Shot Girl

by Karen E. Olson

  "Food. Let’s get some food," he said.

  "The Japanese place on Dixwell. The one that used to be Hama but is something else now. I want some sushi," I said, even though the longer I was away from my apartment, the more pissed Tom would be if he found out I wasn’t actually there. Now that I was away from the situation, I must have been suffering heatstroke to think about calling him about Ned and Jamond and the Glock.

  Vinny wrinkled his nose. He hated sushi. I thought that was sort of funny, a marine biologist who hated fish.

  "You can get something else there," I said. "They’ve got all sorts of cooked food, too, you know." I paused. "And you made me go to that Turkish place."

  He conceded that it was my turn to pick a place, and it wasn’t far from where we were, so he made a couple of turns and soon we were pulling into the back parking lot.

  I knew he was asking about the whole Jamond episode. I thought about it a few seconds before nodding. "Yeah," I said. "It happened so fast, and it was sort of like in slow motion at the same time. Know what I mean?"

  Vinny nodded. "But it can catch up to you."

  I understood what he was saying, but this was different. "I wasn’t really afraid," I said. "I know Jamond had a gun and all, but I didn’t really believe that he’d use it. It seemed more like, well, a prop. Something to scare me with, but that’s all. And he really didn’t put up too much resistance when Ned took it away. He just took off."

  "Think someone put him up to it?" Vinny’s dark eyes bored into mine, and I nodded.

  "Yeah."

  "Who?"

  "Jack Hammer, maybe?"

  Vinny nodded slowly, and I could see those little wheels in his brain turning. He had something he wanted to say, but his cell phone interrupted. He pulled it off his hip and answered it, then handed the phone to me. "It’s for you."

  I frowned, said, "Hello?"

  "I’ve been trying to call you," Priscilla admonished.

  "Where’d you get this number?" I asked.

  "Jesus, Annie, it’s in your book here on your desk. When I couldn’t reach you on your phone, I figured maybe Vinny knew where you were."

  I told her about Jamond and losing my phone and Ned.

  "And here I was thinking he was an asshole, but what he did was amazing. Didn’t think he had it in him," she said. "Listen, can I stay the night? I don’t feel like taking the train back."

  "Want me to bring you some miso soup? We’re at Hama."

  "That would be great. But isn’t it called something else now?"

  Even though I was standing in the doorway waiting for a seat, I couldn’t remember the name of the place. "Yeah. I don’t know how long we’ll be."

  "Don’t worry about me. I borrowed a T-shirt and your sweats and I’m watching TV."

  I thought about my best friend sprawled on my couch, then took a look at Vinny, who was looking pretty sexy with a five-o’clock shadow.

  "I could stay at Vinny’s, and you could have my bed," I offered, punching Vinny in the shoulder as he shot me a grin and a leer.

  "Like that wasn’t the plan already. See you later," she said, and we signed off.

  "Are we having a sleepover?" Vinny’s lips tickled my ear, and I shivered a little, but just shrugged.

  The hostess finally took us to a table for two and took our drink order. Despite the crowd, it didn’t take long to get our Sapporos and order some food.

  I took a long drink of my beer as I waited for my sushi and Vinny to get around to telling me about Felicia. His hand wrapped around his glass and swirled his Sapporo for a second before he looked at me.

  "She was at that stripper’s place."

  It caught me off guard.

  "Jack Hammer?" My brain raced in a million different directions before it stopped on one thought. So that’s why Vinny had looked so curious about me thinking Jack Hammer was in cahoots with Jamond. "He knows I’ve been looking for Felicia."

  Vinny made a face at me. "So you think the smarmy bastard was going to tell you?"

  "How did you find her?" I asked, ignoring his question.

  "I went to his condo. I thought maybe he’s the one who’s been following you, making those calls."

  Him and me both.

  "He wasn’t there, but she let me in."

  "That was pretty serendipitous, wasn’t it?"

  "I wasn’t totally surprised to see her."

  "Why not?"

  "When she called you? She was calling from Decker’s phone."

  I let that sink in for a few seconds. "Okay, well, did you ask her about Ashley Ellis?"

