Shiver on the Sky
Page 56
Chapter Thirty-Six
(Thursday, 6:42pm—Owen)
When Gordon called, Owen pulled off the road into a parking lot. He listened quietly, occasionally asking or answering a question. Martina and Aaron watched impatiently. Aaron asked twice what was going on, but Owen waved for him to be quiet. He gave Gordon the names of all Carl’s friends he could remember, and their phone numbers when he could.
He hung up the phone and slowly returned it to his jacket. “Sorry, guys. Gordon was pretty intense just then. I didn’t want to miss something and ask him to repeat it.”
“So what’s going on?” Martina asked, beating Aaron to the punch.
“Carl’s still missing. Gordon and Faulkner went to their boss and told him the whole story. The police are looking for him, now. I was telling Gordon everything I knew about Carl’s friends.”
“His friends?” Aaron sounded doubtful.
Owen shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe they think he might have called one of them, or gone by, or something. If they’ve got the people to do it, I guess it’s worth checking.”
Martina looked at him strangely. “They went to their boss? I mean, I understand about having to find Carl, but what does that mean for you? What about the warrant for your arrest?”
Owen shook his head. “No warrant. At least Gordon said there wouldn’t be for long.”
“Cool!” Aaron said. “What happened?”
Yeah, it was cool. Sort of. “Somebody was at the hotel when Shawna left and saw Danny pull her into a van. Danny flipped out this afternoon and shot an NSA guy. He and the guy he shot are both dead.” Why didn’t that mean more? It wasn’t exactly a surprise that Danny had been scheming, and apparently he was more ruthless than Owen had imagined…but Owen felt nothing. He couldn’t even muster up any outrage. Really, he just wanted to get some sleep.
Martina and Aaron were both staring at him. He blinked at them, then continued. “It looks like Danny was responsible for what happened to Junior. So they’re betting the thing with Leon was part of trying to frame me.” Because he’d done…what? Was he just a convenient victim? What they’d done to Shawna felt more personal than that. So did the hammerhead that had come after his hand. “They’re looking for Danny’s ‘cousins’ too, because they were his alibi and might have been the people Shawna saw at Junior’s. But she never gave a description of them.” She’d never really had the chance. And it looked like she’d been right to stay away from the police.
But wouldn’t Shawna have recognized Danny’s ‘cousins’? Well, Michener had been fired before she was hired—but what about Horton? Maybe she’d just never noticed him? Owen supposed the company had grown since he and Danny had started out. And Horton had been a salesman, usually out of the office anyway. Or maybe it had been someone else at Junior’s on Saturday. Or…maybe she just hadn’t told him she’d known one of them. She might have been trying to protect him.
He sighed, remembering the night Shawna had told him what had happened. The last time he’d seen her. She’d been so sure she knew how to handle everything.
“What about the FBI?” Martina asked. “They were involved too, weren’t they? Will they leave you alone now?”
Owen shook his head. “I don’t know what’s going on with them. Gordon said it’d be taken care of. He wants me to come in and make an official statement tomorrow, so I guess he thinks it’ll be safe. So except for that, I’m essentially out of it now.”
“Except for your friend Carl,” Martina said.
He’d been hoping to distract her. But did she think he’d forgotten about Carl? He didn’t much like that idea. “Yeah. They’re looking.” Maybe it was time to quit trying to be clever.
Aaron’s excitement had faded. “What’re we gonna do now? Can we all go home?”
“I guess,” Owen said. “It sounds like a lot of things are happening tonight, though, and Gordon did say we should lay low until tomorrow. He said he’d try to minimize publicity about our role in all this, but it might be better if we didn’t go anywhere reporters might find us.”
“So,” Owen continued, “I’m going back to the Hermit’s. He needs his boat back.” He nodded to Aaron. “And let’s not forget your sister’s stranded out there.”
Aaron grinned at him. “Bet she’s not.”
“Huh? Oh.” Owen’s mouth twitched. “Good point. But going back out there’s still a good idea.”
Martina smiled at them both. “Okay with me. Aaron?”
“Sure, why not? I’ll stick around for a while longer.”
Martina gave Owen a searching look and touched his hand. “Owen…at least you’re in the clear on this. And, you know, maybe Carl’s okay. I mean, if Danny got shot this afternoon, he probably didn’t have time to do anything to Carl anyway.”
It didn’t necessarily help that Danny had been shot. Somebody had kidnapped Carl, and if it wasn’t Danny, who knew what orders he’d given? If it had been Danny, maybe they’d never find where he’d hidden Carl. Or they might find him too late to save him. But talking about it wouldn’t change anything, and she was probably just trying to make him feel better anyway. “Maybe so,” he agreed.
“How about that Johnny guy?” Aaron asked. “Did he find anything?”
Maybe it didn’t matter anymore. “Let’s find out.” Owen called Johnny’s number, but didn’t get an answer. “Probably turns his phone off when he goes home.” He looked at the phone. “Battery’s low on this thing anyway. We can check again tomorrow.”