A Killing Rain Read online

  PRAISE FOR THE KILLING RAIN

  Shamus Award finalist

  Anthony Award finalist

  "Not many authors today so successfully combine an examination of the characters' psychological lives with hardcore action and unrelenting suspense the way that Parrish can...This combination of suspense and thoughtfulness makes for truly compelling reading." --Oline Cogdill South Florida Sun-Sentinel

  "If you haven't discovered the fast-paced action, terrifying suspense and hair-pin plot twists of rising star P.J. Parrish yet, now's the time." -- Mystery Guild

  "A missing child and a truly vicious family of killers make for a brisk race against time in Parrish's latest thriller. A lean, fast-paced yarn...a dandy surprise ending." --Publishers Weekly

  "From the startling opening to the stunning finale, a masterpiece of shock and surprise, a gritty Florida tale told with relentless skill. P.J. Parrish's best book yet." --Ed Gorman, Mystery Scene magazine

  "A high quality series...Parrish is as good as any detective writer working." -- Dick Adler, Chicago Tribune

  MORE PRAISE FOR THE BOOKS OF P.J. PARRISH

  "Tense, thrilling. You're going to bite your nails!" --Lee Child, New York Times bestselling author

  "The kind of book that grabs you and won't let go. I absolutely loved it. Nobody is writing better private eye fiction anywhere than P.J. Parrish." -- Steve Hamilton

  "Powerful stuff...The quiet sadness that underpins it all really got to me, the way Ross Macdonald always does. Among my favorite Florida crime writers are Charles Willeford, John D. MacDonald and Ed McBain. I'll have to add P.J. Parrish." -—Ed Gorman, Mystery Scene magazine

  "A stunner of a book. Amazingly skilled at creating a sense of place, P.J. Parrish stays true to her characters. I can't wait to see Louis's growth as he learns more about the world." --Romantic Times

  "A gripping and atmospheric novel that will remind many of Dennis Lehane. The author's ability to raise goose bumps puts her in the front rank of thriller writers." —Publishers Weekly

  "A wonderfully tense and atmospheric novel. Keeps the reader guessing until the end." —- Miami Herald

  "A standout thriller. It is an intriguing and atmospheric story set largely on the grounds of an abandoned insane asylum, a haunting location that contains many dark and barbarous secrets. With fresh characters and plot, a suspense novel of the highest order." --Chicago Sun-Times

  "A complex, sophisticated mystery...a guaranteed can't-put-it-down book that absorbed me as much as The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo." --Triage RobertaGately.com

  P.J. Parrish Copyright© Kelly Nichols and Kristy Montee aka P.J. Parrish

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, 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 the author or publisher.

  Edition: August 2013

  To my son Robert and my Little Brother Johnnie.

  Two good boys who became fine men.

  TABLE OF CONTENTS

  CHAPTER 1

  CHAPTER 2

  CHAPTER 3

  CHAPTER 4

  CHAPTER 5

  CHAPTER 6

  CHAPTER 7

  CHAPTER 8

  CHAPTER 9

  CHAPTER 10

  CHAPTER 11

  CHAPTER 12

  CHAPTER 13

  CHAPTER 14

  CHAPTER 15

  CHAPTER 16

  CHAPTER 17

  CHAPTER 18

  CHAPTER 19

  CHAPTER 20

  CHAPTER 21

  CHAPTER 22

  CHAPTER 23

  CHAPTER 24

  CHAPTER 25

  CHAPTER 26

  CHAPTER 27

  CHAPTER 28

  CHAPTER 29

  CHAPTER 30

  CHAPTER 31

  CHAPTER 32

  CHAPTER 33

  CHAPTER 34

  CHAPTER 35

  CHAPTER 36

  CHAPTER 37

  CHAPTER 38

  CHAPTER 39

  CHAPTER 40

  CHAPTER 41

  CHAPTER 42

  CHAPTER 43

  CHAPTER 44

  CHAPTER 45

  CHAPTER 46

  CHAPTER 47

  CHAPTER 48

  CHAPTER 49

  CHAPTER 50

  CHAPTER 51

  CHAPTER 53

  CHAPTER 54

  CHAPTER 55

  CHAPTER 56

  CHAPTER 1

  Sunday, January 10, 1988

  The road in front of him was empty. Straight and flat, it cut a cruel slash across the gut of the Florida Everglades. No curves, no hills, nothing to relieve the tedium of the journey.

  He had never minded driving Alligator Alley during the day. Then, the harsh sun bleached out the swaying saw grass and the sky was huge and white-blue. During the day, it was easy for him to imagine he was somewhere else, maybe traveling across some western prairie, like Shane riding in to save someone who needed saving.

  But at night, like now...

  Alligator Alley was empty and black with only the thin beams of his own headlights to show him where he was going.

  He reached down and turned up the volume on cassette tape. Marty Robbins had been keeping him company for the last hour, ever since he had passed the toll booth back near Naples.

  Ride, cowboy, ride. Don’t go too slow.

  Ride, cowboy, ride. You've a long way to go.

  He knew all the words by heart, but he wasn’t singing along with them now. He was concentrating, watching the odometer, calculating how many more miles he had to go.

