The Confession (7 page)

The kitchen lights went out and the radio was turned off. Three burly black men made their exit and walked through the mess hall. They nodded and spoke politely to Keith, but only glanced at Travis. They closed the door behind themselves.

Keith took the copy of the photo and turned it over. He uncapped his pen and wrote something on it. “How about a little background, Travis?” he said.

“Sure. I have nothing else to do.”

“What were you doing in Slone, Texas?”

“Working for a company called R. S. McGuire and Sons, out of Fort Smith. Construction. They had a contract to build a warehouse for Monsanto, just west of Slone. I hired on as a laborer, just a grunt, crappy work, but it’s all I could find. They paid me less than minimum wage, in cash, off the books, same as the Mexicans. Sixty hours a week, flat rate, no insurance, no skill, no nothing. It won’t be worth your time to check with the company, because I was never officially employed. I was renting a room in an old motel west of town, called the Rebel Motor Inn. It’s probably still there. Check it out. Forty bucks a week. The job lasted five or six months. One Friday night I saw the lights, found the field
behind the high school, bought a ticket, and sat with the crowd. Didn’t know a soul. They were watching football. Me, I was watching the cheerleaders. Always loved the cheerleaders. Cute little butts, short skirts, dark tights on underneath. They bounce and flip and throw each other around and you see so much of them. They want you to see. That’s when I fell in love with Nicole. She was there for me, showing it all. I knew from the first moment that she was the one.”

“The next one.”

“Right, the next one. Every other Friday, I’d go to the games. I never sat in the same place twice, never wore the same clothes. Used different caps. You learn these things when you’re tracking someone. She became my whole world, and I could feel the urges getting stronger and stronger. I knew what was about to happen, but I couldn’t stop it. I can never stop it. Never.” He took a sip of coffee and grimaced.

“Did you see Donté Drumm play?” Keith asked.

“Maybe, I don’t remember. I never watched the games, didn’t notice anything but Nicole. Then, suddenly, no more Nicole. The season was over. I got desperate. She drove this hot little red BMW, the only one in town, so she was not too hard to find, if you knew where to look. She liked the usual hangouts. I saw her car parked at the mall that night, figured she was at the movies. I waited and waited. I’m very patient when I have to be. When the parking space next to her car became vacant, I backed into it.”

“What were you driving?”

“An old Chevrolet pickup, stole it in Arkansas. Stole the tags in Texas. I backed into the parking space so my door was next to hers. When she walked into the trap, I jumped her. I had a gun and a roll of duct tape, and that’s all I ever needed. Not a sound.”

He rattled off the details with an unaffected detachment, as if describing a scene from a movie. This is what happened. This is how I did it. Don’t expect me to make sense of it.

The tears were long gone. “It was a bad weekend for Nikki. I almost felt sorry for her.”

“I don’t really want those details,” Keith said, interrupting. “How long did you stay in Slone after you killed her?”

“A few weeks, I guess. Through Christmas, into January. I was reading the local paper, watching the late-night news. The town was in a frenzy over the girl. Saw her mom cry on television. Real sad. Every day there was another search party, with a television news crew chasing after it. Fools. Nikki was two hundred miles away, sleeping with the angels.” He actually chuckled at the memory.

“Surely, you don’t think this is funny.”

“Sorry, Pastor.”

“How did you hear about the arrest of Donté Drumm?”

“There was a little greasy spoon near the motel, and I liked to go there for coffee early in the morning. I heard ’em talking, said a football player had confessed, a black boy. I bought a newspaper, sat in my truck, read the story, and thought, What a bunch of idiots! I was stunned. Couldn’t believe it. There was a mug shot of Drumm, nice-looking kid, and I remember staring at his face and thinking that he must’ve had a screw loose. Why else would he confess to my crime? Kinda pissed me off. The boy had to be crazy. Then the next day his lawyer came out strong in the paper, yelling about how the confession was bogus, how the cops tricked the kid, overwhelmed him, broke him down, wouldn’t let him out of the room for fifteen hours. That made sense to me. I’ve never met a cop I could trust. The town almost blew up. The whites wanted to string him up on Main Street. The blacks felt pretty strongly the boy was getting railroaded. Things were tense. Lots of fights at the high school. Then I got fired and moved on.”

