“Depends on how well you cooperate with the police.” She folded her arms and took a step toward him. “What happened to Faith Carlson?”
“Who?”
“The reporter?”
“What reporter?”
Angel sighed. “Come on, Justin, you know who I mean. The woman who was taking pictures at my father’s funeral. The one I found dead in her house.”
He looked out at the lake. “I—I didn’t mean to kill her. I just broke into her house to get the pictures she took of me. Not of me exactly, but she aimed the camera in my direction. I was just gonna take the pictures and get out of there, but there were too many, and she came home while I was looking around. I didn’t know what to do so I wrapped a telephone cord around her neck, and then I pushed her on the floor and ran.”
Angel felt sick and rested her hand on her stomach, working to regain some objectivity and wondering how much more damage the guy had done. “Did you get the pictures?”
“I couldn’t find them, but I figured it would be okay ’cause I look different now.”
If he didn’t have the pictures, then where were they? She rubbed her forehead. “Did you get rid of anyone else, Justin?”
“Can’t we just go now?”
“What about Kinsey Sinclair?”
“I didn’t do nothin’ to her. I was just saying that to make you cooperate.”
“What about Matt, the guy whose clothes and ID you stole? What happened to him?”
Justin chewed on a fingernail. “You ask too many questions.”
“Let me tell you something, Justin. Your boss isn’t going to be too happy when he finds out that you didn’t actually kill Nick. Which means you’re a dead man if and when he gets hold of you. I might be able to help you stay alive, but you’re going to have to do exactly what I say. Where’s Matthew Turlock?”
“At the resort.”
“Where? The resort is a big place. What did you do with him?”
“Maybe I’ll tell the cops. You taking me in?”
So that was it. He didn’t want to tell her everything in case she changed her mind and decided to leave him there or kill him. “I said I was.”
“Maybe I’ll tell you more if you let me go,” Justin said.
“Believe me, your chances of survival are a lot better with the police than with your boss.” She kicked the bottom of his tennis shoe. “Where is Matt?”
He scowled. “Figure it out yourself.”
“Fine. Get up.” She untied his feet. “We’re going back to the marina. On the way I’m calling the police and having them meet us at the dock. Then you’re going to tell them what you told me. And I’d strongly advise you to tell them what you’ve done with Matt Turlock.”
Justin seemed to have lost his starch in his battle with the lake. He didn’t argue, nor did he try to get away when she instructed him to get into the boat. To be on the safe side, she tied him up in the cabin before going back out to release the craft and get it out into deeper water. Half an hour later, she pulled up to the outside dock, where two police officers were waiting.
“Don’t ask,” she said when Officer Denham looked from her to Justin, then back again, no doubt taking in the still-damp clothes and her stringy hair. “Just keep this guy on ice until I can get changed and get down to the station.”
“Sure.”
“By the way, he told me Matt was here at the hotel. Have you located him yet?”
“No luck.”
“He knows where Matt is, but for some reason he isn’t telling.”
Denham gave her a hand out of the boat.
“And my brother?”
“Sorry, we haven’t found him either.”
Angel thought she saw Justin’s mouth, now devoid of lipstick, turn up at the corner. Maybe he wasn’t as dumb as he seemed. She had a hunch he was using Matt’s whereabouts as a trump card to plea-bargain. And maybe he’d gotten to Luke after all. She wished now she’d spent more time getting answers out of him.
After leaving Justin Moore in Officer Denham’s capable hands, Angel jogged back along the dock and into the resort, briefly peeking into the gallery to make sure Kinsey was all right. She was with a customer. At least Justin had told Angel the truth on that score.
Twenty minutes later, Angel had showered and was wearing jeans and a burgundy turtleneck and a warm jacket. All that time in cold, wet clothes had left her chilled to the bone.
She walked past the gallery and noticed Kinsey talking to the same person. Kinsey halted the conversation and came to the store’s entrance. “Any news about Thomas?”
