Too Far Gone

59

It was dark when Alexa arrived on St. Charles Avenue, parked, and climbed into Manseur’s car. A man she had never seen before was in the back seat.

“Alexa, Larry Bond. Larry, Agent Keen,” Manseur said.

“Pleasure,” Bond said. Manseur’s ex-partner wasn’t at all what Alexa expected. He was blond, muscular, and tall. His face was all sharp angles and sunburnt. “Decell’s been in the house since he got here from the bank.”

“Casey arrived twenty minutes ago,” Manseur said.

“Was Grace with her?”

“She was alone, far as I could tell. Might have the little girl with her.”

Alexa opened her cell phone and dialed. “Casey, it’s Alexa.”

“You won’t believe this, but I was just about to call you,” Casey told her. “I’m conflicted and I’m trusting you to tell me something.”

“Shoot,” Alexa said.

“I’m at Unko’s. He admitted there was a ransom demand for Gary, and that he faked the note to keep you and Manseur from screwing things up. The kidnappers are going to be watching, the note said.”

“You saw the ransom demand note?”

“Yes. I threatened to call you, so he and Decell showed it to me. They didn’t want to. I want you to promise me you won’t interfere in getting Gary back. But I want you involved, Alexa. You’re better at this than Unko and Decell. I can’t risk Gary getting hurt.”

“It’s your call, Casey, not your uncle’s. Gary is your husband.”

“They treat me like I shouldn’t know anything. If it’s my call, I’m making it. Unko’s going to pay in bearer bonds. I told him he had to tell you and he and Decell both said that if I did, Gary’s death would be on my head. The note says that Unko is to handle the actual swap. It could be dangerous, couldn’t it? Decell should do it.”

“This is far too dangerous for your uncle to deal with. I doubt even Decell is capable of handling it.”

“Why?”

“Because it’s possible that the person who has Gary may have killed Nurse Fugate. If it is who I think it is, he’s very dangerous and mentally unstable.”

“Alexa, there’s something else.”

“What?”

“I overheard Unko and Decell talking about some item Decell had to make sure he got from the kidnapper, no matter what else happened.”

“Gary could be the item he meant,” Alexa said.

“I don’t think it was a reference to Gary. I know it sounds paranoid, but I think they have more than just Gary to recover in this exchange. I didn’t hear it all, but I’m sure Unko said something about a diary.”

“That’s interesting,” Alexa said, remembering the secret stash in Fugate’s closet. If Fugate had kept her diary under the floor, there was no telling what she might have written in it that LePointe wanted it back to prevent anyone knowing its contents.

An ambulance raced past, its siren blaring.

“Where are you?” Casey asked.

“I can’t say,” Alexa said, knowing Casey had heard the siren in stereophonic glory.

“You’re right outside!”

“Look, I’ll do whatever I can, you know that. Try to trust me a little longer.”

“I knew you were good. You already knew there was a ransom demand, didn’t you? You’re going to follow to the exchange, aren’t you?”

“I need to get off the phone, Casey. We’ll talk later.”

“The note said Unko was to come alone and that they’d know if anybody else was with him or following him.”

“Casey, do you know where Grace is?”

“Her phone must be off. I’ve tried to call her several times, but I get her message. Why?”

“I just wanted to be sure you weren’t alone,” Alexa lied. “The waiting will be excruciating for you until this is over. Where’s Deana?”

“I have someone watching her at home.”

“Just a sec, Casey.” Alexa muted her phone and told Manseur and Bond what Casey had said. “Grace is in the wind,” she whispered. “Fugate may have had a diary. That may be the trigger we discussed.”

“Grace is going to be involved in the drop,” Manseur said.

“If there aren’t but a couple of people involved, I suspect she’s got a job to do. Since she doesn’t know that she’s a suspect and was sure she’d learned everything she could from Casey, she’s free to help out. What about the GPS tracker?”

“I got a pair of trackers and receivers. How are we going to get them planted?”

“LePointe’s security is first-rate,” Bond said.

“I have an idea,” Alexa said.

She unmuted the phone and put it against her ear. “Casey, I need to ask you if you are willing to do something for me. It’s important. It may also be risky.”

“Name it, Alexa,” Casey said.