Bannerman's Law (55 page)

₄₃

Lesko had snatched the receiver from Bannerman
’
s hand.

But Elena knew better than to say much. Only that all
were well. They were visiting the family. There had been
difficulties. She asked that Paul, not Lesko, call back when
he has a moment.

Ba
nn
e
r
man returned the call, recording it, from a credit card phone two blocks away. Lesko, now armed with John
Waldo's Ingram, went with him, serving as cover while
Waldo shopped. Lesko was distracted to the point of use
lessness. Twice, Bannerman had to tell him to keep his eyes on the street.

“
Why you and not me
?”
he asked, walking back.

“
She thinks I'm more detached
.”

“
I'm fine, Goddamn it
.”

“
You won't be
.”

Bannerman paused in the lobby to check for messages.
There were none under the name he was using or under Mol
ly's alias. He expected none. He was looking for some sign
that a bored night operator had been eavesdropping on calls.

Lesko understood what he was doing. He also realized that Ba
nn
e
r
man was taking his time, watching for cracks.
Lesko was damned if he would give him the satisfaction.

“
B
u
nce, Harold J
.”

They listened to Elena's voice.

“
The one still alive is Felix Montoya. They work for a
man named Theodore Mare
k.''

Their identification had come late in her account of the
past hour's events. She told of them in orderly sequence.
Swiss efficiency, thought Bannerman. Lesko would never have let her get through the story. Bannerman had simply
listened, as did Lesko now, saying little. He did not men
tion that he knew two of those names.

She told of the father finding Bunce, of
Bunce's
condi
tion, and of the simultaneous attacks by Montoya and a
third person, then unknown. Billy had defeated Montoya,
waited until he could speak, then questioned him with the
aid of a garden tool.

“
They were sent by this Marek to take Car
l
a
's
father
as a hostage. Marek feared that Carla and another woman
would be hunting him. When Montoya saw Carla, he de
cided to finish it here. Me as well. He seems to have confused me with Molly
.''

“
Does he say that Marek had Lisa killed
?”

“
He claims that Marek is innocent. He says that Marek knew nothing of Lisa until after her death. Bunce, he says,
told him that a man named Dunville killed her
.''

“
Then why did Marek fear Carla
?”

“
Montoya does not know
.''

A pause.
“
Was it these two who shot Yuri
?”

“
Montoya says it was Bunce and one Peter Marek,
now dead or dying. They were sent by this Dunville to kill
Hickey. Montoya does not know why. He says all Hickey
did was dispose of Lisa
's
body
.''

“
And you're sure it was Claude who killed Bunce
?”

“
And very nearly Billy as well. He called later to
apologize
.''

”
I beg your pardon
?”

“
He called Car
l
a, quite upset, relieved that she was
unharmed. It seems that he saw Billy lurking in back of
the house and assumed that Billy must have come with
Bunce. He tried to cut Billy
's
throat. When that failed, he
ran. Billy could not pursue him
.''

Banne
r
man was speechless. Then, “
Did Billy feel that
this Claude had
.
.
.
special skills? Training
?”

“
On the contrary, I think
.''

In his mind, Ba
nn
e
r
ma
n
tried to reconcile the timid
young man Carla had described with the apparently ef
fortless butchery of two tough and wary men, to say noth
ing of having survived meeting Billy in the dark.

Elena read his thoughts.
“
He is more impressive than
you know. He told Carla that he followed Bunce and Peter
Marek to Sur La Mer. This would seem to confirm what
Montoya said
.''

“
Carla told you he said this
?”

She understood. “
He did say it, Paul. I was listening
.''

“
What else did she say to him
?”

“
She asked if he was well
.''

Bannerman frowned but said nothing.

“
Paul
.
.
.
when he apologized for attacking
Billy
.
.
.“
·

Bannerman waited.

“
He seemed to think Billy was Lesko
.''

A thoughtful silence.
“
Had Carla mentioned Lesko to Claude
?”

“
She is now putting her father to bed. I will ask
.”

“
It can wait. Is Bunce still in the garage? With his
car
?''

“
Yes
.”

'
‘
Thank you, Elena. Put Billy on
.''

The recording ended abruptly.

Bannerman carrying one small overnight bag, escorted
Susan to the lobby of the Holiday Inn. He asked the night
clerk to call for a taxi, then walked with her to the en
trance, stopping inside the glass doors.

“
According to Billy
,”
he told her,
“
Claude is white, a
bout five seven or eight, high-pitched voice, effeminate
gestures. His hair is light, possibly blond, cut short. He's
softly built, narrow shoulders, a bit thick around the
middle.

Susan nodded, envisioning him.

“
Elena disagreed about the voice. She said it's a soft monotone. Youthful
.”

“
I'm sure I
'
ll know him if he calls
.”

“
If he does
,”
Banne
r
man said firmly,
“
you'll give him
Ca
r
la's message and no more. Don't let him think you're
keeping him on the phone
.”

“
Gotcha
.”

“
And what's the message
?”

“
Ca
rl
a says meet her, three o'clock, at the place where
she stopped and got out of her car. Where the man follow
ing her made a U-tur
n
and ran. She says that only Claude
will know where that was
.”