Angel shook her head. “I take it you haven’t heard from him either?”
“No. I’m going to finish up with my client and pick up Marie.” Tears slipped through despite her struggle to retain her composure. “Where could he be? I hate to think the worst, but I’m...”
“I know, but we need to keep thinking positively. I have to go down to the police station for a while, then I’ll come by the house. We need to talk.”
Kinsey nodded, and Angel instinctively wrapped her arms around the woman. Though she’d only known Kinsey for two days, they were family, and the connection to Luke corded them together. “We’ll find him,” Angel said, feeling like she’d just stolen the lines from her mother. “Just keep praying.”
Ma should be here. You’re not being fair to her by leaving her out. Eventually she would have to call Ma. But not yet.
The valet brought Angel’s Corvette around, and within five minutes she had parked and was walking into the police station.
“Hello, Angel,” a familiar voice greeted her as she stepped inside.
THIRTY-SEVEN
Callen!” She didn’t know whether to be annoyed or pleased. Pleased, she decided as she walked into his arms and felt them wrap her in his strength. Definitely pleased.
“What are you doing here?” She pulled away and looked into his dark eyes. “I mean, I’m glad to see you, but what about your meetings and your talk?”
“I had my final presentation this morning and caught the first flight out. I talked to my supervisor, and I’m back on the case. Detective Downs is still tied up with the reporter’s death. He finally found the photos she’d taken at the funeral.”
“At her house?”
He shook his head. “They were in the mailbox.”
“No wonder Justin didn’t find them. Did Detective Downs send them here?”
“Justin?”
“Long story. First tell me about the photos.”
“I’ve already looked through them. There are a number of people I don’t recognize, thought maybe you’d like to have a look.”
“I would.” She hesitated. “First, though, I need to give my statement to these guys. I caught the creep who tried to kill Nick. He’s a piece of work. He killed the reporter too—strangled her with an electric cord.”
“You caught him?” Callen raised an eyebrow, looking none too pleased.
“After he caught me.” She smiled. “Like I said, it’s a long story, and I’m only going to tell it once, so you’d better come with me.”
The interview room was stark and filled with a table and several chairs. Angel sat down in the chair the chief pulled out for her. Another officer had a tape recorder set up, ready and waiting.
Chief Warren rested his hands on the table. “Would you like some coffee or a soft drink?”
“How about an iced vanilla latte?” she teased, hoping to lighten the somber mood.
Warren didn’t seem to appreciate the humor.
“Seriously, some regular coffee is fine.”
“Never let it be said that we don’t treat our visitors well,” the chief responded. “Jake, run over to the coffee shop and get the lady an iced vanilla latte.” He accentuated the last words, leaving no doubt as to his disapproval of her. Callen leaned against the wall, arms folded, taking it all in. Probably wondering what the antagonism was all about.
She stifled her growing annoyance
. Okay, so maybe she had overstepped her boundaries. Still, he should be thankful she’d brought the guy in rather than leaving them with another crime to deal with—her murder.
There must have been an espresso place right next door because her latte appeared in less than five minutes, about the time it took to introduce Callen to the others and get the small talk over with.
After taking several sips of her drink, Angel indicated her readiness to begin the interview. Speaking into the microphone, she gave her account of the abduction and how she was able to gain the upper hand. “The problem is, he wouldn’t tell me what he’d done with Matthew. Did you get anything out of him?”
The chief, who’d been quiet while she spoke, got out of his chair and moved toward her. “We haven’t officially interrogated him. Wanted to get your statement first. We have the key to the motel room where he was staying, though. My officers are going through it right now.”
“What about his car? He must have followed me here from Sunset Cove, so we’re probably looking for Oregon plates.”
The chief nodded. “We have a couple guys going over the parking garage at the resort and the adjoining parking areas.”
Callen cleared his throat. “When you find his car, I’d have a look in the trunk.”
“Intuition, detective?” the chief wondered.
