The Evan Buckley Thrillers: Books 1 - 4 (Evan Buckley Thrillers Boxsets)

by James, Harper

  THE ONE POSITIVE THING to come out of the day’s revelations was that he didn’t need to schlep half way across the county to the District Court and spend hours trawling through the change of name records. All the evidence pointed towards it being true and as soon as he got Audrey’s email he would know for sure.

  He wished he was a bit more tech savvy so that he could get his emails on his phone, but he’d only just got the hang of texting. He’d have to go to the office to get it. A thought suddenly crossed his mind. He stopped and turned the car around and headed back the other way towards Faulkner’s trailer park.

  He parked outside Faulkner’s trailer and tried the door but it was locked so he walked across to the neighbor’s trailer. He could hear the sound of the TV from inside, a football game by the sound of it.

  Briggs came to the door. He had a beer can in his hand and scowled when he saw who it was.

  ‘You again,’ he said, looking back at the TV.

  Evan could see a stack of empty cans on the floor next to his chair. There was a smell coming out of the trailer like the catbox had caught on fire.

  ‘Yes, me again.’

  ‘What do you want? I’m watching the game.’

  ‘I’m heading over to visit Faulkner. I thought you might like to come along. Being such good neighbors and all.’

  Briggs looked at him like he was deranged.

  ‘I told you, I’m watching the game.’

  Evan tried to peer round him into the trailer.

  ‘Doesn’t look like your wife is in.’

  ‘She’s gone to see a movie with her sister.’ He belched and Evan enjoyed the smell of second-hand beer. ‘Terminator two hundred and twenty-five or something. She loves all that shit.’

  ‘You’re more of a Bridges of Madison County man, are you? See yourself as a bit of a romantic Clint Eastwood type. Brokeback Mountain perhaps?’

  Briggs looked at him like he was something unpleasant on the bottom of his shoe. For a second Evan thought he was going to take a swing at him.

  ‘Give my regards to Matt. Wish him better.’

  He started to close the door. Evan put his hand on it.

  ‘I want to take him some of his things. Can you let me in?’

  ‘Jesus Christ. All I want to do is watch the game in peace. Is that too much to ask for?’

  He disappeared back into the trailer and came back with the big bunch of keys.

  ‘Here, let yourself in. Don’t forget to lock up again when you’re done.’

  He threw the keys to Evan and closed the door in his face.

  Evan found the right key after a few tries and let himself in. He didn’t feel guilty in the slightest about misleading Briggs. He certainly didn’t feel guilty about nosing around in Faulkner’s home behind his back, not after the duplicitous way in which Faulkner had treated him.

  He knew exactly what he was after. He went into the kitchen and over to where the photographs were tacked to the wall, and pulled off the one of his wife with her parents outside a barn—a barn he now knew was sitting on Carl Hendricks’s property.

  He didn’t completely recognize it. Apart from the fact that the photograph was at least fifty years old, he hadn’t paid too much attention to the barns when he was there, but it was definitely one of them.

  He put it in his pocket and then carefully scrutinized all the others for any other tell-tale signs that might mean something to him now that he knew what he was looking for.

  ‘Damn,’ he said to himself, after he failed to find anything of any use. That would have been too easy. There was a gap where another photograph had recently sat, but that didn’t necessarily mean anything. It could mean that Hendricks had removed it the previous night, or it could mean nothing at all. It was probably nothing as Faulkner was hardly likely to have a picture of Hendricks on his wall, after he’d done his best to hide their connection.

  Evan sat down at the kitchen table and thought about what to do next. He didn’t have any qualms about searching Faulkner’s place if he thought it would produce anything, but he wasn’t sure it was worth it. Faulkner wasn’t stupid and Evan didn’t know what he was looking for anyway. But, just as he was about to lock up, he suddenly thought of something. It only took him five minutes to find what he was after. Faulkner wouldn’t need it for the next couple of days. He slipped it into his pocket, locked up and dropped the keys off with the still grumbling Briggs before driving away.

