Cold Justice (29 page)

She crept back along the outside wall to a small door at the
side of the garage. She twisted the knob.

Locked.

She reached into her handbag, pulled out a small leather
case, and flipped it open. The first real test of her brand new lock-picking
tools. Hopefully, there’s no alarm set in the garage. She didn’t see any wires
or other evidence of that around the door.

She had practiced a little when she had first bought the
tools, but not nearly enough. She worked at the lock for ten minutes before she
heard a pleasant tick, a click, and the knob turned. She held her breath and
pushed the door open, ready to run. But there was no alarm.

She stepped inside and eased the door shut. There was
another door on the inside wall of the garage, probably leading to the living
area. The back wall was lined with metal shelving. It held containers of oil,
gas cans, and a variety of small gardening equipment. A coiled up garden hose
was tossed in the corner. The other two parking slots were empty, and she stood
still, staring at the Mercedes in the center space for a few moments.

She hadn’t tried picking the lock on a car before. Would it
be any different than a house lock?

She stepped to the back of the vehicle, her tools ready.
There was no lock on the trunk. The latch must be inside the vehicle.

She went to the driver’s side door. Again, she prayed there
was no alarm, but nothing rang, buzzed, or screeched as she worked with the
tools.

It took another few minutes to finally spring the lock, and
she smiled as she pulled the door handle up. She snooped around inside the
glove compartment, a map, the manual, and a folder of maintenance invoices. She
checked under the seats. Nothing. Nothing except dust.

She checked under the dashboard
and found the lever to open the trunk. She heard a pop from the back of the
vehicle as she gave it a tug.

She climbed back out, went to the rear and lifted the lid.
The trunk was empty.

What did she expect to find? Another body?

She dug out her keychain. There was a penlight fastened to
the ring. She switched it on, and as the light glowed, she was glad she had
changed the battery that morning.

She shone the light around, in the corners, around the
edges, and... What’s that dark spot?

It looks like dried blood.

She flipped her handbag from her shoulder and pulled out a
plastic bag. She removed a small bottle equipped with a fine mist atomizer,
twisted the top off, and dropped in two tablets, one white, and one beige. She
turned the top back on, gave the tablets a moment to dissolve, shook the
bottle, and sprayed it over the spot.

She saw an eerie blue glow, lasting about thirty seconds
before fading away. Her luminol kit had worked. The dark spot was blood.

There was no doubt about it now. Hoffman was the killer.

She was feeling nervous and excited. It was one thing to
suspect Hoffman, but now, being sure of it was terrifying. Her hands shook
slightly as she reached into her handbag for her phone.

She heard a scrape, and a click. It seemed to be coming from
the side of the vehicle near the inner door to the house. Her head snapped up
and her eyes popped.

It was Hoffman.

He had a sneer on his face, and the gun in his hand was
pointing straight at her.

Chapter 51

Friday, August 19th, 2:30 PM

JAKE AND RACHEL walked back to where he had left his car by
the park, and swung by the bus station to drop her off. They had had a long
talk in the kitchen, and Jake finally convinced her Tommy was no good. She had
decided to leave him and go back out west, to her family, where she came from
several years ago.

Jake gave her two hundred dollars and watched her lug her
suitcase into the terminal, hoping he hadn’t thrown his money away, and she
would make something of herself.

He knew Tommy Salamander was holding out on him. Tommy was
lying when he said he had taken a job from someone he didn’t know. That was
just too hard to believe. He wasn’t going to get any more information out of
him, but he had an idea.

He drove back to the street where Tommy lived, pulled over
to the side, and looked across the road. Tommy’s friends were back and hanging
around the garage.

He coasted a little further, pulled a u-turn, parked the car
and jumped out. He walked back toward the hoodlums, being careful not to be
seen.

He stepped off the sidewalk and strode toward them. Two of
them were talking to each other and didn’t see him. The other two scurried
away. It didn’t matter. Jake had his eye on one of them, a nerdy little guy who
tried to look a lot tougher than he was.