  The instructions had been simple. Drive exactly forty-two miles east of the toll booth. Pull off into the boat ramp parking area, turn out your lights, and wait.

  He picked up his orange soda and took a drink, feeling a nub of excitement in his belly. He had waited a long time for this, a long time to feel part of something important like this. It was a simple job. All he had to do was deliver a FedEx box and pick up another package in return.

  Two grand for his trouble. Simple. Easy.

  He glanced down at the big FedEx box on the seat. He knew what was in it. He had pulled over as soon as he was into the dark cover of Alligator Alley and carefully pried opened the box’s flap. The box was stuffed with stacks of money, held by rubber bands. The stacks were all hundred-dollar bills. He counted twenty stacks. One hundred thousand dollars, he guessed. His hands were sweating so much he could barely push the stacks back into the FedEx box.

  For a second —- just one —- he thought about turning the Cadillac around and disappearing with that FedEx box. But he knew that wasn’t right. He would stick to the plan. Go to the boat ramp pull-off, put the box on the trash can, and pick up the package. It was probably drugs, but hell, what did he care?

  Marty started in on “A Half-Way Chance with You.” He didn’t like the love songs, but this one wasn’t too bad. He kept time to it, tapping his fingers on the steering wheel.

  The headlights picked up a green road sign, the turn-off for the boat ramp. He checked the odometer. This had to be it.

  He slowed, easing into the parking lot. He pulled the Cadillac to a stop but kept the motor running. He rolled down the window and scanned the empty lot. No lights, no moon tonight, just his headlights piercing the endless black expanse of the Glades beyond the low wood barrier surrounding the lot. The dashboard clock read just after four, so he knew he was only a couple of minutes late. Unless the damn clock was wrong. He felt a nervous tug in his
stomach.

  Then he picked up a small glow over on the far side of the lot. He squinted and made out something parked over against the brush, some kind of fancy black truck, maybe a Blazer. The motor was off and he couldn’t see anyone inside through the tinted windows. The glow grew brighter. Probably a cigarette.

  This had to be the guy. No one else would be out here this time of night sitting alone on the side of the road.

  He pulled the Cadillac forward, stopping about twenty yards away. He killed the headlights and turned the tape down to a whisper. Marty Robbins was still singing his love song, harmonizing with the frogs and crickets.

  The window of the truck came down and the glowing butt was flicked out. He caught a glimpse of a face shadowed by the brim of a hat. The guy was waiting for him to make the first move.

  He picked up the FedEx box and opened the door. The second he was out of the Cadillac, the Blazer’s lights came on. He blinked in the glare and averted his eyes, spotting the now fully illuminated trash can over by the boat ramp. He went to it and carefully set the box on the rim of the can. He backed away, edging toward the Cadillac, shielding his eyes with his hand to look back at the Blazer.

  The guy sitting behind the wheel still hadn’t moved.

  He waited. A minute, then another. No movement from the Blazer. He heard a door open.

  A shadow of a figure emerged from the backseat. He couldn’t see him in the glare but then the figure moved toward the front of the Blazer.

  Small with long dark hair.

  Wait... was it a woman?

  The figure moved into the beam of the headlights and he could see clearly now that it was a woman. Her long black hair was pulled back into a ponytail. Then, suddenly, there were two more with her.

  Women...three women. He could tell now for sure that they were women from the way they stood there, huddled and scared like kittens, their long black hair swirling around their faces.

  “Go. Go on now.”

  It was the guy behind the wheel who had spoken. He was waving a hand out his window, waving toward the Cadillac, and the three women were looking back at him, like they didn’t understand what he was saying.

  “Over there! Go on...over to that car. That’s your ride. Go on now.”

  The women looked at each other then slowly, as if they were one, they started toward the Cadillac.

  He stared at them. What was this? What was going on? Was this the package he was supposed to pick up? Women?

  A slight grin came to his face. Okay, he could deal with this. He would make the delivery and not ask any questions. Just like he had been told to do.

  The woman who had come out first was barely a shadow against the trees but he saw something in the movement of her body, a small jerk of her head, that told him she was going to run. And she did, bolting into the darkness.

  Shit!

  He ran after her, feeling the ground shift from asphalt to grass. He was quicker and stronger and he caught her easily ten or fifteen feet from the Blazer.

  He wrapped an arm tight around her neck and started to drag her back. She was light and he could almost carry her, but she was fighting, her screams screeching in his ears.

  “Shut up!” he yelled.

  Her nails tore into his forearm. She started kicking, her legs flailing in the air. The screams grew louder. And louder until it was all he could hear. He tried to put a hand over her mouth, but she bit him, her teeth sinking into the black leather of his glove.

  When he jerked his hand away from her mouth, the screaming started up again. He almost had her back to the pavement when her foot smashed into his crotch. He doubled over in pain, letting out a groan, trying to hold onto her with one hand. Her screams were piercing now.

  Shut up! Jesus, shut up!

  He yanked her back, throwing her against the hood of the Blazer. His eyes flicked to the other two women huddled by the side of the truck and then up to the windshield to the faceless man in the hat behind the wheel.

