'Oh, I don't know. Like cars and stuff.'
'You mean like boyfriends?'
Forget the moistness, Danielle was back to rolling her eyes at him. 'She goes for guys, like, your age. You know, she likes old guys for some reason. Oh, God! Not like I mean you're old or anything.'
'Where does she usually meet these older gentlemen?' He tried not to sound offended.
'Oh, geez. I don't even know where she met this last one. I get the idea he's pretty pissed off at her right now, so they might have broken up.'
'What makes you think he's pissed off at her?'
'Just that whenever I answered the phone lately and she, like, didn't want to talk to him, so like, I'd have to make up some excuse and he'd get all postal with me.'
'So he called here?'
'Oh, yeah.'
'But you don't know his name?'
'Just Jay.'
Pakula dug out the plastic bag from his jacket pocket and handed it to Danielle. 'Did he give Tina this?'
'Oh, yeah. For her birthday in July. That seemed to be when things started to go downhill, 'cause I think Tina thought it should mean more and yet she didn't see him changing anything.'
'A guy gives an expensive, sentimental piece of jewelry like this, I'd say that means something.'
'Yeah, you'd think so, but…you know, it's kinda like I keep telling her, or told her…God, I can't believe she's dead.'
Pakula waited. This time Danielle seemed genuinely choked up. She had been slipping from present to past tense the whole time. Not unusual in an interview with someone who'd been close to a victim. But now it seemed to hit her. He bowed his head and waited. He'd learned that people really didn't want to hear all that crap like, 'It'll be okay.' Most of the time they just wanted you to wait until they composed themselves. Waiting was tougher, though.
'So it sounds like you kinda figured out this relationship wouldn't work long before Tina figured it out, huh?'
'It never does work,' she said, reaching around to a Kleenex box hidden behind a flower vase. She dabbed at her nose. 'That's the problem with dating older men. They always stay with their wives.'
CHAPTER 48
11:52 a.m.
Andrew kept trying to catch the eye of the woman behind the store counter, not an easy task with sunglasses on but also because she didn't stay in one place for long. She hustled from one end of the long counter to the next, pausing just long enough to give them a nod when they entered.
Jared loaded up Andrew's free arm, handing him everything from Tylenol, toothpaste and razors to chips, candy bars and comic books. It looked as if they were stocking up for a monthlong road trip.
Andrew continued to watch the woman, hoping, wishing she'd glance their way. Was it too much to hope for her to ask a few questions: 'Where you boys from?' 'Where you headed?' Instead, she kept moving, her gray- haired head down, small body scurrying from the little oven where she replaced mini pizzas with freshly made ones, to the hot-dog roaster, to the counter space where she constructed submarine sandwiches. Andrew was amazed.
She worked here because she had to, Andrew decided. Maybe her social security benefits weren't quite paying the bills. He wondered if her kids or grandkids worried about her working at a convenience store. No, probably not. In Omaha, yes. But out here? It was just another job. Hopefully it would remain just another job. Maybe she'd never know she had waited on a murderer today.
There had been no customers enter the store since the woman with the toddler left. Andrew guessed they were hitting a lull before the anticipated masses for lunch. He checked his options, slowly trailing his eyes over the shelves, searching for a back door. There had to be one, maybe down the small hallway in the corner. But what if they kept it locked during the day? Running out the front posed the risk of running into another customer.
Then it hit Andrew. Jared wanted him to charge all this. He needed to sign the charge slip. If Tommy was on the case, would he think to go through the actual charge slips? He knew they'd be watching his accounts now that they knew he might be with them. Jared was even counting on it.
Could he get a message to Tommy via the charge slip?
Jared grabbed a six-pack of beer from the cooler just as Andrew noticed Melanie getting into the car, this time into the driver's seat. Jared noticed, too, and gave Andrew a shove toward the counter. They piled their bounty in front of the little woman who now was looking them over.
'That pizza smells good,' Jared said. 'You make them here?'
'Crust's frozen. We add the toppings.' She began to ring up each item and place it into a bag before going on to the next.
'We'll take a couple of pizzas and a couple of sandwiches.'
She scurried off to wrap them, the pizzas in square containers, the sandwiches in wax paper. She dug out two huge dill pickles from a jar and wrapped those individually to go with the sandwiches. In less than a minute she was back. Still no questions, no conversation. Other than the first once-over, she didn't really look at them.
'With the gas that comes to $43.67.'
Andrew handed her his American Express card.
She swiped it through the machine and handed him the copy to sign. Just as she handed him a pen, he said, 'Gum, I forgot gum.'
Jared looked around, and when he turned to grab a pack off a rack behind him, Andrew flipped the charge slip over and scribbled 'CO via 6.' By the time Jared tossed the gum onto the counter, Andrew had his name signed and was handing the slip back to her.
She picked up the gum in one hand and charge slip in her other. 'You paying for this separately?'
'Yes.' Andrew dug the change out of his pockets, hoping his hieroglyphics wouldn't be noticed, at least for now.
Finally finished, Jared gave Andrew one of the two bags, then tucked the six-pack under Andrew's arm, as if purposely weighing him down. Melanie had brought the car right up to the front door. They headed outside, Jared holding the door to the convenience store open while Andrew handed Charlie the beer through the car window. He was getting in the front passenger seat when he noticed Jared hadn't left his post, hand still holding open the store's front door, as if he was waiting for someone else to go in. Andrew looked around the parking lot, only there was no one else there.
'I saw what you did, Andrew,' Jared said, waiting for Andrew's eyes to meet his. As Andrew began to understand, Jared slipped back into the convenience store.
Andrew's stomach fell to his feet even before he heard the gunshot.
CHAPTER 49
12:15 p.m.
What the hell did you do, Jared? ' Melanie asked for the second time, trying to keep her voice controlled. She had driven with hands shaking, pretending that what she'd heard wasn't a gunshot. Now, as she waited at a stop sign, she glanced at Jared in the rearview mirror. He was stuffing his mouth with a slice of pizza and popping the cap off a beer. Another glance at Andrew made her insides churn. The writer had doubled over, his forehead pressed against his hands, almost as if he was expecting to be sick.
