Twisted Judgment

by Nora Kane

  Ron pointed at one of the machines Radcliff was hooked up to. “Everything is going the right direction.”

  Even though she had no reason to doubt Ron, Margot looked for herself.

  “Surely your clients can wait a day,” Phoebe said. “You should stay.”

  “This isn’t about a client.”

  Phoebe looked puzzled for a second before she said, “You’re looking for who did this.”

  “I am.”

  “Any progress?”

  “I wish I could say yes,” Margot replied, deciding to leave out her rescue of Cassie. While saving the young reporter was certainly a good thing, she wasn’t sure it had got her any closer to finding Mal or who shot Radcliff.

  Margot checked her phone to see what time it was. She decided most of what she needed to do would be better done off-hours anyway.

  Radcliff looked over and opened his eyes. He saw Margot and tried to smile. Margot took his hand again and stayed where she was.

  Chapter 14

  Radcliff woke up, but he was on enough painkillers, he wasn’t much for conversation. When the doctor came in to examine him, Margot had to get out of the way and this was her cue to leave. Phoebe had left a while ago, so for the rest of the afternoon, it was just Margot, Ron, and some of Radcliff’s cousins.

  Margot stuck around to hear the doctor give Ron a status update, which didn’t really add any new information, and then took off.

  Thinking about what Cassie had said about sleeping in her car reminded Margot of something from her and Mal’s past. Mal wouldn’t be sleeping in his car since everyone was looking for it, but there was a better option. He’d told her Marv owned a motor home, but he parked it in storage, and it stayed there almost all the time. Like a lot of RV owners, it appeared Marv’s lack of a vehicle wasn’t the only thing keeping him from going camping more often.

  It was a throwaway conversation, the kind people have when they’re comfortable with each other. If she remembered correctly, Mal had said they could take it anytime because Marv never used it, and he kept a key hidden under the front quarter panel. They’d never done it, and as far as Margot could recall, they’d never even talked about it beyond the one time.

  Just as Margot had forgotten Mal telling her about it, Mal had likely forgotten telling her. She had a vague memory of where he’d said it was stored, but if Marv still owned it, he’d know for sure. Or better yet, so would Doris, since it was likely she was in charge of paying the bills.

  Doris picked up on the second ring.

  “He’s not here, and I don’t know if he’d talk to you anyway. That wasn’t nice hitting him in the knee like that.”

  “I was in a bad mood.”

  “Is that an apology?”

  “No. The reason I called is I wanted to know if Marv still owned the motor home.”

  “Thank god the answer is no. Do you know what we were paying to store that thing? I was glad to pass that bill on to someone else.”

  Margot’s hopes sagged.

  Even though it was a long shot she asked, “When you said you passed the bill on to someone else, does that mean it’s still in the same lot?”

  “Last I checked. Marv paid for the spot a year in advance, so part of the deal was passing on the storage lot lease. I guess they can be hard to come by sometimes, so they were glad to get it. That was over a year ago so I couldn’t tell you if it’s still there.”

  “Could you tell me where it was stored?”

  “You going to tell me why?”

  “No.”

  Doris laughed and told her, “I shouldn’t like you, but I kind of do,” and then recited the name of the storage yard and the lot number. Even though Margot didn’t ask, she threw in the make and model.

  “I owe you a drink, Doris.”

  “You owe me several.”

  Margot drove to the storage facility. It was a secure lot with a high fence topped with barb wire and an electronic gate that required a code to get in.

  Margot parked her car and looked at the gate. She could climb it, but she was wondering if it would be better to just come back during the day when she could follow someone in or bullshit her way inside somehow.

  While she was thinking, a bright light washed over her and someone behind her said, “Can I help you, Ma’am?”

  Margot turned to see a guy in a security guard uniform holding a mag light. He may have been a rent-a-cop, but the gun on his belt was legit. The way he had his hand on the butte of his gun made her wonder if she should have been paying more attention to her surroundings. If he decided to draw the hand cannon he was carrying, there was no way she’d get to the gun in her purse in time.

  He saw her looking and moved his hand. “Sorry about that. We’ve had some theft lately, and it’s got me on edge a bit. We run a tight ship around here, so that kind of thing is rare.”