“I want some information,” Jake said.

They looked up at him uneasily. The nerd seemed to squeeze
in a little tighter to the fence he was leaning against. Ugly was near him,
sitting on the crumbling pavement, his back against the garage door. He sat up
straight and glanced around, as if looking for a way to escape.

Jake leaned down, grabbed a handful of Ugly’s jacket and
lifted him off the ground. He swung him around and released his grip. Ugly
landed a few feet away and scrambled to his feet. He stood still as if not
knowing whether to run.

Jake looked at him. “Boo.”

Ugly spun away, across the driveway and around the side of
the building.

Jake turned back to the nerd. “What’s your name?”

His voice quivered. “Jimmy.” It sounded like a question.

“Well, Jimmy, it’s nice to meet you. My name’s Jake, and I’m
not here to hurt you.”

Jimmy looked as if he didn’t know whether to believe him.

“Stand up, Jimmy.”

Jimmy stood obediently, cowering back.

Jake cornered him between the garage and the fence. “You’re
Tommy’s friend, right?”

Jimmy nodded meekly.

“Did you talk to him yesterday?”

Another nod.

“What about yesterday evening?”

“He wasn’t around.”

“Where was he?”

“He said he had a job to do.”

“What kind of job?”

Jimmy shrugged.

“Did he say who hired him?”

Another shrug.

Jake grabbed Jimmy by the jacket, pushed him back firmly and
repeated, “Did he say who hired him?”

Jimmy looked around nervously. “I can’t say anything. He’ll
kill me.”

Jimmy’s breath shot out as Jake pushed a little harder. “And
I’ll kill you if you don’t.”

Jimmy licked his dried lips. “You... You wouldn’t do that?”

Jake heaved and Jimmy’s feet came off the ground about
twelve inches. “How do you know?”

Jimmy wiggled, and whined, “Put me down.”

Jake did. Jimmy fell into a heap, landing back on his
elbows. Jake knelt beside him and pushed him to the pavement. “Who hired him?”

“He... He just said he had an errand to do for his uncle.”

“What kind of errand?”

“He... He said he had to pick up a package. I don’t know
what kind of package. Maybe some drugs. I don’t know. Honest.”

“Who’s his uncle?”

“I don’t know his name.”

Jake studied him briefly, and holding him firmly with his
left hand, he tightened his right into a massive fist. He showed it to Jimmy. “If
you don’t tell me, I’ll break your nose.”

Jimmy squeezed his eyes shut, turned his head, and brought
his hands up as if to ward off the blow. “Please,” he pleaded. “Don’t hurt me.
I don’t know his name. I swear. If I knew, I would tell you.”

Jake released his grip and stood up. “Get out of here,” he
said.

Jimmy’s eyes shot open. He stared in disbelief for a moment,
and then scrambled to his feet and scurried away.

Jake watched him run and then dug his iPhone out of the
holder and called Annie’s number.

No answer.

He let it ring a few times, frowned at the phone, and tried
another number.

“Hello?”

“Chrissy, it’s Jake. Have you talked to Annie today?”

“Not today.”

“She’s not answering her phone and I’m getting a little
worried. Can you tell her to call me if you see her?”

“Sure.”

“And Chrissy, can you watch Matty for awhile in case neither
one of us comes home in time?”

“Absolutely, no problem. I’ll watch for him.”

They hung up and Jake dropped his phone back in the holder.

Matty knew if he came home from school and no one was
around, he should go next door. Chrissy was always there at that time, and she
would watch him.

He knew Annie had gone to see Philip Blackley a couple of
hours ago, and perhaps she was still there, but he didn’t know why she wouldn’t
be answering her phone.

But right now, he had to find out who Tommy Salamander’s
uncle is.

Chapter 52

Friday, August 19th, 2:52 PM

ANNIE STOOD FROZEN, staring at the gun Hoffman pointed at
her, his finger tightening on the trigger.