  "I told her a body was found at West Rock School. That her ID was found with the body." He paused and took a drink of his beer. "She got hysterical when I told her. Said it had to be Ashley, that she hadn’t seen her or talked to her since last night. She said she was scared—she didn’t know where to go."

  "Where to—" I stopped. Jack Hammer. She was staying with him but felt compelled to go somewhere else. Felicia suspected him. Damn. Was I right that he was behind what happened with Jamond? If so, he’d really been screwing with my head this afternoon. He’d had me almost believing he was innocent in all this. I had to remember that playacting was his business. "So you gave her a place to go?"

  Vinny nodded. I could see from his expression he might not want to tell me where she was. Sometimes it was damn tight between that rock and hard place.

  He had put his cell on the table, and I picked it up, punching in Tom’s number again, but still got the voice mail. I left another message. What was up with this? I had another idea and punched in Dick Whitfield’s cell number. I should’ve thought of this when I hitched that ride with him earlier.

  "Yes?"

  "Dick, it’s Annie."

  "What do you want?" His voice was high, nervous.

  "Did you get an ID on that body at West Rock School?"

  "Not yet."

  "Have you talked to Tom?"

  "Listen, Annie, you’re not on the story. You said that yourself. You also said that I could handle this, and I am."

  I didn’t like it that Dick was getting uppity. It was easier when he was submissive. But I didn’t have Cindy Purcell to blame this time. I had told him he could handle it, that it was his story. It was my own fault. I’d created this monster.

  "Dick, I’m not trying to take the story away from you. I was just wondering if you had an ID and if you’ve talked to Tom." I tried to keep my voice light. It wasn’t easy.

  "I talked to Tom about half an hour ago," he conceded.

  "Did he say anything about a report of another body?" I’d left the message about hearing about Felicia’s body up at Judges Cave.

  "Another body? No." Dick’s tone told me he was confused. "What’s going on? Is there another body?" He was worried that he’d missed something. I was sorry I couldn’t indulge that worry and confirm it. "I haven’t heard anything on the scanner, and when I talked to Tom, he didn’t say anything." His voice got higher with each word.

  "No, no, Dick, there isn’t," I said, although maybe I shouldn’t allay his fears so quickly. But I was tired and hungry and the waitress had just set my sushi down in front of me. "So there’s no ID on the body yet?" I asked again.

  "No, Annie," Dick said. "What do you know?"

  "Nothing more than you," I lied easily. I heard a familiar sound in the background: a police scanner. "Are you at the paper?"

  "Yeah. But not for long." Silence for a second, then, "If you hear anything else about that other body, you’ll tell me, right?"

  Jesus, he was paranoid.

  Oh, right, I had egged that on. I smiled to myself. "Yeah, sure, but there’s no news there," I said quickly, then closed the phone and handed it to Vinny, whose mouth was full of beef teriyaki. He was frowning at my yellowtail and salmon sushi.

  "How the hell can you eat that shit?" he asked when he swallowed.

  "Tom hasn’t given Dick an ID yet," I said, ignoring him. "So where did you hide Felicia?" I savored a
piece of sushi. Vinny didn’t know what he was missing.

  Vinny drank some more of his Sapporo before answering, and I could see he was thinking about this carefully.

  "Like I said, in a safe place."

  Even though there were a lot of things I really liked about Vinny, sometimes I really hated him. But just as I was about to push the issue, he added, "She’s at Rocco’s." His brother. Vinny grinned. "Rocco was all over it, thinking he could get something for his next book." Rocco writes best-selling crime novels and is always angling for a new plot idea. He’s got a condo in Ninth Square.

  Rocco was a good idea; I had to give it to Vinny. No one would even think to look for Felicia with him, since the players in this game most likely didn’t even know he existed. I could vouch for Rocco’s sleuthing and bodyguarding skills, since we’d spent some time together on a story in April. There might be only one problem.

  "So when Rocco got a good look at Felicia, he probably started drooling," I said, stuffing the last piece of sushi in my mouth.

