The Border Part Two Read Online Free Page A

real nice girl. Lets me put U2 on the jukebox. Fuck.”
    “She was murdered?” Candy replied, as she struggled to fix her hair against the wind. After a moment, she stepped back behind a wall, to get a little shelter. “Wow. That’s heavy.”
    “Police have not revealed the nature of the dead woman’s injuries,” Bob read out loud, as he made his way toward his car with Candy hurrying to keep up, “but sources close to the investigation have told this newspaper that similarities to the -” He read on in silence for a moment. “Holy shit, get this! Sources close to the investigation have told this newspaper that similarities to the unsolved murder of Caitlin Somers, nine years ago, cannot be ruled out.” Reaching the driver’s door, he turned to see that Candy was on the other side of the vehicle. “Cannot be ruled out! Do you realize what that means?”
    “Um…” She paused. “It means they can’t be discounted.”
    “You remember Caitlin Somers, right? Local girl, got knifed to death about nine or ten years ago?”
    “Oh. Yeah.”
    “And now they’re saying this second murder might be connected!”
    “Connected how?”
    “Well, I guess the same killer!”
    “Oh.” She paused. “Can you drop me off at the town square?”
    “Aren’t you scared?” he asked.
    “Of what?”
    “There’s a killer loose!”
    “Well…” She paused. “Yeah, but if there is, he’s not gonna kill me !”
    He turned to her. “How do you know?”
    “Well, he’s just not.” She seemed a little uncomfortable now, as the wind tried to pull her hair loose from the clips. “That’s just not the kind of thing that ever happens to me.”
    Instead of answering, he turned attention back to the newspaper.
    “So,” Candy continued. “Town square, yeah?”
    “What? Oh… No, not right on the square, that’d be too dangerous. I can drop you a few streets away. We can’t risk anyone seeing us together.”
    “I guess not.”
    “Listen to this,” he continued. “The discovery of Ms. Armitage’s body came nine years to the day after the discovery of Caitlin Somers’ body. Jesus, that’s right, it must have done! Holy shit, do you think that’s it, then? Do you think there’s some kind of serial killer in Bowley?”
    She frowned. “He must be really patient.”
    “Huh?”
    “If he waited nine years. I’ve never waited nine years for anything .”
    “You’re twenty-two years old.”
    She paused. “Yeah!”
    “Well…” He paused. “I mean, you’ve got a point. Why would he quit for nine years, then start up again? If you’re the kinda guy who gets his jollies from serial killing, what do you do for nine years between murders?”
    “Beats me.”
    “You know,” he continued, “my sister-in-law is Jane Freeman. She’s a cop. They leak info for a reason, to hurry things up, but I bet she knows way more than they’re letting on in this rag. My brother-in-law Jack is the paper’s editor, too. I’ve gotta find an excuse to drop by and see them later, maybe get some dirt on what’s happening.” He paused. “Christmas. Christmas is coming up. Perfect!”
    “Can we go?” Candy asked. “I’m tired.”
    “What? Oh yeah, sure.” Unlocking the door, he climbed into the car while still reading the front-page. “Listen to this. Police remain tight-lipped about the precise circumstances of the body’s discovery, and about the nature of the dead woman’s injuries.” He turned to Candy as she got into the seat next to him. “Tight-lipped? No way, Jane will have told Jack everything she knows. They must be deliberately withholding information from the public. That’s what they do, sometimes, so that there’s stuff only the killer knows. In case he, like, calls in or writes and needs to prove who he is.”
    “I need one of those pills,” she replied.
    “What pills?”
    “For girls who’ve let guys do things to ‘em in the night.”
    “What?” He frowned, before looking down at her crotch.