“Possibly.” I tried to picture him in my mind’s eye. “He had on a leather jacket that made it hard to tell what size he was, and I never saw his face. But his hair was similar.”
“Tripp does have a leather jacket. Of course, so do tons of other guys.” Zach let out a sigh. “We can’t just accuse him of murder. We don’t have any proof.”
“How can we get proof?”
“I parked in the hospital lot instead of on campus. I’m not sure if it’ll still be there, but I saw Tripp’s car.” Zach paused. He looked like he was formulating a plan. “We can search his car for anything that connects him to the Banished. Maybe we can even find the ring.”
“So, what are we waiting for?”
Zach eyed my boxer pajamas with the little ladybugs printed all over them.
“Oh, yeah. I guess I might want to change.” I’d been so caught up in everything tonight that I had completely forgotten what I was wearing. “Um … can you …?” Just the thought of undressing with Zach in the room made my pulse race.
“Yeah, sure. I’ll be outside.” Zach crawled out the window.
I threw on some jeans, pulled a T-shirt over my thin tank, and grabbed a hoodie, then climbed out after him.
“I just talked to Brody.” Zach closed his cell phone as I dropped down next to him. “Apparently, the police picked up Mrs. Carr earlier tonight. They wouldn’t let Brody stay in the house by himself, so he’s been sitting in the waiting room at the station for over three hours. He was only able to call me because the officer keeping an eye on him finally went to the bathroom.”
“Did they say why they were taking her in? Is Tripp there, too?”
“Brody said they won’t tell him anything, but he saw one of the most powerful elders from the Council go into the interrogation room. And that’s not a good sign. At least not for Mrs. Carr.”
“Yeah, I kinda figured that.” I chewed on my bottom lip. “Should we still go look for Tripp’s car?”
“Well, if they’ve taken him in, this would be a good chance to search it without worrying about getting caught. And if they didn’t arrest him, then they’re not on the right track and we still need to find something to prove our theory.”
“Okay then.” I started walking. “Let’s go.”
I felt strangely exhilarated as we got closer to the hospital. This could all end tonight. The fear, the uncertainty—I might soon have answers that would put them both to rest.
“It’s still here.” Zach pointed to the black Maserati I’d seen Trent roar off in that day at the SAC.
“Does Trent drive it, too?”
“Yeah. Trent worships Tripp, and ass kissing will get you everywhere with my uncle.” Zach slowed his pace and glanced around cautiously as we emerged from the side of the hospital building. “Trent always borrows the Maserati when he’s after a girl; he thinks it makes him an irresistible bad ass.”
I let out a little snort of laughter. “I can tell you it certainly didn’t work in my case. I mostly thought he was a tool.”
“And that’s why I like you.” Zach gave me a sexy smile.
“How are you going to do this without anyone hearing the alarm or seeing us?” I looked back over my shoulder at the front door to the hospital. We were totally exposed now, standing in the brightly lit parking lot next to the sleek car.
Zach looked up at the offending streetlamp hovering above us.
“It’s just like Tripp to park his car under a spotlight,” Zach muttered. He walked around the car and laid his hand against the steel base of the light. He furrowed his brow in concentration, and a moment later the bulb flashed and went out with a loud pop. I jumped, startled by the sound.
“Sorry, I can usually do that quieter.” Zach came back to the driver’s side, where I was standing. “I feel like my abilities have been sort of out of whack today. Hopefully I’ll still be able to disarm the alarm.” He gave me a grin to let me know he was joking, but I didn’t feel all that reassured. I squeezed my eyes closed as he reached for the door handle.
“Phe, it’s fine.” Zach laughed. “I’ve got it taken care of—no alarm.”
Hesitantly, I opened one eye and then the other.
“We better hurry, though.” He sat down in the bucket seat and reached over to open the middle console.
I walked around the front of the car and slid into the passenger’s side. The strong scent of the Maserati’s interior washed over me, and my stomach lurched with recognition. That syrupy, vanilla scent with the musty undertones … it smelled like the person who had tried to trap me in the hall outside the darkrooms.
