First Grave on the Right

CHAPTER 15

“Uncle Bob,” I said, “would you just give me a chance to explain?”

We were standing in the hall outside Ms. Tarpley’s office, where Uncle Bob had dragged me by the arm.

“Reyes Farrow?” he asked, his teeth clamped together. “Do you know who Reyes Farrow is?”

“Do you?” I countered, trying to control the worry in my voice.

“I do.”

“So you two are tight?” I asked hopefully.

He cast me a dubious scowl. “I don’t usually hang with murderers.”

Snob. “I just need to get some information on him.”

“He beat his father to death with a baseball bat then threw him in the trunk of his Chevy and set it on fire. What more do you need to know about a person, Charley?”

I let out a huff of air, stalling for time to come up with a good argument. Where the heck were my lawyers when I needed them? Nobody was better at arguing than a lawyer. When nothing jumped out at me, I decided to let Ubie in a little further. Desperate times called for desperate measures.

“He wouldn’t have done that,” I said in a hushed whisper.

“You weren’t there. You didn’t see—”

“He wouldn’t have had to.” Leaning closer, I said, “He’s … different.”

“Most murderers are.” Ubie wasn’t budging without some earth-shattering bit of evidence.

After taking a deep, deep breath, I said, “It was him. Today. The spinal cord thing? He did it.”

“What?”

Uncle Bob didn’t want to hear me, to listen, but he couldn’t help it. His curiosity always got the better of him. And I knew one surefire way of getting his complete and undivided attention.

I curled my fingers into his blazer and said, “You have to promise not to tell Dad.”

Uncle Bob was suddenly salivating to know more. I explained as quickly as possible how Reyes was more than human. How he looked and moved. How he had been there on the day I was born — at which point, I was sure Ubie went into some bizarre kind of trance brought on by the stress of it all.

I left out the other two spinal taps and, well, the whole nightly seduction thing. He didn’t need to know how deep my feelings for Reyes ran.

“What is he?” he asked at last.

With a shake of my head, I said, “I wish I knew. But he’s going to die in two days if we don’t stop it. And the only way to do that for sure is to find his sister.”

“But, if he’s this … powerful being—”

“In human form,” I corrected. “I don’t know what will happen to him if his body dies.” I knew what would happen to me, though. I didn’t want to live without him. I didn’t know if I could. Not at this point.

Fifteen minutes later, we had printouts of Reyes’s class schedule along with a roster for each course.

“Do you remember him?” I asked Ms. Tarpley.

She ripped her gaze off Uncle Bob to settle it on me. “I’ve only been here ten years,” she said.

“And there are no other Farrows in the system?”

“No. I’m sorry. Perhaps his sister wasn’t in high school yet.”

“That could be. And he only came here three months.” I looked back at the file I had on Reyes. “But this says he graduated from here.”

“Not from this high school,” she said. “Wait.” Her fingernails clicked on the computer keys. “We do have a record of him receiving a diploma, but that’s impossible.”

I leaned over to Uncle Bob. “Not for an expert hacker.” I was beginning to piece together how Reyes put his intelligence and computer skills to work.

“Thank you so much for this, Ms. Tarpley,” Ubie said, taking her hand in his.

She made googly eyes. He made googly eyes. It was all quite romantic, but I had a missing person to find. I elbowed Uncle Bob. “Shall we hit the road?”

After a soft protest, he turned back to her and said his good-byes. Just as we started out the door, I skidded to a halt. “Oh,” I said, bringing forward a note, “I found this in the corner over there. It looked … important.”

“Thank you,” she said, opening it.

As we passed by the front of the building, I looked in her window. She was clutching the note to her breast and crying. It must have been the lily pad thing.

We swung by my office to give the class rosters to Cookie. She’d cross-reference the students Reyes’d had classes with and try to contact a few of them, fishing for a hit on the mysterious sister. Now that I could get into my office again, I grabbed my Glock out of the safe, slid into a shoulder holster, and snapped it in. With my leather jacket, it was hardly noticeable. I’d never actually had to pull it on anyone. I just wanted the feel of it against my body, to know it was there, if only for a little while.

