Walk Away, page 14
“He really is here?”
Camaro nodded. She finished her cup. “He’s somewhere. I have to find out where.”
“I’m not saying this is exactly right, but it could be that this is something the police should handle. If the marshal gets what he’s after, he’ll leave us alone. He won’t turn up the money and then he’ll go back wherever he came from and things can get back to normal. It’s the best thing for everybody.”
“You want to take a chance on that guy?” Camaro asked.
Annabel crossed her hands. They trembled. She squeezed one in the other. “I’m afraid, Camaro.”
“You were the one who was ready to shoot Lukas yourself,” Camaro said.
“That was when I thought the police would help. But now they know where I come from and they know my real name. Everything I’ve built here is going to fall apart the minute the secret gets out. No one will ever believe anything I say. I couldn’t make it.”
“What do you want me to do?” Camaro asked.
Annabel shook her head helplessly, then dragged nervous fingers through her hair. “Stay with us until this blows over. Just…stay close and be my sister. Don’t go looking for trouble. Be here.”
Camaro listened and watched Annabel struggle with a tangle of emotions. She could feel them coming from Annabel, and they came into her, too. They sat at the bottom of her stomach and lay there, promising turmoil but weighed down by a sense of calm. She reached for Annabel, and they clasped hands tightly across the table. “Okay,” Camaro said. “I won’t go looking for trouble. I’ll be here with you. As long as it takes. I promise.”
“That means a lot to me, Camaro. It means a lot to both of us.”
Camaro let Annabel hang on for a long minute, then slipped her hand away. “I have to make a phone call. I’ll clean this up when I’m done.”
“No, no, I’ll get it,” Annabel said. “You make your call.”
“I’ll be back.”
She heard the clink of dishes in the sink as she left the kitchen. Rebecca was in her school clothes already, playing with the dollhouse near the fireplace, though now the dolls had been joined by a stuffed hippopotamus and a cat with a star over its eye. Compared to the little family they were enormous, but none of the imaginary people seemed to mind.
“We’re having a garage sale,” Rebecca told Camaro when she came close.
“Oh, yeah? Anything good?”
“Lots of baby clothes that don’t fit.”
“I’ll have to check it out. Be right back.”
Camaro retreated to the guest bedroom and closed the door. There she sat on the edge of the bed and brought out her phone. She dialed Yates. He answered on the first ring.
Chapter Thirty-Six
YATES PUT HIS phone down and adjusted the visor to better block the morning sun from his eyes. His body was sore from sitting behind the wheel for hours.
After leaving Camaro at the church for her trek back home, he circled around and headed out to Salinas again. There he navigated to Derrick Perkins’s street and killed the lights and the engine on a stretch of curb that allowed him a good view of the carport and the front and side of the duplex.
He made note of the same two cars that were present when he first visited the location, and he assumed they belonged to Derrick and his girl. Yates scribbled down the makes, models, and colors of the cars, as well as their license plates. Given an opportunity, he might make a call and see what he could learn about them, but for now he was more interested in what he would see at the house.
The watch went on until morning. For a while all the lights in Derrick’s place were out, and then in the early hours they came on again. Right around dawn Yates saw Rosalinda flee the house through the drizzle, dashing to her car in a long coat. She started up without looking around and drove past Yates without seeing him.
It was brighter out when Derrick emerged in his work clothes and a denim jacket. He went to his car and started it but let the engine run a while before backing out from beneath the carport. He turned the opposite direction from Yates, and it was easy for Yates to fall in behind him as he headed out.
The call from Camaro had changed things. She had to take a step back and stick close to home. Blood was responsible for blood, and that was something they both understood.
Jacob Collier’s house waited silently with its yard of mud. No cop watched the place. They’d given up on that.
He parked and watched Derrick sneak around the side of the house and vanish in the back. Yates’s phone rang again. He answered. “This is Yates.”
“Yates, it’s Anita.”
“Good morning, ma’am. How are you today?”
