by Dale Mayer
He nodded. “That’s right. They didn’t get him.”
She could feel every hope inside her melting away. She’d been so optimistic that this really would be over quickly. She nodded and turned toward Warrick. “Where to now?”
He smiled. “Tesla’s off today. She suggested we go spend the afternoon by their pool.”
Penny stared at him in surprise. “Really? Because that would be absolutely awesome.”
He nodded. “That’s what I thought. But we’ll head to the police station because they did pick up a bag for you, and they have your laptop there.”
She beamed. “Perfect.”
“Is there anything important on your laptop?”
She shook her head. “Not really. Just, you know, emails and stuff like that. I feel disconnected if I don’t have it.”
“What about your phone? Isn’t your world connected to your phone?”
“I don’t have much in the way of data,” she explained. “My schedule and everything is on my phone, but I prefer a bigger format to look at. I find phone screens awfully small.”
Tanner nodded. “I’m with you there.”
They walked slowly through the mall, back past the restaurant and took a nearby exit. Once outside, Tanner moved ahead as if he didn’t have anything to do with them and remained about ten or fifteen feet in front of her at all times.
She glanced at Warrick. “Any news on those two guys in the restaurant?”
He shook his head. “No. We haven’t seen them since. Is there any reason why they would be involved?”
She frowned. “I can’t think of any. As far as I know, George was a bit of a loner.”
“Would he be in trouble with somebody like that? Any reason why they would follow you to find him?”
She almost stopped in her tracks at the thought. She turned to look at Warrick. “Now that’s a very disconcerting thought. Why would you put that in my head?”
He raised an eyebrow. “We have to consider this from every angle. The truth is often just outside of what we’re considering. So you have to get very real about it.”
“Right.” Her insides were torn. “Nina did say he had a gambling problem. But I don’t know how bad it is.”
Warrick stared at her in surprise. “You didn’t mention that to the cops. Does Nina have any money?”
She looked at him and nodded. “Actually she does. She comes from a wealthier family.”
“We’re heading to the police station anyway.” His tone was brisk. “We’ll update them with that information.”
“What difference does it make?” she asked.
“If George is in trouble with somebody, like a loan shark, or has a gambling debt he has failed to pay, then there could be other angles we’re not thinking about, you know? If it’s just a case of revenge, then he’ll be coming after you, but what if it isn’t that simple? What if he’s hoping you have money, so he can pay off these guys, and he knows they’re on his tail? Desperate circumstances make for desperate men.”
“He already killed two cops and a woman. How much more desperate can he get?”
Warrick shot her a look. “He can get a hell of a lot more desperate and a hell of a lot more dangerous,” he said, and then he was quiet.
*
Warrick pulled into the police station lot, got out, waiting for her to join him. He constantly searched his surroundings. Tanner had arrived ahead of them and kept watch as well. But Warrick couldn’t get the feeling out of his head that this information she had would change everything. Regardless, a crazy gunman was still on the loose. That’s what they had to focus on. But, if something else was going on with George, the cops needed to know that too.
He walked into the police station and, at the front counter, asked for the same detective he’d spoken to earlier. The woman nodded, told him to take a seat. He turned to find almost all the benches full. Two empty spots were on the far side. He’d just sat down when a door off to the side opened, and the detective walked out.
“Warrick, come on through.” He smiled at Penny. “How are you doing today?”
“I’m okay,” she said. “But Warrick thought maybe I should tell you something I had forgotten about.”
The detective’s gaze lit with interest. “C’mon in. We have clothes for you and some other personal belongings.”
He took them to a small room, motioned for them to take a seat and said he’d return in a minute. They sat down and waited.
She glanced around and spoke in a low voice. “Is this an interrogation room?”
Warrick shrugged. “Maybe. Ask him when he comes back, if you’re interested.”
She wrinkled her face at him. “Have you ever been arrested?”
He shook his head. “Not in this country.” His grin was a bit off-kilter.
She considered him and then shuddered. “I don’t think I want to hear that story.”
“Nope, you probably don’t,” he said smoothly. “Sometimes our missions go a little sideways.”
She nodded, grateful when the door opened and the detective returned. He had her overnight bag from her closet and a reinforced paper grocery bag. She checked the overnight bag, smiled when she saw several outfits, including shoes and a sweater, and then reached for the paper bag. Inside was her laptop, charger cord, cell phone charging cord—which she would never have thought to ask for—and the book that had been on her night table. She smiled. “Hey, that’s very thoughtful of you.”
“You can thank the policewoman. She thought of the extras.”
There wasn’t room for the laptop in her overnight bag so she just laid it on the floor beside her bags.
The detective looked at her. “What is it you think you need to tell me?”
She shrugged. “I don’t know that I need to tell you anything, but Warrick thought it might be important.”
Warrick nodded. “It is important,” he insisted.
“We went to breakfast this morning. Two men were watching us,” she began.
Warrick listened to her version of the events. When she was done, he added, “What that really means is, it’s possible George’s also trying to outrun a loan shark or somebody he owes money to for a gambling debt, and maybe those two bone-breakers are chasing him down via Penny.”
