The Next Victim (39 page)

"Tell you what. I'm on the road right now and all the paperwork from the event is at the office. I usually swing by La Cantina after work. Why don't you meet me there, say, six o'clock?"

"Great." Kali felt heartened. Between Reed Logan and Ron Silverman, maybe today she'd finally get some answers.

It wasn't until Kali pushed through the wide doors of the Logan Food headquarters that she stopped to wonder: Had she subconsciously planned the trip as a pretext for running into Nash? No, she told herself. Not true. But she wasn't entirely convinced.

She turned determinedly from the hallway that led to the legal counsel's office and asked the receptionist for Reed Logan. After a muffled call to Reed's secretary, the receptionist directed Kali to go on back.

John's former secretary, Alicia, was seated at the desk outside Reed's office. She greeted Kali like an old friend.

"I'm just filling in while Mr. Logan's secretary is on vacation," she explained. "Did you have an appointment? I didn't see it listed."

"No appointment. I was hoping I could just get a few minutes of his time."

"He's got someone with him right now, but I don't think they'll be long. Why don't you have a seat and I'll see what I can do?" She ran a thumb over one of her long, scarlet nails. "I miss working for your brother, you know. It's hard to believe he's gone."

Kali nodded. "I appreciate that you came to the funeral."

"Well, yeah, of course."

Kali sat in one of the sage-green side chairs against the wall. "Did you know John well? Outside of work, I mean."

Alicia gave a little wisp of a laugh. Embarrassed, and maybe a bit flattered, too, that Kali could even ask the question. "No, it wasn't like that at all. Believe me."

But Alicia would have liked it to be, Kali realized.

The door to Reed's office opened just then and he emerged, followed by A. J. Nash. They both appeared surprised to see Kali, but while Nash grinned with obvious pleasure, Reed scowled at her.

"You're persistent," he growled.

Nash raised his eyebrows, shot Kali a sympathetic look, then wisely excused himself to head back to his office.

"Please, Reed," Kali pleaded, "just give me five minutes."

"What for?"

"Doesn't your friendship with John mean anything?"

He sighed. "Okay, five minutes max." He stood back and let Kali enter his office.

"You want to convince me John is innocent, right?" Reed seated himself behind the wide walnut desk. He rested his forearms on the surface, pressed his fingertips together, and regarded her with a mixture of belligerence and quiet resignation.

Kali took a seat in one of the visitor's chairs. "Not really," she replied. Now that Reed had agreed to talk to her, she was at a loss how to begin. Finally, she decided to get the worst of it over first. "There's evidence suggesting John's death wasn't accidental," she said, watching Reed's reaction. "Evidence that he was murdered."

Reed recoiled slightly. "What do you mean, murdered? He went on a bender and drowned."

"But there was someone else at the house that night," Kali said.

"Do you know who?"

Kali shook her head.

Rubbing his jaw, Reed stood and walked to the window. "And you think this...this person is responsible for John's death?"

"It's possible." Kali paused. "I was hoping you'd have an idea who might have been there."

"Me?" Reed's expression was puzzled. He looked down at his flat, blunt fingers. Then suddenly he laughed. "What you're really wondering is, was it me?"

Kali didn't return the laugh. "Was it?"

He stared at her a moment. "Unbelievable."

"What is?"

"You are. You have a hell of a lot of nerve." A vein in Reed's temple throbbed. He jingled some change in one of his trouser pockets, then returned to his desk. "But I guess that explains why the cops have been back asking questions."

So Michelle Parker had been telling the truth about taking a fresh look. "What kind of questions?" Kali asked.

"About the company. About John." Reed ran a hand across his high forehead and over his scalp. "How could you even consider the possibility that I'd do something like that? I'm insulted."

"
You're
insulted?" Kali leaned forward in her chair. "You've been ready to blame John for your sister's death from the start. You weren't open to other ideas at all. If you don't think better of John, why should I think better of you?"

For a moment Kali thought he was going to throw her out of his office. Instead, he folded his hands and looked her in the eye. "I assure you, I had nothing to do with John's death. Of course, if you think me capable of murder, you're hardly going to take my word for it."

