For the first time, Quincy bares a smile. In Ma.s.sachusetts? You mean, like on that last episode ofSeinfeld? People ask me all the time, and thats how I know the answer off the top of my head. Its against the law to harm another person, but the law doesnt require you tohelp another person.

Tears fill Brynns eyes once again. But this time, sheer relief mixes with her grief over her lost friends.

If only they had known Maybe Tildy and Fiona would still be alive.

CHAPTER 21.

Fionas shaken parents opted to break with tradition and avoid a wake or funeral home visitation.

Her funeral itself is held at Saint Vincents Church on a bl.u.s.tery October morning that feels more like late November. The sky hangs low and black over Cedar Crest, spitting sheets of horizontal rain on the throng of mourners huddled beneath useless umbrellas.

The press has been swarming ever since Fionas murder was linked to Matilda Harringtons, and of course Rachels disappearance has been dredged up all over again amid much public speculation that she, too, fell victim to the same fate ten years ago.

The authorities havent released the details surrounding either murder scene, but the media has created sensational headlines just the same: THE SORORITY SISTER MURDERS. THE BIRTHDAY-GIRL KILLER.

Detectives Quincy Hiles, Mike Connelly, and Deb Jackson have all but taken up permanent residence in Cedar Crest. With Ray Wilmington dead and the apparent sorority connection, Troy Allerson has been back-burnered as a potential suspect. Particularly since he was on a well-doc.u.mented Washington trip when Fiona Fitzgerald was murdered in Cedar Crest.

Apparently, his affair with Matilda Harrington was an unfortunate coincidenceand one that is destined to stay hidden, at least for the time being.

Ca.s.sie Ashfords apparent disappearance has yet to materialize in the press or be publicly linked to the murders of her sorority sisters. Mike and Deb spoke to her fiance, her parents, and her brother, all of whom remain convinced she had cold feet about her upcoming wedding and ran off. They all cited several e-mails they received well beyond the day of her birthday as evidence of her well-being.

Maybe theyre right.

Quincy doubts it. Anyone can send e-mail if they can get into someones account. And its next to impossible to trace at this level, though hes got someone on that.

For now, unless Ca.s.sieor her body, or at least a trail of evidenceturns up, theres nothing he can do for her or her family.

Quincy despises that feeling of helplessness. It keeps him up nights. After too many of those, absorbed in the case, hes gone back to drinking coffee. But its killing him; he can feel it eating away at his guts. Literally.

Saint Vincents is packed to standing room only. In the front pew on one side of the altar are Fiona Fitzgeralds parents, drawn and stoic. Its no secret around town that theres been no love lost between them and their daughter.

Make thatdaughters . Fionas identical twin, Deirdre, also estranged from their parents, sits in the front pew on the opposite side of the altar. Throughout the service she keeps a steadying arm around her niece, Ashley, whose pitiful sobs echo through the church whenever the organ falls silent. Fionas ex-husband, Pat, flanks Ashleys other side, with Brynn and Garth Saddler seated a row behind.

Shes a wreck, Brynn Saddlerand predictably so.

Because shes lost her best friend And because shes afraid shes next.

The public doesnt realize that, though. n.o.body other than those involved in the investigation has been privy to the tale Brynn revealed about Rachel that night ten years ago. To them, the murders are somewhat random; any Zeta Delta Kappa sister, or even any woman celebrating a thirtieth birthday, might be a potential victim.

No one is aware of the chilling fact that is obvious to Quincys team: that the killer is picking off a finite group, one by one.

And Brynn Saddlers turn is coming.

Quincys got her under police guard 24/7.

He also posted a couple of uniforms over at the Zeta house at the request of the shaken housemother.

Hes certain the sorority house security is superfluous, but there was no arguing with Mama Bear Puffy Trovato. Anyway, if the killer is in their midst, watching the progress of the investigation, its best to keep the focus as broad as possible.

Brynn Saddlers security detail is probably just as superfluous at this point.

For another couple of days, anyway.

