Ambush

Chapter 76

I didn’t know if it was the mounting stress of having someone trying to kill me, worrying about Brian in the hospital, or all the other little things a father has to keep track of, but I didn’t feel refreshed when I woke up. I’d tossed and turned all night, and now I really felt it.

I’d also hit some dead ends in my investigation. We still didn’t have a clear photograph of the killer or anything that might identify her. Roddy Huerta had proved to be a better detective than I had originally thought. He also hadn’t ratted me out to anyone about my using Julio Laza as a snitch before he was killed. That told me something about the man.

Cassie Max was her usual blur of activity, and I noticed that she sent me an e-mail every night around eleven o’clock, updating me on everything she had done. I was never that organized, even when I was her age.

I had a little time this morning and wanted to show my family some support. First I was going to go by Holy Name and talk to Sister Agnes about Trent. I thought I might work in a visit to my grandfather as well. If I had time I wanted to shoot down to Brooklyn and visit Juliana again — I knew she was still smarting from the breakup.

As I walked to my police car in the garage across the street from our apartment, I was paying a lot more attention to cars passing me on the street and other pedestrians. I don’t want to say that I was starting to get paranoid, but I definitely had my reasons.

I was trying to change up my regular routine in case anyone was watching. I gave Mitch, the homeless man who always sat near the entrance to the garage, two dollars before I went in instead of handing it to him from the window of my car, as I did on most days.

I engaged the sixty-five-year-old Vietnam veteran in some conversation.

“Mitch, have you seen anyone unusual hanging out around here?”

His voice was deep and raspy. “You gotta give me more than that. This is New York. Everyone is unusual.”

“Any women you don’t usually see?”

“It’s funny you ask. I see everyone, but only a few people see me. I appreciate that you even bothered to ask me. You always talk to me.”

I said, “What about it? Have you seen anyone?”

“Seen anyone do what?”

I patted him on the shoulder and said, “Keep up the good work.”

It was time to head over to Holy Name and make sure Trent never had an easy math assignment again. That thought made me chuckle like a villain in a Disney movie.