Page 36 of The Change
“Really?” He sounded surprised. “I mean,great. I think that’s wise. We can do something nice, just the two of us. Maybe. . .” His words trailed off when he noticed Jo’s pained expression.
“I need to find out who murdered that girl.”
Art closed his eyes and shook his head as if he should have known it was too good to be true. “Jo, the police—”
“No one’s going to stop them from doing their thing,” Jo said. “I’ll just do mine, too.”
“Butwhy?” Art asked. “Why do you have to doanything?”
“Because I saw a girl’s body rotting inside of a trash bag. And I swear to God, Art, I will never get that picture out of my head. I hope someone would do the same thing for me if it was my daughter who’d been killed.”
“Ourdaughter,” Art corrected her as he always did. She braced herself for the argument to come, but her husband simply nodded. “Okay. I get it.”
“You don’t think I’m crazy? You won’t try to stop me?”
Art’s smile seemed hopeless. “Would you let me?”
Jo closed the gap between them and wrapped her arms around him. “Nope,” she said with her head on his chest.
“For the record, I do think you’re nuts,” Art said as he planted a kiss in her hair. “But that’s always been part of your charm. Just promise me you won’t get yourself hurt.”
“I’ll try. Right now I’m going to go out for a run. Gotta stay fit if I’m going to fight all the bad guys. I’ll be back in time to take Lucy to school.”
Jo jogged down Danskammer Beach Road, expecting to find it deserted as usual. She knew she wouldn’t encounter the spirits Nessa had seen, but she wanted Mandy and the other girls to know she was there. They would not be forgotten. She hadn’t told Art exactly where she was headed, of course. He would have warned her against it, and he’d have had a good point. Whoever had murdered the girl and dumped her body in the scrub might return for a visit. A woman running along an empty highway in the early morning would make an irresistible target. The killer could be lurking out there right now, waiting for another victim to wander into his trap. Jo hoped so. She fantasized about what she would do to the asshole if she found him—and wondered if she’d grown powerful enough to rip him limb from limb.
A truck sped past with two men in the cab. It swerved to the center of the road to avoid her, but didn’t slow. Another car drove by a minute later, ferrying a group of young women with their windows rolled down. More vehicles followed, one after another, all headed away from town. Jo couldn’t imagine where they all might be going. Even on summer weekends, Danskammer Beach didn’t attract many swimmers or sunbathers. The road was out of the way for anyone not bound for the Pointe.
Then a gleam in the distance caught her eye. As she drew closer, she could make out the hood of a car with the morning sun bouncing off it. The vehicles that had passed her were there, too, parked along both sides of the road. People milled about at the edge of the scrubland. Jo picked up speed, her feet slamming against the pavement. Another body must have been found. She sprinted toward a middle-aged couple standing with their backs to the ocean. She’d almost reached them when she saw the man lift a phone and smile. It was too late to stop. She arrived just as the selfie was snapped. The two of them greeted her with startled expressions.
“What’s going on?” Jo panted.
“They found a body here yesterday,” the woman explained, looking over her husband’s shoulder as he inspected the photo they’d taken.
“Let’s try it one more time,” he said, putting his arm around his wife and holding the phone aloft once again.
“Why are you taking photos?”
“Friend of mine’s an EMT.” The woman kept the smile on her face and her eyes on the camera. “Said it looked like the work of a serial killer. This beach is going to be famous.”
“For God’s sake, stop talking,” her husband ordered.
Jo left them to their photo shoot and wove her way through the others who’d gathered to gawk. A few hearty souls were inspecting the edge of the scrubland, searching for a way into the thicket.None of them spotted the entrance to the path, which now seemed clear as day to Jo.
“You were here yesterday when they found the body.” A young man had sidled up beside her. His clothing appeared slightly disheveled. There were bags under his eyes and the scruff on his chin was quickly turning into a beard. He looked as though he might have slept in his car. “I saw you on the news. You were one of the women who found the body.”
Jo ignored him. It would be safer for the kid if he just went away.
“Jo Levison, am I right?”
She was itching to punch someone, and he’d just become the likeliest target. “Who the hell are you?”
“My name’s Josh Gibbon,” he continued, undaunted. “I host a top-rated true crime podcast. Maybe you’ve heard of it? It’s calledThey Walk Among Us.”
Jo had heard of it, all right. She’d been a regular listener when the podcast launched. At first it had been a scrappy one-man show. By the time she stopped listening,They Walk Among Uswas sponsored by insurance companies, home security systems, and men’s underwear manufacturers. Serial killers and dead girls were a lucrative business.
“I know, I know.” His smile seemed a little too slick. “The name of the podcast’s a bit over the top. But I assure you, we’re a very serious show. We analyze unsolved homicides, looking for similarities. We’ve managed to alert authorities to the existence of five serial killers at work in the northeastern United States. One of our guys was captured two months ago. Have you heard of the Head Hunter? We even gave him his name.”
“Because killers need catchy names?” Jo sneered. “What’s next, collectible cards?”
