Crush

“It’s just—I just need to hear Jonathan’s voice.”

“No need to explain. Take care of yourself. Get some sleep. And call me if you need anything else, especially if your killer really is in my backyard.”

“Count on it.”

Bledsoe gave Vail the cop’s cell and she immediately dialed through. As it was ringing, she realized she knew this officer. She’d had a run-in with the guy a couple of months ago. Not that it was his fault; he was just doing his job—but she was not in the mood to take any shit from the guy. When he answered, she identified herself—waiting for some sign of recognition—but got nothing. She plowed forward, not allowing too much room for him to comment, and asked him to pull Jonathan out of class for a moment. Greenwich didn’t argue, nor did he question her as to why. Jonathan was on the line seconds later.

“Mom?”

“Hey, how are you?”

“Fine. What’s the deal with the cop?”

“He’s there to protect you. And please be polite. He’s there as a favor, okay?”

“A favor for what? Everything’s fine.”

“It’s not something I want to get into. I’ll tell you when I get home. But for now, it’s important you let the officer hang around close by. Okay?”

“Is this a big deal?”

“I hope not. I’ll let you know if anything changes. And call me if you have any concerns, if anything doesn’t feel right. Okay?”

“Yeah, okay. Whatever.”

“I love you.”

“You too.”

Vail put away her phone and joined Dixon at the crime scene boundary.

“Everything okay?”

“I just needed to hear my son’s voice.” She turned to Dixon. “You have kids?”

“Me?” She laughed. “No. I’d like to, I think. But first I have to meet someone. I’m not into the single parent thing. Certainly not being a cop. You divorced?”

Vail took a moment before answering. “That’s a long story I’d rather not get into right now. Better on a day when I’m awake and not dealing with a major case. Let’s just say I am doing ‘the single parent thing,’ though that wasn’t the plan. It just sort of . . . happened. And given how things turned out, it was probably for the best. Jonathan’s father ended up being a bit more than I bargained for.”

“It’s nice, I think, having children. Watching them grow up, become people, have families of their own. And when you get old, you’ve got family around.”

Vail couldn’t help but look down at the corpse laid out in front of them. It seemed wrong to be having such a conversation in its presence. She turned and headed away. Dixon followed. “That sums it up,” Vail said. “But that’s only part of the deal. Lots of challenges along the way. Makes life interesting, to say the least.”

“Is Jonathan your only child?”

Vail nodded. “Fourteen and full of angst. Overall, he’s a good kid. But I’ll be glad when he gets past the teen attitude.”

Brix came up behind them. “Just got a call. Tim Nance is at the sheriff’s department.”

Vail sighed, long and slow. “This is going to be fun.”

Brix rubbed at his forehead. “Yeah. Not so much.”

THIRTY-TWO

Vail had slipped on the shoes Robby had bought for her—they fit well, felt like tennis shoes, and were a welcome relief. She joined Dixon and they entered the sheriff’s department facility. They were immediately met by Stan Owens, who was already having a less-than-friendly chat with Redmond Brix. As they approached, Vail’s phone rang.

It was Gifford. He must have thought Vail had already programmed her new phone, or that she would recognize his voice, because he didn’t bother identifying himself. “I guess this shouldn’t surprise me, but you’ve dug yourself a new hole.”

“Which hole are you referring to, sir?”

Gifford hesitated just a moment. “There’s more than one?”

Vail smiled. She didn’t mean to push his buttons. But it was, she had to admit, a bit of a kick.

“You know what?” he said. “Don’t answer that. I don’t want to know. I just got a call from the assistant director, who got a call from the director, who got a call from Congressman Church. Do you know who Congressman Church is?”

Shit. The conversation she just witnessed between Sheriff Owens and Brix was now coming into focus.

“I know of him. He represents Napa, as well as—”

“The correct answer is that Congressman Church is the man who’s making my life miserable. And that means that he also happens to be the man who’s now making your life miserable. Do you see where I’m going with this?”

“I’m beginning to get the picture.”

“So what can you tell me about Church’s district director, Timothy Nance?”

My chance to douse this fire before it rages. “I believe Nance was involved in the plot to kill me, sir. We got a confession from one of his friends who stated that he and Scott Fuller and—”

“Fuller’s the dead LEO who was found a few feet from your body while you were . . . sleeping?”

Obviously, he’s already been briefed. “I wasn’t sleeping, sir. I was drugged. Someone—I believe it was the Crush Killer—came up from behind and injected me, then shot Fuller. Probably with my handgun.”

There was a moment of silence. “And when did you think it was appropriate to inform me of this?”

“Don’t take this the wrong way, sir, but I’ve been a little busy.”

“We’ll address that when you return. Meantime, I need to deal with this Nance issue.”

Vail turned and saw Brix, Owens, and Dixon staring at her from down the hall. Whatever was about to happen was not going to be good. She swung back around. “With all due respect, there’s no issue for you to deal with. Nance is a suspect in an attempted murder investigation. He was implicated by his purported accomplice. If he does the smart thing, he’ll lawyer up and everything will be put into the court system here in California, where it’ll be harder for congressmen and assistant directors and directors to influence the outcome of a properly conducted trial in front of a jury of the asshole’s peers.”

“Jesus Christ, Karen. You’re shortening my life, you know that? Shaving away precious years.”

“Not to sound unfeeling, but I’m the one who was nearly burned like a french fry. Talk about cutting one’s life short. So let’s keep things in perspective.”

“How close are you to catching this Crush Killer?”

Vail sighed deeply. She needed some caffeine. And a vacation. Oh yeah, this was my vacation. “Not as close as I wish we were.”

“I think your time in Napa is coming to a close. I want you to wrap things up and catch a flight out tomorrow night. I’ll have Lenka email you the confirmation number for your flight.”

“I can’t just leave. We—”

“Karen, you’re not doing anyone any good. For some reason, the killer seems to be playing off you. We remove you from the equation, maybe things will quiet down. I’ll ask the San Ramon RA to send over an agent to monitor the situation and act as liaison.”

He can’t do this. They’ll never catch this asshole. But is Gifford right? Am I just serving to stir him up? Who am I to think I’m the only one who can catch this killer?

“Karen, you hear me?”

“I—yes, I hear you.”

“Good. Now you leave Timothy Nance alone and keep your ears clean till your flight leaves.” And he hung up.