Don't Back Down, page 18
“I’m just waitin’ to die,” Danny said.
Weller frowned. “From what?”
“Payback. I’m a dead man walking, and the suspense of when it happens is sucking the life out of me one minute at a time.”
“Who wants you dead?” Weller asked.
Danny shrugged. “Got no idea. I just pulled a job for someone and got caught. Them people don’t leave loose ends.”
“What people?” Weller asked.
Danny looked up at the doctor as if he’d lost his senses. “Didn’t I just say I don’t know? I can’t sleep. I can’t eat. I just wish it was over.”
“I’ll talk to the warden,” the doctor said.
Danny scoffed. “Just let it be. I’ve done things. Bad things. I always knew I wouldn’t live to be an old man. The sooner my heart quits, the sooner my misery ends.” Then he turned his face to the wall and closed his eyes.
Dr. Weller had seen plenty in his years on the job, but he’d never seen anyone this young so ready to die. In a way, it was almost as if Biggers was willing himself dead before anyone got to him. Like he needed to beat them to the punch.
Weller checked the drip in the IV, then went in search of a nurse.
“I want you to keep an eye on the inmate in Bed 12. He should be on suicide watch. I’m going to speak to the warden.”
“Yes, sir,” the nurse said.
Weller left the ward. The nurse pulled up a chair and sat next to Danny’s bed. But the warden was unavailable, so Weller left a note saying they needed a meeting, then went back to his office in the infirmary.
***
Boss was in a mood. Everything had been running like clockwork until the bungled kidnapping of that kid. He’d lost the chance to make a fortune and was still furious about how it had gone down. He knew Biggers was back in prison. But he didn’t know where Lindy Sheets was, and that bothered him. Part of him wondered if the feds already had her and were keeping her under wraps. But then if they did, and she’d talked, they would already have been on his doorstep.
He couldn’t concentrate on work and hadn’t been sleeping. He’d popped a couple of uppers before coming to work, and now it felt like he was coming out of his skin. He’d just refilled his coffee when the burner phone in his desk began to ring. He jumped up and closed the office door, then unlocked the drawer and grabbed the phone.
“What?”
“It’s me, Dewey. We can’t find a trace of Lindy Sheets anywhere. It’s like she dropped off the face of the earth.”
Boss frowned. She was a loose end, but she was smart. She’d read between the lines of their last phone conversation and done a runner.
“Where’s her car?” he asked.
“Still at her old residence,” Dewey said. “Just sitting there in the parking lot with the doors locked and the key in the ignition, waiting for someone to heist it. Her clothes are gone, but all of her shit is still in her old apartment. She don’t wanna be found.”
Boss sighed. “Fine. Whatever. As long as the feds don’t have her stashed somewhere, we’re good.”
“So do you want me to keep looking?” Dewey asked.
“No. We have business to attend to and orders to fill. Get back to regular business. I’ll be in touch.”
“Yes, sir,” Dewey said.
The line went dead in Boss’s ear. He put the phone in his desk, locked the drawer, and then went back to work. It was just as well she’d skipped out, and she knew better than to talk. But her absence did leave a hole in his organization. He needed to replace her, and soon.
***
Liz was meeting Michael for lunch. It was their first date since the debacle at the tiny cabins, but she wasn’t having sex with him today, no matter what he was expecting. She was getting ready to leave and went to tell her mother goodbye. To her surprise, she found her mother in her bedroom, packing.
“Mom! What are you doing?” Liz asked.
“I’m flying to Philadelphia to stay with Penny for a while. I’m so unnerved by all that’s been happening here that I just can’t bear to stay a moment longer,” she said.
“So you’re abandoning Dad and me just like that?” Liz asked.
“Oh, you know your dad. He’s always busy, and you have Michael. I just need to get away for a bit.”
“I might have liked to go to Philadelphia, too. The least you could have done was invite me,” Liz muttered.
