When Alex took another step toward her, Lyle saw Kate flip on the wheelchair brakes. Her foot rests were folded up. Alex started to say something, but before he could, Kate raised herself up, pivoted on the arms of the chair, and leaned back. In one motion, she brought her right leg forward nailing Alex between his legs with a kick as hard as any soccer player.
He started to double over, but instantly Kate stood and landed her fist in the middle of his stomach. Her motions were so fast, the man sitting next to Lyle only gaped. Lyle jumped up and hit him in the chest with the side of his right leg. The chair toppled over and the man began fumbling in his pocket.
“He’s got a gun,” Lyle said.
Kate jumped around Alex, doubled up on the floor, and helped Lyle pin the other man to the ground. She pulled the man’s gun out of his pocket and pointed it at him. He tried to sit up. “Stay there,” she said.
“Can you help?” Lyle said turning to show Kate his bound wrists.
Kate went to the closest desk and started pulling out drawers. In a few seconds she’d found scissors and cut Lyle free.
Alex started to get up, so Kate took two steps back so she could level the gun at both men.
“There’s at least one more guy here, in the back,” Lyle said. “We’ve got to move. Let’s tie them up.” He fumbled in the open desk drawers and pulled out a roll of tape.
Kate said, “We’re going to tie them up with Scotch Tape?”
Chapter 54
“Sergei, Sergei,” Alex yelled.
Lyle dove to the ground and slapped a piece of wide plastic tape over his mouth.
“It’s packing tape,” Lyle said. “Keep an eye on Mr. Shop Coat while I deal with Alex.
Lyle started to roll Alex on his stomach. He needed to punch him once to subdue him long enough to pull his hands behind him. Lyle looped a long strand of tape around Alex’s wrists. “This feels great doesn’t it Alex, you commie Russian Putin lover.”
Alex turned his head, grunted, and groaned, his eyes wide.
“Oh, I forgot, Chechens don’t like the Ruskies. Sorry, Alex.” Lyle wrapped tape up around Alex’s arms, then taped his feet together. “We gotta get out of here, Kate.”
“Come over here and give this guy the same treatment, and we’ll leave.” Kate had seen Lyle’s car out front.
Lyle trussed up Shop Coat as Kate backed toward the door, keeping the gun leveled at their captives. Alex and his assistant wrestled with their bonds. Lyle drew a leg back as if to kick Alex. He stopped struggling.
“Do you want the wheelchair?”
Kate shook her head. She looked at the two men on the floor, then at the revolver in her hand. She didn’t need it now, but didn’t want to leave the gun behind. She tucked it into her waistband, outlaw style, and led Lyle out of the office.
On the street, Kate pulled the hem of her blouse over the gun and they both jumped in Lyle’s convertible. They turned a corner so Kate could retrieve her purse from her car. She’d leave the Ford behind and call Avis.
“So what happened back there?” Kate said as Lyle accelerated away. “How’d you get in trouble?”
“I don’t know. Stark tried to trip me up. Asked me about a car I never heard of.”
“Was something wrong with my research on that French collector?”
“I just don’t know. Stark didn’t really say anything. I was examining the car in the garage when he walked out, telling me to take my time. Then somebody, maybe the guy in the shop coat, hit me from behind.” Lyle pointed to a spot on his scalp.
Kate put a hand to the back of his head. He flinched. “Sorry,” she said. “It’s a big bump.” She stroked the top of his head, careful to avoid the sore spot. “Did they know who you were, that you were working with me?”
“I don’t know. Maybe. That guy Alex called me Lyle. They tied me up then jabbered for a while about what to do with me. How’d they know my name? They didn’t take my wallet.”
Kate shrugged. “How did you know they were Chechens?”
“The car expert I talked to at the park said he heard that Chechens might be manufacturing counterfeit cars. I just jumped to a conclusion.”
“I wonder where Rick is now.”
“I heard them talking on the phone, probably to him,” Lyle said. He drove toward the Strip. “They’re going to haul the Alfa Romeo up to Reno tomorrow morning.”