On the drive back to the station, two of my lawyers popped into Uncle Bob’s SUV. I’d been driving earlier, but after a little mishap, Ubie insisted on taking over.

The blond-haired, ruby-lipped Elizabeth Ellery sat behind him. “Hey, Charlotte.”

“Hey, there.” I turned to them. “How are you two doing?”

Jason Barber shrugged his brows. “My mom’s upset.”

“Are you surprised?” I asked, watching Uncle Bob shift uncomfortably in his seat. He never really got used to having them around. It was a situation in which he had zero control. He didn’t like zero control. He didn’t even like zero-calorie soft drinks.

“Well, yeah, kind of.”

“Is your uncle okay?” Elizabeth asked, concern in her blue eyes.

With a dubious grin, I said, “He’s mad at me.”

Uncle Bob straightened. “Are you talking about me?”

“Elizabeth and Barber are here with us. She just asked if you were okay.”

His knuckles turned white as he gripped the steering wheel just a tad tighter than was probably necessary. “You are never driving this vehicle again.”

I did my signature rolling of the eyes. “Puh-lease. That sign was totally superfluous. Honestly, Uncle Bob, how many times do we need to be reminded of the speed limit? No one’s gonna miss it.”

He pulled in a deep, soothing breath. “I’m getting too old for this crap.”

“Ah, yes. Impotence, decrepitude. Still, you’ll always have Werther’s Originals.” I watched as Uncle Bob’s face went from a pale, post-fender-bender white to a flushed shade of rosy pink. I had to laugh. On the inside, because he really was mad at me. “Where’s Sussman?” I asked the lawyers.

Elizabeth lowered her eyes. “He’s still with his wife. She’s having a very difficult time.”

“I’m sorry.” I didn’t just hate the people-left-behind part. I hated talking about the people-left-behind part. Unfortunately, it was often necessary. “How is your family?”

“My sister is doing remarkably well. I think she’s on drugs. My parents … not so much.”

“Your sister isn’t sharing?”

Elizabeth shook her head.

“I can’t imagine how hard this must be for them.”

“They’ll need closure, Charlotte.”

“I agree.”

“We have to find who did this. I just think it will help.”

She was right. Knowing the whys and hows of any crime often helped the victims cope with what was done to them. And putting those responsible behind bars was like the icing on the cake. Justice may be blind, but she was an awesome elixir.

I looked back at Barber. “Oh, I took seven flash drives out of your office, but they were all yours. Do you remember what you did with the one Carlos Rivera gave you?”

He patted his jacket. “Damn, what did I do with that thing?”

“Maybe they took it? Maybe they knew he gave it to you?”

“I guess that’s possible.” He pinched the bridge of his nose. “I’m sorry, I just can’t remember.”

That happened often. Especially when the subject had two bullets in his head. Since we couldn’t rely on the flash drive, we’d have to rely on our mad skill.

“Well, our former suspect and current informant, Julio Ontiveros, stated that he’d given a friend a box of ammunition after he sold his own nine millimeter. That’s the only way he could see his fingerprints showing up on casings at a crime scene.”

“Who was the friend?”

“Chaco Lin. And guess who Chaco Lin works for?”

“Satan?” Elizabeth asked.

“Close. Benny Price.”

Elizabeth and Barber glanced at each other knowingly.

“Normally we couldn’t mention this,” Barber said, “but since we’re not really here, I think the rules no longer apply. Benny Price has been accused of human trafficking.”

“Tell them about the human trafficking investigation,” Uncle Bob said.

“Apparently they already know.” I looked back at Barber. “And we have one murdered teen and one missing one. Did you get anything on Mark Weir’s missing nephew?” He was supposed to check out Weir’s sister, see if she’d had any contact with her son.

“Not exactly, but I have to admit, it seemed like something was going on with the boy’s mother.”

“Going on?” My insides were suddenly tingling. “Could you be more specific?”

