The Competition

65

Jay stopped and pointed to a squad car ten feet away. “We’ve got a witness over there says he saw the guy get into a car. Got the description of the car and the license plate.”

Bailey looked from the car to Jay. “No shit.”

“No shit. He’s-well, I’ll let you see for yourselves. But I think his story’s solid.”

“Someone ran the plate?” Bailey asked.

“Of course. It’s registered to a woman. Angelica Freeman. Address in Canoga Park.”

“What kind of car was it?” I asked. Please let it be an old Chevy.

“Pontiac sedan. Nineteen eighty-six. Our guy said it was a screwed-up junker.”

Close enough. I could feel my heart beat faster. “It wasn’t a stolen?”

“No. But we’re checking on the insurance. Might just be that the woman wasn’t driving it so she didn’t realize it was gone.”

Jay led us to the squad car and pointed to the backseat, where a young man in his twenties was bopping to the sound coming from his earbuds. His shoulder-length brown hair looked like a combed-out Brillo pad, and probably would’ve been flying all over the place if it hadn’t been for the knit cap pulled down to his eyebrows, one of which was pierced. He wore a frayed, dirty-looking blue puffer coat and sneakers that were coming apart where the rubber met the canvas. The overall look told me indoor plumbing wasn’t a regular experience for him. His home address was probably the seven hundred block of Ventura Boulevard.

Jay leaned down and tapped his arm. “Hey, Forest, got a couple more people for you to talk to.”

“Oh, sure thing, Detective!” Forest jumped out of the car, tugged on his cap, and gave us an anxious smile.

He didn’t offer his hand for a shake, so I didn’t offer mine. Some of the homeless have issues with physical contact. “Hi, Forest, I’m Rachel Knight and this is Detective Bailey Keller. You saw something tonight?”

He gave us both a little wave. “Hi. Uh, yeah.” Forest bounced from side to side. “I heard people screaming, you know? And I was, like, right over there.” He pointed to an area behind us, stretching his arm as far as it would go.

“Like where that red Prius is parked?” I asked.

“Yeah, that’s it!” Forest shifted into hyperdrive. His words came flying out as though they’d been spring-loaded. “So then, I noticed this dude. He was, like, wearing one of those Army jackets, you know? And he wasn’t screaming or nothing like the others. I seen him walking fast, but not running like everyone else. So I, like, ducked down behind that car there”-he pointed to a blue Ford Explorer twenty feet away. “I saw him get into this banged-up old green car. And I memorized the license plate ’cuz, like, I knew. I knew something was up with that dude.”

“Could you tell how tall he was?” I asked. “Was he as tall as you?”

Forest was at least five feet ten, maybe six feet. “Nah. He was like maybe so tall.” He held a hand about three inches above my head.

“What size body did he have?” I asked. “Skinny? Medium? Fat?”

“Nah, not fat. Not skinny. Well…I guess I couldn’t really tell under that coat. But I’m sure he wasn’t fat.”

“Could you see his face or his hair?” I asked.

Forest shook his head. “He was wearing one of those things.” He put his hand in front of his face. “Like in the movies, where you can only see the eyes. Except I couldn’t see his eyes. He was too far away.” Forest shoved his hands into his pants pockets and looked down. “Sorry. I’m sorry. I wish I could’ve seen more.”

“Forest, don’t be sorry. You did great.” I waited for him to look up. When he made eye contact, I smiled at him. “Really. You’ve helped a lot and we so appreciate it.”

He dipped his head and looked at me shyly through his fringe of woolly hair. “Always try to help.” He nodded to himself. “I try.”

I smiled again. “I know you do.” His sweetness was heartbreaking.

Jay stepped in. “Forest, I don’t know about you, but I’m really hungry. Want to grab a bite with me, my man?”

Forest looked from Jay to me and then to Bailey. “You don’t still need me here? I’m done?”

“You’re done for now,” Jay said. “So what do you say we grab a couple burgers?”

“Well, uh…sure!”

“Just give me a minute and we’ll head on out.” Jay motioned for us to join him a short distance away. “There’s a burger joint just a couple of blocks away. I’ll take him there. But I’m going to be around for the duration. I’ll call you the minute I hear anything.”

“Dynamite witness,” I said, nodding toward Forest.

Jay smiled. “He really is. But I don’t know if we’ll ever find him again.”

We probably wouldn’t. If I needed him for trial, I’d be shit out of luck. But I’d drive off that bridge when I came to it. “Right now, I’ll settle for just finding this asshole.”

“I heard that.” Jay gave us a mock salute and headed off with Forest.

Bailey scanned the parking lot. “I guess we could go back in there and find out what the rest of the witnesses said.”

“But I doubt it’ll get much better than that.”

“Probably not.”

I was freezing. The clear night meant no cloud cover, and in the dry semi-desert of the Valley, that meant pretty damn cold. “You mind if I go sit in the car for a few?”

Bailey took in my shivering. “Swear to God you’re like a lizard. You have zero body heat.”

We went back to the car. “Mind turning on the engine? It’s an icebox in here.”

Bailey made a face. “Come on, Knight. We’re inside, what more do you want?”

“Heat. Feel this.” I put my frozen hand on her cheek.

She pulled back. “Are you kidding me?” She turned on the engine. “Keep those things to yourself.”

“Told you.” I cranked up the heater and put my hands next to the vents. “We didn’t get a letter this time.”

“Yeah, I thought about that. But I figure he either got nervous and decided to stop writing, or the person who was mailing the letters decided it was over between them.”

“Right. Did you happen to hear what kind of guns he used this time?”

“No, that’s one of the things I want to go back and ask Gina,” Bailey said. “You can wait here.”

“No, I’m okay.” I wasn’t. My hands still felt like blocks of ice, but I wanted to hear what Gina had to say.

We found Gina inside the store, talking to some unis. She peeled off when she saw Bailey and me. “I heard about that witness,” Gina said.

“If the shooter doesn’t ditch the car, we’ll have him by morning,” Bailey said. “What kind of guns did this guy use?”

“We’ve got casings that look like he used a twenty-two and a thirty-eight.”

“No assault rifle?” I said. Gina shook her head.

“He must be out,” Bailey said. “Did he drop the guns?”

“Not this time.”

I scanned the store. “I thought the manager said he heard officers talking about finding guns.”

“He probably heard them talking about the last two shootings. But no, we didn’t find any guns this time.”

Bailey sighed. “Thanks, Gina. Guess we’ll go see what they got from the other witnesses.”

We checked with the officers who’d taken statements. After an hour of hearing nothing new, we decided to call it a night.

It was past ten o’clock by the time we headed for home, and we were both thrashed. “So he’s hanging on to his guns now.”

“Seems that way,” Bailey said. “Guess it was to be expected. He’s got to be running out of money.”

“Which makes it less likely he’ll try to find Jax.” Bailey nodded, glum. “But where did he get the twenty-two? Shane never said anything about selling any small calibers like that.”

“He must’ve scored it from someone else.”

“Another connection?” I said. “Whatever happened to consumer loyalty?”

I turned up the heat and held my hands in front of the vent, but the only thing that would warm me up now was a hot bath.

Or a call saying they’d found the shooter.