“You!” Gil snarled at me.
Trisha shrieked and backpedaled. Gil pushed on the door with one arm and I leaned all my weight against him. Then he reached up and awkwardly punched at my face. I jerked my head away, grabbed the side of the door, quickly pulled it back and then slammed it into him. He wasn’t expecting that and he stumbled backward. I launched myself into the door and felt his weight on the other side, but the door closed. The knob rattled, but it was locked.
I spun around. “Out the balcony!”
Trisha stayed rooted in place.
I rushed over and pushed her toward the sliding glass door. “Come on!”
Behind us, a loud thump rocked the front door. Gil was trying to break it down. I slid the balcony door open and shoved Trisha through. Then I stepped out and frantically looked around.
“Where’s the fire escape?” I asked. Another thump on the front door.
“Over there!” She pointed at a ladder that ran down the wall between her balcony and the balcony for the apartment next door. “We have to climb over the railing.”
“You first,” I said.
I helped her over the balcony railing and then followed. As I started down the ladder, I listened for a second. The thumping noise had stopped.
“Hurry,” I chided Trisha. “Gil’s going to figure out what we’re doing and he’ll come running.”
She scrambled down the ladder, which stopped at the second level.
“What do I do?” she hollered.
“It should slide down with your weight.”
As if the ladder heard me, it suddenly moved. Trisha shrieked again. The ladder stopped three feet from the ground and she hopped off it. I jumped down and landed beside her.
“Let’s go!” I grabbed her arm and started running down the alley, past some fraternity houses and toward Warren Avenue.
I glanced over my shoulder. No one was there. We reached the street and hesitated.
“Which way?” she yelled.
“Right.” That would take us back toward Josephine, where the 4-Runner was parked.
We started running, but then Gil rushed around from the front of the building and headed toward us. Trisha stopped short and I plowed into her.
“This way!” I yanked her with me as I turned and fled in the opposite direction.
“Stop!” Gil shouted.
We ran a block to Evans and crossed the street without waiting for cars. A BMW going north swerved to miss us and a Subaru coming from the other direction screeched to a halt. A horn honked and a string of curses filled the air. We dodged in front of the Subaru and onto the DU campus. Behind us, horns blared again. I glanced over my shoulder. Gil had taken advantage of a lull in the traffic and had bolted across the street.
Trisha and I cut across the grass and into University Hall, a large stone building. I spied a set of stairs to our left.
“Up here.”
We took the steps two at a time to the second floor, then raced down the hall. I stopped at the first door I came to, but through a long rectangular window, I saw people sitting inside. Trisha dashed past me and checked the next door, then opened it. She waved a hand at me and ran inside. I followed and pulled the door shut, then flipped the lock. We pressed ourselves against the wall in the corner next to the door and waited. The room was bathed in shadows, the only light coming through the vertical slit window in the door and a couple of square windows on the wall opposite us.
“Oh my god!” Trisha said as she gasped for breath. “What do we do?”
I held up a hand. “Sh!”
She shut her mouth, tried to breathe through her nose, then opened her mouth and drew in deep breaths. It was noisy, but then, so was my own breathing. Over these sounds, I heard footsteps outside the door. Suddenly, a shadow blocked out the light from the hallway. Trisha and I froze. I put my hand against her side, indicating she should stay where she was. She was trembling violently. The door suddenly rattled. Trisha let out a tiny yelp and I glared at her. She clamped a hand over her face, terror in her eyes. We stayed like that for a long minute. Then the shadow finally moved away from the window. I wasn’t convinced Gil was gone, so I sidled down the wall and peeked under the door. A set of feet were positioned just outside and to the right of the door. I held my breath and watched. Voices sounded from somewhere down the hall and the feet finally moved away. I wasn’t sure, but I thought I heard another door rattle down the hall. I stood up and breathed again.
“He’s not by the door now,” I whispered. “But he’s still looking around.”
“He can’t wait out there forever.”