  “No worries,” Margot told him.

  “So, can I help you?”

  “As a matter of fact, you can. I was wondering if you could tell me if an RV is still parked in there.”

  “I could, but why do you want to know?”

  “My husband, soon to be ex-husband, swears he sold it last year. Which is possible because we’ve been living in different places since I caught him with the neighbor. I’d bet he still has it though and just doesn’t want to have to split it with me.”

  “Your neighbor must have been a fine-looking woman to get him to cheat on you.”

  “It was a man.”

  “Oh, I guess that happens. Not much you can do to compete with that, I suppose.”

  “No, there’s not. Is there a way I can find out if the RV is still there?”

  “I’m not supposed to let you in, but if you give me the lot number and the make and model, I can go look if it’s there.”

  “Lot fourteen and it’s a class C Winnebago. I can give you the license plate, too.”

  “That should be enough. Sounds familiar, actually. Give me a minute, okay?”

  “No problem, thanks.”

  Margot sat on the hood of her car and waited, checking her phone to see if there were any updates on Radcliff and finding either nothing had changed—or no one had got around to telling her, if it had. It seemed to be taking the guard longer than it should. That could be Margot’s impatience, but it could also mean he’d stumbled on Mal and was currently getting choked to death…

  Margot was just about to hop the fence and go look for him when she saw the flashlight swinging by his side as he made his way to the gate. She still put her hand in her purse and gripped her gun, a thirty-eight snub nose revolver also made by Smith and Wesson (after she’d shot Mr. Clean, they’d confiscated her forty caliber). It could easily be Mal walking up swinging the flashlight.

  “I’ve got good news and bad news” the guard told her as he came through the gate.

  “What does that mean?”

  “It means it’s not there, but the space is empty.”

  “That would make sense since it’s not there.”

  “Yeah, but the thing is, these lot spaces are hard to come by. We’ve got a waiting list. If your husband sold the RV, someone else would have snapped up the space. I went ahead and checked on the computer, and that spot still should have a Winnebago on it, the same one that’s been there for at least a couple of years. Did he go camping without telling you?”

  “Could be, we don’t talk much these days unless a lawyer is present.”

  “Well, you can tell your lawyer the cheating bastard still owns an RV.”

  “Thanks.”

  “You know, if you ever want to get a drink…”

  “I’ll think about it, thanks,” Margot told him, planning to get in the car and drive away before he realized he never got her number, but instead she stopped and asked, “What got stolen?”

  “Excuse me?”

  “You said you had some theft recently. What was stolen?”

  “Not
RV’s, if that’s what you're thinking.”

  “I might have been, but mostly I’m just curious.”

  “Random stuff actually. Some cooking supplies and a surfboard. Some books too, of all things. Not really a big deal I guess, but security is kind of our main selling point.”

  “Sounds like kids.”

  “Yeah, that’s what I thought. So, about that drink?”

  Margot smiled. “I know where to find you.”

  He seemed to like that, and Margot left him happy as she drove away.

  Chapter 15

  Margot knew it was possible the current owner had decided to do some mid-week camping, but it seemed more likely they just hadn’t changed where Marv hid the key and Mal had taken it. Someone lifting cooking supplies and books made it seem like Mal as well. Both things would serve a guy trying to stay under the radar.

  She considered calling Rodriguez and telling her what she’d found. She could put out an APB and scour the area in a way Margot couldn’t.

  If Radcliff was on the job instead of in the hospital, she would have told him, but she could trust him. She couldn’t say the same about anyone in homicide. While the police had the sheer manpower, they didn’t know Mal like she did. Their blunt approach might tip him off to the fact they were on to him, even if the corrupt cop that Cassie seemed to think existed didn’t tip him off first.

  There was also the fact that the police weren’t looking to arrest him. They thought he’d killed two cops, so the tendency would be to shoot first, second, and third before they even thought about asking a question.

  She and Mal may have parted ways, and he’d been clear with her that he was going to treat her like anyone else who came after him, but she’d cared about him for too long to let him get killed if there was a way to stop it. Especially since she wasn’t as convinced as the homicide division that he’d done it.

