Left For Dead

by Kevin O'Brien

Genres: Female Sleuths; Thrillers; Psychological Thrillers; Suspense

Synopsis

Something She Can't Remember When Claire Shaw wakes in a Seattle hospital, she remembers nothing of what has happened to her. She doesn't recognize the concerned faces of her husband and friends. She knows only that she is lucky to be alive, the single surviving victim of a vicious serial killer. Someone Who Won't Forget She was a mistake--not like the others. She didn't understand. That was obvious now. But she would come to understand. Next time, there would be no escape--and her eyes would fill with that perfect, beautiful terror. . . Some Things You Can't Imagine On an island isolated from the mainland, Claire has returned to a life she barely knows anymore. A town that feels as if it, too, is hiding something in its dark woods, remote cabins, and chilly smiles. Bit by bit, Claire's memory is taking terrifying shape in a place where fear is very much at home. . . Praise for the Novels of Kevin O'Brien "Another taut page-turner."-- Seattle Post-Intelligencer "O'Brien does what he does best: keeping the suspense at unbelievably high levels." -- The Midwest Book Review "Imaginative, well written. . .add this book to your summer reading list." -- Times Record News (Wichita Falls, Texas)

Release date: January 23, 2014

Publisher: Pinnacle Books

Print pages: 452

Sample

She made up her mind. She would tell her husband all about it when she got back home. A full confession. She felt a tight knot in her stomach. She dreaded this talk. Still, better Frank hear the truth from her than from somebody else.

She was five blocks from the house, walking their Jack Russell terrier, Cosmo. It was eleven-thirty, and a chilly, autumn wind crept through the night air. She and Frank had just returned from an awful party. They’d flipped a coin over who got dog-duty. Connie had called heads, and it had come up tails. So she’d put her coat back on, grabbed the leash and a couple of pooper-scooper bags, then let Cosmo lead the way out the front door.

Connie Shafer was thirty years old, with green eyes and shoulder-length, wavy, auburn hair. She’d dressed to the nines tonight, a simple, sleeveless black dress that showed off her thin figure, and on a delicate chain, the gold heart-shaped locket Frank had given her last Valentine’s Day. Connie’s two-hundred-dollar Amalfis made a curious click-click sound on the sidewalk.

They lived in a town house in Redmond, not far from one of the main shopping areas. Their neighborhood had sprouted up in the mideighties, a maze of little roads with new split-level and rambler-style houses dwarfed by tall, old trees. There wasn’t anyone else out at this hour, so Connie had plenty of time to think—sometimes out loud.

“I’m sure half the people at the party know,” she muttered, pausing for a moment while Cosmo sniffed at a tree trunk. “That Hannah has such a big mouth . . .”

Cosmo pulled her farther down the sidewalk, beneath a sputtering streetlight and past a gnarly old oak. Someone had left their recycling bins on the sidewalk. Connie stepped around them.

The party had been at the home of a former coworker from their Microsoft days. Connie and Frank had met while working there. Half the people at tonight’s soiree had been at their wedding four years ago. Both Frank and Connie had since moved on to other jobs. But before leaving, Connie had become involved with a coworker, Gary Levinson.

It lasted only a week, after months of flirting. Talk about a long build up to nothing. At the time, she’d been pretty miserable at home—with Frank ignoring her while he focused on his new job. And there was Gary, a bit older (thirty-two at the time), divorced, nice eyes, and saying all the right things. It didn’t matter he was balding and about twenty pounds overweight. Gary made her feel special.

Connie ended it. She couldn’t stand the sneaking about. Besides, after a few times with Gary, he didn’t seem so charming anymore. In fact, she realized he was a jerk. Whenever they’d gone out to eat together, he’d treated the waitpeople like crap—always a bad sign. Moreover, she heard from several coworkers that he was a backstabbing sleazeball.