“And we can’t stay in here forever,” I muttered. “But he knows he’s been found out, so he’ll run at some point.”
“He could still come after me.”
“Which is why we need to get you someplace where he can’t find you.” I thought about calling the police, but what would they do? They wouldn’t be able to protect Trisha around the clock. I had another thought. If I could get Trisha to Cal’s without Gil knowing, she’d be safe while I tracked Gil down. But it would take a long time to get her to Cal’s house in the foothills west of Denver.
“Hold on.” I made a quick call. “Deuce.”
“Hi, Reed, what’s going on?”
“Are you at home?” I said in a low voice.
“Uh-huh. Ace is at work, though. Do you need us to watch for that woman?”
“No, I need you to actually watch her,” I said.
“Huh?”
“I’ve found her, but I need you to help me hide her for a while, until I can make other arrangements.”
“Okay, what do you want me to do?”
“I’m going to have you take her to Cal’s house, okay?”
“Sure,” Deuce said.
“And I need you to pick us up now.” I gave him directions to DU. “When you get close, call me and I’ll tell you where we are.”
“Uh, are you okay?”
“Someone’s been chasing us, so I need you to be careful. But don’t worry, I’ll make sure we lose him before you pick us up.”
“Okay, I’ll be there soon.”
I thanked him and ended the call.
Trisha nervously ran a hand through her hair. “You want me to stay with your friend?”
“Yes.”
“What if Gil sees us?”
I grimaced. “We need to make sure that doesn’t happen.”
“How?”
I ignored her and glanced out the rectangular window. I couldn’t see Gil. Where was he? Searching the rest of the building for us? Or had he left?
Trisha stayed silent and we waited. I silenced my cell phone and held it in my hand. Then I watched the door, but Gil never came back. I leaned against the wall and mulled over everything. Some things didn’t make sense. Like why Gil would kill Pete, unless he had another source to get the steroids.
I took out my phone, connected to Google and typed in “Greg Revis”. A moment later, I found his LinkedIn profile, along with his picture.
I handed the phone to Trisha. “Have you ever seen this guy?”
She studied the photo. “Yeah, outside Charlie’s building. And a time or two with Gil.” She shuddered. “I can hardly say that guy’s name.” She handed the phone back.
More pieces fell into place. “You saw this guy,” I pointed at Greg’s picture, “with Gil?”
She nodded. “Yes, just the other day I saw them together, outside Coors Field.”
I stared at the image on the screen. “Gil got rid of Pete, so he needs another supplier,” I said. “Maggie was working with Greg. I’ll bet Greg agreed to start supplying Gil.”
“But why would Gil kill Pete if he was supplying Gil with the steroids?”
“I don’t know. But I’ll bet I know why he killed Maggie.”
“Why?”
“I’ll bet she found out that Pete was also supplying Gil with steroids, and once Gil knew that I’d found her, he knew the trail would eventually le
ad back to him. So he had to get rid of her.”
“Like he wants to get rid of me,” Trisha said in a hushed tone.
“Yes.”
Neither of us had anything to say to that. Thirty long minutes later, Deuce called.
“Hey, Reed, I’m getting close now. I’m on University Boulevard.”
“Good. Just south of Evans, take your first right. Then take a right into a circular drive. Park and call me and we’ll come running.”
“Gotcha.”
Five minutes later, he called back and said he was waiting.
“Let’s go,” I said to Trisha.
She nodded, but I could see her shaking. I peeked out the slit window and saw no one, so I eased the door open. The hallway was empty. I waved for Trisha and we darted down the hallway in the opposite direction from where we’d come in. There was another stairway at the end of the hall. We ran down to the first floor and I stopped at the door that led outside. I saw Deuce’s pickup truck sitting in the drive. If Gil was around, I couldn’t see him.
“Run fast to that truck,” I said to Trisha. “If Gil shows up, I’ll distract him, but you keep running.”
She nodded again.
