He must have started out in traffic division, Evan thought, pleased he hadn’t asked that one.
‘I would have thought it’s obvious,’ Forrest said. ‘Now my father is dead they’ve lost their hold over our family.’
‘That’s why you were trying to call Jesse?’
‘Yes. I wanted to tell him what I’ve just told you. Tell him that I’d back him up if he wanted to fight them.’
‘That’s big of you,’ Evan said.
Forrest gave him the sort of look that was normally reserved for recalcitrant junior staff. ‘I don’t know if you’ve got a problem with me in particular or just people with money in general.’
Evan shook his head, didn’t say anything, aware of Angels’s gaze drilling into the side of his head.
‘I tried to call him the same day I found out my father was dead. I don’t know what more you expect.’
Evan nodded several times, his breath exiting through his nostrils. ‘If you’d told him then, he wouldn’t have gone barging into the club and almost got himself tortured.’
‘And if my father was still alive, we wouldn’t be having this conversation at all.’
Forrest jumped up out of his chair and walked away a few paces. He spun round to face Evan. ‘What are you thinking now? It’s a shame my father didn’t die a few days earlier?’
Evan pushed himself up but then Angel stood up between the two of them before it got any more out of hand. He gave Evan a look: one more outburst like that and you’re in the car.
‘Okay, let’s calm things down.’
‘As I was saying,’ Forrest said, ‘I’m happy to help Jesse or you.’ He dipped his head towards Angel, the implication clear—Evan wasn’t included. ‘Whatever I can do.’
‘Well, he’s out of the picture now,’ Angel said. ‘He’s back home again by now. Even if you’d managed to get hold of him it wouldn’t have made any difference. He’s scared witless. That’s probably why he didn’t take your call.’
‘Just let me know what you want me to do.’
‘Count on it,’ Angel said as they got up to go. ‘I’ve got something in mind already.’
Chapter 38
‘WHAT THE HELL’S WRONG with you?’ Angel said when they were back in the car.
He hadn’t started the engine and was sitting with his arm resting on the steering wheel, facing Evan. Evan stared at the closed front door, Forrest on the other side of it, already mixing himself another drink.
‘Nothing.’
‘You got a problem with rich people?’
‘No.’
‘Him in particular?’
‘No, just the whole lot of them.’
He turned to look at Angel. He wondered if anything got to him, or whether the job made you lose all faith in people, stopped you having any expectations. Guillory was the same.
‘If he’d told Jesse at least to be careful then maybe Jesse wouldn’t have gone barging in and got himself scared bad enough to run back home with his tail between his legs. Wouldn’t have alerted them to the fact that people are taking an interest in them. Wouldn’t have put Gina in the position she’s in now.’
‘And if my aunt had balls, she’d be my uncle.’
‘I know.’
He looked out at the house again. He couldn’t be sure because of the bright sunlight reflecting off the glass but he thought Forrest was standing at one of the windows, drink in hand, watching them. Probably making sure they didn’t steal anything.
‘You really like her, don’t you?’ Angel said.
‘Never met her.’
It took Angel a second to catch on.
‘Gina, not my aunt.’
‘She seems like a good kid.’
‘A good kid,’ Angel echoed. ‘Is that all?’
Something in his tone made Evan look across at him. His face—not just his mouth and eyes but his whole face—broke into a grin.
‘Well I wouldn’t climb over her to get to you, if that’s what you mean. Come on, let’s go.’
‘I think she’s a pretty good kid too,’ Angel said, starting the car. ‘We’ve got to find a way to get her out of this.’
‘And get D’Amato.’
‘That too.’
‘Any ideas? What did you mean when you told Forrest you had something in mind?’
Angel paused for a second as if he was uncomfortable with saying what he was about to say. ‘I’ve been thinking about it ever since you told me Jesse and Gina had both got cold feet, and the more I think about it, the more I think we need to set up a sting.’
‘I think you’re probably right,’ Evan said, keeping his eyes on the immaculate driveway, aware of Angel staring at him. ‘What?’