The detective looked interested in that for a moment. “How would they have known you were in the restaurant?”
“They wouldn’t have,” she said immediately. “That’s why I didn’t think it was very important.”
“Did anybody know of your plans to go to the sports store today?”
She stared at him in surprise. “I don’t think so. I didn’t write it down on my schedule. Although my yoga classes are in there. But that’s not exactly something anybody would have had access to.”
“Where’s your schedule kept?”
“In my purse,” she said, lifting it up. “It’s also on my laptop, but they’d have to have my log-in and password to get in.”
“Most hackers could get into your e-data. Whether on your phone or your laptop. But we don’t have other illicit computer activity going on in this case.” The detective frowned and drew question marks in a row across the page.
Warrick knew, when you had odd information, that you tried to fit it into the facts as you knew them presently. The trouble was, you often didn’t know enough until the end, when you got the fuller picture. Even more frustrating was when you never got those final answers, and you were left wondering how the last pieces fit together. “We stayed at a friend’s place on the base last night,” Warrick offered. “So nobody would have known where we were, not even to follow us to the mall.”
“Right. So chances are, those men weren’t following you.”
“Not likely, no. We did run by my place earlier,” she said, suddenly straightening in a chair. “I didn’t see the police there, but Warrick just drove past.”
The detective nodded thoughtfully, tossed down his pen, stretched out his legs on the nearest empty cha
ir, crossed his arms over his chest and said, “But these guys could have seen you there, at your apartment, and followed you to the mall?”
She shrugged. “Maybe. But, if these two know George, then they probably know about Nina. If they know about Nina, they probably know about me too. From the hospital siege.”
“Good point,” he nodded. “We can take a look at his back history and see if we can roust anything on gambling debts or any other kinds of illegal activities he might have been involved in. But I don’t think it changes the scenario all that much. He’s still a crazed gunman on the loose. He’s killed two cops and murdered a woman. I’m not sure having two bone-breakers, as you called them, after him will change anything much.”
“Except maybe make him a little more desperate,” Warrick said. “It’s always dangerous to forget a hidden element in this kind of deal.”
The detective studied him for a long moment as he rubbed his jaw. He nodded. “You’re right. Any other elements mean our plans can go haywire because we weren’t expecting them. I don’t have a problem with the pair showing up and killing him. Lord knows I don’t want this George to take out any more innocents, but we have to run him to ground before we can find him.”
“How is it that you didn’t catch him at my apartment?”
“He saw the officers standing at the front door. It took them a moment to register that he was using a cane until he got further away when he tossed it and ran. By then, he was already half a block away, getting into a vehicle. He took off, and, although the officers followed him, he was too far ahead, and they lost him.”
She nodded, staring out the window. “It seems like we always get so close, and he has just enough good luck that he slips away.”
“That’s the thing about luck,” Warrick said. “He will run out of it eventually.”
But the look in her eyes as she stared at him was somber. “And how many more people have to die before then?” she asked quietly. She turned to the detective. “You need to talk to Nina. She could to tell you more.”
He nodded. “I can do that. I was about to head out and run down a few other leads we’ve got. I’ll stop by the hospital first and see if she can confirm this gambling debt angle. You didn’t take any photos of the men you saw at the restaurant, did you?”
Warrick shook his head. “But Tanner might have.” Warrick pulled out his phone and sent Tanner a text. Almost immediately a photo showed up on his phone. He lifted it so the detective could see it. “It’s not great, but this is the one we’ve got.”
The detective looked at it and whistled. “Wow. Okay, that changes the game entirely.”
Warrick stared at him. “In what way?”
“Those two are part of the Monroe gang. They run drugs, prostitutes and, yes, gambling. They do every kind of gambling you can imagine, from cockfights to dogfights to illegal casinos in back rooms. Their eldest brother runs the outfits. These two are more the hired muscle.”
“We still don’t know they were interested in Penny for any other reason than the fact she’s an attractive woman,” Warrick said thoughtfully. “But the coincidence isn’t something I’m real comfortable with.”
“You told me it was nothing,” Penny said. “You told me that I had to tell the detective, but you said not to worry about it.”
“We didn’t see them again though, did we?”
Relief washed over her face. “That’s right. We never saw them again, so maybe they decided whoever they were looking for wasn’t me, or I wasn’t a threat.”
The detective’s lips twitched. “Or they decided you weren’t as easy a target, now that you have Warrick with you.”
She stared at the desk, then slouched against the back of her seat. “There is that.”
“What are your plans for the rest of the day?” the detective asked.
“We’re heading to a friend’s house for the afternoon.” Warrick gave him the address and names. “You can always reach me there.”
“How secure do you feel at that place?” the detective asked.
Warrick smiled. “Mason works with me, as do several of his friends. Considering it’s Friday, I know some are coming over for a barbecue this afternoon. So I’d have to say, I feel as safe there as I would inside your jail.”