  Chapter 32

  WHAT EVAN REALLY WANTED to do was drive straight to the hospital and confront Faulkner. He’d always been impatient, but he had to force himself to take it slowly and wait until he had all his ducks in a row. He needed the picture of Saunders before he talked to Faulkner, so he drove back to his office to see if Audrey had sent him anything yet.

  The light was on in Jacobson’s office as Evan walked past. He’d want to know the outcome of his meeting with Audrey, so he knocked and went in.

  ‘Hey, Evan. How’d it go with Audrey?’

  Jacobson was sitting at his desk doing something with some unpleasant looking surgical instruments.

  ‘What the hell are these?’ Evan asked picking up a box of what looked like serrated toothpicks.

  ‘Barbed broaches. They’re for removing dental pulp and other rubbish from root canals. Might be using one on you if you eat too many of Audrey’s cakes.’

  He winked knowingly at Evan, who wished he hadn’t asked.

  ‘I don’t know how you do this job.’

  He put the box back down. It made him feel queasy just thinking about it. He was sure he could feel a sharp twinge of pain coming from one of his back teeth.

  ‘At least I’m the one dishing the pain out. My nose hasn’t been broken recently. Got two complete ears as well.’

  ‘Do you want to hear what Audrey said, or not?’

  ‘From the look on your face, it’s something important.’

  ‘It was you who first suggested Saunders might have changed his name to Carl Hendricks.’

  Jacobson nodded.

  ‘It turns out Saunders was a bit of a scumbag, to use Audrey’s term’—Jacobson raised his eyebrows and smiled—‘He also had a sister, Brenda, who got married and became . . . ‘

  He paused for effect.

  ‘Come on Evan, don’t make me use one of these to extract the information.’

  He brandished something that Evan didn’t want to look at.

  ‘Mrs Matt Faulkner!’

  ‘You’re kidding.’

  He dropped whatever he’d been brandishing onto the desk, leaned back and put his hands behind his head.

  ‘That means if Hendricks is really Saunders, then he’s Matt Faulkner’s brother-in-law.’

  ‘Which throws an entirely different light on your case. One that doesn’t reflect well on our ex-police chief.’

  ‘It puts me in a difficult spot.’

  He sat down on the corner of Jacobson’s desk and picked up one of the surgical instruments.

  ‘I can see that,’ Jacobson said, taking it out of Evan’s hand and putting it back down. ‘I don’t suppose you’re looking forward to your next chat with Mr Faulkner.’

  ‘No. He’s suddenly turned into an uncooperative witness. Or maybe even a suspect. An accessory at least.’

  Jacobson drummed his fingers on the desk.

  ‘How does this tie in with your theory that it was Hendricks who attacked him.’

  ‘I’m not sure. One obvious scenario is that Hendricks is the culprit and Faulkner covered up for him—’

  ‘And now Hendricks is trying to tie up the loose ends. Permanently.’

  ‘It would explain why Faulkner was so keen to blame it all on Robbie Clayton. A convenient fall guy.’

  Jacobson frowned.

  ‘What are you suggesting? That they did away with him as well to provide a false trail?’

  ‘I don’t know. It all seems a bit far-fetched. Blood’s thicker than water, but that would be taking it to extremes.’


  ‘I think you need to get your facts together before getting carried away by all this. It’s too easy to make the circumstances fit with your existing theory.’

  ‘I know. That’s why I need the email.’

  ‘Email?’

  ‘Surely you know what email is, Tom. Even Audrey uses it.’

  He slid off the edge of the desk as Jacobson picked up a dental scalpel.

  ‘Audrey said she’d dig out a photograph of Saunders and email it to me. Then I’ll know for sure if that’s who Hendricks really is. I was on my way to see if she’d done it yet.’

  ‘Why don’t you get your email on your phone, like everyone else? I do.’

  ‘Because I’m a luddite. I’ll go and check now.’

  ‘I’ll come with you. Just in case your friend is lurking upstairs.’

  ‘You might as well bring the scalpel just in case.’

  Chapter 33

  EVAN OPENED UP HIS office and fired up his computer. Jacobson prowled around impatiently.

  ‘That thing looks like you need a handle to crank it. I think we could walk to Audrey’s place and ask her quicker.’