Patricia paused. “Well, do you? Want to go, I mean?”
Liz shrugged. “No.”
Patricia beamed. “See? All that angst for nothing. I love you to bits, but you’re so dramatic,” she said, and fastened the latch on her suitcase and put it on the floor by the other two.
“Three bags?” Liz asked.
Patricia frowned. “Stop being so critical,” she said, then kissed Liz on both cheeks. “I’ll call when I arrive. Love you, darling. Take care.” She waved absently as she picked up the house phone and called down to the front desk. “Yes, this is Mrs. Caldwell. Please send someone up to the penthouse for my luggage, and make sure the car is waiting. I have a flight to catch in Bowling Green.”
Liz rolled her eyes and walked out of the room. She rode the elevator down, picked up her car, and took off toward the Hotel Devon while Patricia Caldwell was leaving Jubilee.
***
Rusty was in the living room with her feet turned toward the fire and her laptop in her lap. The house was mostly quiet, although she could hear the murmur of Cameron’s voice coming from his office.
She was looking at the file the feds had collected on Jack Barton, and specifically the women who’d gone missing after staying in tiny cabins or one of the hotels in Jubilee. She was trying to establish if there was a matching timeline from when they disappeared to the next time their credit cards were used. As best she could tell, the timeline for the next use of the cards was always less than five days after their “departure” from Jubilee, and each card was only used once. After that, the trails went cold, and the women disappeared.
Once she had that spreadsheet finalized, she began entering the dates that Emily Payne had gone AWOL, then compared them to the last time the missing women’s credit cards had been used.
As soon as she was finished, she leaned back and began studying the spreadsheet as a whole, and what she saw made her skin crawl. Emily’s absences coincided every time with the use of a missing woman’s credit card.
“Holy shit,” she muttered, then looked up as Cameron entered the room.
“What holy shit did you uncover?” he asked.
“Come look at this,” Rusty said. “I’m about to send this to Agent Howard, but I want your feedback to make sure I’m not reading too much into this.”
Cameron sat down on the sofa beside her and leaned over as she turned the laptop toward him. “Okay, what am I looking at?” he asked.
“These are the names and dates of the women who’ve gone missing from Jubilee in the past six months. The next date beside their names is when their credit cards are used again. See? All within a week of their disappearances, and then they’re never used again and the women have disappeared. And then here are all of the dates Emily Payne, the hostess from the Serenity Inn, went AWOL.”
Cameron frowned. “That can’t be coincidence. Not every time.”
“My feelings exactly,” Rusty said. “I don’t have enough to arrest her, and we don’t want to question her until we do for fear she’ll disappear for good. I’m sending all this to Jay Howard. They can investigate this in depth. They’ll need to pull security footage from the most recent places where the credit cards were used to see if the woman using them could be the same woman in different disguises. All it would take is a wig with the right hair color, sunglasses, and makeup to match the driver’s license photo, and the groundwork is laid to draw the authorities away from Jubilee.”
Cameron eyed her with renewed appreciation. “When your uncle mentioned his hostess’s habit of coming and going without notice, you suspected a connection. You’re pretty darn sharp, lady.”
Rusty smiled. “Dad used to say I was going to make one hell of a mother one day. My kids would never be able to lie to me and get away with it.”
Cameron went still. “You want babies.”
Rusty noticed it was a statement and not a question, then frowned.
“Well, yes. Don’t you?” she asked.
“I want everything with you,” Cameron said, and kissed her before reluctantly pulling back. “I’m ready to leave. Is there anything you need?”
“Just you, but we’ll save that for later,” she said.
“You have my number in your phone. Call if you remember something you want me to bring home. I’m taking Ghost by the vet’s office first in hopes his paw has healed enough to get the stitches out and his ratty bandage removed.”
She nodded, then put her laptop aside and leaned over to give Ghost a quick kiss between his ears.
