Walking back to his car at a snail’s pace, he dreaded stepping foot in Lucien’s, only to find Kim had skipped out already. She was a player, and she’d played quite the hand so far.
On his way to the restaurant, a thought crossed his mind. Who was the friend who had found them? Jake picked up his phone to call Gwilly.
Chapter 14
Kate never left the farm. She hunkered down with her computer in the parlor, drinking sweet tea and surfing the ‘net for information. Then she logged into the law enforcement database to check the names Kim had given them.
Geo Newton, Andy Foss, and Leon Campbell. She looked to see if any of them had been arrested together, and who their known cohorts were. The database held a lot of information, including tattoos. If she saw a guy with a bumblebee tattoo on his left wrist, and he’d been arrested, she could look the tattoo up in the database and find the guy’s name, along with a photo of him, and close-ups of his tattoos.
Andy Foss had a snake on his arm. He’d been known to hang with Leon Campbell, and…Danny Boyd. Her fingers stiffened over the keyboard when she also saw her victim’s name associated with Foss and Boyd. Marco Lopez turned up in a lot of places, but the one that turned her stomach was the association with Oscar Silva, AKA Payaso.
Talk about a slippery sucker; Silva had never been arrested. But his name came up in several investigations involving drugs, or the lack thereof. Seemed any raid including Silva’s name happened to come up with zilch. No drugs, no weapons. Kate knew this wasn’t a coincidence.
Could Lopez have been working for Silva? From what she knew, Newton and Silva didn’t much like each other. Drug territory wars and all. Seemed Silva might win that war, because he had the Sinaloa cartel behind him, or so the scuttlebutt implied. Why else would he be squeaky clean?
Azizi knocked on the door frame. “I didn’t want you to be thinkin’ I was sneaking.”
Kate turned around to see the woman standing in the doorway, holding two large white ceramic bowls. “I’m sorry about earlier. You caught me off guard, and Victor hadn’t mentioned anyone having access to the house other than the cleaning staff. And he said she came on Monday.”
Azizi walked into the room and set the bowl on the table next to Kate’s computer. “I hear you’re a police officer.”
Kate nodded, then looked at the bowl.
“Boudin. I cut it in slices and added it to red beans and rice. It’s a little spicy.”
“Spicy is good,” Kate said. “Please sit. I’d like to get to know you better.”
Azizi pulled up a chair. “I feel like I already know you.”
Kate froze with the spoon halfway to her mouth. She put the spoon back in the bowl. “Oh?”
Chapter 15
If Kim was happy to see Jake, she sure didn’t show it. She barely acknowledged him walking in the door. Uncle Tucker looked up and smiled wide.
“Jake, so good of you to come and help with the dishes for the dinner crowd.”
Jake let out a faux laugh. “Right, dishes.”
“You’re not here to help out?” Tucker put his arm over Jake’s shoulders. “It’s a busy night. And your girl here, she’s got experience, so she did okay for her first shift.”
Jake looked back over his shoulder. Kim looked busy, but not happy.
“Can I ask you a question?”
Tucker looked at his watch, then looked around the crowded room. “Make it quick.”
“Kim said her sister and her parents died in a car accident right in front of the restaurant. She said they were hit by a drunk driver. How come you never said anything about that?”
Tucker’s brows almost disappeared into his hairline. “She told you that?”
“She said that’s how she got hooked on opiates. Pain meds for her broken vertebrae. Then she started stealing her grandmother’s pain meds.”
“She stole her grandmother’s pain meds all right, but that’s not all she stole from the woman. And I don’t know why she concocted that story, but her parents are alive and well. They moved out of town right after the accident.”
“So they weren’t killed by a drunk driver?”
“The drunk driver was Kim. Sixteen years old, and she killed a family of four. Only problem was she fled the scene, and by the time they found her, they couldn’t prove she’d been drunk. Only reason she’s not in prison is because she hid out for almost a day, claiming she blacked out and had no idea what happened.”