Connie had heard he’d quit Microsoft and moved to California, so she hadn’t expected to see him at tonight’s gathering. But there he was—even fatter and more bald—with yet another Microsoft refugee, Hannah Van Buren, hanging on his arm. Big Mouth Hannah.

“Oh, Gary’s living in Bellevue now,” Hannah had told her, nibbling on a cheese puff. “We’ve been going together since July. He’s awesome. But then I don’t have to tell you, Connie. You had a little thing with him a while back, didn’t you?”

“Not really,” she replied, with a half-smile, half-grimace.

“That’s not what he told me,” Hannah retorted in a singsong voice.

Connie noticed a couple of party guests turn to stare at them. Maybe she was paranoid, but she felt people staring all night. Nervously fidgeting with her gold heart-shaped locket, she clung to Frank most of the time. She managed to avoid Gary—until Frank went to the bathroom. Then Gary slithered up to her and kissed her on the cheek. “That’s for old times,” he whispered. “I’m with Hannah now. Going on four months . . .”

“That’s swell,” Connie said. They deserved each other.

Frank came back from the bathroom, and suddenly Connie was standing with the two of them. She just wanted a hole to open in the floor and swallow her up. “Honey, you remember Gary Levinson,” she heard herself say.

The two men shook hands. Frank was very cordial—as usual. He was good at small talk, chatting amiably with Gary.

Then out of the blue, Gary said to him: “I hope you’re taking good care of this gal of yours, and treating her right.” With that, he excused himself to cozy up with Hannah by the hors d’oeuvres table on the other side of the room.

Frowning, Frank turned to her. “ ‘Treat this gal of yours right.’ What the hell does he mean by that? Who does he think he is?”

Connie merely shrugged.

Twenty excruciating minutes later, they’d left the party and driven home, hardly saying a word to each other in the car.

“He knows,” Connie murmured, pulling out a Baggie to scoop up after Cosmo. How appropriate, cleaning up a mess. It was what she had to do when she got home. Damage control. She loved her husband. The thing with Gary was merely a momentary lapse, an embarrassment—like a hiccup or a fart. It was just something disgusting she’d let happen. And she was sorry. Would he understand? Would he please forgive her?

Connie stepped into an alcove by the condominium at the end of the block. She deposited the loaded poop-bag in a Dumpster, then quietly closed the lid.

Giving the leash a little tug, Connie started out of the alcove. But she stopped abruptly. She may have even gasped. She wasn’t certain. She wasn’t certain of anything—except the man standing on the corner across the street. He seemed to be staring at her.

Had he heard her talking to herself? Had she been talking out loud a moment ago, or just thinking?

Cosmo tried to go back toward the Dumpster. Connie had to tug at the leash until he obeyed and followed her. She headed back home.

She glanced over her shoulder at the man. She couldn’t see his face, swallowed up by the shadows. But he was tall and gaunt. He wore a windbreaker and baggy pants. He hadn’t moved from his spot on the corner. She had no idea what he was doing there. He didn’t have a dog with him. It wasn’t a bus stop. Was he some homeless guy? In Redmond? This was the suburbs, for God’s sake.

Connie moved on. She told herself not to look back. She didn’t want him to know she was afraid. Maybe if she just kept walking, he’d stay where he was and leave her alone.

Cosmo wanted to stop and sniff at another tree, but she jerked at the leash. Despite her resolve, Connie peeked over her shoulder again. She let out a little sigh. The man wasn’t on the corner at the end of the block any more. He must have moved on.

Then Connie saw something out of the corner of her eye. A shadowy figure darted into the little alcove where she’d been just a minute before. It was him.

Her heart seemed to stop for a moment.

She could see his silhouette, half-hidden behind a fence. He was lurking in that dark niche, watching her. She couldn’t see his eyes, but she felt them on her.

She couldn’t move or breathe. Then Cosmo pulled on the leash, and made her turn away. Only four blocks from home, she told herself, you’re going to be all right.