“You are such a good boy,” she said, and got a lick on her cheek. Cameron stood up, prompting her to add, “Drive safe, you two. I’m about to light a new fire under Howard and Pickard, and then we’ll see where we go from there.”
Chapter 12
Jay Howard was at his desk going through morning email when Rusty’s call came through.
“Good morning, Agent Caldwell. Thank you for letting me know your relocation went smoothly. What’s up?”
“Maybe the missing hostess, Emily Payne, being a connection to the trafficking gang, or maybe not. But Cameron and I both agree this goes way beyond the percentage of coincidence. I’m sending you a spreadsheet you need to look at. All of the info will be included in the email. If you can find footage from security cameras to back this up, you might hit the jackpot. And regarding the new suspect, she’s about to get raked over the coals by my uncle today, but I asked him not to fire her. We need to be able to pick her up for questioning without having to put out a BOLO on her to do it.”
“Excellent work,” Howard said.
“I have a photo of Emily Payne from her personnel file. I’ll include it in the file I’m emailing to you. I’ll be in touch if we find anything else,” Rusty said.
“Caldwell.”
“Yes, sir?”
“Are you getting along okay with Pope?”
“Of course,” Rusty said. “Why wouldn’t I?”
“I hear he’s got a dog the size of a bear.”
“Yes. Ghost. He’s not quite that big, but I like dogs. We’re all one big happy family here, so butt out…sir.”
Howard laughed, and he was still laughing when she hung up in his ear.
Rusty rolled her eyes. They knew. They all knew. Whatever. If things went the way she hoped, this was going to be her last case. Finding Cameron had made her realize her life was worth more than the money they paid her to put it at risk. She gathered up the files she’d created, attached them to the email, and hit Send.
She went to the kitchen to refill her coffee cup, then came back to the sofa, opened up the file on Sheriff Woodley, and started to read.
***
Liz and Michael were having lunch at the Hotel Devon in the penthouse where Michael lived with his father, Marshall. Marshall came into the residence long enough to greet Liz and remind Michael of a two o’clock meeting later, and then he was gone.
Michael seated Liz, kissed the side of her cheek, and then took the chair opposite her.
“You look beautiful, Liz.”
“Thank you,” Liz said.
She couldn’t help but preen a little at the compliment, but she wasn’t going to make this easy. He’d put his hands around her neck. He was lucky she hadn’t gone for his balls.
As soon as they were both seated, the waiter served their food, left dessert on the sideboard, and exited the penthouse.
“Looks good,” Liz said, eyeing the cold shrimp salad and white wine, then put her napkin in her lap and picked up her fork.
“I’ve missed you,” Michael said. “I miss us.”
Liz swallowed the bite she was chewing and pointed at him with her fork.
“You miss the sex,” she said.
He shrugged. “Well, yes…that’s part of it. Don’t you?”
“I’m still dealing with the ugly threats you made to me,” she said, and popped a shrimp in her mouth.
He flushed an angry red. “I’ve apologized for the misunderstanding several times. You either choose to accept it and quit harping about it, or you don’t and this doesn’t work anymore, because I will not grovel.”
She calmly chewed and swallowed, then took a quick sip of the wine. “I didn’t ask you to grovel, Michael. In fact, I haven’t asked you for anything, have I?”
He sighed. “No.”
“Then consider this starting over, because you broke ‘us.’ Now we just have to decide if there’s anything left to repair,” she said.
Michael stared at her as if she was a stranger. “You’ve changed,” he said.
She shrugged. “I have come to realize what a shallow life I was living. Rusty showed me that without even trying. I admire her greatly. I always have. I’d just forgotten how really special she is.”
He blinked.
“Speaking of Rusty, I’ve been hearing rumors,” Michael said.
“If the rumors are that she is smarter and prettier than me, then they’re all true,” Liz said. “Anyway, she’s already gone, and Mom took off for Philadelphia this morning. One of her little trips she takes when she can’t stand the sight of Jubilee another moment.”