Dont you think its a little too coincidental that all four of these girls have October birthdays? Deb asked on the heels of Fionas death.

Yes, he did until he learned that they had become friends, as freshmen,because of their mutual October birthdays.

Thats how we were grouped in the dorm, Brynn told him, wearing a sad, faraway smile. Rachel was on the September hall, but she said she liked us better.

Rachel.

The press might have written her off as another victim of the Birthday-Girl Killer, but Quincy Hiles isnt convinced. Not by a long shot.

He cant help but think about that sc.r.a.p of sorority sweater left at the scene of Tildys murder. And about the thick lock of curly dark hair that was inside the wrapped gift box found in Fiona Fitzgeralds hands.

Hair that was tied with thin lengths of both red and gray satin ribbon, and appears to be very similar to Rachel Lorents color and texture.

Forensics is testing it, using DNA samples provided by Rachels mother in California. Having long since given up hope of seeing her daughter again, she a.s.sumed her blood was needed so that her daughters remains can potentially be identified.

She was not told that the investigators believe her daughter might very well still be alive.

As far as Quincys concerned, with no body ever found, theres no evidence to the contrary.

And if Rachel Lorent is still alive Well, Quincy has a feeling sh.e.l.l be making another appearance in just a few days.

On the twenty-ninth: Brynn Saddlers birthday.

And this time, Ill be waiting for her.

Isaac deposits a stack of non-jazz CDs on the table and picks up a flattened cardboard box from a stack at his feet.

Theres no way in h.e.l.l that he was going to attend Fiona Fitzgeralds funeral. He made that mistake once before, and opened the door to a police investigation of his past.

Hes no closer to uncovering the truth about Rachel after all that, and hes succeeded in further complicating his relationship with Kylah.

With a deft movement, he transforms the box to three dimensions and closes the flaps.

Shes pulled away emotionally ever since he told her about his missing sister. Shes here, in his life, in his bed, same as always, but shes detaching herself from him. He can feel it.

Maybe she senses that theres more to the story than hed shared.

Maybe she even senses that Isaac was in love with Rachel; that if Rachel walked back into his life right now, hed drop everything to be with her.

Everythingand everyone.

Kylah included.

h.e.l.l never be able to lay the past to rest.

Not like this, always wondering if shes out there somewhere perhaps with his child.

He picks up a roll of packing tape and runs it along the closed cardboard flaps a few times, reinforcing the seam. Then he begins transferring the stacks of books and CDs from the table to the box.

Kylah left this morning for Chicago on business. She wont be back until after the weekend. By then, h.e.l.l have all his stuff moved back into his apartment.

h.e.l.l be here, though, waiting for her, when she gets home. Just as she made him promise.

Isaac never breaks a promise.

Thats why he rarely makes them.

The postfuneral reception in the church hall is a longstanding tradition at Saint Vincents. Brynn is surprised that Fionas parents went along with it, though. It cant be easy for them to stand there in the corner beneath a flag and a mounted crucifix and greet the hundreds of mournersmany of whom saw more of their daughter than they did in recent years.

Do you want to go over there to see them? Garth asks, handing her a white foam cup of coffee and keeping one for himself.

In a minute. Brynn watches Fionas father shake hands with the dashing James Bingham, one of Fees more recent clients. He was responsible for the towering, voluminous spray of red roses that loomed above the altar in church, dwarfing a similar one, far smaller in scale, that came from the Zeta Delta Kappa girls.

A gray-haired woman hurries past, head down, going toward the door. Recognizing her, Brynn reaches out to touch her black-clad arm.

She jumps as though shes been branded and whirls around. Oh. Brynn.

Hi, Sharon. I just Brynns voice breaks. She reaches out to give Fionas former a.s.sistant a hug. She seems stiff in Brynns embrace; nothing like her old self. Im glad youre here. You remember my husband, Garth?

Sharon nods, seemingly at a loss for words.

Its good to see you, Sharon. Garth shakes her hand gently. Not under these circ.u.mstances, though.