Uncle Bob perked up as well.

“She got a call a few days ago from a Father Federico. Sure put her in a tizzy.”

I sucked in a sharp breath at the mention of the man who owned the warehouse.

“What?” Uncle Bob asked.

Barber continued. “From what I got out of a one-sided phone conversation, she was supposed to meet him, but he never showed up.”

Ubie flashed me a look of desperation.

“Janie Weir was supposed to meet Father Federico, but he never showed,” I explained.

We pulled up to the station. “Seems like no one has seen him lately.”

“Are you thinking foul play?”

“It’s possible. Has he, you know, shown up see-through style?”

“Nope. But that doesn’t necessarily mean—”

“Right,” he said, opening his phone and speed-dialing one of his detectives. That man spent more time on the phone than most thirteen-year-olds.

I turned back to the lawyers. “Do either of you know how much a bumper for a Dodge Durango costs?”

Barber shook his head. Elizabeth chuckled.

As we strolled into the station to go over operation Bring Benny Price to His Knees, Garrett stood in the hall, checking over his notes for the day.

“You know what’s disturbing?” Garrett asked, closing his notebook as we walked up.

“Your addiction to little people porn?”

“Nobody has seen Father Federico in days,” he said without missing a beat. Apparently, it was a rhetorical question. I wished he’d stated that before I wasted one of my best lines on an answer. I hated being wrong.

“Mark Weir’s sister was supposed to meet him a few days ago, and he never showed up,” Uncle Bob said.

Things were starting to come together. If Benny Price was trafficking children out of the country, maybe he’d gotten ahold of Mark Weir’s nephew Teddy. And maybe he’d gotten ahold of James Barilla, the kid found murdered in Weir’s backyard. Maybe James put up a struggle, tried to escape, and they killed him. But why on former planet Pluto would they put the body in Weir’s backyard and frame him for the murder? Did he pose a threat somehow? I needed caffeine.

I stepped past the meeting of the minds and headed for the coffeemaker. The minds followed, made their coffee, then led the way to a small conference room.

“Why can’t I smell it?” Barber asked.

“Excuse me?” I set my coffee on the table and pulled out chairs for them.

“The coffee. I can’t even smell it.”

“I tried to smell my niece’s hair,” Elizabeth said, a sadness permeating her voice.

“I’m not sure,” I said. “Can you smell anything?”

“Yeah.” Elizabeth tested the air. “But not stuff that’s right in front of me.”

“You’re picking up scents from the plane you’re on, which technically isn’t this one.”

“Really?” Barber said. “Because I could have sworn I smelled barbecue a while ago. Do they have barbecues on this side?”

I chuckled and sat down next to Uncle Bob.

After twenty minutes of arguing on how to go about taking down Benny Price, I came up with a plan. Benny owned a series of strip clubs called the Patty Cakes Clubs. The name alone was all kinds of disturbing. And according to the file the investigative task force had on him, Benny liked those strippers, though not half so much as he liked himself.

“I have a plan,” I said, thinking aloud.

“We already have a task force investigating him,” Ubie said. “If anything, we need to coordinate our efforts with them, take our cues from their investigation.”

“They’re taking forever. In the meantime, Mark Weir is sitting in jail, Teddy Weir is missing, and we have families who want answers.”

“What do you want me to do, Charley?”

“Set up a sting,” I said.

“A sting?” Garrett asked, his expression incredulous.

“Just give me a chance. I can get evidence on the man before the sun goes down today.”

While Garrett practically bucked in his seat, Uncle Bob leaned toward me, interest sparkling in his eyes. “You got something cooking?”

“Detective,” Garrett said in a scolding tone, “you can’t be serious.”

Ubie shook himself as if coming out of a trance. “Right. It was just a thought.”

“But, Uncle Bob,” I said, whining like a child who’d just been told she couldn’t have a pony for her birthday. Or a Porsche.

“No, he’s right. Besides, your dad will put a contract out on me.”

“Psh,” I pshed, raking my gaze over him in disappointment. “Can you say wuss?”