  Vinny finished his beer before speaking. "She cut her hair and colored it. I guess it was her idea of how to camouflage herself."

  "So she doesn’t look as hot; is that what you’re telling me?" I asked.

  "She’s okay. Not my type." His gaze was intense, and I felt a hot flash that landed right between my legs. He knew, too, and waved the waitress down. "Time to go," he said.

  I nodded, but then remembered the miso soup I’d promised Priscilla. When the waitress brought us the check, I asked her to bring a to-go container. When Vinny raised his eyebrows, I said, "It won’t take long to drop this off. And you probably want to check in with Rocco, anyway. Make sure he hasn’t eloped with Felicia or anything."

  We were halfway to the Explorer in the parking lot when Vinny’s cell phone rang. He answered it, then handed it to me. "Tom," he mouthed.

  I took the phone. "So you don’t return calls anymore?"

  "Christ, Annie, it’s been a long day. And last I knew, Dick was on this story."

  "I’ve left you like a billion messages."

  "I called your cell but got your voice mail. Then I got this latest message saying you wanted me to call this number. What the hell is going on? Why are you calling me about Felicia Kowalski’s body up at Judges Cave? There’s no body up there."

  "I know. I made a mistake." I paused. "That girl at West Rock School, any ID yet?"

  "Who wants to know?

  What the hell? "What do you mean?"

  "Are you asking officially for the newspaper or are you asking for another reason?"

  "It matters?"

  "Yeah. It matters."

  I mulled that a couple of seconds. "Okay, no, it’s not for the paper." For me, saying those words was akin to Vinny actually swallowing sushi.

  But if I could get an answer off the record from him, I could always try to confirm with someone else and call Marty with it.

  You can take the girl off the beat, but you can’t take the beat out of the girl.

  I should have a goddamn bumper sticker made up.

  "So what’s the reason?" Tom was asking.

  "Reason for what?"

  "The reason why you’re asking for ID? Anything I should know?"

  I watched Vinny’s face as I answered. "It’s Ashley Ellis, isn’t it?"

  I heard him catch his breath. It was so slight that if I hadn’t been paying attention, I probably wouldn’t have heard it.

  "I also know where Felicia Kowalski is."

  Vinny wasn’t happy I said that. His eyes narrowed, getting darker. I shook my head. I had to offer up something, and I still wasn’t sure why Vinny would hide her from the cops.

  "Where?" Tom was interested.

  "First, I need you to confirm on the record that the body is Ashley Ellis."

  "Will you tell me then where the girl is?"

  I thought a second. "Why do you want to know so bad?"

  "I can’t tell you that."

  We were at an impasse. I wasn’t going to tell him anything if he wasn’t going to tell me anything. He knew that, but he also hadn’t played all his cards.

  "If you don’t tell me where she is, I can have you arrested for obstruction," he said.

  The surprise must have shown on my face because Vinny leaned forward, wearing his curiosity on his sleeve.

  "Obstruction?" I asked, and Vinny’s eyebrows shot up. "What the hell do you want her for?"

  "How much do you really know about your ex-husband’s activities, Annie?" Tom asked. "Am I going to have to arrest you tomorrow when I get those bullet ballistics tests back? How come you’re hiding his girlfriend? How involved are you?"

  "Have you found whoever took those pictures of me?" I demanded, my voice too loud.

  "I’m coming over," Tom said.

  "Over where?"

  "To your apartment—where else?"

  "Oh, shit," I muttered.

  "What?"

  "I’m not there." I said it so quietly I hoped maybe he wouldn’t hear.

  "What do you mean, you’re not there?" So much for not hearing. "Riley’s sitting out in front of your building. He said your friend came by, that you guys haven’t left."

  "Well, Priscilla is still there. . . ." I let my voice trail off.

  "Where the fuck are you?" I had never heard him this angry.

  "Hama. Just leaving. I can be there in twenty minutes."

  "If you’re not, I’m issuing a fucking warrant."

  He ended the call.

  Vinny frowned. "What’s up?"