“Do you think we could follow them, maybe see if we can delay the shipment or break up the sale in Reno?”
“Sure. I’d like to bring the cops down on Alex and those guys, but we’re going to have to wait, otherwise--”
“Otherwise,” Kate said, “I’d be in jail and Rick would be off to who-knows-where.”
“We have to talk to Nina.”
“I’m calling her again now.” Kate dialed the number and willed Nina to answer. Even though she’d already heard Nina’s recorded voice message, she felt a wave of excitement when, for a split second, she thought it was really Nina. “No answer. I tried yesterday and today and left messages.” Kate set her phone in her lap and stared at the floor.
“Then let’s go try her apartment again,” Lyle said. He put his right hand to the back of his head and made a soft, deep sound.
Forty minutes later they had tried Nina’s apartment and failed to get a response.
“She could be going to Reno with Rick,” Kate said as they left the apartment.
“Bad news.”
“I don’t know about Nina. She said she wouldn’t leave the country with him, but she seems blind to his aberrant behavior. If I could just talk to her again.”
“Talk to her and stop Rick from leaving the country.”
“What did you think of him? Am I right?”
“It’s one of those retrospect things. When I met him, he acted cocky and smug. He’s already got a $2-million deal, anything more would be gravy. Looking back, he was just relishing the thought of me getting clobbered as soon as I looked under the hood. Son of a bitch. He got away with one murder so he thinks he can do anything.”
“You need to lie down and we’ll get some ice for your head,” Kate said as they pulled into the Venetian.
As they went up to Kate’s room, Lyle leaned against the back of the elevator, his head bowed. “Long drive to Reno. We’ll have to get up early and park way down from Stark’s place so they don’t see my car,” he said.
“We’ll take care of that tomorrow,” Kate said. She put an arm around Lyle and slid over against him. She worried about his head injury. She wanted to wrap her arms around him and make it all better--a feeling, she knew, that was not at all maternal.
Chapter 55
North of Las Vegas, desert and mountainous scrub land stretches for hundreds of miles. The earth still bears the scars from above-ground nuclear bomb tests at Yucca Flats, the flash of mushroom clouds visible from the early Las Vegas casinos. Secret tests of another sort take place in Area 51, the Air Force’s clandestine base and sprawling testing facility shrouded in mystery and baked by an unrelenting sun. In the 450 miles between Vegas and Reno, ghost towns slowly crumble, Great Basin rattlesnakes hunt for rodents, and US Highway 95 stretches up and down the arid landscape, connecting the state’s only two metropolitan areas.
A Nevada resident for many years, Kate knew the lonely road and hoped this trip would get her life back to normal.
“The semi with the Alfa just pulled out,” Lyle said looking through powerful binoculars. “The SUV with Alex and the other guys is right behind it.”
“Where’s Stark?” Kate said.
“He’s just getting into the other SUV.”
Lyle and Kate sat a block and a half away from Stark’s pony car lot, bags packed, water bottles filled.
“Looks like someone else is walking around the side of the car,” Lyle said. “It’s Nina. I’m sure of it. She’s getting in the passenger side.”
“So she is going. I wonder how we’ll be able to persuade her now. She’s not being forced?”
> “No, she trotted around the front of the Suburban and hopped in,” Lyle said. “They’re leaving.” He handed Kate the binoculars. “You can be spotter for a while. We’ll follow Stark for now. That truck is not going to set any speed records--with that expensive cargo in the back.” Lyle pulled the Mustang onto the street.
“I’ll keep them in sight.”
As the caravan turned north on I-15, Kate directed Lyle through downtown, then through the interchange to US 95 toward Reno.
“The two SUVs are right behind the semi,” Kate said. “Makes it easy to keep an eye on them with the glasses.”
The dark tinted windows on the SUVs prevented Kate from seeing anyone inside, but she stared daggers at the passenger side of Rick’s silver Suburban. What did Nina have in mind? Would she try to run interference for Rick? Did Nina know she and Lyle were following? Kate put down the glasses and stared out at the sage and rabbitbrush scattered across the desert landscape.