Angel shook his head.
‘What?’
‘It’s just beautiful,’ Angel said. ‘I’ve sat here listening to you bad-mouthing Jesse and Forrest for being such spineless bastards always thinking about themselves.’
‘So?’
‘So I’ve just got me the perfect candidate for my sting.’ His grin looked big enough to eat the world. ‘Unless you want to join the spineless bastards over there.’
‘Surely you’ve got somebody who’s done this before.’
‘Nobody who’s available. Nobody unknown.’
‘I take it you’re spelling unknown e-x-p-e-n-d-a-b-l-e.’
‘Would I do that to you?’
‘Besides I’m not unknown. That older stripper with the lemon-sucker lips saw me in the club with Gina.’
‘So what. You think nobody’s ever been there more than once? The girls aren’t that bad.’
‘She saw Gina run off.’
‘Even better. You’re some high roller—we’ll have to work on that some—asking for more than Gina’s offering. You’ve definitely got that grubby pervert look. Understandably, she gave you the brush off. Now you’re coming back for more with a wad of cash that’d choke a horse. The older woman doesn’t know the name of the man she saw in the club.’
‘D’Amato knows my name—he made Jesse call me.’
Even as he said it Evan knew he was going to lose the argument unless he really did want to go and stand with the spineless bastards.
‘Tell you what,’ Angel said, clapping Evan on the shoulder and making the car swerve as he did so, ‘as a special concession I won’t send you in there using your real name. You can use mine. How’s that?’
Evan knew it was hopeless arguing with him, didn’t know why he was arguing in the first place. He knew he was going to do it anyway, had known from the start. Ever since Kate Guillory first, jokingly suggested the idea, ever since Jesse refused to do the right thing, he’d known somehow that he was moving inexorably towards this point. There wasn’t any alternative.
And, more than anything, he knew that if he didn’t and something happened to Gina, he’d never forgive himself. He had too many scars on his conscience already.
Chapter 39
ANGEL DROPPED EVAN AT his hotel before heading back to make arrangements for the sting. He had time to kill before he was due to have lunch with Gina and, hopefully, her friend. He sat on the edge of the bed and tried to decide whether to call Jesse or not. Jesse was out of it for good and he’d been acting like a horse’s ass, but he probably deserved an update.
He made the call but it went to voicemail. He was about to hang up but decided to leave a message anyway.
‘Jesse, it’s Evan,’ he said after the beep. ‘I just wanted to let you know that we’re making some progress down here. I’ve spoken to Forrest St John—you might be surprised to hear what he said. Give me a call and I’ll fill you in on the details.’
He still had time to kill. His laptop sat on the dresser, daring him to fire it up, check his email. It wasn’t a good idea, it was a stupid idea, in fact. He didn’t need any more complications right now, didn’t need to addle his brain any more than it already was.
He did it anyway.
Sure enough, there was another email from the unknow
n—although he had a pretty good idea who it was—sender using the sarah_buckley_0712 email address. He stared at it, tugged at his collar, the room suddenly too warm, wiped his palm on his pants leg, thought about just turning the laptop off again.
0712
That’s what really twisted his gut, told him everything he needed to know about the monster behind it. A lot of people put their birthday in their email address. But that wasn’t Sarah’s birthday.
It was the day she disappeared.
And the evil, vindictive bastard behind the emails had done some serious digging to find that out. He hit return with a sharp jab, his breath on hold.
Nobody found the second level.
He slammed the lid shut, heard something crack. He spun around, his fists balled so tight it might have been his bones cracking, looked for something to kick, somebody to punch, head-butted the wall instead.
It was a lie.
There was no second level. He’d been there. The police went over everything. There was no second level. No second level. Telling yourself enough times makes it true. Everyone knows that.
But, true or not, he knew for certain who was behind it now.
