Page 117 of Kill Your Darlings

I guessed, “And neither was Milo?”

Rankin gave another of those sour smiles.“No.Oh, we knew Dominic didn’t disappear all on his own.There was no question of foul play.The question was who, out of a very large cast of suspects, might have decided to take matters into their own hands.”

“A very large cast of suspects?”I repeated.

“Dominic started getting into trouble with the law when he was thirteen.He must have been detained or arrested about twenty times by the time he disappeared.The charges were always dropped.A lot of it was petty stuff.Fist-fights, peeking in windows, taking stuff and forgetting to pay for it, sneaking into empty houses—”

“You mean assault?”Finn inquired.“Voyeurism?Theft?Breaking and entering?”

“Yep,” Rankin said grimly.“It escalated as he got older.Why wouldn’t it?He had years of learning the laws didn’t apply to him.Judge Baldwin never saw it that way.He considered any trouble Dom got into as kid stuff.”

My father would have been the sheriff during that time.Now there was irony.The man who never let failure to wash a dish or a “smart-aleck” comment go unpunished.

“Keiran, your pal Milo knew this—it’s in his journal—but you might be surprised to learn that when Dom was in high school, he considered himself quite the lady’s man.He was handsome, rich, on the football team.He didn’t have trouble getting girls.Keeping them was a different matter because he was a bastard.There were complaints of physical and verbal abuse, stalking.A couple of charges were filed—but none of it came to anything.The thing is, those girls all had daddies, and several of those men weren’t happy about the way their daughters were treated.They weren’t happy with the failure of the law to protect their kids.They all, at one time or another, made threats.”

Finn said, “So when Dominic disappeared, the investigation focused on the fathers of the girls who claimed Dominic had assaulted or abused them.”

“Grandfathers, fathers, and brothers,” agreed Rankin.“Milo disappearing the way he did raised some eyebrows, but he was never really on our radar.We took an extra close look at a couple of folks, but nothing came of it.The case went cold.”

I said, “But now—”

Finn and I stared as Rankin picked up the journal, the plastic binder, and the manila folder on his desk and dumped them in the trash.

He read our expressions and said wryly, “Don’t worry.I’m planning to incinerate all of it.”

I said on a swallow, “But… Are you not going to pursue…this?”

Finn put a hand on my shoulder.I wasn’t sure if it was reassurance or a warning to shut up.

Rankin grimaced.“I spent the morning reading your friend Milo’s journal.There’s a lot about Dom in there.A lot about you in there, too.Maybe the system did fail in finding justice for Dominic Baldwin, but it also failed those girls, and it failed you most of all.”

That choked me up, and I’m not sure why.

“The only person still having sleepless nights over Dominic Baldwin is gone now.There’s no fixing the past.Dom Baldwin got away with a lot worse than you ever did, Keiran.And maybe Milo, too.”Rankin sighed.“Sometimes letting old ghosts lie quiet is as close to justice as we get.”

I stared in disbelief from Rankin to Finn.I was afraid to believe what Rankin seemed to be saying.

Finn was smiling, his eyes light with relief and happiness.

“You’re fine,” he reassured me.

For the first time in my life, I knew it was true.

Epilogue

“Milo is going to have to dig his own way out of the mess he created for himself,” Finn was saying when we walked through the doors of the Monterey Plaza Hotel.“I’ve got zero sympathy.Not only did he leave you holding the bag—hisbag—he knew you were being blackmailed, threatened, and he didn’t lift a finger.He was only too glad to let you play decoy.”

It was nearly five in the evening on Sunday evening and the hotel lobby was largely empty.The exodus of conference attendees had started early that morning, readers and writers alike returning to the “real” world, and now only a few die-hards or people with late flights remained.

I said, “I’m only concerned that Milo’s story—or lack of a story—is liable to suck me back in.”

“No.Colby’s murder falls under the Monterey Police Department’s jurisdiction.As far as they know, there’s no connection to a twenty-year-old missing persons case in Steeple Hill.It was never their case.If Milo’s smart—well, if Milo continues his usual self-serving pattern—he’ll stick to the story that a drunken and distraught stranger forced his way into his hotel room and held him hostage for most of the day while he tried to convince the man to surrender to authorities.”

“I don’t see how his story can possibly hold up.Even if Geo goes along with it—”

“Geo’s guilty.He’s not being asked to confess to something he didn’t do.”

“Right.True.But nobody’s going to believe that Geo was in this hotel for a mystery convention.I doubt if he’s ever read one of Milo’s books.”

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