“Someone has taken him?”
She hesitated. “There are other possibilities.”
“Such as?”
“Maybe he’s gone missing for reasons of his own.”
“No. Not Frank.”
“Irene is right,” Jack said. “You know that as well as I do, Rachel. He wouldn’t leave the scene of a crime.”
“Which makes me wonder if he made it there,” Rachel said. “Look, all I’m saying is, we can’t jump to conclusions.”
I barely heard what she was saying. Like Jack, I would never believe that Frank would voluntarilyleave the scene of a homicide. The death of that informant meant Frank was in danger. Whether he failed to arrive before that informant was killed or was forced to leave afterward, he was in trouble.
A mixture of fear and blind rage jolted and twisted right through me, and I felt like screaming or hitting something just to get it out of my system. The thought of anyone harming Frank—
The thought of anyone harming him made me come to my senses. I didn’t scream or cry or use my fists. I took a deep — if shaky — breath and promised myself that I could go into hysterics at some future date. Even revenge would have to wait.
Think.
“What’s this junkie’s name?”
“I don’t know,” Rachel said. “Pete never told me. Just calls him ‘the junkie.’ They try to protect informants, so they don’t usually refer to them by name.” She paused, then added, “Not that I would have wished the guy dead, but the fact that they found the body there gives me hope for Frank.”
“Because if someone—” It was so hard to make myself say it. I took a breath and tried again. “Because if someone was going to kill Frank, he would have done it right away. Left two bodies behind, not one. He might have a reason to keep him alive.”
“He or she or they. We don’t know. And again, maybe Frank left the scene because that’s what he had to do to be safe. We don’t know.”
The dogs came to their feet again, barking this time. The doorbell rang. Jack got the dogs to be quiet, and I looked through the peephole, wondering who the hell wouldn’t just knock after midnight.
The Las Piernas Police Department, as it turned out. Or its representatives, anyway. As I opened the door for Reed Collins and Vince Adams, I figured I was lucky. Although I hadn’t always been on good terms with either of them, they liked Frank. I could think of others who might have drawn this duty and made life more unpleasant.
“Hello, Irene,” Vince said. “Mind if we come in?”
“Not at all.”
They were walking ahead of me, blocking my view of the end of the hallway, but I knew exactly when they saw Jack. Their steps slowed, and they seemed suddenly wary. Reed was the first to ease a little. “You Frank’s neighbor?” he asked.
“Yes. Jack Fremont.”
Rachel called out a greeting to them as they shook Jack’s hand.
“Can I get you a cup of coffee, anything to drink?” I asked.
“No. No, thanks,” Vince said.
Reed watched me for a second, then said, “Yeah, I could use a cup. Thanks.”
“Anybody else?”
Rachel and Jack shook their heads.
As I moved to the kitchen, out of the corner of my eye I saw Vince make a questioning gesture to Rachel, who gave a quick nod.
Yes, I know my husband is missing, I wanted to shout, but busied myself with grinding beans and measuring out water instead.
Cody came in, snaked around my legs, then went over to Reed. He sniffed Reed’s shoes, then rubbed against him, too. Reed reached down and lifted the big lug into his arms. “You’re not going to scratch me, are you?” he asked, apparently aware of Cody’s reputation.
“Don’t trust all that purring,” I said. “How do you take your coffee?”
“Black, thanks.”
I stared at the coffeemaker as if it were really important for me to keep an eye on it, as if an automatic coffeemaker were some delicate instrument that might require my attention in order to operate properly. In fact, what was so wonderful about it at that moment was that it did exactly what it was supposed to do. I needed
I reached for a couple of mugs, not wanting to test the steadiness of my hands with a cup and saucer. Reed put the cat down. As I handed him his mug he said, “You know why we’re here.”
A statement. I nodded.
“Is there a room where we can talk?”
“Just a minute—” Rachel began, but I shook my head.
“They’re here because they want to find Frank,” I said. I turned to Reed. “We can go into the guest room, or sit