“Good enough. We’ll keep in touch. And tonight”—he stood as he looked at the two of them—“where are you staying?”
“We’ll return to the apartment of the friend I mentioned earlier,” Warrick said. “Nobody knows where it is, and I’m keeping it that way.”
“Just make sure you’re not followed.”
“Not a problem.”
Outside the station Warrick led the way to the car, looking for signs telling him if Tanner was still here.
“Are you expecting us to be followed from here?”
“Until George is caught, I’m expecting everything,” he said quietly.
“That doesn’t help me to calm down and to stop worrying, Warrick,” she said.
He tucked her back into the car, walked around to his side and sat down. He turned on the engine and heard his phone buzz. “Tanner says the coast is clear.”
“Hearing that makes me feel better,” she said. “I don’t live in the world you guys live in. But it’s nice to know you help each other out when you need it.”
“That’s what friends are for.”
“Before we go to Mason’s, can we visit Nina?”
“Not sure that’s a good idea,” Warrick said. “You heard the detective. He’s heading down there now himself.”
“Right. In which case we can’t talk to her right away, but she’ll be upset after she talks to him.”
“Why don’t we wait until tomorrow?”
She nodded. “I am glad to have some clothes and my chargers and laptop though.”
“It was thoughtful to get your cell phone charger. I hadn’t considered it,” he admitted.
“Neither had I. How sad is that?”
He drove in the direction of Mason’s place.
“Are you sure it’s safe to go to Mason’s?” she asked. “I don’t want to put them in any danger.”
“I highly doubt we’d find anyplace safer than there.”
She sighed. “Well, I could certainly enjoy an evening without worrying about it.”
“So let’s make a pact. Let’s go there, have a good afternoon, not talk about this, not worry about this and just have fun.”
She smiled up at him. “Is that possible?”
“It is if you make it possible,” he said seriously.
She thought about it and nodded. “In that case let’s do it.”
Chapter 8
As they got into the car to leave that night, Penny hugged Tesla. “Thank you for a lovely afternoon and evening.”
Tesla beamed. “I’m really loving these barbecues with everyone. Sometimes it seems like a lot of work, and then everybody comes with some dish I haven’t tasted before, and I realize how great it is to be together, sharing a meal.”
“It was lovely.” Penny got into the car with Warrick and realized Tanner already sat in a vehicle off to the side. She frowned. “Why is Tanner still on guard duty?”
“Why not?” Warrick asked.
“He’s got to get rest sometime.”
“And he’ll take it when he needs it,” Warrick said. “Don’t worry about Tanner. He’s an old hand at this.”
“An old hand at what?”
“Tracking people.”
“Yeah, but he’s tracking us, and we’re not exactly hard to find,” she said in exasperation. “Surely he should be tracking George.”
Warrick turned to look at her and smiled. “He already is.”
“What do you mean? Has he located him?”
“He’s got a line to tug. We’re just waiting for a couple other men to show up to give us a hand.”
She glared at him. “Give us a hand. What do you mean by that?”
“I mean, we don’t want Tanner heading off
on his own, do we?”
She frowned. “No, he might get hurt that way.”
“And I can’t leave you. So we need somebody to back up Tanner.”
She sighed. “When did life get so complicated?”
“I wouldn’t worry about it,” he said. “This is what we have right now. Don’t worry about the what-ifs or make any decision about anything else.”
She shrugged. “Easy for you to say. Who are you waiting for to go with Tanner?”
“Corey. He’s been out all day with Angela, his new partner. But her sister and husband have just arrived, so he’s coming out for the evening to give us a hand.”
“You really want to go after George yourself, don’t you?”
“Of course I do, but I’m not doing anything that puts you in danger.”
“But we don’t think anybody will find me at your friend’s place, so why don’t you drop me off there, then go help him?”
He smiled. “Not happening. I have no intention of leaving you alone.”
The trouble was, she didn’t want to put anybody else in danger either. “It’s really an uncomfortable situation to be in,” she said.
“Yeah, it is, but you’re doing really well with it.”
She laughed. “Hardly.”
They approached the base’s security gates again. She watched as Warrick handled the man with the ease of long practice, and before long they headed back to his friend’s apartment.
“I’m under really good security here,” she said. “Why can’t I stay here alone, and you can go off with Tanner?”
“Oh, break my heart with all that gratitude,” he said.
She gazed at him in exasperation. “What is it that you want me to say? Of course I’m appreciative of you looking after me.”
He shook his head. “Not an issue.”
“You see? That’s part of the problem. It’s as if you would do it for anybody.”
“And maybe I would,” he said. “I would certainly help anybody in need. I mean, if a situation wasn’t of your choosing, and it descended on you, obviously I’ll do what I can to help.”
And with that she had to be happy. But, at the same time, something about his response pissed her right off. As she sat and steamed all the way back to the apartment, she realized how intensely angry this whole thing made her. She hopped out of the vehicle before he could come around to her side and slammed the door harder than necessary. His eyebrows went up, but she stormed past him into the front doors of the apartment building. “I’ll take the stairs and meet you up there.”
