Haley, too, had aged well. She’d gone from being a cheerleader to a dance instructor. She and Jack had married five years ago. They had one child, a toddler son named Jack, after his father, and called Jackie.
Haley had been pleased to see him, genuinely pleased. Not surprising. They’d parted as friends. Tonight she had her pretty blond hair pulled back in a ponytail and was wearing sweats.
“Wow, I didn’t realize how late it was. Sorry,” Rocky said, rising. “My fault. I drove back into town and into a murder. And with the similarities to Melissa’s death, well...”
“It’s not all your fault,” Haley said. “Jack has been obsessed, as well.” She looked at her husband affectionately. “And I understand. You have to remember, Melissa was my good friend back then.” She straightened and went into parental mode. “But you two, if you’re going to be worth anything to anyone tomorrow, should get some sleep.” She smiled at them even as she nodded firmly. But then her smile faded. “He’s back, isn’t he?”
“Haley, we really don’t know—” Jack said.
“He’s back. The Pentagram Killer is back,” she said.
Rocky looked at Jack. He hadn’t known they’d given a nickname to the man who’d killed Melissa.
Jack shrugged. “You never heard that?”
“I never knew the news about the pentagram was out there,” Rocky said.
“It’s not. That’s just between us. Those of us who were there.” He stopped, flushing. “Of course, Haley and Vince and Renee and I have talked over the years. I guess we didn’t start using the nickname until after you went to college. It’s just between us. You never heard the term because...you were gone, and once your mom moved...you never came back. The kids growing up around here just call him the Backwoods Slasher. I think I heard it first at Salem College, where I wound up going. You know how urban legends start. In the dorm hallways people would see the ghost of Melissa, her throat red and bleeding, and she’d say, ‘Help me.’ When kids went parking out by the woods, they were warned to beware of the Backwoods Slasher.”
Rocky knew all about urban legends and ghost stories.
It was just different when you’d been there. When you’d really seen a woman lying dead in the dirt, a necklace of red around her throat.
When you’d really heard the words from somewhere in your mind.
Help me!
And when you’d completely failed to do so.
“Haley, that was thirteen years ago,” Rocky said. “We don’t know what’s going on here yet. We will find out this time, though.”
She smiled at him. “I know you will,” she said. “Meanwhile, you know you’re welcome to stay here. We have a little room behind Jackie’s. It’s yours, so long as you don’t mind tripping over Legos now and then.”
“That’s nice of you, Haley,” he said. “Thank you. But I’m at the new hotel on Derby Street. I’m okay. And now it’s time for me to go.”
“I’ll walk you out,” Jack told him.
As they headed to the car, Jack said, “Hell, you even look like a fed. Black suit, perfect tie.”
Rocky laughed. “And you look like a detective.”
“Oh, yeah, how’s that?”
“Nondescript,” Rocky teased. “I’m joking, of course. You look good. I’m sure you can still ‘go long.’”
“It’s softball for me these days,” Jack told him. “I’m a damned good first baseman.” He hesitated. “Vince is on the team, too. You can imagine what that’s like. When he hits the ball...well, if he gets a piece of it, we’re all rounding the bases.”
“I have no problem believing that. How’s the rest of our old gang?” he asked, then added softly, “You and Haley are married. What about Renee?”
“Renee is the eternal cheerleader—she’s coaching now. Obviously Vince is still in town, too. Believe it or not, he’s running for city council. He became an attorney,” Jack told him.
Rocky laughed. “Well, hell—Vince is going to show us both up. Good for him.”
Jack was thoughtful for a moment. “It changed us, you know? Melissa changed us. We were all cutups—except for you. But...maybe we realized how short life could be. I don’t know. But after the night she was found...after the grief counselors came to school...and after watching...waiting... for something horrible to happen again. I don’t know. We changed. Actually, I thought about you a lot. You could have done anything. With your grades, you had it all made. But all you wanted was to be a cop. Like your dad.”
“Did it have anything to do with wanting to solve Melissa’s case?” Rocky asked. “You deciding to become a cop?”
Jack shrugged. “Maybe. That’s why you’re here, isn’t it?”
“Yeah,” Rocky admitted.
“And you walked right into another murder.”
“Technically, I was driving. Miss Lyle walked into the murder—or sort of, anyway.”
“How do you figure that?” Jack asked him.
“That she sort of walked into a murder?”