“
But you
don't
know. She wouldn't tell you
.”

“
Bannerman
...
I get it. Where will Carla be
?”

“
Busy. Until three o'clock. Any more questions
?”

“
Yes. What did you say to Billy
?”

”
I asked him what Claude looked like
.”

“
You clicked off the recorder to do that
?”

“
There were some odds and ends
.”

She nodded.
“
Like what to do with the bodies
.”

Bannerman heard her use of the plural.
'
‘
Susan, this is
not
a
.
.
.”

“
Don't you dare
.”
Her eyes blazed.

“
Dare what
?”

“
Don't you fucking tell me this is not a game. Don't
you ever say that to me again
.”

Bannerman winced. He willed a taxi to appear. None
did.

“
Those two men were killers, Susan. They wouldn't
have thought twice.”

“
And it's not just Lisa anymore
.”

”
I know that too. Don't patronize me
.”

Bannerman took a breath. He looked into her eyes.

“
In a few days
,”
he said quietly,
“
Billy will be making cheeseburgers for you again. He looks forward to your
coming in. He likes your smile and the way you touch his
arm while you're talking to him
.”

Susan blinked.

“
T
his morning he tortured that man, Montoya. By now,
he's finished him. He will probably do additional damage to the corpse. Next, he'll hose out George Benedict's ga
rage and then he'll drive the two bodies to the address of
the man they worked for
.”

Susan wanted to look away. She wouldn't let herself.

“
Billy will leave the bodies, parked there, to be discov
ered. The point of it is terror. The point of terror is advan
tage. Are you sure you needed to hear this said
?”

She tossed her head, ambiguously. But she understood.
Corpses and cheeseburgers. Torture and touches.

No, she didn't need to hear it said.

Lesko was alone.

John Waldo had returned with two plastic shopping bags. Molly dumped their contents on the bed, sorted
through a pile of tools and black boxes, picked what she
wanted and left. Waldo reclaimed his Ingram. Lesko walked down to his room for the pistol Billy had given
him. He'd already seen that Elena's was gone.

“
Did I tell you
?”

Katz. Lesko was in no mood.

“
Elena's fine. She did real good, sounds like
.”

He pretended not to hear.

“
So what's the matter
?”

Nothing, he thought. Except that Elena should have talked to him, not Banne
rm
an. Why Ba
nn
e
r
ma
n
?

“
Because she knew you
'
d go bullshit, that's why. One guy gets sliced like a pepperoni. The guy with him would
have sliced Elena. Then this yingyang who does college
girls almost gets past Bannerma
n`s
monster. Would you
have talked to you
?”

Pepperoni.

The word lingered in
Lesko's
brain. For a moment it
seemed to mean something. Then he realized. That pizza
he ate. He could still tast
e
it.

“
Bannerman
's
going to hit this Mare
k
guy
.''

Lesko shrugged.

“
So? Are we in
?”

“
Let's see what he has in mind
.”

“
He
's
gotta hit Marek because Marek tried to hit one
of
Bannerma
n`s
own. The guy crossed the line. Then he's gonna hit Dunville because Dunville killed Car
l
a
's
sister
.''

“
Says who? The Montoya guy? Maybe he was trying
to save
Marek's
ass
.”

“
Out of loyalty, right? While
McHugh's
turning him
into a pork chop? Get real
.”

“
Anyway, Molly says there are three Dunvilles
.''

“
Carla
would
n't
give a shit if there were ten. She
'll
let God sort them out
.''

“
Yeah, well I
.
.
.
”

Pepperoni.

The word flashed by again.

“
Hey, David
?”

“
What
?”

“
The psycho. The Campus Killer. How could he think
that was me out there
?”

“
I
n the dark? Why not? Same size, same build
.”

“
It's not just how I look. He knew my name
.”

“
Bannerman says maybe Carla mentioned it
.''

“
And described me
?”

Thoughtfully.
”I guess not
.”

“
Then how else
?”

“
How about the cops? The whole task force has to
know you
're
in town for the funeral. And Huff was telling
stories, right? He would have told them you're big and
ugly
.”

Lesko shook his head slowly. Katz was saying that the
serial killer might be a cop. Or someone close to cops.
Like a civilian auxiliary or even a janitor. Stranger things
have happened. And it might help explain why the task
force had zilch in the way of progress.

But he kept tasting pepperoni. And his mind went back
to Queen of Angels and the kid with the pizzas. Monotone
voice. Matched
McHugh's
description, such as it was.

“
T
h
at's dumb, Lesko
.”

“
Why
?”

“
For openers, nobody knew we were going there and
we weren
't
tailed. Plus, nobody at that hospital knew your
name except
B
elkin and he never said a word until the
kid was gone
.''

”
I said
Carla's
name. He could have heard it
.”

“
Then he would have stuck around, tried to follow you
home. Did he
?”

“
No
.”

“
For the timing to work, he would have had to go
directly from the hospital to Sherman
Oaks.
What would
have made him do that
?”

Lesko shook his head.
“
Nothing I said to
Ir
win
.”

“
So
?”

“
Forget it. It's dumb
.”