“Last night,” Lyle said.
“You fell sound asleep, right after dinner.”
“Oh, I did? I don’t remember much.”
“You were very tired. After that blow on the head the best thing for you was ice, acetaminophen, and rest. You were just out.”
“Feels better this morning,” Lyle said, touching the back of his head.
Kate patted his arm.
“You’re dressed for the desert today,” he said.
“It’s going to be a zillion degrees.” Kate thought her light green, tailored bush shirt with epaulets and flap pockets along with her khaki shorts were a good choice for the trip. She picked up the binoculars and looked ahead. “We’re coming into Beatty, a small town with gas stations and a big candy store.”
“Sounds like the voice of experience.”
“No candy today. I don’t need it.” The gas station candy store was something of a landmark on US 95. Kate could remember the taste of licorice and toffee nuts from trips past.
Lyle slowed as he entered town.
“We’re going to lose sight of them,” Kate said. “The highway makes a right turn in the middle of town. Take it slow. We don’t want to run right into them. We can catch up when we’re out of Beatty.”
Lyle had just turned right at a gas station when Kate yelled, “Stop.”
Lyle pulled to the curb. Kate put down the binoculars. “They’re turning in at the candy store gas station. It’s up ahead on the left. I can see the truck and the SUVs. They’re going to get gas.”
“It’s only been two hours,” Lyle said.
“Those Suburbans are not economy cars.”
“Guess they forgot to fill up before they left.” Lyle turned around and looked at the gas station they’d just passed. “If we top up the tank here, we should be able to make it the rest of the way.”
When Lyle had filled the tank, he walked over to the passenger window and asked Kate if she wanted to drive for a while.
“Your head hurting?”
“It’s felt better. I just thought it was a good idea to spell each other.”
Lyle jumped in the passenger seat as Kate walked around the car. “I think the seat is almost all the way back,” he said, “but you might need to adjust it. I’ve noticed you’re kind of tall.”
“Compared to what?” Kate didn’t mean to sound snappy.
“I don’t know. Munchkins?”
“Sorry, didn’t mean that the way it sounded.” She pulled out from the gas station and parked down the road. They both stared straight ahead.
Lyle broke the silence. “I wouldn’t joke about your height, if I didn’t know you were comfortable in your skin. More so than most people. I love your height.”
“Being tall has advantages. It doesn’t bother me.” It shouldn’t, but I’m on edge. “It was a problem when I--”
“Was growing up?”
Kate smiled. “Right. Teenage years. In high school I didn’t dare tell anyone how much I weighed. If I weighed what my teensy classmates did, I’d look like a refugee from a concentration camp. And clothes? The only things that fit came from a tall shop. Do you know how many teen fashions tall shops carried?”
“Uh, none?”
“My mom or I would modify dresses so I didn’t look like a fifteen-year-old matron.”
“You don’t look like a matron now.”
Kate could feel Lyle’s eyes on her. She looked back at him.
Traffic through town started to pick up. When the three vehicles pulled out, several cars separated them from Kate and Lyle.
“I’ll give them plenty of space,” Kate said almost to herself, “then follow behind this short string of cars.”
North from Beatty the road rolled past layered, multi-colored mountains of volcanic rock topped with sharp, craggy ridges. Below the peaks, soft-looking alluvial fans flowed out to the desert floor. Hardy conifers and sagebrush proliferated in the dry, sandy earth. Kate normally appreciated the many shapes, colors, and textures the desert presented. Today she saw mostly rocks and sky and highway.
Chapter 56
Lyle squinted into his binoculars. Except for some broad curves, US 95 stretched ahead, a straight line to the horizon, making it easy to hold back, almost out of sight, and still follow Stark’s caravan. Like convoys at sea, the trio was limited by the speed of the slowest vehicle, in this case, the truck and trailer hauling the Italian bank account on wheels.
