A girl wearing a witch’s hat wrapped her arm around Melissa’s shoulders and leaned close to determine what was wrong. A guy Olivia didn’t recognize stepped into the apartment, and a dark-haired girl dressed as a mouse followed behind him. The guy took one look at Olivia standing at the living room entrance and rushed forward.

  “Oh, hell,” he muttered. The guy was sure that Gary and Christian were dead. No one could lose all that blood and live, but he hurried to the bodies anyway to check for pulses.

  Olivia and the dark-haired girl who had just come in had been in some classes together. Ynes Clinton took tentative steps forward. She glanced quickly at the carnage in the living room, and grasped Olivia’s arm.

  Olivia blinked at Ynes. “Do you have a phone?” Olivia’s throat was so constricted that her voice came out small and hoarse.

  Ynes nodded.

  Olivia managed, “Can you call 911?” She had a phone in her pocket but her brain was so befuddled that she wasn’t thinking right. She straightened as a thought flashed through her mind. Where was Colleen? Adrenaline flooded Olivia’s body. She shoved the cookie plate into Ynes’ hands, and whirled.

  “Colleen!” Olivia called out as she rushed down the hall, glancing first into the kitchen and then into the bathroom as she passed.

  “Olivia, no!” Ynes shouted. “The killer could be hiding in the apartment.”

  Ignoring Ynes’ warning, Olivia pushed open the bedroom door on her right and looked in. “Colleen?”

  When she turned back into the hallway, a figure stepped through the far bedroom door, the last room on the left of the corridor. Olivia stopped short. Her heart jumped into her throat. The figure hesitated for a split second, making eye contact with Olivia. The person was dressed in black, with a black ski mask over his face.

  “Someone’s here!” Olivia screamed over her shoulder.

  The figure wheeled and fled through the back hall of the apartment. Olivia held back for a second, but then started after him to see if she could get another look at him from the second floor porch when he ran out the rear door of the building. As she passed Colleen’s bedroom, she halted at the entrance to the room. She peered in. A tube of mascara and its brush wand were on the floor in front of a desk that had a mirror hanging over it. Olivia stared at the tube and tiny brush and gingerly entered the room.

  “Colleen,” she whispered, afraid of what she would find. Her heart pounded. Her eyes darted around the small space. Olivia, shaking, forced herself to kneel and check under the bed. Nothing. A muffled sound came from the closet. Olivia turned to the noise, holding her breath. She stood and faced the door. She crossed the room by moving her feet a few inches at a time. She reached for the doorknob, pulled her hand back for a moment, then sucked in a breath, grabbed the knob, and flung the closet door wide. She let the air escape from her lungs.

  Colleen was curled in a ball, trembling on the closet floor. Her eyes were wide with horror.

  Olivia knelt and put her hands on Colleen’s arms. “Are you hurt?”

  Colleen shook her head. She whimpered, then wrapped her arms around Olivia’s waist and buried her face into her shoulder. Olivia hugged her and rocked her gently, rubbing her back.

  “Can you stand?” Olivia helped Colleen to her feet. “You’re okay. You’re safe,” she murmured to the shaking girl.

  Ynes entered the room and exhaled. “Thank God,” she whispered when she saw Olivia and Colleen standing together just inside the closet.

  Olivia helped Colleen to the bed and the two of them sat. Tears poured from Colleen’s eyes. She wheezed and ran her hands through her hair. Her whole body was shaking.

  “I heard it. What did they do?” Colleen gasped.

  Olivia and Ynes exchanged a glance.

  Colleen saw what passed between them and started to wail. “No!” Her eyes danced wildly around the room and she shifted her body closer to Olivia. Her chest heaved. “Where’s Christian? Where’s Gary?” she whispered.

  Olivia took Colleen’s hands in hers. She didn’t know what to say to the trembling young woman.

  “The police,” Ynes said. “I hear the siren. They’re almost here.”

  Chapter 2

  About ten young people had entered the apartment between the time Olivia and Melissa arrived and when the police answered the emergency call. The cops were not pleased that the crime scene had been compromised by so many people going in and out of the place before they showed up. One officer ushered the young men and women out of the apartment and down to the sidewalk where he and another cop took statements and sorted out who arrived when to the apartment. A woman officer came in and took over the duty of speaking with Colleen.