Connie picked up the pace a bit. She didn’t dare run, because he’d probably chase after her. She pulled Cosmo into the center of the street. She’d read somewhere that one way to discourage a possible attacker while walking alone at night was to go down the middle of a road—no shadows or trees for anyone to hide behind, no nearby bushes to camouflage a crime.

The night was so still. She heard the click-click of her high heels on the pavement and Cosmo panting. She even detected the sound of some cars in the distance. But she didn’t hear anyone behind her. Connie nervously fidgeted with her gold locket. She dared to look back once more.

No one. Or was he hiding again?

Three blocks back, a Mercedes turned up the street, followed by a silver SUV.

Connie returned to the sidewalk. She felt a bit better. No one was about to attack her while a couple of cars were driving by. She glanced over her shoulder and squinted at the headlights, illuminating the roadway. No sign of her phantom stalker. The cars must have scared him away.

Connie began to breathe easier. She continued toward home, and the cars passed by, first the Mercedes, then the SUV. Maybe she should tell Frank about her little scare. She could squeeze some sympathy from him, before she told him about Gary. Would he ever forgive her?

She was less than two blocks from the town house. Cosmo wanted to stop and sniff another tree. Connie studied the darkened street. The creepy man must have run off or he’d gone Dumpster-diving in that alcove. She and Cosmo were alone—and very close to home. Still, she felt unhinged. The dread in the pit of her stomach hadn’t quite gone away, because she had to have her talk with Frank.

Cosmo moved on, pulling her along. Two blocks ahead, Connie saw a car turn and come up the street toward her. The headlights blinded her for a moment, then she noticed the vehicle was the silver SUV that had driven by just a minute ago. As the SUV came closer, it slowed down, then crawled to a stop.

Connie kept walking, but hesitated as she saw the driver’s window roll down.

“Excuse me,” the man called gently. “I’m sorry, I’m holy cross . . .”

Connie stopped and stared at the man inside the car. She couldn’t quite see his face. And she was pretty certain she hadn’t heard him right. “I beg your pardon?” she asked, taking a step toward the SUV.

Cosmo seemed to resist. He was straining the leash.

“I’m totally lost,” the man said, more clearly. “I wonder if you could help me. I’m working for sessions treat . . .”

“What?” Connie asked.

“I’m looking for chessions street . . .” he repeated, but it was still a little muddled.

“Oh, street,” Connie said. He was talking as if he had a mouthful of marbles. She still couldn’t quite see his face either. “What street were you looking for?”

“Zeelshions Street.”

“I’m sorry, I still can’t hear you . . .”

Connie took another step toward the car.

Frank Shafer glanced at his wristwatch again: 12:20. He’d already changed into a flannel shirt and sweatpants, watched part of Leno, and knocked off a beer.

Connie had been gone nearly an hour. Usually Cosmo did his business within ten minutes. Something was wrong.

Frank had stepped outside twice already, looking up and down the block. No sign of them.

Damn it, if she’d planned on taking this long, she should have brought along the cell phone. Frank couldn’t figure out what was going on. Connie had seemed pretty tense most of the night—ever since they’d arrived at the party. Had he said or done something to upset her?

Frank paced around the living room. He kept looking out the front window for her. He’d turned the TV volume to mute a few minutes ago. He wanted to hear if anyone was outside.

He did hear something: a scratching on the front door, then an abbreviated bark. Cosmo. He always strained at the leash and clawed at the door to get back in, because it was their routine to give him a dog biscuit after a walk.

Frank hurried to the door. He was so happy for Connie and Cosmo’s return that he wouldn’t be mad at her—at least, not for a minute or two. Right now, all he wanted to do was hug her. He flung open the door.

Cosmo looked up at him. The dog was whimpering. His leash trailed behind him, dragging on the ground.

Frank noticed something tied around the handle end of the leash. It looked like a black handkerchief. He squatted down, and Cosmo nuzzled up beside him. The dog was trembling.

“Jesus, what’s going on?” Frank murmured.