“Experience.”
“Thanks. I’m sure we’d have gotten to that eventually.” The chief’s sarcastic tone instigated an unkind look from Callen. Callen was encroaching on the chief’s territory, and the chief didn’t like it. He wasn’t too thrilled about learning of Luke’s deception either, so all the way around the Delaneys had gotten his dander up.
“Since you seem to have gotten more out of him than we have, can you tell us if Moore gave you any indication of what might have happened to your brother?” the chief asked.
“He said he hadn’t seen him. Anyway, he doesn’t fit the description of the guy who left the clubhouse with Luke. But that doesn’t mean he’s telling the truth. Luke may have left with a guy he knew, but suppose Justin got to him later?” Angel suggested they interview people at Luke’s favorite haunts.
“We could be dealing with more than one guy here,” Callen said. “Moore might have a partner.”
“At least two,” Angel said. “Justin has a boss in Florida, and I’m betting that boss is one of the Penghetti brothers.” She told Callen and the chief the story she’d gotten from Rachael about Bobby and Bernard Penghetti interviewing her twin brothers.
“Unbelievable.” The chief threw up his hands. “What part of ‘stay out of this’ don’t you people understand?”
Angel bristled at his tone. “I’m cooperating with you here, Chief. I’m trying to keep you informed of everything that’s happened. I can’t help it if Justin decided to abduct me. And I certainly didn’t have anything to do with the mob interviewing my brothers. Luke is in trouble, and I’m having a hard time trying to figure out who the bad guys are.”
Callen smiled. “You’re wasting your breath telling Angel to butt out, Chief. Tell you what. I’ll take her off your hands and out of your hair.”
“Hey!” Angel fumed. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
Callen tossed her a “stifle yourself” look and winked at her. Angel wasn’t certain what Callen meant by that last comment, but his wink silenced her. She took it to mean that he intended to run interference between her and the chief, which was probably a good thing.
“Since this all started in Oregon,” Callen said, “why don’t you give me the authority to run my investigation here.” Callen turned back to the chief. “I’ll need one or two of your guys to work with me, make arrests, and be the affiant on any warrants. And I’ll need a letter of permission from your agency.”
Chief Warren looked from Callen to Angel. “All right, but Ms. Delaney, try to stay out of trouble. You got lucky with Mr. Moore.”
“Luck had little to do with it, Chief.” Callen assured him. “Angel has been in law enforcement for years. She’s very good at what she does. If anyone is lucky, it’s you. Hard to say how long it would have taken to bring the guy in if Angel hadn’t been next on his list.”
His attitude softened a bit. “I suppose that’s one way to look at it.”
Seeing an opening, Angel asked about the pictures that had been found in Faith Carlson’s mailbox. “Why were they in the mailbox, Callen? Do we know?”
Callen nodded. “According to a friend of hers, Faith was an amateur photographer and processed a lot of her work. She didn’t trust herself with the important stuff—like photos she planned to use in the newspaper. Those she’d send out to be processed professionally. A company in Portland did the work and mailed them back to her. These photos were in her mailbox, so we were able to take them in as evidence.”
Angel watched as a uniformed female officer, introduced as Officer Colbert, came in and systematically placed one photo on top of another. “Just tell me if anything or anyone stands out to you.”
Ma would appreciate these, Angel thought, reliving the painful service. It felt odd looking at herself and the rest of the family from someone else’s eyes. She blinked back tears, willing herself not to cry.
“Wait!” She picked up one of the photos, examining it more closely. “There he is.” Angel pointed to the gardener. “That’s Justin.”
The chief looked at the picture. “I can see why you wouldn’t have recognized him. Except for the thinness in his face, he looks like a completely different person now. I’ll have our lab people compare this to the photos you gave us of the bald guy.”
“I’m just glad he slipped up at the resort or I might not have noticed him at all.” She shuddered. “The man is stupid but dangerous.”