“What is that smell? Is it Tripp’s cologne?” I asked.
“Uh, no. It’s his tobacco. Black Cavendish, I think.” Zach sniffed the air. “It is pretty saturated in here; he smokes his pipe in the car.”
“That’s what I smelled on the guy who chased me, the one who knocked over the soda machine.”
Zach looked at me, gripping the side of the console so hard his knuckles were white. “Tripp better pray he’s in jail.”
His words left an implied or else. I didn’t want to find out what the other option was.
“We need to find some evidence fast,” I said. “I’ll get the glove box.”
The small compartment was filled with papers, and I knew anything as heavy as a ring would have fallen to the bottom. Pulling out the insurance certificate and owner’s manual, I shone the light from my cell phone into the compartment so I could see better. But there was no glint of metal, not even from a tire pressure gauge. As I put the papers back in, I noticed a bank slip. Transferred funds?
“Look at this.” I handed it to Zach.
“Damn, he’s transferring hundreds of thousands to a bank account in the Cayman Islands.”
“He’s about to run?” I guessed.
“Looks like it.” Zach ground his teeth. “Keep searching; he can’t leave without his car.”
I felt around under the seat. “Nothing here. You got anything?”
“Not yet. He could have put it anywhere. It could be at home in a jewelry box, for all we know.” Zach hit the steering wheel. “Shit.”
“We could check his office. Or maybe he’s still wearing it,” I suggested.
“Not Tripp. He’s a total perfectionist and as anal as the day is long. He wouldn’t sport anything that was broken or banged up. And it’s evidence. He probably hid it somewhere.”
I thought back to the time when Ariel and I had been in her brother’s car on the way to a huge party and he’d gotten pulled over by the LAPD. He’d had to stash a bag of pills.
“There’s one place we haven’t looked.” I pulled open the ashtray; it was full of change. I guess it was too small for dumping your pipe tobacco.
“Already looked through that. It’s just coins.”
“But I bet you didn’t look here.” I pressed down on the release lever for the ashtray and slid it all the way out. Then I reached my hand into the space left behind. I felt my fingers make contact with cold metal. I knew before I even pulled it out that it was the ring.
Zach looked at the cracked green stone in a mix of horror and triumph. “Now we know for sure. Tripp killed Mr. Carr.”
Chapter Twenty-six
“I’m going to find him.” Zach reached for the door handle.
“No, wait!” I grabbed his arm. I’d never seen Zach look like this, and it scared me. “Shouldn’t we call the cops? I mean, this is enough to convince them, right? There’s probably DNA on this ring from Mr. Carr.”
Zach stopped, frowning, and I could feel the tension in his arm ease a little. “You’re right.” He pulled out his cell phone and punched in a number. “I have to call my dad first. I need to tell him what’s going on.”
He put the phone up to his ear, and I could hear the faint sound of ringing.
“Dad?”
I could barely make out mumbling on the other end of the phone.
“Well, actually, I’m not home. I’m outside
the hospital.”
Slightly louder mumbling.
“I snuck out, okay? But that’s not important. I just found out something huge …” Zach took a deep breath. “Tripp killed Mr. Carr.”
Complete silence.
“Dad?”
Another low rumble escaped from the cell.
“I’m not jumping to conclusions. Brody called me from the police station; they took Mrs. Carr in earlier.” Zach explained all the things we had found out. When he’d finished, he waited, listening to his father.
“Mom’s over there?” Zach asked, then said, “Okay. You call her so she can tell the Council. I’ll make sure Tripp doesn’t leave.”
That brought an agitated spike of noise from the other end. Zach clenched his jaw, his eyes bright and hard, and I felt sure he didn’t like what his dad was saying—no doubt because Mr. Redford was telling Zach not to confront his uncle, an order I very much agreed with.
“But, Dad—” There was another rumble of noise, and Zach sighed. “Okay. You’re right. I won’t leave Phe alone.”
“What did he say?” I asked as soon as the phone clicked closed.