He gazed at the black silky material tried around the leash handle. He’d seen it before, earlier tonight, while Connie was getting dressed for the party.

He was staring at his wife’s panties.

Megan and Jamie had known each other seven weeks, and they were totally in love. They were so wrapped up in each other, and so heady with bliss that it was a bit disgusting. As they played on the swings together in the kiddie playground, several people smiled warmly at them. Jamie noticed one woman roll her eyes and sneer, but he decided to ignore her. He and Megan were a cute couple, and they both knew it. Damn cute.

With a disposable camera, Jamie chronicled their cuteness, their love, and all the fun they were having that Sunday afternoon. It was a crisp, overcast day, and the leaves on the trees had turned to vibrant hues of orange, red, and yellow. Megan looked gorgeous—her cheeks rosy and her black hair all wind-swept. Jamie had taken some terrific photos of her hanging from the monkey bars. He wanted to save some on the roll for later—so he could shoot a few photos of her in bed.

“Next, let’s play hide and seek,” Megan suggested, calling to him from the top of the slide. “Okay?“

“Let’s go back to your place and play it,” Jamie replied, grinning.

Megan just laughed, then pushed off and sailed down the slide.

As Jamie pulled her up, she gave him a kiss. “Close your eyes and count to fifty. Gotta find me before I’ll let you take me home.”

Jamie plopped down on a bench, closed his eyes, and started counting.

“No cheating!” he heard Megan call.

“Stay in this section of the park!” he called back. Then he went back to counting. He kept his end of the bargain—going all the way up to fifty.

Once Jamie opened his eyes, he suddenly felt very much alone. He shrugged it off and started scoping out the kiddie park area.

Megan was wearing a yellow pullover. She should have been easy to spot. But he didn’t see her.

Jamie peeked around a few trees—and even peered up at the branches. He and Megan had climbed a couple of trees earlier, and she was good at it. But he didn’t see her hiding up in any of the limbs.

He circled the restroom facility—a plain, small brick unit with the men’s room on one side, and the women’s on the other. Megan wasn’t in the bushes behind the building.

As he passed the women’s doorway, Jamie almost bumped into a girl coming out of the lavatory. Lugging a backpack, she had a pierced nostril and a green streak in her hair.

“Excuse me,” Jamie said. “You didn’t see anyone else in there, did you? My girlfriend and I are playing hide and seek.”

“Nobody’s in there,” she muttered, with a wary sidelong glance at him. She moved on, then adjusted her backpack. “You can check it out if you want . . . freak.”

Jamie looked around to see if the coast was clear. He’d never stepped into a women’s bathroom in his life. If anyone saw him, they’d probably think he was a major pervert. He poked his head past the door: just as dirty and smelly as any public men’s room—only no urinal. “Meg? You in here?” he called, his voice echoing. Both stall doors were open. The place was empty.

He tried the men’s room—on the off-chance she’d been gutsy enough to stow away in no-woman’s-land. But the bathroom was empty.

When Jamie stepped back outside, a chilly wind stirred up, and he shuddered. He noticed two big piles of leaves at the edge of the park. Had Megan buried herself in one of them?

“Come out, come out, wherever you are!” he called, swiping at the mound of leaves. He walked into them—until he was up to his knees in dead leaves. “Shit,” he muttered, kicking at the piling. He glanced around the empty park. “Meg?” he called out. “Megan? Babe? Okay, you win!”

Jamie’s eyes locked on the row of cars parked along the roadway that snaked through the park. When he’d told her to stay in this section, he’d considered this road a boundary line. Nevertheless, Jamie hurried toward the line of cars. Some of them appeared to have been abandoned. Megan wasn’t hiding behind any of the vehicles. Jamie even peeked underneath the cars. No sign of her. Something was wrong. Where the hell was she?

“Okay, Meg, you win!” he announced loudly, lumbering away from the last automobile at the edge of the park area. “I give up, babe! Game’s over, okay? Meg? C’mon, I’m getting tired of this . . .”