Even if they managed to delay Stark, Lyle knew, they would have to call in the Reno cops at some point. If he and Kate delayed or broke up the sale, Stark might run. Lyle hated to think what was ahead of them, especially if they didn’t have Nina on their side. He didn’t want to share any of this with Kate. Judging by her fixed expression as she gripped the steering wheel, Lyle figured she had the same thoughts.
“You mentioned physical evidence yesterday,” Lyle said, thinking he’d get Kate to focus on something positive.
“When I interviewed Rick he told me he had a storage facility in Reno. I wonder if the police knew about that when they searched his apartment.”
“I bet not. All these details mount up. I’m going to check messages. I haven’t heard from anyone in a while. I forgot to check when I was home. We have coverage here?”
“It’s spotty, but it should work. Off the highway is real iffy.”
Lyle dialed his home voicemail number. “Deming, dammit, are you in town?” Max’s strident voice rumbled out of the phone. “What’s happening? Call me.”
“Is that Max?” Kate said.
“Yeah, this message is from yesterday. There’s another one from early this morning.”
Lyle put the phone on speaker so Kate could listen. “Deming, I left a message on your cell phone and now I’m calling your house again. Where are you? Kate hasn’t called me since Thursday. And now she’s getting shot at? I told her to get with her attorney and stop running.”
“Guess I ought to check in with Max,” Lyle said, dialing the boss’s cell phone.
“Dammit, Deming,” Max began. When had Lyle heard that before? “Paper says some crazy Reno cop started shooting at Kate in Vegas. She okay?”
“Tell Max you’re okay.”
“I’m fine, Max. Scared me, but he didn’t even hit my car.”
“When you’re out of this mess, we’re going to sue the police.”
Kate frowned at Lyle.
“We’re on the way to Reno, Max,” Lyle said. “We know who killed the car dealer, we just have to prove it.”
“Well, talk to the attorney.”
“We will. I just wish I knew what the Reno PD was doing. I tried my law enforcement contacts. Nobody has a connection in Reno.”
“Nobody, huh? Call Howard Chaffee, you idiot. He is our chief of security. Worked in San Francisco. Knows Reno cops. Know’s what’s going on, dammit. Call him.”
Kate and Lyle promised to keep the habitually cranky founder of Nostalgia City apprised of developments.
“Lyle,” Howard Chaffee said as soon as he answ
ered his phone. “I was going to call you. In fact, I did call you, yesterday afternoon. Your cell phone went to voice mail.”
“I was tied up yesterday, Howard. I had a disagreement with someone named Rick Stark and some of his buddies.”
“Rick Stark,” Howard said. “Yes, I know. Max asked me if I could check with the Reno PD to find out what they were doing on the Alvin Busick murder.”
“It’s complicated,” Lyle said, “but I can tell you Kate Sorensen had nothing to do with the killing.”
“It is complicated, and that video, and the fact she took off, made it worse. I’m not sure she would have been a serious suspect otherwise.”
“But she is now?”
“Depends. I did some training for the Reno PD a few years back and I know a couple of the detectives. I talked with Ben Waldman. He’s a sergeant on the case.”
“We know that Stark did it, killed his stepfather. In fact, we’re tailing him right now into Reno.”
“Reno PD looked at him seriously, along with some other suspects. But Polhouse got distracted when that video came out.”
“Yeah, we know. We also know Stark has a record.”
“Affirmative. Three arrests, one battery conviction,” Howard said, “with a suspended sentence.”
“Know anything about it?”
“Yeah. This individual is a piece of work. He attacked an usher at a UNLV basketball game. Could have killed him, but people dragged Stark away. Somehow he or his family had enough juice to get the charge reduced and the sentence suspended.”
“We’ve got a lot more on Stark,” Lyle said. “He’s planning to sell a $2-million antique car, then leave the country. Maybe you could pass something along for us.”
“Why don’t you call Waldman yourself? I told him you worked for the park and you had an incredible record at the Phoenix PD. I didn’t tell him you were mixed up in this as much as Max says.”
Desert Kill Switch Page 22
