Deceit

THIRTY-SIX

FEBRUARY 2010

“Baxter sent that man!”

Shock spritzed my veins. I shifted in my seat to look Melissa in the face. “Why would Baxter do that? Why would he want me to find the person who can tell the truth about him?”

The moment I asked the question, I knew the answer.

Melissa leaned forward, as if talking to an idiot child. “Because he wants to kill me.”

I stared at Melissa, open-mouthed, still not wanting to believe Baxter had sent Hooded Man. Because if that was true, I had been so duped.

But Hooded Man had called this afternoon, just to be sure I was looking. As if there was no time to waste. He’d played on my fear of Baxter. Even told me Chief Eddington was in on Baxter’s schemes…

Then who had broken into my house? If Baxter wanted me to find Melissa, he wouldn’t have sent someone to hurt me last night.

I could barely find my tongue. “Does Chief Eddington know Baxter killed Linda?”

“No way, no one knows. Baxter and me, that’s it. He would never tell, and neither would I. That’s how I know he’s behind this.”

No. I just didn’t…I peered out the windshield, searching the darkness for answers. They swirled beyond my reach.

My chin dropped. “The hooded man who told me—he said the police were in on it.”

“Let me guess—he told you that after you said you’d go to them.”

The words stabbed a knife in me and twisted. I couldn’t raise my head to look at her.

“So you wouldn’t go.” Melissa just had to press her point. “So you’d look for me all by yourself, with no one knowing. And lead Baxter straight to me.”

“But how did I lead him to you? I waited for you on your street for hours. I saw no one.”

“Well, you didn’t look hard enough.”

I rubbed my forehead, picturing Hooded Man in the rain. Was he our pursuer? I’d seen the gunman only in a flash. No way could I tell.

“And in case you’re too stupid to get this too, Joanne—he also wanted to kill you. Perfect, huh. He gets rid of me, his one witness, and the person who led him here.”

I stared at the steering wheel, unseeing. Melissa had to be right. Hooded Man…the break-in at my house last night…the one at hers today—they had to be connected. Although I still couldn’t understand the break-in at my place. Who had done that, and why? My lagging brain sensed I was overlooking an obvious piece of the puzzle, but try as I might, I couldn’t think through it.

“That man in the mask you saw,” Melissa said. “Did he look like the gunman?”

“I don’t know. Same build I guess, but…Do you know who he is?”

“Probably some hired lowlife. Obviously not a professional or we’d we dead.”

Exhaustion crawled through my system. My brain was turning to mush. “We need to go somewhere safe for the night, figure out what to do.”

Melissa glared at me. “Aren’t you even going to apologize?”

“I’m sorry.”

“Wow. What an apology. You sure sound sorry.”

“I am. More than you know. It’s just that…I have to get some sleep. So I can figure this out.”

“Another wild guess—you were up late last night looking for me?”

I dropped my gaze.

Melissa thrust her arms into a fold and focused out her window. “Great. We’ll go to some hotel. And sleep.” She emphasized the word as if that’s the last thing she wanted to do. “You’re paying.”

My mind was shutting down fast, my thoughts hazy. “What hotel should we go to?”

“I don’t know! Somewhere far away from here.”

I shook my head and blinked hard. Started the car engine. “We’ll go…north.”

We got back on the freeway. At a Mountain View exit we pulled off and found a hotel. After checking into a second floor room with two double beds, I moved the car around back, where it couldn’t be spotted from the street. I put the car keys in my pocket instead of in my purse, just in case Melissa decided she wanted to take a little ride while I was asleep.

In the room Melissa hustled over to close the curtains. I visited the bathroom, then sat down hard on a bed. Melissa punched the pillows up against the headboard on the other bed and heaved herself into a sitting position, staring at the far wall. She pulled her purse next to her, took out the gun, and laid it beside her.

“You’re not going to take off as soon as I’m conked out, are you?” I barely felt my own mouth ask the question. I collapsed on my back, hands folded on my stomach. My body ran like melting wax.

Melissa made a disgusted sound. “And just where would I go—thanks to you?”

I sighed. My eyes closed. “Whose house were you staying at?”

“A friend. He’s gone for a week on a business trip. Said I could housesit.”

“Why did you leave Tony?”

“None of your business.”

Yes, it is, I wanted to retort. But my mind couldn’t push the words to my tongue.

A quicksand of sleep bubbled up around me. My body gave in, began to sink. The muck rose…rose…until it closed over my head, swallowing me whole…

A ringing cell phone shrilled the air.

THIRTY-SEVEN

A second ring resounded in the hotel room. My entire body jumped. Slowly my weighted brain drifted up from the quicksand, so…very…heavy.

Ring three.

“Whaa…?” my mouth said, the word thick and rumbling. My eyes opened, unfocused.

Melissa was rooting around in my purse, which lay on the floor by my bed. She pulled out my cell and peered at the screen. “You know a Perry Bracowski?”

“Uh-huh.”

She held the phone out of my reach. “Is he safe?”

“Yeah.”

“You sure?”

“Give me the phone, Melissa.”

She handed it over. I took it with fumbling fingers. “Hi. Perry.” I stayed on my back, staring at the cream- colored motel ceiling.

“Joanne, you okay?”

“I was just…falling asleep.”

“Oh.” His voice held surprise that I would go to bed so early. What time was it, anyway? “Sorry to wake you. I just wanted to know if everything’s all right. Last time we talked you didn’t sound like yourself.”

No kidding. Enervation warped his comment into downright funny. My laugh bordered on a hysterical giggle. “Never had a better day. Even got shot at.”