Across the roadway, he’d caught the attention of a couple, who had stopped to stare at him. They must have taken him for a crazy man, yelling at nobody. If Meg was in the vicinity, certainly, she could hear him too.

“Megan? Baby?” Jamie couldn’t help it, but his voice was cracking. “The game’s over. Goddamn it, I’m serious! I’m going home, okay?”

Jamie glanced around. It didn’t make sense. If someone had grabbed her, she would have screamed. He lumbered back toward the park bench. Maybe if he just sat and waited for her, she’d come out of her hiding place.

As he passed under a tree, he heard twigs snapping. Leaves drifted down past him. Jamie looked up.

“I can’t believe you gave up so soon!” Megan teased him. She was sitting on one of the lower branches.

He managed to laugh. “You scared the shit out of me, goddamn it. I thought someone had abducted you.” Shaking his head, Jamie watched her climb down. “I looked up there, for God’s sakes, and I didn’t see you.”

“That’s because I was in that other tree,” Megan said, nodding at a tall oak by the roadway. She jumped to the ground, then gave him a quick peck on the cheek. She was a bit out of breath. “After you looked up this tree, I came down from the other one and hid up here. Pretty smart, huh?”

“You’re a friggin’ genius,” Jamie muttered. “C’mon.”

They crossed the road—into another part of the park, where a path wound around the beautiful Dahlia Gardens. Megan put her arm around him, but Jamie pulled away. “Oh, don’t be a sore loser,” she said, giggling. “Huh, you should have seen yourself ducking into the ladies’ toilet. It was pretty funny.”

“Yeah, hysterical,” he replied, cracking a smile, despite himself. He couldn’t stay mad at her.

Megan kissed him, then ran toward a big pile of leaves between the gardens. Jamie chased after her. Megan jumped into the leaves, then let out a scream.

Jamie laughed—until she screamed again.

“Oh, my God, my God!” she yelled, recoiling and scrambling out of the leafy pile. Megan had tears in her eyes. She ran into his arms. “Something’s in there,” she gasped, trembling. She started to choke on her words. “A dead animal—some thing—”

Jamie stepped toward the hill of leaves, now scattered and blowing in the chilly wind. He hesitated, then brushed some leaves off the top of the stack.

“Please, Jamie, don’t,” Megan cried, turning away.

He felt a cold and hard object against his fingertips. He dug past the top layer of dried-up leaves and lawn waste. Something smelled like rotten fruit. It was wrapped in a clear plastic bag. Jamie swiped a few more leaves away. He could see a woman’s face and a pair of heavily made-up eyes staring back at him through the plastic. Her mouth was painted dark red, and she had a beauty mark on her cheek.

“Oh, Jesus,” he whispered.

Jamie told himself that it might just be a mannequin. But he brushed away a few more leaves, and he saw the plastic bag was tied around the woman’s throat.

Her blue-white hand—frozen with rigor mortis—clutched at a something near her neck.

It was a gold heart-shaped locket.

She’d checked into the Westhill Towers Hotel in downtown Seattle under the name Mrs. George Mowery.

The real Mrs. Mowery was home in Salem, Oregon, where she lived with George and their two kids. Selma Mowery always stayed home whenever George went to Seattle on business.

Yet for the last two years, Westhill Towers’s records showed Mrs. Mowery had joined her husband on eighteen out of twenty-three of his overnight stays there. Selma had no way of knowing. The credit card bills with the hotel payments went to George’s work address. And Selma never phoned the hotel. She always rang his pager or cell phone. She had no idea her husband was seeing someone else.

The “other” Mrs. Mowery was also married. And her husband had no idea she was seeing someone else either. They lived outside Seattle. Whenever George planned a trip, he’d e-mail her, and she’d think of some excuse to spend a couple of nights in the city. She had a friend backing up her cover story this time. They were supposed to be on a shopping spree for a couple of days. She stole George’s idea, and got herself a cell phone. No reason for her husband to call the hotel if he could reach her on the cell. No reason for him to suspect anything.