I opened the door, stepped outside and looked around. No Gil. A group of students were walking in front of the building.
They might give us some cover, I thought. “Okay, now!” I hissed.
We ran pell-mell across the grass, near the group of students. As we drew near the truck, Deuce leaned over and opened the passenger door. Trisha dove into the truck. I slid in beside her and slammed the door shut.
“Go!” I said.
Deuce peeled out of the driveway. I watched behind us as he circled the driveway and turned south on University. Trisha was wedged between Deuce and me, and I felt her relax just slightly. I breathed a sigh of relief as well.
Gil was gone.
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
“Good work,” I said to Deuce.
He grinned.
“My car’s parked on Josephine,” I said. “Take me there and then I’ll follow you for a ways to make sure Gil isn’t on your tail.”
Then I introduced Trisha to Deuce. She thanked Deuce for helping, and then she just stared out the windshield. Deuce turned east on Harvard Avenue, then onto Josephine.
“There’s my car,” I said a moment later. I stared up and down the street. “I don’t see Gil’s car.”
“Good,” Trisha whispered.
Deuce pulled up beside the 4-Runner.
“Go south on University and I’ll stay behind you,” I said. “If I see Gil, I’ll call you.”
“Okay,” Deuce said. He was trying to appear cool in front of Trisha, but he was gripping the wheel so tight, his knuckles were white.
I hopped out and quickly got in the 4-Runner, then followed Deuce down University for a number of blocks. I kept an eye out behind me, but never saw a white convertible Mustang. When I was convinced that Gil wasn’t tailing us, I called Deuce.
“There’s no sign of Gil,” I said when he answered. “But you and Trisha keep an eye out for him. He’s dangerous, okay?”
“I can take care of this,” Deuce said. Bless him, he was trying so hard.
“Okay, call me when you get to Cal’s, or if you see any suspicious cars.”
“I will.”
I ended the call and turned around and headed back to Trisha’s apartment building. I drove slowly up and down the streets around her building, but I didn’t see Gil’s car. Where was he? Would he give up, go to the airport and leave town? Or drive back to California, or somewhere else, in his rented convertible? What if he pulled out all the stops and tried to kill Trisha? No matter what, I couldn’t be everywhere at once, so as I drove north on University toward my condo, I made another call.
“I hope you don’t want information,” Spillman said in her usual gruff way when she answered. “I’ve given you what I can.”
“No, I’ve got something for you.” I rattled off the events of the day, my words tumbling out fast.
“Ferguson, slow down,” she said, then started peppering me with questions.
I finally got the whole story out and paused to take a breath. I was more wound up than I realized.
“So this guy, Gil Valducci, is on the run,” she said.
“Yeah. I don’t know where he’s staying, or if he decided to get out of Dodge.”
“I’ll put out an APB and get people to cover the airport. If he tries to leave, we’ll find him.”
An all-points-bulletin would mean the police would watch for his car. But Gil was wily, and Denver was a big city. He could be anywhere.
“I’ll feel safe when he’s behind bars,” I said.
“Just be cautious. And Ferguson?”
“Yes?”
“Good work.” Then she was gone.
How about that, I thought. She’d thanked me twice in one case. I smiled. Spillman had an exterior like titanium, but underneath, she was full of charm.
I stopped for a red light and glanced in my rearview mirror. Was Gil back there somewhere? Or was I paranoid? Then I realized I needed to warn Charlie, so I called him.
“Hey, have you talked to Gil?” I asked.
“He was supposed to come over, but he cancelled. He said he had an emergency and he had to go back to California.”
“Gil killed Pete and Maggie.”
“What?”
“It sure looks that way.”
“I don’t believe it,” Charlie said.
“It’s all right there. He had access to your gun, and we have a witness who saw you leave Pete’s apartment before the gunshot and Gil leave the apartment right after the gunshot.”
“Where’s the witness?” he snapped. “She’s the key to clearing my name.”