Reed got up again and poured himself a glass of water from the pitcher on the credenza. "Are you suggesting that whoever killed John, assuming someone did, is the person who also killed Sloane?"

"If it wasn't the same person, there's at least some connection. Doesn't that seem obvious?"

Reed drummed his fingers on the side of the glass. "Interesting theory."

"Do you have any idea what the connection might be? You were closer to both John and Sloane than just about anybody else."

He took a sip of water. "Not a clue."

"What about the girl who was living with Sloane? Did John know her?"

"Olivia?" He drained the glass. "I doubt it."

Kali took a breath. "Did you know John was involved in pornography?"

Reed set the glass down and returned to his chair. "He mentioned it. He was kind of embarrassed about the whole thing, but he was raking in the money. After some of his earlier setbacks, he was determined to build another nest egg."

Alicia's voice came through the intercom. "Sorry to bother you, Mr. Logan, but your two o'clock is here."

"I'll be there in a minute." Reed addressed Kali: "I don't like thinking John was a murderer any more than you do. I'd be thrilled if the police came up with a different suspect. But I don't have any information that's going to help them do that."

Kali nodded and rose, feeling far from satisfied. "Thanks for seeing me."

Back in the parking lot, Kali started the engine and flicked the air conditioner up to high. As she started to back out of the parking space, the car pulled to the left and rolled awkwardly. Her stomach sank.

When she got out to take a look, her fears were confirmed. A flat rear tire. Damn. Just what she didn't need.

Muttering under her breath, she pulled out the rental agreement and her cell phone, then punched in the number for Hertz. While she was waiting to be connected, she examined the tire more closely. The valve cap was missing. How had that happened?

Then she noticed a brown, softball-sized rock under the chassis near the rear wheel. It was similar in size and color to the one that had been thrown through John's picture window.

Tucson was full of rocks, but there were no others here in the paved lot of Logan Foods' corporate headquarters. The message was clear:
Get out
.

And clever, too, because there was no way Kali could prove the flat was meant to be a warning.

But she knew that it was.

Damn computer. Cursing it was about as useful as shooting the proverbial messenger, but it made Erling feel better. Tony Perez had a clean record. Whatever trouble he'd had with the law, it had happened while he was still a juvenile. He'd managed to keep his nose clean in the four years since he'd turned eighteen.

Michelle motioned to Erling and then pointed to the receiver pressed to her ear. "Tucson PD has located Tony's Taurus," she said. "Your daughter's with him. She's fine."

Erling's body went soft with relief. "Get the location and tell the uniforms to hold them until we get there."

Minutes later they were on their way. Michelle had insisted on driving.

"I can't wait to nail this piece of shit," Erling grumbled.

"Better find out if he's our killer, first."

"He's got Mindy, doesn't he?"

Michelle gave him a sidelong glance. "Remind me, is giving someone a ride a felony or a misdemeanor?"

"I'm in no mood for humor."

"I wasn't trying to be funny," she said pointedly. "At the moment we don't know squat about this guy and what he's done. It was personal involvement that tripped you up on this case in the first place. You'd better watch out it doesn't happen again."

Eyes straight ahead, Erling grumbled, "It won't."

They pulled up behind two police cruisers on an open stretch of four-lane road. In front was the dented Ford Taurus. Erling got out, spoke briefly with one of the officers, then opened the Taurus's passenger door.

Mindy looked up at him, her face contorted with rage. "I knew you'd pull something like this. I just knew it. How could you?"

"Why aren't you in class?" he asked.

"Class is over. We were going out to a movie."

"In the middle of the day? When you could be studying?"

"I can't study
all
the time."

Erling looked across the seat to the young man seated behind the wheel. He was leaning back, his eyes half closed, as though he hadn't a care in the world. Erling would have preferred some sign of nervousness or annoyance.

He turned back to Mindy. "What are you doing with a loser like this, anyway? Especially after what I told you about those other girls being killed."

"He's not a loser," Mindy protested. "Tony works hard. He's had to struggle for everything he's got."