“Busy,” Anita Matthews said. “Night court was working overtime, so I had a pile of bonds to post before I could get a look at that information for you. I have it all now. When can you pick it up?”
“Well, I’m in the middle of something at the moment. I’m pretty sure I’m watching Derrick Perkins break and enter at Jake Collier’s place.”
“Do the cops know?”
“Doesn’t seem like it, and I’m not much in the mood to call them.”
“You don’t expect Collier to show up there, do you?”
“No, but that doesn’t mean he won’t turn up later. Maybe Derrick and Collier will take a lunch break together. I like my chances. Thanks for putting me onto him.”
“Bondspersons have to stick together. So I should hang on to this stuff?”
“Can you give me the highlights?” Yates asked.
“There’s not a whole lot here that you didn’t know already. Jacob Collier got around, collecting fines and a few days’ worth of jail time here and there. Nothing serious, like pulling a knife on someone or home invasion. And sure as hell nothing like what his brother’s into. In fact, the worst thing Jacob ever did was get busted for domestic battery against some woman named Vicki Nelson. I tried running her name, but she’s clean. The case didn’t even go to court.”
Yates sighed. “A man who mistreats a woman isn’t any kind of man at all.”
“Amen to that.”
“Is there anything I can work with? Any associates I don’t know about? Maybe some more family somewhere?”
“I’m afraid not. Jacob and Lukas are all alone in the world. No mother or father, no aunts or uncles, and no cousins. It’s just the two of them. Or I guess now it’s just Lukas. If I were in his shoes, I’d be hot for payback.”
“That’s where my mind is, too.” Yates shifted in his seat to relieve the soreness in his back. “I figure Lukas is holed up somewhere in the area, trying to figure out the best way to get at the woman who shot his brother.”
“You have me to fall back on if you get any thoughts. I’ll make whatever calls I need to make. I meant what I said; we stick together out this way.”
“I am much obliged to you. I’ll try to come by your office just as soon as I can and get those records from you. And whatever it cost you, I’ll reimburse.”
“It’s on the house. Just be careful, Yates. There’s been too much bloodshed already.”
“I will do my best. Thank you, Anita.”
They said their good-byes, and then Yates was alone again with his thoughts. He stayed that way for ten minutes, until Derrick reappeared with a worn gym bag slung over his shoulder. It seemed loose, not fully packed, but there was something inside.
Yates started the SUV.
Chapter Thirty-Seven
HANNON WOKE EARLY. She had a cup of coffee from the machine in her room, showered and did her hair and put on the day’s makeup. Using the room’s small ironing board, she pressed her blouse and ran the iron over her jacket for good measure. She dressed and put on her gun, flush against her right hip in a leather holster.
A plastic bag on the handle of her room’s door had a wrapped muffin and a banana in it, courtesy of the hotel. She ate the muffin though it was entirely too sweet and put the banana in her bag. Afterward she left her room and went next door to Way’s. The continental breakfast was still hanging there, untouched. Hannon considered knocking, then stepped away. She retrieved her bag from her room and left the hotel.
The rental car waited in the lot, spotted with overnight rain. Only a little still fell, hazing down over her until she got behind the wheel, stoked the engine, and headed to Carmel.
She greeted the officer behind the desk and was buzzed into the back area. Way still had the folder of information on Camaro Espinoza, but more had come in overnight about Annabel Watts. Hannon called the New Orleans Police Department.
She drilled down through a layer of push-button menus to find a human being and identified herself as a deputy U.S. marshal. She asked for a detective named Alberta Vaughn. The conversation lasted five minutes. When they were finished, Hannon thanked the detective and hung up. “Shit,” she said aloud to the empty room.
She had the paperwork cleared up by the time she heard Way’s voice in the bullpen. She slipped the printouts into a marbled folder and faced the door.
Way gave her a black look as he entered. “Surprised to see me?” he asked.
“You needed a break.”
“I need coffee.”
“It’s ready.”