  She made a mental list of places to park an RV to stay the night and then thought about Mal and which ones he’d pick. She thought about the surfboard that was stolen. Mal grew up on the coast, and while he didn’t do it much as he got older, he was way into surfing as a young man. With time to kill during the day, Margot could see this might be the perfect time to take it back up. Unlike the residents of places like The Sandpiper Motel and The Lucky Irish Motor Lodge, surfers wouldn’t be ratting him out to the police.

  There were only a few places where somebody could park an RV all night along the beach and even then the limit on staying was two to three days. During peak tourist times, it could be nearly impossible to find a spot, but tourist season was still a month or so away, so it wouldn’t be hard to park somewhere and get a few days before moving on to the next place.

  Margot cruised the nearest one to the storage facility and didn’t spot a Winnebago. She moved on to the next one and found Marv’s old RV parked in the far corner.

  There were no lights on and no indication anyone was inside. Margot drove by it without slowing down. She wished she were in a car Mal wouldn’t recognize, but there was nothing she could do about that now. Margot parked in one of the lots by the beach and got out of her car.

  She took off her shoes and went to the sand. As the waves crashed, she walked along until she found a spot where she could see the RV. She watched and wondered if this was the point where she should call the police and let them take it from here.

  While she was considering what to do, she watched a man start across the parking lot. He was wearing a dark hoodie and he kept his head down, but Margot knew the walk. Even though she couldn’t see his face, Margot knew it was Mal. Seeing him get into Marv’s old RV confirmed it.

  Margot took her phone out of her purse, but instead of making the call, she just held it in her hand. Her concern that Mal was going to end up dead if they came kept her from punching in the numbers. Margot put the phone away and started working her way along the sand toward the parking lot. If Mal didn’t do it, she wanted to give him a chance to explain. If he did, she wasn’t sure what she’d do. Maybe if the worst was true she wouldn’t mind seeing him dead, but if he had to go, she’d rather it be her.

  As Margot walked toward the RV, the sound of the waves still crashing behind her, she thought about how it wasn’t long ago that she had promised Radcliff she would no longer do things this way. She’d told him there’d be no more lone wolf stuff and no more bending—or, in some cases, breaking—the law to accomplish her goals.

  She’d vowed to him that she’d do the investigating and leave the rough stuff to others. Just because he was in the hospital didn’t make that promise null and void. If anything, maybe it made it more important that she live up to his standards. She thought about how, in less than twenty-four hours since Radcliff had been shot and his partner and friend Ames killed, she’d already killed one man and lied to another.

  Margot got out her phone and dialed Rodriguez. She moved away from the ocean since the sound of the waves breaking was loud enough that it would be hard to carry out a conversation. Rodriguez didn’t answer. It was late, so Margot wasn’t surprised. She considered dialing 9-1-1 again but still didn’t want to see a SWAT team down here.

  Instead, she called Driver.

  “I found him,” she said as soon as Driver got on the line.

  “By him, you mean Mal?”

  “Yes.”

  “You saw him? You have a positive I.D.?”

  Margot had to think about this for a second; all she’d seen was a man in a hoodie walk into an RV that used to belong to Mal’s brother. All she could think to say was, “I’ve seen enough.”

  “Okay, where is he?”

  “He’s staying in an RV that used to belong to his brother Marv. Instead of hanging around known low-life housing, he’s blended in with the tourists and the local surfers.”

  “Okay, give me an exact location.”

  “First, you need to know how I want this done.”

  “That’s not really up to you.”

  “It’s not, but me telling you is.”

  “Okay, tell me what you want.”

  “I want to talk to him first.”

  “Talk?”

  “Yeah, talk. I want you to back me up and after we talk, you can arrest him but…”

  “You want to give the bastard a chance to live through this.”

  “I do.”

  “Even if he killed Ames and Burke? Even if he shot Radcliff?”

  “If he did those things, I want justice, but that doesn’t mean I have to be the judge, jury, and executioner.”

  “All right, not everyone will agree, but I’d rather do it your way than not get it done at all. Tell me where.”

  “I’m at the harbor. He’s in a Winnebago parked in the Northeast corner of the free lot. I parked in the lot by the beach, but I’m currently on the sand where I can see the RV I think Mal is in.”

  “Do you mind telling me how you came to this information?”

  “Yeah, I do.”

  “I’m on my way.”