She dropped behind the trunk and twisted around to the far
side of the vehicle. She watched her cell phone leap from her hand, hit the
concrete, and skid across the floor. If she went for it, she would be back into
Hoffman’s view. She would have to leave it.

“Stand up and come out,” Hoffman called.

She heard him coming across the floor, around the car to
where she was crouching. She scurried to the front of the vehicle, just as he
reached the side. A loud crack echoed off the walls of the room, and a bullet
whistled and smacked into the wall behind her.

She eased her head up for a moment. He had the gun ready and
was moving to the front. She dropped down and looked around desperately for a
weapon or some means of escape. She saw nothing useful, and she had but a
couple of seconds to spare. He was between her and the outer door now, getting
closer. She sprang to her feet, ran to the door leading into the house, and
half fell up the single step into the landing.

Another shot sounded. It hit the wall near her head as she
scrambled across the floor on all fours. She stumbled to her feet. She was in a
large kitchen. She thought about looking for a knife, but didn’t have time. And
a knife wasn’t much good against a deadly gun.

She crossed the kitchen and dove through a doorway into a
large living room as she heard his feet on the kitchen floor.

“You can’t get away,” he shouted. “If you stop and come
back, I won’t hurt you.”

Annie knew that was a ridiculous promise. He had killed
three people, and she didn’t want to be the fourth. She was sure Hoffman was
the murderer, and didn’t realize until she had seen the blood, how much danger
she had put herself into. She should have called Jake when she had the chance,
or at least, left a message telling him where she was.

She ran across the room toward another doorway. In a
split-second she saw that going to the right circled back to the kitchen, the
left down a hallway, a wide staircase to the second floor. She could be trapped
up there, and circling back to the kitchen was dangerous. She took the unknown
route down the hallway.

He wasn’t far behind her, just coming into the living room.
He knew his way around, but she was running blind. A wrong decision and she
would be trapped.

She made a quick choice and took the first open doorway into
a large bedroom. She looked around frantically. In the closet, under the bed,
or through the window?

Instead, she stood behind the door, hoping he would pass. He
didn’t.

She heard him step into the room and stop. He was on the
other side of the door, but she couldn’t see him. She stood motionless, her heart
pounding as she listened to him breath.

“I know you’re in here,” he called. “I’m not going to hurt
you. I just want to talk to you and find out why you are in my house.”

She watched his back as he came in further and crept through
the door of a walk-in closet, his gun poised and ready, gripped in both hands.

When he came back out, he would be sure to see her. She had
only one chance. She eased around the door and back into the hallway with a
single objective; get out of here and get to a phone.

She was only familiar with one route, back to the kitchen,
into the garage, and outside. But what about a phone? She had heard an uneasy
snap when hers had hit the concrete floor. She didn’t expect it would work.
Should she look for a phone in the house, or just go to the neighboring
property?

She made a quick decision, and headed for the garage.

Chapter 53

Friday, August 19th, 2:52 PM

JAKE DECIDED he would have to deal with Salamander later. It
wouldn’t be hard for the police to track him down and get the truth out of him,
once he had this thing figured out. He hurried across the street, climbed into
the Firebird and turned the key. The engine roared and the car leaped ahead. He
took a left on Main, and drove north, heading toward more familiar territory.

As he reached closer to home, he took a left, and a quick
right, and pulled over to the side, directly in front of a row of townhouses.
He jumped from the vehicle and went up the driveway to the door of #633. He
rang the doorbell and waited.

The door sprang open. “Hello, my good man. What brings you
to my less than humble abode.”

Jake grinned and stepped in. “I need your help.”

Jeremiah Everest and Jake had been good friends for many
years. With not a lot of the same likes and dislikes, their paths hadn’t crossed
often, but they remained friends nonetheless. Jeremiah was aptly named ‘Geekly’
by those who knew him best, a name he rather liked. Geekly had helped Jake and
Annie a few times when they needed his expertise.