Killing Ways

44

Gary arrived back within the hour, and handed Joe the envelope from Duke Rawlins. Joe opened it with a gloved hand and looked inside. There was a second envelope with a single sheet of paper in it. He pulled it out. He looked up, confused.

What is it?

‘Well, that’s my wife’s signature,’ said Joe. ‘It’s a FedEx shipment slip, dated, like, seven years ago. Why is Duke Rawlins sending me this?’

Ren handed him two evidence bags — he put the slip inside one and the envelope inside the other.

‘Does it say what she was signing for?’ said Ren.

‘No,’ said Joe. ‘It was after we came back from Ireland — Anna was working from home most of the time, she was always getting deliveries to the house of interiors things. I don’t know why this one matters.’

Ren read the slip. ‘I would venture this is just his way of fucking with you, just his way of letting you know he went through your garbage once... or got into your house.’

Joe shook his head. ‘There is no way he could have gotten into my house. Anna was on high alert. She knew what he looked like, obviously. She wouldn’t have opened the door to him.’

‘If he was in a FedEx uniform with a baseball cap pulled down over his eyes?’ said Ren.

‘That would have looked weird to her,’ said Joe. ‘She wouldn’t have fallen for that.’

Ren handed the slip to Everett. ‘I’ll see if I can get anything else on this,’ he said.

Oh. Fuck. ‘Is it... could it be his way of letting you know if he got that close before, he could do it again?’ Like now? With Grace?

‘I’d like to see him try,’ said Joe.

‘What’s security like at your hotel?’ said Everett.

‘Tight,’ said Joe. ‘But it’s a hotel. There are ways and means. But, like I said, I’m not so worried about him coming after me there.’

Really?!

‘There are three options,’ said Ren. ‘We track Duke Rawlins down, Duke Rawlins comes our way, or...’

Ren locked eyes with Joe. Or we draw him our way. I know you know what I’m thinking.

‘There is just one option,’ said Gary. ‘We track the motherfucker down.’

‘We need to work out where his head is at,’ said Ren. ‘Who are the people who might still be significant in his life, for better or worse? We have his mother’s husband, Vincent Farraday, who he no doubt despises. I’m sure he feels the same way about the Farraday twins — Chloe and Robin. We have Rawlins’ ex-wife Samantha “Sammi” Rawlins, we have Geoff Riggs, father of Donald Riggs.’

‘The Riggs family is hugely significant to Duke Rawlins’ life,’ said Joe. ‘They were very close. The Riggs house was a refuge for Rawlins in many ways, which, when you consider that Geoff Riggs was a hard core alcoholic, is quite something. I don’t know if Rawlins would still consider it a safe place to go if he was in trouble, but I do know that he has gone back to visit Geoff Riggs in the past.’

Ren went into the bullpen. Janine was sitting at her desk, doing her frowny staring at the screen. Ren filled her in on Karen and the letter for Joe Lucchesi.

‘That is bizarre,’ said Janine.

‘I know.’

‘I’m scheduling a few things for tomorrow,’ said Ren. ‘Am I right in saying you have a day off?’

‘Yes,’ said Janine. ‘A most welcome one.’

‘Have you plans?’

‘I do. I’m meeting Terri for lunch, we might do a little shopping, nothing crazy.’

Nothing crazy...

Ren’s cell phone rang. She picked up.

‘Agent Bryce — it’s Agent Richmond here in Sherman, Texas. What I can tell you about Chloe Farraday is that her last-known job was as a nurse — that was two years ago. Apparently, she has also worked, in an informal capacity, as a carer. And that’s it — I’m not picking her up anywhere in the past two years. You might want to talk to Vincent Farraday — he could know more.’

Oh. My. God.

Nurse. Sharps disposal.

‘OK,’ said Ren. ‘Thank you for the call.’

Ren went back into Gary’s office. Joe was still there. ‘Joe — how would you feel about a trip to Texas?’