Jake felt ill. Again, she lied to him. This was a doozy. He’d felt so bad for her, and almost understood how she’d become an addict. But she’d become an addict to forget she’d killed an entire family. She lived with that every day. But she deserved to live with it.
He had an obligation to take her back to the police station. His feelings for her had gone numb. She didn’t care about him in any way. And to think he’d kissed her, and nearly had sex with her. Now, in his right mind, he realized he could end up with a sexually transmitted disease from her. He threw up a little in his mouth.
“I’m here to take her home a bit early.” He cringed when Tucker squeezed his shoulders tight. “Sergeant Gwilly has some pertinent questions for her.”
Tucker stopped squeezing. “More important than my dinner guests?”
Jake nodded.
“Not possible,” Tucker winked.
“There’s been a double homicide.”
The words hung in the air.
“Not more important than my guests, because the dead guys aren’t going anywhere, but I see the urgency.” Color drained from his face. He got the implication.
“Kim isn’t necessarily involved, but she knows the victims.” Jake looked at the floor, embarrassed to ask outright. “Can she get off work early, so the D.A. and the police can talk to her? The sooner the better.”
Tucker whispered in his ear, but it was loud because of the clatter of the restaurant at dinner rush. “This doesn't look good for your girl.”
Jake grimaced. “I know, Uncle Tucker, I know.”
When he looked back to the counter, Kim was gone. He panicked. Had she overheard the conversation and hightailed it out through the kitchen?
Relief flooded him as she came back through the swinging doors with an armful of plates.
Tucker looked at Kim, too. “Go. Take her. I’ll take over the counter. But this better be worth it.”
“I’m sorry, Uncle Tucker. I wouldn’t do this if it wasn’t crazy important.”
Tucker walked over to Kim and asked for her apron and order tablet. Jake could see the puzzled look on her face. She looked at him and frowned.
Tucker said, “Go. Now.”
Kim rushed over and asked, “What the hell?”
Jake grabbed her by the elbow to lead her out of the restaurant. No way was he going to make a scene in Lucien’s.
“Wait, I need my bag,” Kim said.
“I’ll get it,” Tucker said.
Tucker walked into the kitchen, then returned only moments later. He handed Jake the plastic grocery bag. “Thanks, Uncle Tucker.”
Once out in the front of the restaurant, Jake said, “You look nice in that uniform.”
It was a 1950s-style diner uniform in light blue with a white collar.
“Whatever. That’s not why you dragged me out of there. Sure as hell not to compliment me.” She yanked her elbow free.
“Let’s get in my car.” Only then did he realized he couldn’t keep her from jumping out of the car while traveling down the road at fifty miles-per-hour. He debated waiting to explain the situation until they arrived at the station, or telling her right there.
“I’m not getting in the damn car until you tell me what’s going on.”
Jake glared at her, not liking her much at that moment. “What time did my uncle drop you off at the police station last night?” Not that he expected the truth from her.
She frowned at him, then he saw a sort of recognition in her eyes. “He didn’t drop me off at the police station. And I d
on’t wear a watch, so I don’t know what time it was. Though I do remember seeing it was before midnight on his dashboard clock.” She kicked at a rock on the asphalt of the parking lot.
“Where did he take you?” He held his breath, waiting for the answer.
“He took me home, Jake, back to the house where I was arrested.” She cocked her head defiantly.
“Is there something you forgot to tell the D.A. this morning?”
Now she looked everywhere but at Jake.
“Kim!”
All of her bravado faded in a heartbeat, and she began shaking like a naked woman in a snowstorm.
“I was scared.” She collapsed in a heap on the asphalt.
Jake stood over her, not daring to get down to her level.
“I was terrified,” she sobbed. “He was going to kill me. And he will kill me, if he finds out.”
Jake braced himself for another bullshit story. “I swear to God, Kim, if you’re lying to me, I’ll kill you myself. And believe me, it will look like an overdose or an accident.”