She waited until he had caffeinated. They considered each other over his steaming cup. “What are you sitting on?” he asked.
“Nothing. Except the fact Camaro Espinoza didn’t kill her sister’s husband. Annabel Watts is hiding for exactly the reason she said she was: to steer clear of her husband’s past. Whatever happened to him could have happened to her. We’ve seen it a hundred times.”
“I still don’t like it,” Way said.
“There’s nothing there, Keith. This is just a woman looking for a new life.”
Way partook deeply of his cup, then topped it off. He thrummed his fingers on the edge of the table as he leaned against it. A thoughtful nod won through. “Okay.”
“Do you still want to have Camaro Espinoza charged?”
“I’m thinking about it.”
“What else are you thinking?”
Way shrugged. “I’m thinking if Annabel Watts was so serious about protecting her new life, she might have had a good reason to see her boyfriend dead. Especially if he threatened to rat her out to her friends or her boss. Whoever could cause the most trouble for her. She doesn’t pull the trigger herself, of course. She gets her sister to do it because she knows her sister has the experience. And now there’s a new threat: Lukas. She’ll want him out of the picture, too, so she can go on living as Michelle Amado.”
“Camaro Espinoza isn’t going to hunt down Lukas Collier.”
“Do we know that? I mean, what do we really know about her besides what’s in the paperwork? Where was she last night in the middle of the night? Talking to her is like talking to a wall. You don’t know what’s behind it.”
“So what do we do?”
Way considered that. “We give her a gun and see what she does.”
“You want to arm her again?”
“Yes. And if she knows something about Lukas we don’t, we use her to get to him. But she doesn’t get to kill him. Nobody kills him but me. Nobody.”
Hannon kept her thoughts to herself. She watched Way finish his coffee.
“Let’s get this ball rolling,” he said.
Chapter Thirty-Eight
ANNABEL GATHERED HER things for work. She had Rebecca’s backpack by the door, already stuffed with school supplies and a set of snacks in an insulated bag. Camaro sat on the couch. “Are you sure you don’t want to come along and say hi to Wilson?” Annabel asked. “I’m sure he’d love to meet you.”
“I’ll do fine here.”
“Okay. Becca, come on. We have to leave.”
“Coming!”
She paused by the door. “There’s stuff in the fridge for sandwiches if you get hungry. I’ll be back around five. I thought we could go out somewhere tonight. Carmel has great restaurants.”
“Okay,” Camaro said.
“Do you have anything dressy?”
“No.”
“Maybe I’ll see what I can get you at the store.”
“You don’t know my size.”
Annabel smiled. “I’m a professional, Camaro. I can guess anybody’s size.”
“What’s my size?” Camaro asked.
“Wait and see. If I get it right, you pay for dinner.”
“Okay.”
“Becca, let’s go!”
Rebecca hurried into the front room with a Barbie doll dressed to ski. “Sorry, Mommy.”
Annabel left the house and didn’t lock the door behind her. She took Rebecca’s hand. They went down the walk together. On the street, a police cruiser sat waiting. Officer Russo was behind the wheel. When Annabel held the gate for her daughter, Russo got out. She had a black plastic case in her hands.
“Good morning,” Russo said.
“Good morning.”
“You remember me, right? Carly Russo?”
“Of course. Is that my gun?”
Russo hefted the case. “Yes. It’s being returned to you. The city isn’t pressing any charges against your sister for what happened since it was self-defense. I don’t know if you want to take it with you, or…”
Annabel spared a look back toward the house. She saw Camaro through the front window and waved. Camaro came out onto the porch, then advanced up the walk. Russo turned to her as she came, and Annabel thought she colored slightly at the sight of her.
“Good morning,” Russo told Camaro. “I was just telling your sister that there aren’t going to be any charges filed in the matter of Jacob Collier.”
Camaro glanced at Annabel and then at Russo. “No one’s afraid I’m going to shoot someone else?”