“I’ve got her hidden away,” I said. “And the police are looking for Gil.”
He cursed. “Man, I don’t believe it.” Then he laughed bitterly.
“What?”
“Remember I told you that the night I argued with Pete, he said it was all going to come out, that my steroid use would be exposed? He was right. The police are going to know all about me, and so it’s only a matter of time before the public does, too. Pete never said anything. I don’t care about that, either, but he still lost his life over all this.” Another bitter laugh. “That’s the real tragedy.”
“It is, but maybe you can learn something from all this,” I said. “You did say you wanted to go straight.”
“Yeah.”
“Wait, hold on.”
“What?”
“You said Pete told you if he didn’t get his money, it was all going to come out anyway.”
“Yeah?”
“I’ll bet Pete didn’t mean he was going to tell about you, he was going to tell about Gil because Gil wouldn’t pay Pete what he wanted. That’s why Gil killed him – it would ruin Gil’s career.”
“If I get my hands on him…” Charlie left the rest unsaid.
“Whatever you do, don’t let Gil in. Call the police.”
“Better to take my bat to him,” Charlie muttered.
“It’s not worth it. Let the police handle him.”
“All right. You don’t have to tell me twice,” Charlie said.
“I’ll touch base with you later.”
I put my phone away, my mind still revved. By now I had reached 18th Avenue, so I headed west toward my place. I glanced at the clock. It was a little after three, which meant Willie should be home from work. She’d had to work the early shift and was out the door this morning before I’d gotten up. And right now, I just wanted to sit on the couch with a beer and with her beside me, not necessarily in that order.
A few minutes later, I parked the 4-Runner on the street in front on my building and raced up the stairs.
“Hey, hon, are you here?” I called out as I entered my condo.
Silence.
“That’s not a nice welcome home,” I joked. “You should greet the great dete
ctive with open arms and a kiss. Especially since he solved the case.”
Nothing.
“I guess she’s not home,” I concluded to no one. She must’ve had to work late.
I went into the kitchen, grabbed a beer, then strolled into the living room. I sprawled on the couch and turned on the television. Cape Fear was playing, a great film that was one of the last to claim noir roots. Gregory Peck played Sam Bowden, a lawyer whose family is terrorized by Max Cady, played by Robert Mitchum. The end of the movie was one of the most chilling in noir, where Cady sneaks up onto the family boat and holds Bowden’s wife hostage. I watched the movie for a few minutes, then called Willie. Over the sound of the television, I thought I heard her phone ring. Was she back in the bedroom?
I got up and started down the hall. Our bedroom door was partially open. Inside, the shades had been drawn and the room was dim. Was she taking a nap? I tiptoed toward the door and saw her purse lying on the bed. Then I heard a muffled sound, not a snore or heavy breathing, but a warning sound. Fear shot through me. I put my hand on the door, wishing I had my Glock, but it was safely stored in the closet where it could do me little good now. I pushed the door open.
Willie was sitting on the edge of the bed, her hands tied behind her, a sock stuffed in her mouth. Gil stood on the other side of her, pointing a gun at her head.
CHAPTER THIRTY
My jaw dropped.
“Welcome home,” Gil sneered.
“Willie?” I could barely choke out her name. I took a step toward her.
“Stay back!” Gil snarled.
A single tear ran down Willie’s cheek and my heart shattered. In that moment, I was acutely aware of everything, from the smell of her perfume lingering in the air, to the dim light in the room and the movie playing in the living room.
“Did you hurt her?” I asked.
“She’s fine.” Gil ran a hand along her cheek. Willie recoiled from him, but he didn’t notice.
I forced myself to stay calm, but inside my guts roiled. If he harmed her, or worse, I’d tear him to pieces. I decided to keep him talking until I could think of what to do. “Did you follow me?”
The Third Fan: A Reed Ferguson Mystery (A Private Investigator Mystery Series - Crime Suspense Thriller Book 9) Page 16
