Tough Customer

At the mention of his name, Ski's eyebrows shot up, and she realized that he could hear Oren's voice through the phone.

'How do you know Deputy Nyland's name?'

'He's been mentioned in all the news reports.'

'Yes, well, he believes you didn't mean to kill the Coldare boy.' Ski nodded approval of what she'd said. 'He thinks that shooting was an accident.'

'Oh, I'll just bet he does.'

'He does. He told me so himself. He's giving you the benefit of the doubt, Oren, but you're making yourself look guilty. Turn yourself in and--'

'He's there with you now, listening in.'

'No, he isn't. I'm alone.'

'Liar. There's too much background noise.'

'I'm at a fast-food place waiting for my order.'

'Which fast-food place?'

'What difference does it make?'

'Which fast food-place? I've become rather familiar with Merritt. Are you at the Chicken Shack or The Smokehouse?' Then he laughed. 'Don't bother answering. Whatever you say, I know differently.'

'Oren--'

'Shut up and listen to me, Berry. I'm going to kill you. I'm going to kill you slowly. I'm going to watch you die, and I'm going to enjoy it. Turn around.'

'What?' she asked hoarsely.

'There's a lot of confusion at Walmart this morning. Why, I'll bet a person could be in plain sight but remain unseen.'

She spun around, her eyes rapidly scanning every face, searching for his.

'Boo!' He laughed his high-pitched giggle, hummed another few notes of a song, and then the phone went dead.

The hand holding her cell phone fell to her side. Caroline stepped forward and took it from her before she dropped it. Ski remained standing in front of her, as solid as a pillar, his hand still around her biceps.

Dodge came huffing up. 'They've got the cell phone on GPS. Somehow, some way Starks made it back to Houston from here 'cause that's where he's at.'

'He can't be,' Berry said weakly.

Dodge gave her an odd look. Ski said to him, 'He intimated that he could see her, that he's here.'

'Here? Un-uh. He's just trying to spook you.'

'Well, it's working. He said he knew Ski was with me. He said there was a lot of confusion at Walmart. How would he know that if he wasn't here, watching?'

'Easy guess,' Dodge said. 'He would know that, by now, he'd been tracked to the store, and that the first thing checked would be the security cameras to confirm that he was here. He's playing you.'

Going back to Ski, he continued. 'His location hasn't been pinpointed, but the GPS coordinates have been passed along to HPD and Harris County S.O. Officers have been dispatched and are running hot. Damn, I wish we'd had these toys when I was a cop.'

Berry didn't doubt that Ski had registered everything Dodge had told him, but his eyes had remained on her. Softly he said, 'You did great.'

She gave him a weak smile and nodded. 'Thanks.'

'How'd the son of a bitch sound?' Dodge asked.

'Smug,' Ski replied.

'What did he say?'

'That he was going to kill her. Slowly. That he was going to watch her die and enjoy it.'

Dodge muttered an obscenity. 'Give you any clues where he was?'

'The parking lot of Walmart,' Berry said dully.

'He ain't here,' Dodge insisted. 'He called from a Houston location. Was there any background noise?'

Ski said, 'I didn't hear anything distinctive. Did you, Berry?'

She shook her head.

Ski moved his hand onto her shoulder, squeezed it gently and repeated, 'You did great.' Then to the group in general, he said, 'If he called from Houston--'

'He did,' said Dodge emphatically.

'Then I'm going down there. Dodge, do you still have your pistol?'

'What do you think?'

'Will you stay with Berry?'

'I want to be there when they book this asshole,' Dodge said.

'They don't have him yet.'

'When they do.'

'You're still hoping for a crack at him.'

'That, too. That especially.'

Ski shook his head. 'Sorry, Dodge. You're unofficial. Besides, if Starks eludes capture again, I trust Berry with you more than I trust her with anybody else.'

Dodge swore, looked at Caroline, then at Berry. 'All right,' he said to Ski. 'I won't let her out of my sight.'

'Thanks.'

'But I'm still gonna shoot the bastard if I get a chance. I know an excellent defense attorney.'

Ski grinned, then turned and started jogging away.

'And, Ski, something else.' Ski stopped and turned back. Dodge said, 'That number that Starks called her from?'

'I'm sure HPD is running down the records on it.'

'No need to,' Dodge said. 'Didn't you recognize it? It's Sally Buckland's cell phone.'

CHAPTER 18

IT DIDN'T AMOUNT TO ANYTHING,' DODGE SAID AS HE POURED a shot of whiskey into a highball glass and passed it to Berry.

'No, thanks.'

'Take a couple of sips. It'll help steady you.'

'I can't drink. I'm leaving for Houston soon.'

He pushed the glass into her shaking hand. 'Couple of sips.'

Dodge had followed Berry and Caroline back to the lake house, staying on Berry's bumper for the duration of the trip. When they reached the turnoff to the house, he lowered the window on his car and told the reserve deputy on guard that if he saw somebody on the property who didn't belong to shoot first and ask questions later.