Russo smiled awkwardly, and this time Annabel was certain she blushed. “No, no, nothing like that. We’d rather you didn’t, but that doesn’t mean your sister can’t have her gun back.”
“Take it, Camaro,” Annabel said. “I have to go. Becca’s going to be late.”
Camaro accepted the Glock case. “I’ll make sure it’s put away,” she said.
“Good thinking,” Russo said. “Thank you.”
“Have a good one,” Camaro told her, and she turned away.
“You, too. It was nice seeing you.”
“Is there anything else you needed?” Annabel asked Russo.
“I was asked to talk to you again about Lukas Collier.”
“I have to get Becca to school, and then I have to go to work. Maybe we can talk at the school?”
“I’ll follow you.”
Annabel led Rebecca to the Subaru and made sure she was secure in her car seat. As she pulled out of the cul-de-sac, the police cruiser stayed in her rearview mirror.
She hoped Russo would stay in her car when she reached the school, but Russo got out when she did. Rebecca was already unbuckling herself by the time Annabel got to her. Russo waited quietly while Annabel made sure her daughter put on her backpack for the short walk to the entrance.
“Let’s hurry. We only have a couple of minutes.”
They walked.
“You work at Garment, right?” Russo asked.
“Yes,” Annabel said.
“I love the clothes in there. One time, I—”
They were a dozen feet from the entrance when Russo stopped. Automatically Annabel stopped with her, and she saw Russo’s face pale and her eyes widen. Russo’s hand went for her gun.
Annabel turned at the instant of the first shot. The man approaching them on the sidewalk had his pistol out, and he squeezed off three rounds, one after the other in rapid succession. The bullets crashed into Russo, and Annabel felt a hot spray fall on her cheek as the young woman went down. Near the front of the school, children screamed shrilly and teachers rushed to gather up as many as they could.
Russo was on the ground. Her legs flexed weakly. The man put his sights on Annabel. “Say good-bye,” the man said.
She saw Jake in his face. The hardness around the eyes that Jake sometimes got and the cast of his jaw. Annabel stepped between him and Rebecca. He pulled the trigger, and she felt hot wetness burst inside her. Her world tipped over. She staggered against Rebecca, heard her screaming, then collapsed onto her knees.
The man came closer. The gun was still up. Annabel opened her mouth, and there was blood. She tried to call out to Rebecca to run and keep running, but there was nothing from between her lips. She sagged onto her hands.
He shot her again, the bullet spearing through her shoulder. Annabel couldn’t keep herself from the pavement. She crumpled completely, her legs kicking feebly as if she might still make her feet. Her head rushed with her pulse, a coursing river that sounded against her ears. Black spots floated everywhere.
Rebecca wasn’t near her. The man stepped back, shooting again. Children were still wailing. Annabel couldn’t pick out her daughter’s voice.
The sidewalk was covered in slick red, more and more as her heart beat. She fell into the pool. One grasping hand found Russo’s pant leg. The policewoman didn’t move at all. Annabel gagged on the liquid in her throat.
Her head was so heavy she couldn’t turn it. Sounds faded, and then there was darkness.
Chapter Thirty-Nine
LUKAS RETURNED TO the car. Vicki was in the backseat with her son, and both were drawn and pale. At a distance they were only figures, but up close it was possible to see where their hands and feet had been bound up with duct tape. He had considered gags but at the last moment decided against them.
He slipped behind the wheel. “Nice and smooth,” he said. “Comfortable back there?”
Vicki’s voice was unsteady. “Who did you kill?”
“What does it matter to you? So long as it’s not you I’m killing, you don’t have to worry.”
She didn’t reply. Lukas ground his back teeth together for a long moment, surveying their faces, before finally turning back toward the front. He started the engine and put the car in gear. They drove. Sirens were audible not far away.
He hummed to himself as he drove. In the theater of his mind, the cop went down over and over, and then Jake’s girlfriend. It had been done cleanly, which was more than he could say for some. The message was sent.