Not that he had any idea how to even administer an overdose or where to get drugs, but he felt the words to his core. Pulling her up off the ground, he walked her to the car.
Opening the passenger door, he placed her in the seat. She sniffled and wiped her nose on the sleeve of her uniform. Uncle Tucker would be so pleased.
Once she was in the car, he went around to the driver’s side, and prayed she didn’t bolt in the time it took him to get inside. She didn’t. She was too busy crying and shivering.
Jake grabbed a recorder from his duffle bag in the back seat. “I’m going to record this conversation, so don’t say anything that you’ll regret.”
“Do I need a lawyer?” she whispered.
“I don’t know. Do you?”
She shook her head and sucked in a deep breath.
Jake pressed record.
She sniffed up a nose full of snot, then said, “I went back to the house. All the lights were on, and I walked in the side door. Andy was sitting in the kitchen, smoking a cigarette, getting ready to shoot up. He’d already heated his rock to liquid and was pulling the syringe.”
Jake could picture the scene: the filthy kitchen, the unsanitary needle, the burnt spoon.
“Anyway, he said there was enough for two, and I said I wasn’t interested.” She wrapped her arms around herself. “He flipped out.”
“Did you use?”
She sat up straight, then looked at the recorder. “No. No way. I promised Tucker I was on a new path. I wanted to, real bad, but I really just wanted to get my things and get the hell out of the house.”
“What happened?”
“I lied to him. I told him I was tired, and I just wanted to sleep for a bit, then I’d shoot up with him when I woke up. It seemed to satisfy him, even though he said if I did it with him, I wouldn't be tired anymore. I told him I really needed sleep.”
Jake stared at her, seeing a scared little girl telling her story. He had to remind himself of how convincing she was about the car accident to keep himself from pulling her close and comforting her.
“I went upstairs. But when I got to our bedroom, Leon was in the bed. I needed to pack without him waking up. I had a small bag packed and was ready to head out. That’s when I heard voices downstairs. Only before I could go down and see who was there, I heard a gunshot. Then another. I panicked.”
Jake hoped like hell she was telling the truth.
“Only seconds later, I heard someone stomping up the stairs.” She looked at him, the terror in her eyes telling him she was not lying. “I opened the closet door and climbed into a box that I’d put in there a few weeks ago. I’d been planning to pack up some things, and so I had it in there for when I got around to it. I knew whoever it was would look in all of the rooms, and the closets, so if I just hid in there, he’d find me.”
“How did you know it was a he?”
“The voices.”
“Go on,” Jake said.
“I crouched down, and pulled the box over my body. Right then, I heard another round of gunfire. Only this time it was in the same room I was in. I braced myself and waited for the closet door to open.”
Jake held his breath, even though he knew the outcome.
“The door flew open, and I could hear him pushing the clothes around. I just knew I was dead. He was going to lift up that box, and I was dead as dirt.” The tension in her shoulders released. “But he only kicked it. And I was smart enough not to get startled by it. Then he was gone.”
Tears rolled down her cheeks and she sucked in a ragged breath.
“Who was he?”
“At first, I wasn’t sure, because I didn’t recognize his voice. But when he walked out of the bedroom, he said, ‘That’ll teach you assholes to try to rat me out.’ And I knew it was Andy’s supplier, Geo Newton.”
Jake left the recorder running.
“Why didn’t you tell my sergeant and the D.A. what really happened?”
“Right, you think they’d believe I had nothing to do with it?”
“Now they think you’re guilty as hell, because you left out that part when you were begging for your deal. Did you forget to tell them that two of the drug deals were no longer going to happen because the players were fucking dead?” Jake shouted.
“If I left that out, they’d think I knew that Andy and Leon were dead. And I was in the house, so they’d think I did it.”
Jake rolled his head back and rested it on the back of the seat. He couldn’t even look at her. “Kim, you need to stop playing games. What you’re doing is dangerous, and you’re getting me involved. It’s my day off, and here I am, looking at dead bodies, and tracking you down.”