“Why were you fired?”

“Stupid. Stayed too long in a bar one night. The cops busted me for drunk driving, then they realized the truck and tags were stolen. I spent a week in jail.”

“In Slone?”

“Yep. Check it out. January 1999. Charged with grand larceny, drunk driving, and whatever else they could throw at me.”

“Was Drumm in the same jail?”

“Never saw him, but there was a lot of talk. Rumor was they’d moved him to another county for safety reasons. I couldn’t help but laugh. The cops had the real killer, they just didn’t know it.”

Keith made notes, but had trouble believing what he was actually writing. He asked, “How’d you get out?”

“They assigned me a lawyer. He got my bond lowered. I bailed out, skipped town, and never went back. I drifted here and there and then got arrested in Wichita.”

“Do you remember the lawyer’s name?”

“You still fact-checking, Pastor?”

“Yes.”

“You think I’m lying?”

“No, but it doesn’t hurt to check the facts.”

“No, I don’t remember his name. I’ve had a lot of lawyers in my life. Never paid ’em a dime.”

“The arrest in Wichita was for attempted rape, right?”

“Sort of. Attempted sexual battery, plus kidnapping. There was no sex, didn’t make it that far. The girl knew karate. Things didn’t go the way I planned. She kicked me in the balls and I puked for two days.”

“I believe your sentence was ten years. You served six, now you’re here.”

“Nice job, Pastor. You’ve done your homework.”

“Did you keep up with the Drumm case?”

“Oh, I thought about it off and on for a few years. I figured the lawyers and courts would eventually realize they had the wrong boy. I mean, hell, even in Texas they have higher courts to review cases and such. Surely, somebody along the way would wake up and see the obvious. Over time, I guess I forgot about it. Had my own problems. When you’re in max security, you don’t spend a lot of time worrying about other people.”

“What about Nikki? You spend time thinking about her?”

Boyette did not respond, and as the seconds limped along, it became
obvious that he would not answer the question. Keith kept scribbling, making notes to himself about what to do next. Nothing was certain.

“Do you have any sympathy for her family?”

“I was raped when I was eight years old. I don’t recall a single word of sympathy from anyone. In fact, no one raised a hand to stop it. It went on. You’ve seen my record, Pastor, I’ve had several victims. I couldn’t stop. Not sure I can stop now. Obviously, sympathy is not something I waste time with.”

Keith shook his head with a look of disgust.

“Don’t get me wrong, Pastor. I have a lot of regrets. I wish I hadn’t done all those terrible things. I’ve wished a million times that I could be normal. My whole life I’ve wanted to stop hurting people, to somehow straighten up, stay out of prison, get a job, and all that. I didn’t choose to be like this.”

Keith deliberately folded the sheet of paper and tucked it into his coat pocket. He screwed the cap onto his pen. He folded his arms across his chest and stared at Boyette. “I guess you’re willing to sit by and let things run their course down in Texas.”

“No, I’m troubled by it. I’m just not sure what to do.”

“What if they found the body? You tell me where she’s buried, and I’ll try to contact the right people down there.”

“You sure you want to get involved?”

“No, but I can’t ignore it either.”

Boyette bent forward and began pawing at his head again. “It’s impossible for anybody else to find her,” he said, his voice breaking up. A moment passed, and the pain eased. “I’m not sure I could now. It’s been so long.”

“It’s been nine years.”

“Not that long. I went back to see her a few times after she died.”

Keith showed him both palms and said, “I don’t want to hear it. Suppose I call Drumm’s lawyer and tell him about the body. I won’t give your name, but at least someone down there knows the truth.”

“Then what?”

“I don’t know. I’m not a lawyer. Maybe I can convince someone. I’m willing to try.”

“The only person who can possibly find her is me, and I can’t leave the state of Kansas. Hell, I can’t leave this county. If I do, they’ll bust me for parole violations and send me back to prison. Pastor, I ain’t going back to prison.”

“What difference does it make, Travis? You’ll be dead in a few months, according to your own words.”

Boyette became very calm and still and began tapping his fingertips together. He stared at Keith with hard, dry, unblinking eyes. He spoke softly, but firmly. “Pastor, I can’t admit to a murder.”