  The Blazer’s engine revved and he felt it vibrating against his body. He knew the guy was going to pull away and that the whole thing would be messed up.

  And the woman pinned beneath his body was still screaming.

  Shut up! Oh God, just shut up and keep still!

  But she wouldn’t

  He threw his body over her, his right hand groping around to the back of his belt for to the knife.

  Shut up! Stop it! Stop that screaming!

  He cut her throat.

  Her body went limp. It was quiet now.

  He looked into the Blazer through the blood-splattered windshield. He could see only the wide eyes of the driver.

  The Blazer jerked into reverse with a roar, tossing him and the woman’s body to the asphalt. It lurched forward, swerving around him and the woman, and almost clipping the Cadillac. The other two women jumped aside, and the Blazer raced out onto Alligator Alley.

  He looked at the knife in his hand and at the woman lying on the ground.

  Oh no...

  The two women were standing there staring at him in horror.

  Oh God, he was in trouble now.

  He stuck the knife back in its sheath, his hands trembling. His eyes darted back to the Cadillac. For a second, he thought of jumping in and heading east, not stopping until he got to Miami. But he couldn’t do that, couldn’t just leave.

  He looked down at the body. He had to hide her. But where? The parking lot had no cover and he would get cut to pieces by the razor-like blades of the saw grass if he tried to drag her out there. The canal? He could throw her in the water and maybe a gator would find her and pull her under. But she’d probably just float and he knew the fishermen would be out soon. They always got out here by dawn.

  Think, think...

  He grabbed her under the arms and dragged her over to the grass near the boat ramp. A boat...someone had abandoned a boat. It was old, beat up, but made of aluminum, so maybe it would still float. That’s where he would put her.

  He dropped her into the boat. She lay wedged against the seat, her head at a weird angle. He hesitated then grabbed her blouse, ripping it open. He jerked her slacks down around the thighs, paused, then gently spread her legs. A rape gone wrong...

  The boat was sitting in some weeds and he had to push hard to get it to slide down into the black water of the canal. Once in the water it moved easily, and he gave it a hard shove. He let out a breath of relief as it began to glide away.

  He looked back toward the trash can where he had left the FedEx box, thinking at least he could return the money since he had lost one of the packages. But it was gone. Somehow the man must have taken it while he was struggling with the woman.

  The other two women were huddled by the Cadillac, holding each other. He went to them. They started backing away from him, their eyes wide with terror.

  “No, don’t,” he said, holding up his hands. “I won’t hurt you. Don’t run.”

  He opened the back door of the Cadillac. “Get in,” he said.

  The women didn’t move.

  “Get in, please,” he said. He tried to make his voice sound gentle. He couldn’t afford to lose another one.

  The women got into the backseat. He closed the door, locked it, and slid into the driver’s side, closing his eyes for a moment. Marty Robbins was whispering in his ear.

  They say that just before the dawn

  That night is as black as can be-e-e

  One of the women was weeping. A wind was coming up from the north, rippling the black water of the canal and swaying the saw grass, making the tall blades sound like knives scraping on stone.

  He pulled out of the lot. At the edge of Alligator Alley, he stopped. He looked right, across the flat grass to where the first thin edge of gray was shading in from the east.

  He turned the Cadillac west and headed back into the darkness.

  CHAPTER 2

  Tuesday, January 12

  His hands were sweating. And his heart was beating too
fast, making his chest tight. What the hell was wrong with him? He had faced this before and survived. He knew what to expect, knew that it was only painful for the first couple of minutes and then you just went numb until it was over.

  So why was he afraid this time?

  Louis Kincaid got out of the Mustang and took a few seconds to just stand there, staring at the house. He glanced up at the night sky. No moon, no stars. Just a cool breeze blowing in from the gulf, whispering rain.

  The porch light was on and a pale green Luna moth was chasing a smaller moth, throwing itself against the glowing globe. Louis rang the bell. No answer. He pushed it again and as he waited, he watched the green moth. Now it was gripping the edge of the glass, exhausted, its wings tattered from its mating ritual. The other moth had disappeared.

  He ran his wet palms down his thighs, catching sight of his black slacks. He was covered in cat hair.

  Shit...damn it to hell.

  The door jerked open.

  Benjamin looked up at him through the screen.

  “She isn’t ready yet,” he said.

  Louis glanced at his watch. The dinner reservation was for eight-thirty. They weren’t going to make it

  “You better come in ’cause it might be a while,” Benjamin said, holding the screen open.

  “Good idea,” Louis said.

  He followed the boy into the living room. The floor was strewn with school books, a loose-leaf binder and pieces of a plastic toy that looked like a futuristic car model. “Beauty and the Beast” was on, the sound turned down. Benjamin sat down cross-legged on the floor, his skinny brown legs protruding from baggy red shorts, his sticklike arms covered to the elbows by a too-big Michael Jordan T-shirt.

  Louis perched on the edge of the sofa, glancing around.

  “Ben, is April coming over?” he asked.

  Benjamin made a face as he busied himself with a toy car. “I don’t need April anymore.”