“My mom was already called away to some emergency Council meeting. Which means they must have gotten Mrs. Carr to talk.”
I had no interest in finding out what had gone on in that interrogation room tonight.
“My dad’s going to call the Council’s office and tell them they need to speed things up because Tripp is now a flight risk. Then he’s going to have Chief Bradbury meet him here. He also told me to stay in the hospital lobby until then, and under no circumstances are we to go after Tripp ourselves.” Zach didn’t look terribly pleased about this request, but it certainly seemed like a good idea to me. “For now, though, we need to get away from this car.”
I slid the ring into my pocket, replaced the ashtray, and we got out. Zach was resetting the alarm when I felt a strange tingling on the back of my neck.
“Well, kids … admiring my Maserati?” We turned. Tripp Redford’s tone was relaxed, but his expression was alert. “You’re out a little late, aren’t you, Zach? Didn’t you just get out of the hospital?”
“You should know the answer to that—you’re the one who put me there,” Zach retorted, his eyes flashing.
My stomach turned to ice. Tripp wasn’t just Zach’s uncle anymore, we now knew that he was also a killer.
“Don’t be ridiculous; I didn’t touch you. Clearly, you hit your head harder than anyone realized,” Tripp told him, his voice contemptuous. The charming demeanor he had displayed at Oakhaven was gone completely.
“You’re bluffing,” Zach told him flatly. “I didn’t remember at first, but now it’s coming back to me. I saw you on the way down to Mom’s office.”
I wondered if Zach really was recovering his memory or if he was the one bluffing now.
“You’re lying.” His uncle’s eyes flashed, and he took a step forward. “And who do you think everyone will believe? Me or my poor confused nephew who just got out of the hospital?”
“I know who Dad will believe. He’s on his way here with Chief Bradbury,” Zach went on. “I’ve already told him everything about you and the Banished. About your affair with Mrs. Carr. Your girlfriend’s being interrogated, by the way, so you might want to explain killing Mr. Carr before she does it for you.”
I knew that Zach was hoping Tripp would give himself away, so I watched Tripp’s face intently, looking for any change in his expression. Something that meant Zach’s words had hit home.
A look of shock passed over Tripp’s visage at the mention of Mrs. Carr, and there was a flash of something else—like for a split second it had been Trent rather than Tripp standing there in front of us.
I stared at him, unable to believe my eyes. I glanced over at Zach. He was also gazing at Tripp in amazement. I opened my mouth to say something, but an overwhelmingly loud sound drowned out everything else. I turned and saw a helicopter descending onto the hospital’s emergency landing pad. But this was no white EMT helicopter with a red cross on its side. No, this one was sleek and black, free of any distinctive marks.
“I know it’s you, Trent!” Zach shouted over the roar of the helicopter.
“You’re delusional!” the man yelled back.
I turned back to Tripp. My eyes were having trouble focusing. It was like I was watching a quick-cut CGI action sequence where you can’t see what’s really happening because it’s jumping around too fast. Tripp wasn’t moving, yet he was still … blurry.
I grabbed Zach’s hand so even if he couldn’t hear me, he would still be able to figure out what I was thinking. “It is Trent! He’s doing that perception manipulation thing!”
“You’re crazy! That’s not possible!” Tripp/Trent yelled, but the more frantic he got, the harder it was to hold on to whatever kind of mind trick he was pulling. He looked like a morphing image paused in the middle of its transformation. “We’re not wasting any more time on you.” Zach started to step around him. Tripp/Trent pulled back his arm and punched Zach square on the jaw. Zach barely flinched and responded with a powerful blow to the diaphragm. Trent lost all control of his illusion as he doubled over in pain. He tried to regain his balance, but Zach slammed his fist into his cheek and Trent crumpled to the ground, out cold.
“Come on! If we wait any longer, Tripp’ll be gone!” Zach pulled on my arm.
“What about what your dad said?” I shouted back.
“Screw that! We don’t have time to wait around!” And with that, Zach took off at a neck-breaking pace. I held on to his hand tightly, struggling not to fall over my own feet as I tried to keep up with Zach’s long strides.
