The Missing

Chapter 21

Boyle's cell phone rang. It was Richard. Boyle heard traffic in the background. Richard was calling from a pay phone. He always called from a pay phone. He was always so careful.

I've been thinking about Rachel,' Richard said. 'Do you still have Slavick's Colt Commander?'

'I have it.'

'Good. Now listen to me. I want you to take Carol back to Belham.'

'No.'

'Danny, we need to get rid of her.'

'I don't want to.'

'You're going to drive Carol back to Belham.'

'No.'

'You're going to bring her out into the woods and shoot her in the back of the head – and make sure you leave the body out in the open. I want her to be found quickly.'

'I want to keep her,' Boyle said.

'After you shoot her, I want you to plant Slavick's blood on her clothes and underneath her fingernails. The police will think she fought him off before he shot her. The police will come in and investigate, and they'll find the blood belongs to Slavick. It will match the blood you left at Carol's house.'

'Let's play with Carol for awhile. You know what the girls are like when they see the basement for the first time.'

'We can't risk it. There's too much trace evidence in the basement. We don't want the police to find anything on her to connect her to Rachel.'

'What are we going to do about her?'

'I'm still thinking about it.'

'She's at Mass General. I know her room number.'

'We'll talk about it when I get there. I'll see you in a couple of hours.'

Wait, there's something I need to tell you,' Boyle said. 'It's about Victor Grady.'

'Grady? What does Grady have to do with this?'

'Do you remember the names of the three girls who saw me strangling Samantha Kent?'

'I know two of them are dead.'

'I'm talking about the redhead, Darby McCormick.'

Richard didn't answer.

'She's the teenager who left her backpack in the woods,' Boyle said. 'You went into her house and she fractured your arm with the hammer -'

'I know who she is.'

'Do you know she's a crime scene investigator for the Boston Crime Lab?'

Richard didn't answer.

'She's working on Carol Cranmore's case,' Boyle said.

The Grady case is closed.'

'I don't like the idea of her snooping around.'

'Forget Grady. He's a dead end. Get Carol ready.'

'Let's keep her just for tonight. Just give me one night -'

'Do it,' Richard said, and hung up.

Boyle only needed a moment to get organized.

He tucked the Colt Commander in the shoulder holster under his vest. He slipped the silencer and stun gun in his right vest pocket so it was handy. The plastic bags holding rags soaked with chloroform were already in each pocket. He made a mental note to cut Carol and collect some of her blood. He wanted to plant it inside Slavick's house. It would be easy to do. Boyle had a set of keys to Slavick's house and shed.

Boyle was about to lock up the filing cabinet when he pulled the drawer back out and removed the old mask made of stitched-together strips of Ace bandages. He hadn't worn it in years. Smiling, Boyle slid the mask over his head and picked up the rope from the wall.