She turned her upper body toward him. “You saw them? Was it bad?”
Jake looked at her with wide eyes. “Are you kidding me? You were in the damned house, Kim, you saw them.”
Her chin dropped to her chest. “I didn’t. I waited until I heard a car drive away, and stayed where I was for another hour or so. Hell, I don’t know how long it was, but I counted silently, so I wouldn’t leave too soon. And when I did leave, I covered my face, and only looked forward, to get out as fast as I could. I was afraid of what I would do if I saw a dead person.”
“Haven’t you seen your share of dead people? Overdoses and all?”
“Never seen one up close.”
“I have to take you to the police station. You’ll have to tell them what you told me.” He showed her the recorder. “You do have to go in and give a statement.” He started the car.
“I can’t go back there.” She grabbed at his arm. “Please don’t take me back there. I’ll never see the light of day again.”
“Once they hear your story, I’m sure they’ll let you go. Maybe they’ll want to do a GSR test, but that’s probably it.” He pulled out of Lucien’s parking lot and headed toward the police station.
“GSR?” She looked like a sad child.
“Gunshot residue. To see if you’ve fired a weapon.”
A slight smile. “Oh, that’s fine.” Then serious. “If he sees me at the station, he’s going to hunt me down and kill me, too.”
“Who?”
“Geo. He’s looking for me. I know it. I wasn’t in the house, and he knows I was arrested, too. The only reason I gave him up was because I was afraid he’d come after me next.”
“But you walked to the station from your house. Weren’t you afraid he’d see you then?”
“I was in shock. I didn’t even think about it. But later, his words rang in my head. Over and over. Maybe he thought I ratted him out, too.”
“You did.”
“But only because he killed my boyfriend and Leon,” she defended.
“Why didn’t you tell us about Geo this morning?”
“I don't know.”
But she did know, and he didn’t know how to pry it out of her.
“Can you please just take me home, and maybe Darby or Gwil
ly can come to the house? Preferably without their cop cars?”
Jake looked at his watch. It was already after seven. The station was buzzing with this double murder, and she’d end up waiting in an interview room for hours. By the end of this, he figured he’d no longer have a badge, so he turned right on Highway 9 and headed back to the lake house.
Chapter 16
Much to Jake’s surprise, Gwilly agreed to come to the house to talk to Kim. He said the turmoil at the police station was giving him a migraine, and he needed to get away. He also made it clear they’d be having a serious chat when this was finished, and Jake wouldn’t have much of an ass left when it was done.
Relieved to not have to go back to the police station, Kim opened the grocery bag she had with her and changed from her uniform into a barely-there T-shirt and short shorts. Both were baby blue and clung to her body for dear life.
He didn’t know how much more time they had together, or if this was the end. When Gwilly left this time, he could be taking Kim with him. Jake didn’t believe a word the girl said at this point. He didn’t even want her in his house, but he was stuck with her.
Kim pulled open the sliding glass door to the deck and walked outside barefooted. She looked back and said, “Ready to at least enjoy the evening off of work?”
Jake felt that, as a cop, he never really was off duty, especially since she walked back into his life. He followed her outside and they walked down to the water’s edge, sitting at the end of the dock. With their feet hanging over the water, not quite touching, Kim grabbed his hand and entwined her fingers.
“I like this,” Jake said. “If only we were teenagers again, and we could have a do over, I’d have never left you.”
Kim grinned. “I didn’t realize how much I missed you until today. You were the only solid thing in my life, and then you were gone.” She swung her feet back and forth, and he could barely see her as the sun set behind them.
“Who knew how much we’d end up needing each other?” He hadn’t even considered her when he moved back to Peculiar, and yet he felt as if he’d been in love with her for years. He knew she was a liar and an addict, and yet the kid in him wanted her to be that innocent girl again. Even when he knew it couldn’t be.
Angry Betty Page 11