“It’ll be easier this way. No guard!” Zach let go of my hand to wrench the back door open. As he took off down the maze of hallways, I slowed a little so I could breathe while still staying close enough to keep sight of him. Finally, mercifully, he made a turn into an open office, and I was able to come to a stop, bent over and panting. When I finally straightened up, ignoring the stitch in my side, I saw Zach standing behind a desk covered in boxes of files.
“The cabinets have been totally emptied,” he informed me, as if I couldn’t tell that by the vacant drawers standing half open. “He’s taking all the test results, the gene research …” Zach shook his head in disbelief. “God knows what he’s already told them.”
I walked around the desk to stand by Zach.
“It’ll be okay. We’ll catch him before he leaves.” I hoped my voice sounded reassuring because I had no idea if what I was saying was even true.
“He could be gone already for all we know.” Zach kicked a box on the floor, sending it slamming into the wall.
“He wouldn’t have left his stuff here.” I pointed at the briefcase on the desk in front of us.
“Very good observation, Ms. Archer.”
We whirled around. Tripp, the real Tripp, was standing in the doorway.
“Hello, Zach.” He sauntered in slowly, obviously not worried that we posed any sort of threat to his escape plans. Zach took an intimidating step toward him, but Tripp simply smiled. “Don’t tell me you’re going to try to stop me.”
“What do you think? And it’s not only me, Tripp. My father’s on his way here right now. Along with the police.”
“Oh, Christ!” The older man scowled. “I might have known you and Grant would do something like this. I had hopes for you, Zach. Your mother’s a strong woman, and so’s Corinne. But clearly you take after my spineless brother.”
“It’s not spineless to be loyal. Dad would never do anything like this. Dad would never deal with the Banished. Or sell us out for money or power or whatever the hell made you do it.”
“I did it for my father!” Tripp thundered. The air crackled with electricity. “You think I did this for me? I did it to save your grandfather. You’ve seen him, the way he is—a mindless invalid. The man who once was the finest medical mind in this community. In this country. Now he’s lucky if he c
an remember his name.”
“How the hell does that justify your trading secrets to our enemies?”
“They taught me how to help him. They showed me how to give him back his energy, his power.”
That was probably what Tripp was doing the day we saw him at Oakhaven. The day Zach told me how well his grandfather was doing. It was easier to hate Tripp when I thought he was purely evil. But in his own twisted way, he had been trying to help. To take care of his family.
“You’ve been sucking energy from people.” Zach shook his head. “You’ve been stealing their life force and transferring it to Granddad.” He looked like he was trying to wrap his mind around the idea.
“Give the boy a cigar,” Tripp proclaimed sarcastically.
Zach’s rage seemed to lessen a little. “Tripp … you don’t have to run. Tell the Council why you were dealing with the Banished. They’ll understand about your trying to help Granddad.”
“You think they’ll understand about murder?” Tripp retorted sarcastically. “They won’t give me a slap on the wrist for Carr.”
“Why did you kill him?” I burst out, unable to hold back any longer. “Because of Mrs. Carr?”
He glanced at me, startled. “How the hell did you—” He shook his head, dismissing the question. “Doesn’t matter. No, I did not get rid of him because of Pamela. Pamela is … a side issue.”
I bet she’d love to hear that.
“Then what was the issue?” I pressed. “What was worth murdering your friend? And what did it have to do with me? Why did you steal my bracelet?”
“I didn’t steal your stupid bracelet—you dropped it in the gravel that day I met you in the parking lot. You were fidgeting annoyingly with some zipper on your purse. All that wonderful energy you possess was radiating off you. The more nervous you were, the stronger the energy got. Of course, you’re still clueless.” Tripp snorted.
“Why did Mr. Carr have my bracelet in his hand when I found his body?”
“I was carrying it when I was with Pam; it fell out of my pocket in their bedroom. But that bracelet means nothing. It’s merely a piece of jewelry until it’s ionized.”
Shadow Hills Page 29