***
EVAN WALKED TO THE diner to try to clear his head. It was a beautiful day—or had been until the email—and he needed the exercise. He got there first and found a table in the window. He ordered a coffee and settled in to wait. After ten minutes he felt, rather than heard, a low-level rumble coming from outside and then his coffee cup began to shake as a black 1969 Corvette Stingray convertible pulled up in front of the diner. The sound of John Mellencamp’s Cherry Bomb pumping out of the speakers didn’t compete with, so much as complement, the throb of the engine like they were made for each other. Evan stared at it through the window, admiring the ‘Coke-bottle’ lines that he’d always thought made it look beautiful and aggressive at the same time. The driver cut the big V8 engine and everything was suddenly eerily quiet, the words of the song still running through his mind. Gina jumped out of the passenger seat. The driver’s door opened and her friend got out, her curves every bit as exaggerated and Coke-bottlesque as her car’s. Her thighs looked every bit as powerful as well. Things were looking good.
They came in and he couldn’t stop himself from smiling as they made their way to his table. Strutted wouldn’t have been too strong a description. And why the hell not? It was like the song was still playing. A couple of nerdy looking guys at the counter had their tongues lolling out—it was hard to know whether it was the car or its occupants. He looked over at them and winked.
Gina did the introductions. Her friend was called Destiny and he had no idea if the name was as fake as her blond hair. She was probably christened Edna. She was in her early twenties and a little more stereotypical than Gina with the hair and the unfeasibly firm breasts. But she had amazing, crystal blue eyes, back lit with something that had entered the world centuries before men found ways to control it. Her smile was nice too—he bet there was a great tongue in there as well—and although he would have preferred to have Gina playing opposite him in the little production they were putting together, he could live with Destiny. He might even get a ride in the car.
‘Nice car. What is it, three hundred horsepower?’
‘Three fifty,’ Destiny said with a do-you-think-you-can-handle-it look in her eyes. ‘Gina wants to go to college, I like cars. I’m saving up for a 1959 model.’
‘Keep saving.’
‘And guns,’ Gina interrupted. ‘She’s nuts about guns. She’s probably got an AK-47 in the trunk.’
Destiny shrugged in a don’t you? sort of way. ‘You never know when you might need it in our job.’
‘Anyone would think she’s a guy,’ Gina said, leaning conspiratorially over the table towards him.
Destiny sat up straight, pulled her shoulders back and thrust out her chest. ‘Do I look like a guy to you, Evan?’
The two nerdy guys at the counter were paying a lot of attention. It looked like they’d made their minds up already.
Evan took a closer look. ‘Well—’
‘I’ve told Destiny all about our conversation,’ Gina said, getting them back on track.
‘I don’t like what they’re doing either,’ Destiny said, ‘and I can’t stand that bitch Samantha.’
From the venom she put into the words, he could believe it. He took a sip of his now cold coffee.
‘How did you find out about it?’
Destiny bit her bottom lip and looked at Gina who nodded. She turned back to him, the color rising in her face. ‘I’ve—’
‘She’s been involved a couple of times,’ Gina said as she faltered.
‘But I told them I didn’t want to do it any more,’ Destiny added quickly.
She looked down and played with her coffee cup, her whole body sagging under the weight of her embarrassment.
‘And they’re okay with that?’ he asked.
She nodded without looking up at him. ‘Yeah, it wasn’t a big deal. I said I thought it was too risky for what I was getting out of it.’
‘So they won’t think it’s strange if you say you want back in?’
Destiny shook her head. She looked at Gina. ‘No, we’ve been talking about that—’
‘We’re going to say you picked her up in a bar,’ Gina interrupted, shifting excitedly in her chair. He got the impression she would have liked to be more involved. That made two of them.
‘There are some bars they go to—prospecting you could call it—instead of waiting for the guys to come to the club. Destiny will say she saw you and it was obvious you must be worth a fortune—’
They both leaned back and looked him up and down, looked at each other and shook their heads soberly.
‘We’re going to have to work on that,’ Destiny said.
He looked down at his clothes. There wasn’t anything wrong with the way he was dressed. Maybe not multi-millionaire style ...