She liked being Mrs. George Mowery whenever George came into town. But she had no intention of taking the name on a full-time basis. She didn’t want to break up his marriage—anymore than she wanted to ruin her own. They loved their spouses, yet needed the diversion. What she had with George was love with boundaries.

At the moment, she wasn’t too happy with her surrogate husband. George had left her alone tonight while he’d gone off to wine and dine a client. She wasn’t supposed to wait up. He’d apologized profusely, and promised they’d be together the entire day tomorrow. But that didn’t make tonight any easier.

She stared at the Seattle skyline, the twinkling lights of a Saturday night. She saw it all—past her own reflection—through the floor-to-ceiling windows of the small gymnasium on the thirty-seventh floor of the Westhill Towers. She was on the treadmill, clocking in at twenty-one minutes, with 244 calories burned so far. Perspiration dripped from her forehead, and her T-shirt was soaked. It clung to her shoulders and back. She’d been pacing herself to the oldies music piped over a speaker system. Right now, the Beach Boys’ “Wouldn’t It Be Nice?” kept her moving in place.

She’d come up to the gym so she could blow off some steam. It beat sitting alone in their room all night. For a while, an overweight man and his two skinny adolescent kids—a boy and girl—had been in the gym, too, going from one weight and cardio machine to another. The boy kept staring at her. So she had a little fun with him.

She’d gotten her two front teeth knocked out when she was a kid—thanks to a girlfriend fooling around with a tennis racket during a slumber party. Every few years, she was fitted for new permanents, and had to wear a temporary retainer with fake front teeth. She could take it out with the flick of her tongue. This was one of those temporary interims. So—when that obnoxious teenage boy gawked at her for the umpteenth time, she smiled, then took out her teeth with her tongue. The kid actually shrieked. He was horrified. It was the one good laugh she had tonight.

The dad and two kids had left shortly after that, about ten minutes ago. Now she was alone.

A section from the newspaper was rolled up in the cup-holder on the Treadmaster’s handlebars. The newspaper was four days old, and folded over to page three. But the headline grabbed her attention:


“Oh, God, enough of this,” she muttered, rolling up the newspaper section and stuffing it back into the treadmill’s cup-holder.

She’d heard about this Rembrandt killer. It was all they talked about on the local news lately. Apparently, the police weren’t any closer to catching him. She didn’t want to read about him. She’d have nightmares tonight.

For the next few minutes she let her mind go blank. She watched a ferry glide across Puget Sound’s calm, moonlit water. Suddenly, she felt so forlorn. People were going places, and here she was, running and running, and going nowhere. She should have stayed at home. Saturday night alone in the city was utter misery.

“Oh, screw this,” she muttered, switching off the treadmill. She felt her pulse, and wandered over to the window. Gazing outside, she caught her breath. “Quit feeling so sorry for yourself already,” she sighed. “You’ll be with him later tonight and all day tomorrow.”

The music stopped. She glanced up at the clock on the wall. It was almost eleven. The gym would be closing soon. She imagined them automatically locking the door and turning off the lights from some switch down at the front desk. Just her luck, she’d be locked in here until six in the morning. George would think she’d ditched him.

Well, then he’d know how it feels to be ditched, she thought, heading toward the women’s changing room. She’d come to the gym, wearing a sweater over her T-shirt, with her room card in the pocket. She’d left the sweater in a locker in the changing room.

She walked past a row of lockers. Her footsteps echoed on the tiled floor, and there was a steady drip sound from a faucet in the bathroom. Finding a stack of towels, she wiped the cold sweat from her forehead. She felt a chill. She needed to take a shower, but not here. Without the oldies music playing, the place was kind of spooky. Too damn quiet.

All at once, a locker door slammed.