“Why not? You have at least four felony convictions, all related to sexual assault. You’ve spent most of your adult life in prison. You have an inoperable brain tumor. You actually committed the murder. Why not have the courage to admit it and save an innocent man’s life?”

“My mother is still alive.”

“Where does she live?”

“Joplin, Missouri.”

“And her name?”

“You gonna give her a call, Pastor?”

“No. I won’t bother her. What’s her name?”

“Susan Boyette.”

“And she lived on Trotter Street, right?”

“How’d you—?”

“Your mother died three years ago, Travis.”

“How’d you—?”

“Google, took about ten minutes.”

“What’s Google?”

“An Internet search company. What else are you lying about? How many lies have you told me today, Travis?”

“If I’m lying, then why are you here?”

“I don’t know. That’s an excellent question. You tell a good story and you have a bad record, but you can’t prove anything.”

Boyette shrugged as if he didn’t care, but his cheeks turned red and
his eyes narrowed. “I don’t have to prove anything. I’m not the accused, for a change.”

“Her gym card and student ID were found on a sandbar in the Red River. How does that fit into your story?”

“Her phone was in her purse. As soon as I got her, the damned thing started ringing and wouldn’t stop. Finally, I got mad, grabbed the purse, and threw it off the bridge. I kept the girl, though. I needed her. She reminds me of your wife, very cute.”

“Shut up, Travis,” Keith said instinctively, before he could stop himself. He took a deep breath and patiently said, “Let’s keep my wife out of this.”

“Sorry, Pastor.” Boyette removed a thin chain from around his neck. “You want proof, Pastor. Take a look at this.” A gold class ring with a blue stone was attached to the chain. Boyette unsnapped the chain and handed the ring to Keith. It was narrow and small, obviously worn by a female. “That’s ANY on one side,” Boyette said with a smile. “Alicia Nicole Yarber. On the other side, you have SHS 1999. Dear old Slone High.”

Keith squeezed the ring between his thumb and his forefinger, and stared at it in disbelief.

“Show that to her mother and watch her weep,” Boyette said. “The only other proof I have, Pastor, is Nicole herself, and the more I think about her, the more I’m convinced that we should just leave her alone.”

Keith placed the ring on the table and Boyette took it. He suddenly kicked his chair back, grabbed his cane, and stood. “I don’t like being called a liar, Pastor. Go home and have fun with your wife.”

“Liar, rapist, murderer, and you’re also a coward, Travis. Why don’t you do something good for once in your life? And quick, before it’s too late.”

“Just leave me alone.” Boyette opened the door, then slammed it behind him.

T
he prosecution’s theory of guilt had been based in part on the desperate hope that one day, someone, somewhere would find Nicole’s body. It couldn’t stay submerged forever, could it? The Red River would eventually give it up, and a fisherman or a boat captain or maybe a kid wading in the backwater would discover it and call for help. After the remains were identified, the puzzle’s final piece would fit perfectly. All loose ends would be tied up. No more questions, no more doubts. The police and prosecutors could quietly, smugly close the book.

The conviction, without the body, was not that difficult to obtain. The prosecution attacked Donté Drumm from all angles, and while it pushed relentlessly for a trial, it also banked heavily on the appearance of a corpse. But nine years had passed and the river had not cooperated. The hopes and prayers, the dreams in some cases, had vanished long ago. And while this caused doubts in the minds of some observers, it did nothing to dampen the convictions of those responsible for Donté’s death sentence. After years of rigid tunnel vision, and with so much at stake, they were certain beyond all doubt that they had nailed her killer.
They had invested far too much to question their own theories and actions.

The district attorney was a man named Paul Koffee, a tough career prosecutor who’d been elected and reelected without serious opposition for over twenty years. He was an ex-Marine who enjoyed a fight and usually won. His high conviction rate was splashed across his Web site and, during elections, trumpeted in gaudy advertisements sent by direct mail. Sympathy for the accused was rarely shown. And, like the routines of most small-town district attorneys, the grind of chasing meth addicts and car thieves was broken only by a sensational murder and/or rape. Much to his well-guarded frustration, Koffee had prosecuted only two capital murders in his career, a paltry record in Texas. Nicole Yarber’s was the first and the most notorious. Three years later, in 2002, Koffee had won an easier death verdict in a case involving a botched drug deal that left bodies all over a country road.