  Evan ignored him and checked his email. Spam, spam and more spam, but then, there it was. She’d sent it just after Evan left her. If he’d thought she’d be that quick he’d have waited and had another piece of cake. He opened it and called Jacobson over and then opened the attachment.

  Audrey had got hold of a photograph of Saunders at his army basic training graduation ceremony. It was old and grainy and looked like it had been scanned from a local paper.

  They both looked at the picture of the proud young man in his Class A uniform. Little did he know that a few short years later he’d be out on his ear, with a dishonorable discharge on his record.

  ‘It’s him,’ Evan whispered. ‘I’m sure it’s him.’

  ‘I don’t know what Hendricks looks like,’ Jacobson said.

  ‘He looks like that.’

  Evan jabbed his finger at the screen.

  ‘I don’t know how you can tell. His cap covers half his face. Try zooming in a bit.’

  Evan zoomed in on Saunders’ face but it didn’t really help. What they gained in size, they lost in quality. He zoomed back out again.

  ‘You need to get a photo of Hendricks to compare it to,’ Jacobson said.

  ‘I don’t need one. I recognize his nose,’ Evan said. ‘It’s been broken and badly set at some time in the past. He’s also got a scar across the bridge of his nose. You can’t see it because of the shadow from his cap.’

  ‘You’re the expert on broken noses. What are you going to do?’

  ‘First of all, I’m going to ring the hospital and see if Faulkner’s awake yet.’

  ‘And if he is?’

  ‘I’m going to take that photo’—he pointed at the screen—‘and this one’—he pulled the one he’d taken from Faulkner’s trailer out of his pocket—‘and see if I can shake something loose.’

  ‘You don’t take any prisoners, do you? The guy’s in the hospital. He nearly died. He might be dead now.’

  ‘In which case, I can’t hurt him. But he didn’t tell me the truth, so if he’s still alive, I want to know why he lied.’

  ‘You need to be careful, Evan. There are some serious stakes here. His whole reputation is at risk at the very least. If you’re right, he doesn’t come out of this looking good, whatever happens.’

  ‘I’m aware of that. Does that mean I should drop it?’

  Jacobson held up his hands.

  ‘I’m not saying that. Just be careful. If you tell Faulkner what you know and then Hendricks finds out, you’ll be on his list too. How many people after you can you handle?’

  ‘I’m a little more prepared now.’

  He put his hand in his pocket and brought out the SIG-Sauer P226 pistol he had taken from Faulkner’s trailer. He was disconcerted how good it felt in his hand. Almost natural.

  ‘Jesus, Evan, where’d you get that from?’

  Jacobson took it from him like a fascinated schoolboy and hefted it a moment before putting it down on the desk.

  ‘I borrowed it from Faulkner.’

  ‘Uh-huh. I assume he doesn’t know about this loan he’s made you yet.’

  ‘Not yet. With any luck I’ll have it back in his trailer before he gets back from the hospital. Or perhaps I’ll keep it and blame it on Hendricks.’

  Jacobson gave him his best reproving look.

  ‘Do you know how to use it?’

  ‘My understanding is that you point this end’—he pointed to the barrel—‘at someone you don’t like and pull the trigger. That’s this little curved bit here.’

  ‘Okay, smartass. I just hope you know what you’re getting into. If you do end up shooting anyone with it, you are going to be in some serious shit. My advice is you take it back right now.’

  Chapter 34

  EVAN PRINTED OUT THE photograph Audrey had sent him and then sent her a quick email. Then he rang the hospital and was told that Faulkner was awake and doing well, but they were keeping him in for observation for a few days. Evan asked if he could have visitors and they said that was okay too, so long as they didn’t tire him out too much.

  That’ll be the least of his worries, Evan thought and headed down to his car. When he got to the hospital they told him Faulkner already had a visitor but he could go in too. They reminded him again that Faulkner was still very weak and told him not to be too long.

  Evan had a good idea who the other visitor was and sure enough, there was Guillory sitting comfortably in the visitor’s chair when Evan walked in. Faulkner was sitting up in bed with his head bandaged up and a saline drip in his arm, but apart from that he didn’t look too bad.