‘What if he’s one of those internet millionaires?’ Gina said. ‘They’re all young and look like they need a good wash.’
Destiny bit her bottom lip like she was giving it serious consideration. ‘No, I like the older, sugar-daddy style.’
Gina shook her head. ‘It’s not going to work.’
‘That’s enough, you two,’ he said. ‘I’ll see what I can do.’
Destiny was looking at him with a look in her eyes like she wanted to eat him. He could think of worse ways to go.
‘Okay,’ Gina said, ‘she’ll bring you to the club and tell them that it was just too good an opportunity to miss.’
‘Plus, you’re sooo good looking.’ Destiny raised an eyebrow and did something suggestive with her tongue. ‘There’s no reason why we can’t enjoy ourselves at the same time.’
He swallowed and looked from one to the other. It was like he’d been caught in a turf war between two praying mantises. Maybe they’d just split him down the middle.
‘You’ve embarrassed him,’ Gina said and giggled.
It was a lovely sound, made him want to say something to make her do it again. But it was time to get things back on track. He didn’t want to spoil everything, but he also knew he had to make them realize it wasn’t just a bit of fun.
‘I don’t want to be a party pooper—’
‘But you’re going to be anyway,’ Gina said.
‘—but you need to remember that just because we think it’s a bit of fun, they don’t.’
‘No shit, Sherlock,’ Destiny said, nudging Gina with her elbow. ‘Listen up, Gina. It’s serious now.’
They both leaned forward and put their elbows on the table to show him they were paying attention. It showed him something else as well. He was sure they both squeezed their elbows in to make their tops gape and give him a better view. He tried hard to keep looking at their faces, and their eyes told him they were still having fun playing with him. Destiny took hold of her top and hitched it up.
‘Serious now, Evan,’ she said in her
best schoolmarm voice.
He knew for damn sure he’d have paid a lot more attention at school if the teachers looked like her. She cocked an eyebrow and looked down her nose at him but then ruined it all by bursting out laughing again.
He cracked up. ‘Okay, that’s it. We’ll do this later. I just wanted to meet you today anyway. We have to meet with Angel—’
‘That’s the cop I told you about,’ Gina said to Destiny.
He saw something pass between them. And felt something pass through him. Was it jealousy?
‘—and work out the details. He can give you the pep talk.’
They all sat back in their seats and looked at each other.
‘What now?’ Destiny said.
‘You can give me a ride back to my hotel.’
‘It’s only got two seats.’ She made a show of counting the three of them. ‘I thought you were a detective.’
Now it was his turn to give a big grin, one that had been building ever since the idea first crossed his mind.
‘That’s okay,’ he said, leaning back and eying Gina up and down. ‘Gina looks just about the perfect size to fit on my lap. It’s only a few blocks.’
Whenever he thought about it later, he liked to think Destiny looked disappointed. It sure as hell helped clear his mind of all traces of Hendricks’ email. For the time being, anyway—until the next one arrived.
Chapter 40
FROM THE OTHER SIDE of the street Seppe sat in his car and watched Gina and Destiny and some guy he didn’t recognize come out of the diner and all get in Destiny’s car.
He wouldn’t have minded swapping places with the guy, whoever he was. There was lots of laughing and giggling. Destiny got in the driver’s side and then the guy got in the passenger seat and Gina sat on his lap. From where he was sitting, it looked like she made a big deal of snuggling right down into his lap too. The guy certainly seemed to be enjoying it.
Seppe got his phone out, zoomed in and took a couple of pictures of the guy’s face. They weren’t great but you’d be able to recognize him. They were all having so much fun he could have crossed the street and taken a close-up without them paying any attention. Even so, he turned his face away when Destiny put her foot to the floor and shot out into the traffic, the massive tires squealing and spinning before they bit. Poor guy, Seppe thought, with all that acceleration pushing Gina’s butt harder into his crotch.
The Evan Buckley Thrillers: Books 1 - 4 (Evan Buckley Thrillers Boxsets) Page 38