  Everyone milled around outside while detectives and cops interviewed people one at a time. A tall red haired guy with freckles scattered over his cheeks stepped away from a group of young people who had been in the apartment and he approached Melissa and Olivia. The girls recognized him from campus. He introduced himself as Jack and said he was a senior at the university.

  “You found the bodies?” he asked.

  Olivia and Melissa nodded.

  “I got to the apartment just before the cops arrived. I can’t believe this happened,” Jack said. He ran his hand over his forehead. “I came up the back staircase.”

  Olivia perked up. “Did you happen to see a guy dressed in black wearing a ski mask leave out the back way?”

  Jack’s eyes widened. “Yeah. Why?”

  “You saw him?” Olivia’s voice was excited.

  “He came out of the building. Why? Who is he?”

  Olivia said, “He was in the apartment. Hiding, in one of the bedrooms. What happened when he passed you?”

  “Is he the killer?” Jack asked.

  “I don’t know. Maybe.”

  “God. He passed me? I was smoking outside the back entrance before I went up to Gary and Christian’s. The guy ran out of the building. I didn’t think anything of it. A few people left the building in costumes while I was out there. I figured it was just another person going to a Halloween party.” He shook his head. “I could have tackled him. If, I only knew.” He stared at the girls. “Wait. Two people came out wearing ski masks.”

  “What? Two people? Did they come out at the same time?” Olivia’s mind raced. Were two people working together? Were there two killers?

  “No. They came out separately,” Jack said. “One left the building right when I got there. I took out a cigarette, lit it, sat down on the steps to smoke. A couple of people came out in costumes and then the other person wearing a ski mask ran out the door and up the street.”

  “Two people wearing ski masks?” Melissa said. The muscles around her mouth quivered and she looked as if she might cry.

  “They didn’t seem like they were together,” Jack offered. “Maybe it was just a coincidence.”

  “Did you get a look at them? Were any parts of their faces visible? Did you notice anything about them that stood out?” Olivia asked.

  “Nothing. No. I don’t know. I didn’t really pay attention,” Jack said. “God. The killer went right by me? I can’t believe it.”

  “Did you see a knife?’ Olivia asked. “Was either guy carrying a knife?”

  Jack thought for a second. “I didn’t notice a knife.”

  A detective walked up to the girls and interrupted their conversation with Jack. He moved Melissa and Olivia closer to one of the squad cars. After the girls talked with the detective, they were led to the back seat of the police car and taken to headquarters where they were questioned further. Pictures of the scene flashed through Olivia’s mind and she wondered if the images would burn into her brain forever from having to tell and retell what she found in that apartment.

  The lights in the police stati
on reflected off the stark white walls and the brightness made Olivia wish she had a pair of sunglasses. Every cell in her body seemed to emit a low-level hum like her system was on high alert. Colors and sounds cut into her eyes and ears. Scents were too sharp. Her skin was tingling like when she had a fever.

  It was one o’clock in the morning when they finished at the police station and a cab picked the women up and returned them, still wearing their crow costumes, to their own apartment building in Somerville. Melissa and Olivia dragged themselves up the stairs to their sixth-floor apartment and went to the tiny kitchen where Melissa collapsed at the small table and put her head facedown on top of her arms. Her long black hair spread over the wooden surface.

  “I’m going to make tea,” Olivia told her.

  “I’m too exhausted to even swallow,” Melissa mumbled.

  Olivia put the water on, took out two mugs, tea bags, and some milk. She sat across from Melissa to wait for the water to boil. Her shoulders hunched forward, her muscles suffering the after-effects of the adrenaline that had rushed through them earlier in the night.

  “What the hell happened back there, Mel?” Olivia asked. Her nerves on edge, she fiddled with the empty cup on the table.

  Melissa raised her head and looked at Olivia with teary, red-rimmed eyes. “Who would kill them? Why?”

  “Drugs?”

  Melissa shook her head. “Colleen didn’t do drugs.”

  “But did the guys? Did they sell drugs?” Olivia asked.

  “God, no. Colleen wouldn’t have anything to do with drugs. She wouldn’t live with people who did drugs. The guys were athletes.”

  “Athletes can do drugs.”

  “Not these guys,” Melissa said. “Colleen knew Gary and Christian from her home town. They’ve been friends for years, since they were little kids. They went to school together. That’s how they were sharing an apartment here. The guys graduated last May. Christian was working at a start-up in Cambridge. Gary was working as a math teacher at a middle school in Boston.”