“I’m sorry,” Michael said.
“Oh, don’t be. Dad and I get along just fine. In fact, I’ve been thinking about hitting him up for a job. Maybe interning with our event planner. I feel like I’ve been wasting my degree just sitting around with my mother, getting my nails done, my hair done. Makes me feel like a toy in the house for her amusement.” She poked at her salad again, spearing another shrimp. “This shrimp salad is delicious. Good choice, Michael.”
Pleased that he’d done something right, he smiled. “I’m glad you’re enjoying it. The entree is a petite filet mignon with a black pepper and caper sauce, and seared garlic-butter fingerling potatoes.”
She smiled. “You turned lunch into a mini surf and turf. I like it.”
“I aim to please,” he said lightly, and the meal continued.
***
Cameron walked into the vet clinic with Ghost on a leash, waved at Amber, the receptionist, to let him know they were there, and then took Ghost to the far end of the room to wait. He looked up as Leslie appeared, escorting a woman to the door who was carrying her cat in a crate. The cat was hissing and spitting at everything in sight, and the woman was talking baby-talk to the cat as they went.
The look on Leslie’s face was comical. It was all Cameron could do not to laugh.
As soon as the woman exited the lobby, Leslie turned and waved. “Hi, guys. We’ll be with you shortly.” Then she grabbed the next chart from the desk and looked up. “Charlie Pug is next.”
A teenage boy stood up with an old, wheezing pug cradled in his arms and followed her back into an exam room.
Ghost looked up at Cameron.
“You’re fine, buddy. Just relax.”
Ghost lay down at Cameron’s feet and gave his bandaged paw a lick.
“No licking,” Cameron said, and laid a hand on the top of Ghost’s head.
About fifteen minutes later, the teenage boy and Charlie Pug exited the lobby, and Leslie pointed at Ghost. “The Terminator is up.”
Cameron laughed. The nickname fit. Ghost stood up as if he understood the summons and walked beside Cameron all the way into the exam room. Now that they were alone, Leslie’s demeanor shifted, and Cameron could tell how bothered she still was about her involvement with Kevin Vanzant.
“You okay?” Cameron asked.
She shrugged. “As good as someone can be in my situation,” she said. “You’re here about removing stitches, right?”
“If the doctor thinks the foot is well, definitely,” he said.
She nodded. “Then we’ll need Ghost up on the exam table.”
Cameron lifted him up just as the vet entered the room, and removed the leash.
Alan Morris stopped in the doorway, staring in disbelief at the size of the dog standing on his exam table.
“Doctor Morris, this is Ghost, and his owner, Cameron Pope. Dr. Sam performed surgery on the bandaged paw several days ago. They’ve already been in once to have the wound site checked and bandages changed. Cameron is hoping to get stitches out today.”
“Well then, let’s see what we can see,” he said. “Cameron, can you get him to lie down for me?”
“Ghost. Down,” Cameron said.
Ghost went flat.
“The exam table isn’t really big enough for him, but I’ll hold onto him so he doesn’t roll off,” Cameron said as he gently scooted Ghost onto his side, then stood behind him, with one hand on his belly and the other on his head. “Stay.”
Ghost stayed.
“I’m impressed,” Morris said. “Do we need to muzzle him before I start?”
“No. You’re good,” Cameron said, and began lightly scratching the spot between Ghost’s ears.
Morris removed the bandages, then gently parted the pads on the dog’s toes.
Ghost whined.
“You’re okay, buddy. Lie still. You’ve been dying to lick this foot ever since you hurt it. Let’s get this over with.”
It was the calm, even tone in Cameron’s voice that steadied Ghost’s composure. He didn’t know the strange man, but he knew his master and that was enough.
A few minutes later Doctor Morris was pulling out the last stitch and then flushing the foot pad with antiseptic. “That should do it,” the vet said. “It was a pleasure to meet you and Ghost. He’s magnificent.”