She jumped at the noise. Her heart rate had just started to return to normal after the treadmill, but now it was leaping off the chart. For a moment, she couldn’t move. She just listened. Nothing.

She’d thought she was alone in here. How could anyone have gotten past her without her seeing? Maybe the noise was from the men’s room next door.

The security in this place wasn’t so terrific. Her plastic card room key was supposed to open the door to the workout room, but the door wasn’t locked. Anyone from the street could have walked into the hotel, taken an elevator up to the thirty-seventh floor, and let themselves into the gym. And there was no lock on the women’s changing room door either.

Someone could be hiding in the very next row of lockers, or in one of the shower stalls, or maybe in the sauna.

She shuddered. “Oh, quit creeping yourself out,” she grumbled. She wished she hadn’t read that stupid newspaper article.

She hurried to her locker. Her hand was trembling as she worked the combination. It was one of those new changeable combination locks. She’d set it for her birthday June third: 6–0–3.

She was dialing the three when she heard another noise. It was a sudden, mechanical hum. Maybe the heater in the sauna, or a vent activating automatically. Whatever it was, it wasn’t a person, she told herself.

She got the locker open, then pulled out her sweater. “Honey, sorry I’m taking so long!” she nervously called out. “I’ll be right there!”

She felt stupid, talking to no one—just in case she wasn’t alone in this changing room. Who was she trying to kid?

She closed the locker door and started toward the center aisle. Then she stopped dead.

A shadow swept across the tiled floor.

She glanced up at the ceiling. It was polished metal, almost like a mirror. She could see her own reflection. And she saw a man, standing on the other side of her locker, in the next row.

She gasped.

He looked up at the ceiling, too. His face was a bit blurred. But she could tell he was smiling at her.

On the thirty-seventh floor, a hotel security man switched off the lights in the small gymnasium and the two locker rooms. The place was empty. It looked clean. He failed to notice a pair of white panties dangling from the treadmill’s handlebars.

“There’s another one,” he said. “Christ, that damn thing is huge! It’s bigger than a squirrel. That makes eight so far. I told you, ten’s my limit. If I see two more rats, I’m out of here.”

“Oh, don’t be such a pansy,” Phillip Banach told his brother. He was wearing coveralls, construction boots, work gloves, and over his nose and mouth, a mask which he’d dabbed with peppermint extract. It helped camouflage the pungent smell of the junkyard. The place was about half the size of a football field, with trails winding through hills of debris. Phillip turned toward his brother. “Y’hear what I’m telling you, pansy?”

“Hey, you’re the homo here, bro,” Alan Banach retorted. He’d put on an old pair of galoshes and wrapped duct tape around the cuffs of his jeans, but he still hated stomping through all this foul garbage. “Flies and rats and stench, oh my,” he said, tugging a small oriental rug out from under a loaded garbage bag. Half of the rug had been scorched in a fire or something. He tossed it back amid the rubble. “I can’t believe you and Damien do this every week,” Alan continued. “What kind of gay men are you anyway, sloshing through garbage? You should be dealing with fabrics and colors.”

Actually, Phillip and his partner, Damien, did deal with fabrics and colors. They ran the Banach-Tate Antique Gallery in Bellingham, Washington. Phillip’s brother, Alan, was their accountant, and they did a good business in their posh little store. Most of their stock was acquired in estate sales, but once every week or so, unbeknown to their snooty, rich clients, the two men searched for antique treasures in this dumping grounds off Interstate 5, a few miles south of the city.

Damien was visiting his ailing father in Everett that Sunday. So Phillip had tapped Alan to come along on this afternoon’s scavenging expedition. It was a two-man job. Some of the pieces they uncovered here could be pretty heavy.

“You know, we’re totally wasting our time. We’ll never find anything here,” Alan announced, sifting through the garbage. He glanced up at his brother—in his coveralls, picking through another mound of debris. “All we’ll come up with is more rats. I’m telling you, if I see two more, we’re out of here.”

“Has it ever