Black and then looked at the address. She lived on Selma in Hollywood.
Karch looked off into the woods. Cassie Black was long gone now. Still, standing on the front seat of the Porsche he held the wallet up as though she were in there someplace looking back at him.
'Look what I found,' he called out. 'You didn't win yet, sweetheart!'
He took the silencer off the Sig and fired the gun once into the air, just to let her know he was still coming.
As Cassie sprinted carefully down the hill she began to hear music and used its source as a beacon. Eventually she came out of the woods at a parking lot she recognized as being behind the Hollywood Bowl. She guessed that the Philharmonic must be practicing. She followed the access road down to Highland and then walked down to Sunset.
It took her twenty minutes to get back to the dealership. As she approached she saw two black-and-white police cars parked in the entranceway to the parking lot. There was also an unmarked car with a bubble light on the dashboard parked up on the curb in front of the showroom. Behind it an ambulance was parked but its rear doors were closed.
There were many people standing out on the sidewalk, including most of the dealership's sales and service staff. Cassie walked up to a salesman named Billy Meehan, who was staring into the showroom with a stricken look on his face.
'Billy, what happened?'
He looked down at her and his eyes grew large.
'Oh, thank God! I thought you were in there with them. Where have you been?'
Cassie hesitated, then decided on a lie that was not technically a lie.
'I was taking a walk. In there with who?'
Meehan put his hands on her shoulders and leaned down into her face as though he was breaking very bad news to her. He was.
'There's been a robbery. Somebody put Ray and Connie down on the floor in her office and shot them both.'
Cassie brought her hands up to her face and stifled a scream.
'They then stole the silver cab. We thought maybe, uh, you were a hostage or something. I'm glad you're okay.'
Cassie just nodded her head. Her history had been a guarded secret with Ray Morales. She realized that if other employees had known about it, they probably would have immediately suggested her as a suspect to the police. Maybe that was what Karch had been counting on.
She felt weak all of a sudden and had to sit down. She practically slid down Meehan's body and sat down on the curb. She tried to understand what had happened and could only conclude that Karch must have shot Ray and Connie because he didn't have a fake driver's license with the name Lankford on it. He knew there was no way he could leave a record with his real name on it. Not with what he had planned to do with her.
'Cassie, you all right?'
'I just can't believe – are they dead?'
'Yeah, both of them. I looked in there before the police came. It wasn't a pretty picture.'
Cassie leaned forward and vomited into the gutter. It was one deep heave that seemed to empty her totally. She wiped her mouth with her hand.
'Cassie!' Meehan cried as he watched. 'I'll go get one of the paramedics.'
'No, don't. I'm fine. I just… poor Ray. All he wanted to do was help.'
'What do you mean?'
She realized she had made a mistake giving her thoughts voice.
'I mean he was just a nice guy. Connie, too. They would have given up the keys or the money. Why'd he have to shoot them?'
'I know. It makes no sense. By the way, did you see someone?'
'No, why?'
'I noticed you said 'he' when you were talking about it.'
'No, I've been gone. I was just saying it was a he because I just think it probably was. I can't think straight right now.'
'I know what you mean. I can't believe this is happening.'
She sat on the curb with her face in her hands, the guilt of the world weighing down on her. The words I did this, I did this, I did this kept running through her head. She knew she had to get away from this place and never look back.
She found her strength and stood up, grabbing Meehan's arm one time to steady herself.
'Are you sure you're okay?' he asked.
'Yes, fine. I'm fine. Thanks, Billy.'
'You should probably let the police know you're okay and you're here.'
'Okay, I will. Actually, could you tell them for me? I'm not sure I want to go in there.'
'Sure, Cassie, I'll go tell them right now.'
Cassie waited a few moments after Meehan walked away, then walked down the sidewalk to the alley that ran behind the dealership. She followed the alley behind the service center to the other side of the dealership and walked into the sales lot. The silver Boxster that Ray had been letting her use was there. She always parked it in the sales lot in case a customer was interested.
The car was unlocked but her key was in her backpack in her office. She opened the door and pulled the front trunk release. She came around and opened the lid and took out the leather-bound owner's manual, then closed the trunk and got into the car. Behind one of the folds of the booklet was a plastic key for the eventual owner to put in a wallet as an emergency backup. She took it out, started the car and drove out of the lot into the alley. She kept a slow, deliberate speed until she had covered two blocks in the alley. She then cut up to Sunset and took a right, in a direction away from the dealership and toward the 101 Freeway.
Tears ran down her cheeks as she drove. What had happened at the dealership changed everything. Leo's death was awful and hurt her deeply. But Leo had been in the circle and knew the risks. Ray Morales and Connie Leto, the finance manager, were innocents. Their deaths signaled the lengths to which Karch was willing to go to recover the money. It meant there were no bounds anymore. To Karch, to her guilt, to anything.
33
KARCH watched through the window of the taxi as it went by the Porsche dealership. He didn't care about the assemblage of police and television news vehicles surrounding the glass walls of the showroom. His eyes scanned the numerous people standing on the sidewalks. He was hoping to see Cassie Black but knew he was too late. His cell phone had failed to get a signal up in the hills. He'd had to hike up to Mulholland and then over to the Hollywood overlook, where he'd remembered seeing a pay phone earlier. It took him nearly an hour to cover the ground. Then it was another twenty minutes waiting for the taxi he called for to show up.
The taxi driver said something in very bad English about what had happened at the dealership but Karch paid no attention. The taxi continued another few blocks and turned onto Wilcox. Karch had him stop in front of a Hollywood memorabilia store. He paid and got out. After the taxi took off and had turned back onto Sunset he crossed the street to his Lincoln, which was parked at the curb. On its bumpers were a set of fresh plates he had picked up that morning in a long-term lot at LAX.
Karch got in and fired the car up. But before pulling out of the space he looked up Selma in the map book. He saw he was in luck. He was less than five minutes away.
There were no cars parked in front or on the driveway of the bungalow on Selma where Cassie Black's driver's license said she lived. The house was on a dead end and Karch decided on a direct approach. He pulled right into the driveway and parked. Breaking and entering in daylight was not his idea of a wise move but he had to get into the house to see if Cassie Black had been there yet. He decided the safest way to go was straight in. He