  ‘If it isn’t the local hero himself,’ Guillory said and started humming the Springsteen song.

  Evan held up his arms to accept the accolade.

  ‘I sure hope that’s going to stick like the last name you gave me.’

  ‘Peeper, you mean? I doubt it.’

  She chuckled. He realized she did it a lot, in stark contrast to her sour-faced partner. Not only that, but the sound immediately reminded him of Barbara Schneider, could have been her if he’d had his eyes shut, which was disconcerting.

  ‘Heroes come and go, but you know what they say, once a peeper, always a peeper.’

  ‘Looks like we’re quits,’ Faulkner said. ‘Thank you. Although I got to you before you were unconscious, so I’m still ahead.’

  ‘Thank Briggs, not me. I was all for leaving you there, but he said, no, call it in.’

  Faulkner smiled and winced. Evan felt a pang of guilt at the prospect of what he had to do as soon as Guillory left. He wished there wasn’t such an easy bonhomie developing between the three of them. He was sure Faulkner had no idea of what was coming. He was probably feeling good about being alive and now his world was about to go up in smoke. What the hell am I feeling guilty about he tried to tell himself, but it didn’t stop him from feeling sick.

  Guillory got up out of her chair and stretched, eased the kinks out of her back.

  ‘Looks like you were right about the perp, too.’

  Evan tried to keep the told-you-so look off his face and failed.

  ‘Don’t look so smug,’ Guillory said, ‘You wanted to lock him up first and ask questions later.’

  Evan looked at Faulkner who nodded, which made him wince again.

  ‘It was definitely Hendricks. I came back inside after talking to you and he hit me upside the head as soon as my back was turned. I don’t know what it was he used but luckily it wasn’t quite up to the job.’

  ‘Have you been around to see him yet?’ Evan asked Guillory.

  ‘I went ‘round there but he wasn’t in.’

  ‘Done a bunk or just out buying groceries?’

  ‘Can’t say. There was no sign of him or his pickup but that doesn’t prove anything. I’m heading back out there later on to see if I can catch him.’

  She
looked down at Faulkner sitting propped up in his bed.

  ‘Look after yourself, Matt. I’ll be in touch.’

  Evan sat down in the visitor’s chair before his legs gave out. He couldn’t believe how nervous he felt. He wished more than anything that Audrey’s photograph had proved him wrong. He felt a cold sweat break out on his forehead.

  ‘You look as bad as I feel,’ Faulkner said.

  ‘I can’t stand hospitals.’

  ‘It’s fine by me. Bed’s more comfortable than the ones in the morgue.’

  Evan didn’t know how to start. They both sat there in a slightly less than comfortable silence.

  ‘Sorry about the fishing trip,’ Faulkner said. ‘Maybe we’ll do it another time.’

  Evan swallowed a lump the size of his fist. I sincerely doubt that after tonight. He stood up again.

  ‘I’ve got to go to the bathroom.’

  He splashed cold water over his face and tried to calm down. His heart was thumping in his chest. In the corner of the room a huge cockroach scuttled across the floor. He turned and stamped on it, feeling it crunch and pop under his shoe. He felt about as loathsome as the bug he’d just crushed. It didn’t help remembering that Faulkner had lied to him. He liked the guy and he was about to destroy him and grind him into the floor like he’d just done to the roach.

  ‘What’s on your mind, son?’ Faulkner said when Evan came back in to the room. ‘I might have a bang on the head but I’m not stupid. I can see something’s eating you. Fire away.’

  Evan didn’t say anything. He took the two photographs out of his pocket and set them down in Faulkner’s lap. Faulkner looked down at them and then back at Evan.

  ‘Uh-huh. I won’t ask how you got these, particularly this one’—he held up the one from his trailer—‘but I can see why you look so green around the gills.’

  Evan let out a weary sigh. He felt a little better now the real reason for his visit was out in the open. He’d felt like a real fraud during the banter with the two of them.

  Faulkner pre-empted Evan’s next question.

  ‘You want to know why I didn’t tell you Carl Hendricks is my brother-in-law.’

  ‘That would be as good a place as any to start.’