"Spare me the sob story. Please."

Mindy turned to Tony. "I'm really, really sorry. My dad's such a jerk." Her pleading tone made Erling sick.

A thin smile graced Tony's mouth. "It's okay. Don't sweat it."

Erling took Mindy by the arm and pulled her from the car. "Take her home," he told the officer.

She jutted her chin at him. "My car's at school."

"Take her to her car, then, and follow her home." He gestured to Tony. "You come with me."

"What? What did I do?" Tony emerged from his cocoon of self-absorption and gaped at Erling. "She's not a minor, is she?"

"We've got some questions for you."

"About what?"

"Murder. Now get out of the car."

"
Murder
?" Tony's voice rose.

"I said get out. And keep your hands where I can see them." Erling half hoped the punk would resist; then he could pummel the guy.

Reluctantly Tony obliged, easing himself from the car. "What are you talking about? I don't know about any murder."

"What about your sister?"

Tony shook his head. "I didn't have anything to do with that."

"Because of your smile," Michelle said, "you make life more beautiful."

"What?"

"You recognize that line?"

"Yeah, it's a quote by Hanh, a Vietnamese monk."

"Literate, aren't we?" Erling chided. "You ever inscribe a book of poetry that way?"

Tony gave an elaborate sigh. "So I gave your precious daughter a book and told her she had a nice smile. Big deal. It's not like I gave her edible panties or anything."

Erling wanted to slap the guy, but Michelle's light touch on his forearm reminded him to keep his cool.

"Who else did you inscribe books to?" Michelle asked.

"What business is that of yours?"

"Your sister?"

Tony shoved his hands into his pockets. "Yeah, not that she cared. If it wasn't made of gold or diamonds, she had no use for it."

"Anyone else?" Erling asked.

Tony hesitated, then shook his head.

"You sure about that?" Erling took a step closer. "Come on, Tony. Tell us."

"A girl. Someone I was sort of dating."

"She have a name?"

"She was someone my sister knew."

"Hayley Hendrix?"

Tony's head jerked up in surprise. "Jesus, I can't believe this."

"So what happened? You date her long?"

He shrugged. "A couple of months. Here and there."

"When was this?"

"June, maybe. It wasn't any big thing."

"Who broke it off?"

"What's it matter? It's over."

Erling grabbed Tony's shirt. "She did, in other words."

"That must have made you angry," Michelle said.

"I treated her nice. Turns out all she wanted was a meal ticket." He looked at them. "She's a stripper, for Christ's sake. It's not like she's living in a nunnery."

"She wouldn't put out for you," Erling said. "Is that what you mean?"

Tony looked embarrassed.

"She humiliated you, didn't she?" Erling pressed. "That made you angry. So angry you killed her."

Tony's eyes widened. "She's dead?"

"As if you didn't know."

"I didn't! How'd she die?"

"You tell us."

Tony shook his head, breathing hard now. "You've got this all wrong. I had nothing to do with it."

"What about your sister? You kill her too?"

"Are you nuts?"

"Far from it."

"What about the other one?" Tony asked. "Crystal. You going to tell me she's dead too?"

Michelle cocked her head. "You know Crystal?"

"No, but some woman's been pestering me, asking me about them. She's got a photo of my sister with Hayley and the other girl."

"Some woman. You mean Kali O'Brien?"

"Yeah, that's her."

Erling exchanged glances with Michelle. "Come on, Tony. We're taking you in."

"I want a lawyer," Tony yelled as Erling prodded him into the car. "I'm not saying another word until I talk to my lawyer."

The rental agency insisted on giving Kali a replacement car. It was white, rather than silver, which made Kali feel less nervous about being followed. Unless whoever was behind the threats had tailed the tow truck to the Hertz agency, he or she wasn't likely to recognize the new car. Still, she checked the rearview mirror frequently, and she parked in a highly visible spot in front of La Cantina.

Her first thought when she walked through the door was that this was a happening place. The bar was standing room only and the entry was jammed with people waiting to be seated. Her second thought was that she'd never find Ron Silverman in the crowd.