That had to sting. I didn’t psh him often.

“Charley, you were almost killed today.” Garrett’s silvery gaze glittered with anger. He was so moody. “And yesterday. Oh, right, and the day before. Maybe you should give it a rest?”

“Maybe you should bite my ass.” I turned back to Uncle Bob. “I can do this, and you know it. I do have a slight advantage over the average Joe.”

“What did you say?” Garrett asked. “You have a slight advantage over the average psycho? I doubt it.”

Well, that was just mean.

“What are you thinking?” Ubie asked, unable to help himself, and my smile shone bright with superiority. Would Garrett never learn?

“You said that you haven’t been able to get wiretaps in his office, right?” I asked.

“Right. Not enough evidence.”

“I can’t believe you’re listening to her,” Garrett said.

“We’re listening, too,” Barber said. Elizabeth nodded her head in agreement.

“Thanks, guys. As I was saying,” I continued, glaring at the traitor before turning back to Ubie, “he videotapes all his interviews with the new girls.”

“Yeah.” Uncle Bob’s brows knitted in thought.

“And he does all his interviews in his office, right there on a couch he has for just such occasions.”

“Okay.”

As I explained my plan to Uncle Bob, Garrett sat boiling under his hot collar. Honestly, the man was going to have a heart attack.

“That’s a pretty good plan,” Uncle Bob said when I’d finished my spiel, “but can’t you just walk up and whisper something in his ear like you did with Julio Ontiveros? You’re like the horse whisperer, only with bad guys.”

“That worked for one reason and one reason only.”

“And that would be?”

“Julio was not the bad guy.”

“Oh. Right.”

“My powers of persuasion are only as strong as the bullshit I have to back it up.”

“Well, I like it,” Elizabeth said. “And watching Mr. Swopes get spitting mad is entertaining.”

Barber and I agreed with a snicker.

“I’m glad you can laugh about all of this, Charley,” Garrett said with a nasty scowl lining his face. “You have no idea what kind of man Price is.”

“And you do?”

“I know what kind of man it takes to get involved with something as barbarous as human trafficking.”

“I get it, Swopes. He’s not the kind of man you take home to meet your stepmom.” I rethought that. “Wait a minute. Maybe my stepmom would like to meet him. Do you think he ships to Istanbul?”

“Charley,” Uncle Bob said in a warning tone. He knew only too well the stones that made up the foundation of the rocky relationship between my stepmother and I, even telling me once he’d never understood why my dad didn’t do something about it. That one stumped me, too.

“It was just a thought,” I said defensively.

While Uncle Bob started negotiations with the investigation task force already assigned to Benny Price, I decided to hunt down Sussman, who’d been MIA for some time now. Garrett stormed off in true Garrett fashion as I checked my phone outside the conference room. He could storm off all he wanted. While he’d retrieved his truck earlier, I had yet to fetch Misery, so he was giving me a ride. The faster he stormed to his truck, the longer he’d have to wait. Which worked for me on several levels.

I had two texts, both from Cookie, both saying, CALL ME WHEN YOU GET THIS. Must be important.

“I got ahold of one of the women at Reyes’s high school,” Cookie said when I called her. “She and a friend of hers remember our boy very well.”

“Nice work.” I loved that woman.

“They can meet you at Dave’s tonight, if you’d like.”

“I’d like. What time?”

“Whenever you can be there. I’m supposed to call them back.”

“Purrrrrfect,” I purred into the phone, doing my best Catwoman impersonation. “I have to go check on Sussman. He’s MIA. How about an hour from now?”

“I’ll call them. How are you, by the way? We haven’t had time to talk since your latest near-death experience.”

“I’m alive,” I said. “Guess I can’t ask for much more than that.”

“Yes, Charley, you can.”

After a long pause, I said, “Can I ask for a million dollars, then?”

“You can ask,” she said before hanging up with a snort. She knew me well enough to figure out I wasn’t going to talk about my latest drama at that time. I’d vent later. And she’d get the brunt of it all. Poor woman.