Free One to the Wolves, On the Trail of a Killer by Lois Duncan Page B

“My guess is that
     Susan may know a lot more than she’s told people.”
    As soon as I got back to my room I dialed Susan’s number and left that message on
     her answering machine.
    From then on, every time I came back to my room between workshop sessions, the light
     on my phone was blinking with a new message from Michael:
    1:10 p.m.: “I’ve talked to a Vietnamese guy who was a friend of Kait’s. He says he has information
     but won’t divulge it unless he’s guaranteed protection.”
    3:07 p.m.: “I’m calling from the office of Miguel Garcia’s defense attorney. He’s
     got copies of some of Detective Gallegos’s field notes, and one of them says Kait’s
     next door neighbor saw her followed from her apartment by a VW Bug.”
    5:42 p.m.: “I’ve met with the new manager of Kait’s apartment complex. He said last
     week a young blonde woman came in pretending to want an apartment. She said she’d
     been a friend of Kait’s and started asking the manager a lot of questions about Dung.
     It finally came out that she hadn’t known Kait at all. She was Dung’s new girlfriend
     from Oregon. Dung’s moved back to Albuquerque and brought her with him, and she’s
     apparently heard enough rumors so she’s checking up on him.”

    The luncheon on Saturday was a highlight of the writers’ conference. As we neared
     the end of the main course a woman across from me suddenly exclaimed, “Aren’t those
     pretty!” I turned in my chair to see a young man headed in our direction with an elaborate
     arrangement of silk flowers. People were craning their necks to follow his progress
     as he worked his way across the room, struggling to avoid colliding with tray-laden
     wait people.
    Assuming the floral arrangement was for the luncheon speaker, I resumed my conversation
     with the person next to me. Then, to my astonishment, the flowers were plunked down
     in front of me.
    The conversation at our table was extinguished in a heartbeat. Everybody stared at
     me expectantly as I removed the card from its envelope. The message on it was the
     last I would ever have expected.
    Mrs. Arquette, I wish you the best in finding Kait’s killer. I don’t think I have
     the answers you seek, but someday I would like to meet you. You’re a strong mother
     and I wish Kait had introduced us before she left. I hope this arrangement shows that
     there are some out here who are still looking and love her very much. Rod.
    I felt as if somebody had crashed a fist into my chest. According to psychics, Rod
     was Kait’s secret second boyfriend. For four years I had been searching for evidence
     that this man existed, and now suddenly, here he was!
    Our lunch plates had by now been removed from the table and a glass of tangerine sherbet
     of the exact same shade as the flowers sat melting in front of me. Somebody at the
     head table was clinking a spoon against a glass to indicate the start of the program.
     Mumbling an awkward apology to my tablemates, I picked up the flower arrangement and
     carried it out to the lobby.
    “Do you know who delivered these?” I asked the clerk at the front desk.
    He said he did not.
    I went up to my room and set the arrangement on the table next to the bed. It was
     exceptionally pretty and clearly not inexpensive. There was even a little feathered
     bird nestled among the clusters of pastel blossoms.
    I wondered if it had a bomb in it.
    How in God’s name could I know the intentions of the sender? Who was this “Rod” and
     how did he fit into the picture? Was this the young man who allegedly took Kait to
     a party at a “Desert Castle” where she saw a VIP involved in a drug transaction
    The phone rang.
    I snatched up the receiver, but it was only Michael checking in with the news of the
     day.
    “So what’s going on at the conference?” he asked conversationally.
    “Rod sent me flowers,” I told him.
    “The kid you described in your book? He’s finally revealed himself?”
    “Not