No.

The three of them look at each other for another awkward moment. Brynn tries to think of something to say to the woman, who, for these last few years was more of a mother, really, to Fiona than her own mother was.

She settles on, She really missed you, after you left. She couldnt find a replacement worth one fraction of what you were to her. She even asked me to come work for her after she fired her last a.s.sistant. She offers a strained laugh.

Sharon matches it. I missed her, too, she says, looking around almost skittishly. I just Im sorry, but I have to go. I wanted to pay my respects, but I need to get back on the road.

All right. Take care of yourself.

She seems different, Garth comments as they watch Sharon scurry toward the door as though she cant wait to escape.

Shes devastated. Like everyone else. No one will be the same after this.

Brynn swallows a lump of grief-laced nausea as she looks at the coffee, knowing shes not going to drink it. The smell alone is making her even sicker than she already felt. Sh.e.l.l hang on to the cup for a bit, then set it down when Garth isnt looking.

Maybe we should call home and check on the boys, she suggests. Do you have your cell phone?

I do, but Im sure theyre fine. You know theyre in good hands.

Her father and Sue are here in town. They came right away, without having to be asked, and will be staying through tomorrow morning.

Having them around the last few days has been a mixed blessing. Theyve kept the boys occupied and shielded them from the horror of their Auntie Fees death. But Brynn keeps catching her stepmother watching her knowingly, making her all too aware that she has yet to tell Garth about the baby.

Several times these last few days, shes come close to spilling it.

But she cant bring herself to do it. Not in the midst of all this sorrow.

And not with this unsettling new strain between them. It isnt that hes pulled away physically. On the contrary, hes spent a lot of time at home, most of it just looking at Brynn. Its almost as though he wants to say something but cant bring himself to do it. Sh.e.l.l be going about her business, feel the weight of his gaze, and find him staring.

Is he going to tell her that he wants to leave her?

Instinctively, she doesnt think so.

Hes even been spending nights in their bed again, not just to make love but holding her close all night the way he used to when they were first married, before the boys.

But Garths presence in the master bedroom isnt necessarily meaningful. Its probably just because her father and Sue are out in the living room, sleeping on the air mattress they brought.

Maybe Garth is waiting for things to die down before he tells her that he cant stay married to a woman who has kept something so darkly significant from him for all these years.

Or maybe hes just terrified that something is going to happen to me.

I know I am.

Her husbands voice startles her out of her grim reverie.

You know, I swear, every time I catch sight of her, I get chills.

Brynn looks up to see Garth staring at Fionas twin sister, Deirdre, who is sitting with Ashley on the steps to the right of the stage. They arent talking, just sitting together bleakly, Deirdre chewing on what looks like a wooden coffee stirrer.

Pat is nearby, conversing quietly with a couple of lawyers from the firm where he works as a paralegal. He keeps shooting worried, sidewise glances toward his daughter, though.

Ashley isnt doing so well. Shes been staying at Pats apartment. He told Brynn shes been crying incessantly, and waking up screaming every night. Nightmares are to be expected after what the poor child has been through. Pat is looking into getting Ashley into therapy. Hes also talking about moving into a bigger place with her.

Would you live in Fees house? Brynn asked him, thinking of how much that notion would have bothered her friend.

But Pat shook his head. Ashley doesnt ever want to go back there after what happened, and I dont blame her.

Nor does Brynn. After what she herself witnessed under that roof, she cant imagine ever crossing the threshold again without picturing Fionas desecrated corpse.

Come on, Brynn tells Garth now, eager to rid herself of the haunting, grisly image. Lets go over and see Ashley. I want to talk to Deirdre. I havent really had a chance to yet.

She merely gave Fees twin sister a sobbing hug when they first saw each other at church. Sitting behind Deirdre during the ma.s.s, Brynn, like Garth, was repeatedly struck by the haunting resemblance to her dead friend.

Now, as Deirdre looks up when she and Garth approach, Brynn finds herself cloaked in goose b.u.mps.