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Damien straightened and closed the file folder, placing it back into the box. Plank moved around the table and motioned to the chair opposite him.

“May I?” Plank asked. Damien nodded.

Plank sat and stared with an excited smile, showing his uneven teeth dulled by dark plaque between them.

“Exciting times,” Plank said. “It’s like deja vu all over again.”

Plank’s hair was greased back, like in high school, except his widows peak had started to recede. His fingers lightly tapped the table top, his nails, long and dirty.

“What have you been up to, Matt?” Damien asked. “Not as much as you, old friend,” he said.

“We’re not old friends. We never have been.” “That’s not the way I remember it,” Plank said. “Well, you were high a lot back then.”

Plank laughed through his nose, like a sniffing dog.

“I like to think my recreational activities haven’t dulled my senses,” Plank said.

“You can think anything you want. Doesn’t mean you’re right. Now, what can I do for you?”

“How goes the investigation?”

“It goes,” Damien said. “I’ve been meaning to talk to you.“

“Ooo, how exciting.” He held out his boney wrists. “Are you going to arrest me?”

“Should I?”

“I like handcuffs, but not for that,” Plank said.

“You were quite a fan of Mark Kent’s murders back in the day,” Damien said. “What about them made you so excited?”

Plank leaned in, his breath smelling like a moldy rug soaked with bourbon.

“I don’t know if you’re aware of this,” he said, “but we don’t exactly live in an exciting part of Florida. We’re not on South Beach with the beautiful people, wet and half naked. We’re not near the theme parks with rides and rich tourists. We’re not on the coasts where college kids go to Spring Break. We’re north of all that, away from everything and everyone, surrounded by rows and rows of citrus trees, which are treated better than half the people in this town. It can get downright boring, living in the middle of nowhere. Especially for a kid with only you and Mark as friends.”

“I wasn’t your friend,” Damien said.

“I liked to think you were. You were such a rebel back then. Too smart for those boring teachers. Too handsome for sluts like Daisy Hicks and Cathy Richie. You’re a lucky man, being married to Raquel. She’s quite the catch. Unfortunately, my invitation to your wedding must have gotten lost in the mail.”

“You didn’t like Daisy and Cathy?”

“No,” he scoffed, smoothing his greasy hair against his head. “Mark was right to make an example of them. Cathy was an outright bitch. And Daisy, well, she was sleeping with the manager of the grocery store, a married man. Did you know that? I saw it with my own eyes. Not the act itself, but their flirtations. It was hard to miss.”

“You spent a lot of time at the grocery store?” Damien asked.

“I worked there.” “You did?”

“Part time. Off the books.” “Doing what?”

“Errands and tasks.” “Who hired you?”

“Mr. Shewl. The manager. You can ask him yourself.” “He’s dead,” Damien said.

“Died three years ago.”

“Too bad. Another unanswered question. Another cold lead. Nothing about these crimes is easy, is it?”

“It’s not that hard. We got the killer. Mark’s rotting away in prison.”

“You should visit him,” Plank said. “He’s lost a lot of weight. Gone is the baby fat. He’s all muscle and attitude now.”

“You’ve seen him?”

“From time to time. Wouldn’t it be great, the three of us back together again?”

“Is that why you came to talk to me, to relive the old days?” Damien asked.

Plank scooted his chair around the corner of the table, inching closer.

“I hear the mayor’s daughter is missing,” Plank said. “It’s all over the news. A fascinating development. I’m surprised you’re not out there hunting down the perpetrator and saving the poor girl’s life.”

“Do you know where she is?” “Me? Why would I?”

“You’re a fan of Mark’s. Maybe you wanted to show off. Give you something to brag about the next time you drop by to see him.”

“Oh, I am not worthy to walk in his shoes. Yet, I am a fan of the macabre. It makes the torment of living here almost bearable.”

“Then maybe you could help me,” Damien said. “I’m all ears.”
Damien leaned forward.

“You know Mark,” he said. “We’re looking for someone who thinks like him. Perhaps, wants to be him. Not you, of course, but someone who doesn’t mind trying to follow in his footsteps. Bold. Reckless. Since you’re such a fan – and a friend – maybe you could uncover something we’ve missed. If it were you, where would you have taken the mayor’s daughter?”

“To the cotillion?” he said with a snicker.

Damien sighed as he stood, placing the top onto the box file.

“You’re wasting my time,” Damien said. “If you want to help, contact the station. They’ll find me.”

“Wait, don’t go,” Plank said. “Okay, I’ll bite. But not too hard.” He laughed through his nose. “If it were me, I would take her somewhere remote, like Mark did with Cathy Richie. Some place with a roof to stay out of the rain, like an abandoned building. There’s plenty of those around in the old groves. I would take her some place where we could enjoy ourselves before the date came to a fiery conclusion.”

“A date?” Damien asked.

“What can I say. I’m a romantic.” “What would this date consist of?”

“Dancing, at first. Mark may have been overweight back then, but he was surprisingly light on his feet. So, if I were trying to be him, I would try to dance like him. Slowly at first, swaying side to side, while pressing my groin against her hips. Being away from parental supervision, I’d let my hands wander. She would protest. They all do. It’s part of the game, cat and mouse, hunter and hunted. They don’t mean it. Their screams aren’t real. The tears, crocodile at most. Eventually, she would follow my lead. We would lay together, in the biblical sense, and make each other squeal in ecstasy. It would be only right. Because I’d care for her and I’d want her last few moments to end with that wonderful afterglow – before I doused her with gas and tossed her a lit match. When that happened, she’d dance alone. It wouldn’t be as seductive as the first one, yet, it would be satisfying in its own right. Then, she would lay down to rest and I would let her sleep. Because I care for her.”

Damien’s stomach turned.

Sanders thought Mark may have had an accomplice.

Plank was putting himself back into the crosshairs.

“If you had a special place to enjoy this date, where would it be?” Damien asked.

“Mark’s date with Cathy was held at-”

“I’m not talking about history. I’m talking about Darlene.”

“You think I kidnapped the mayor’s daughter?” Plank asked. “For a date? She’s not my type. That’s where Mark and I differ. I prefer brunettes. And young men.”

“Then are there any other fans of Mark in town who likes blondes?”

“Mark is an acquired taste. Few appreciate him as I do.” “But there are some?” Damien asked.

“He’s a folk hero. Every hero has followers, those who appreciate his vision and attention to detail.”

Damien grabbed Plank by the shirt and lifted him out of his seat.

“Who has the mayor’s daughter?” he asked. “Tell me or I’ll beat the shit out of you.”

“You can’t do that. You’re a cop.”

“Not yet,” Damien said, twisting Plank’s shirt until it tightened around his long neck. “You either tell me what I want to know or I’m moving you to the top of the suspect list. I’ll have every investigator from every agency crawling up your ass like a horde of horny proctologists. You’ll never have a free moment for the rest of your life.”

“I… I don’t know,” Plank stammered. “I don’t know where she is.”

Damien’s cellphone vibrated on top of the table. He spotted the number. Sanders.

He pushed Plank back into his seat and grabbed his phone.

“Where the hell have you been?” Damien asked. “Working,” Sanders said. “I got a ping from Darlene’s cellphone. She’s in the groves.”

“Have you called Decker?” Damien asked.

“No. I don’t want the local yokels racing there with lights and sirens, forcing the kidnapper’s hand. We’ll get the bastard by ourselves. You’ve got ten minutes to meet me or I’m going after him myself.”

Damien grabbed the boxes and sprinted to his car.