  "Tom’s going to arrest me if I’m not back at my apartment in twenty minutes." I filled him in on the rest of the conversation as we got into the Explorer. "He wants Felicia. I don’t know why."

  "Maybe because she and Ashley were part of the straw purchases," Vinny suggested.

  We were already zipping down Putnam toward Whitney. Vinny was taking Tom’s threat seriously.

  "Why are you hiding Felicia?" I asked.

  We stopped at a light. Vinny turned to look at me.

  "Your mother asked me to."

  Chapter 40

  "Why does my mother want you to hide Felicia?"

  Vinny shrugged. "I don’t know. She pays me. I do what she says."

  "Oh, come on. You’re not stupid, and you’re not just a thug. What’s going on?"

  "Your mother told me to hold on to her until tomorrow morning, and then I have to take her to your mother’s office." He sighed. "I really don’t know more than that."

  I had put the cell phone in the center console, and I grabbed it, punching in my own phone number. The answering machine picked up, and I waited until my short message was played. "Priscilla, it’s me." I said.

  But no one picked up.

  "Why are you calling her?" Vinny asked.

  I waited a few more seconds, then ended the call. I rubbed my forehead. I was getting a killer headache. "Why didn’t she answer?" I asked myself, staring out the windshield.

  I punched in Priscilla’s cell number, and it just rang and rang until the voice mail picked up. "Something’s wrong," I said.

  The Explorer was now at the corner of Putnam and Whitney, and Vinny turned right to head downtown. "What’s going on?" he asked softly.

  "I was going to tell her to head Tom off," I said. "I want to go to my mother’s and talk to her about this. But if Priscilla isn’t answering, something’s wrong."

  "She might be asleep."

  "She sleeps really light," I said. "Especially when she’s not in her own bed."

  I felt the Explorer take on a little more speed, and we were turning down side streets until we hit State, then careened up over the Grand Avenue Bridge next to the satellite train station.

  When we pulled up in front of my building on Chapel Street, we saw Riley and Tom waiting for us. Riley wore his hat. Tom wore a frown.

  I sped up the steps.

  "Annie!" Tom’s voice was menacing, but I ignored him as I heard Vinny talking to him.
r />   My apartment door was wide open, and I ran inside, looking in every room, but it was empty. When I came out of my bedroom, Tom, Riley, and Vinny were waiting for me.

  "Where’s Priscilla?" I asked Riley.

  A sheepish look crossed his face. "She left."

  "Alone?"

  He shook his head. All eyes were on him, and he shifted uncomfortably.

  "Who did she leave with?" I demanded.

  "Some guy in a Jeep. A red Jeep."

  Ned Winters. What the fuck? Why had he come over here?

  Tom picked something up off the kitchen island. "A note," he said simply, reading it and then handing it to me.

  Ned came by. Said he could take me to the train, so I decided to go home. Talk to you later. P.

  Tom was still glaring at me. Shit. I was in trouble.

  "Where’s Felicia Kowalski?" he asked.

  I tried not to look at Vinny, but I glanced at him for a split second, and Tom noticed, turning to him. "You both know. Where is she?"

  Vinny’s expression didn’t change. "I can’t tell you, but I can tell you that you can call my employer and see if you can get it out of her."

  Tom knew Vinny was talking about my mother. He looked at me. "Your mother’s involved in this?"

  "Maybe you should just tell us why you want Felicia so bad. Isn’t she more important to the feds than the locals right now?" I asked. "She knows, doesn’t she? She knows everything, right?"

  Tom leaned in toward Riley and whispered something to him. Riley looked at me a long second. He was probably pissed that I’d sneaked away on his watch; I’d made him look like an idiot in front of the chief of detectives. After he’d fixed my air conditioner and everything. I just shrugged at him; what could I say? He shifted his eyes away from me and nodded at Tom, stepping outside, closing the door behind him.

  Tom ran a hand through his hair; his eyes were underlined by dark circles. He had gotten about as much sleep as I’d had the last couple of days.

  "Okay, listen, but this is all off the record."

  Maybe. "Okay," I said.

  "She was seen with Ashley Ellis last night." He stopped, letting the words sink in.