Colbert made a note and set the photo aside and went on to the next.
Angel pointed out Luke, who was standing alone near a large maple. Another picture revealed a heavyset man wearing dark glasses and a suit and tie, whom Angel didn’t recognize. She hadn’t noticed him at the funeral, probably because he blended in with the others and stood close to friends and other family members, just behind Aunt Gabby and her husband. Middle aged, heavyset. She thought about the description that Marty at the golf course had given her. “This guy.” Angel looked up at Callen. “Do you know him?”
“No. He was on my list to ask you about.”
“I don’t remember seeing him before now. He fits the description of the guy Luke left the golf course with.”
“Him and about half the men at the resort. Middle aged and heavyset. That’s me.” The chief sighed and ran a hand through his graying hair. “Anyone else?”
Angel looked over the photos again and picked out several other men she didn’t know.
“We’ll get enlargements of the people you pointed out to us. I’ll have one of our officers take the photos out to the club. See if Marty recognizes any of them.”
Angel wanted to be the one to do that but kept her mouth shut.
“I’d like a copy of the photos as well,” Callen said.
Officer Colbert agreed. “I’ll get these scanned and printed right away.” She took the photos and hurried out of the room.
Officer Denham came in and whispered something to the chief.
The chief frowned. His hands moved down to grip the back of the chair. “We found the Turlock kid.”
Angel’s heart sank. She knew before he told them that the news wasn’t good.
“You were right, Detective Riley. Matthew was in the trunk of Justin Moore’s rental car. He’s dead.”
Angel picked up her drink and swished it around, the swirling ice making far too much noise in the silent room.
“Denham, I’ll leave it to you to inform the family,” Chief Warren said. “And since you’re familiar with the case, I’d like you to work with Detective Riley.”
“Yes, sir.” Officer Denham nodded, his gaze capturing Angel’s. “At least you caught the guy who did it. The family will appreciate knowing th
at.”
“I just wish I’d known he was following me. Maybe I could have prevented Matt’s death.” Angel felt an overwhelming sense of responsibility. “I was trained to notice things like that.”
Callen came over to stand behind her chair, his hands settling on her shoulders. “If we’re done here, Chief, I’d like to get going.”
“Just one thing.” The chief rested his hands on his hips, drawing attention to his thick waist. “I’m releasing a photo of Luke to the television station to let people know he’s missing. Maybe we’ll get lucky. I wish I hadn’t automatically decided the man in the photo wasn’t Thomas. If I’d taken him in, he might still be... with us.”
Angel reached out and touched the back of his hand. “Luke is your friend, and you couldn’t have known about his past. No matter how bad this looks, I have to keep thinking Luke is okay.”
“All this wishing we’d done things differently isn’t going to change the past,” Callen said. “In order to get anywhere with this investigation, we’re going to have to take a closer look at what happened in Florida. I want to know what the Penghetti brothers are doing.”
“I have pictures of the Penghetti family in my hotel room,” Angel said. “It might help if everyone knew what they look like. I’d like to show them to Justin, see if he recognizes one of them as his boss.”
The chief nodded. “Good idea. I have an FBI agent coming to lend a hand in finding Luke. Hopefully he can fill us in on the current and past situation with the Penghettis.”
“We should check with the Spokane Airport,” Angel said, thinking aloud. “Alert them in case one of the Penghettis decides to fly out here and finish the job Justin started.”
“In that vein,” Callen added, “I suggest we get the phone number Justin used to call his boss and run a trace on it.”
Officer Colbert came back with the photos, which she’d tucked into official-looking envelopes.
“Good luck with the phone number.” Angel got to her feet. “I very much doubt he’ll rat on his contact. He’s not all that smart, but I’ll bet even he wasn’t stupid enough to use his home phone. And if he used a cell, I’d bet it’s not his.”
As Good as Dead (Angel Delaney Mysteries Book #3) (Angel Delaney Mystery) Page 18
