5 Highball Exit (20 page)

CHAPTER 47

I figured by this time tomorrow Dusty would have left for a long vacation, so I drove to the deli to tell Rob what Dusty had said about Chloe. If he wanted to talk to Dusty or send the police to talk to him he’d have to hurry.

It was a hard, ugly thing to tell him, but Rob’s reaction was pure excitement. “At least we know she’s alive. Eighteen months without a word, I’d given up.”

I dodged people coming into the deli without paying attention to my surroundings. It was a mistake. I should have had my head up and been looking out for a place to hide. Better still, I should have run back inside and started hollering “Help.”

I felt his hand biting into my forearm, smelled the overpowering aftershave, before I registered Ryan Vachess’s presence.

I didn’t have time to think or react before he shoved me down into his car parked at the curb and then followed me inside it, slamming the door shut behind him.

I fell across the console with Ryan on top of me, squeezing my arm so hard it brought tears to my eyes. The fingers of his left hand dug into my hair and he jerked my head up to his face.

“Why are you following me?”

“. . . wasn’t following you.”

He twisted his fingers in my arm. “Yes you were.”

“. . . coming out of the deli.”

“Yeah?” He shook my head. “Why that deli?”

His fingers locked into my jaw and cranked my head around. I gurgled an answer. He let go of my face and hissed, “You’re in it with him.”

Panicked, I said, “What the hell are you talking about?” I wanted to convince Ryan that my being there had nothing to do with him. “It’s the only deli on St. Armand’s. What deli should I have been coming out of?”

His face was up against mine. His breath was disgusting. He moved slightly, settling onto the passenger seat but not releasing me. “What am I going to do with you now?”

I tried to scoot to the other side of the car and out the door. I didn’t get far.

The nails of his right hand bit into the muscle of my upper arm. With his left hand he grabbed me by the hair and pulled me back. “You’re not leaving until I say, bitch.”

“You’re hurting me.” He twisted my face around to his. My fingers frantically searched for the zipper of my purse, desperate to get at the pepper spray. The animal cunning of a hyena flashed in his eyes. “What have you got in there?” He grabbed my bag and dropped it on the floor. “This is about those girls, about Chloe and Holly, isn’t it?”

“Forget about Holly.” My voice trembled with fear. “I have.” The bright and shiny pinpoints of his eyes were inches from myown. He said, “She just wouldn’t give it up. Going on about it being my fault and how I had to look after her now, filling up my cell with messages and then slipping that note under my door.” He slammed my head against the steering wheel. “She threatened me. No one threatens me.”

“Please,” I begged.

A smile, twisted and evil, curled his lips. “Stupid bitch would swallow anything she was handed. Just tell her the pills would stop the disease and make her feel better and she lapped them right up.”

Suddenly the anger was gone and he was happy, a kid with a new trick. “No one can ever prove a thing. She just took them down like a good little girl.”

He put his cheek right up against mine and whispered, “Good little girls are always the best, much more fun than the foul pieces of puke like you.”

He pushed me out at arm’s length and slammed me against the window. “Now what am I going to do with you?”

He didn’t get a chance to make plans. The door opened and he was dragged backwards onto the sidewalk.

Suddenly free, my one thought was to get away. I grabbed my bag, digging in it for the spray, and stepped out into traffic. A horn blasted.

I shot my hand out as if I could stop the vehicle from running me down and wobbled around to the front of Ryan’s car to the curb.

A woman started screaming.

On the sidewalk Ryan was curled up in a small ball to protect himself from Rob McCabe, who was cursing and kicking Ryan, apparently intent on killing him.

Two men grabbed Rob, pulling him back from Ryan, while other bystanders helped Ryan stagger to his feet. Blood ran down his face but Ryan pushed his rescuers away and scrambled into his Mustang. Pulling into traffic, he nearly collided with a gray Ferrari.

Rob reached out a shaking hand to me. “Are you all right?” I couldn’t answer.

“Come on.” Rob took my hand and led me like a child back through the deli to the little room behind the counter. “Sit.” He shoved me down onto the chair and left me there, returning within seconds with a mug of steaming coffee. “Drink this. I loaded it up with sugar. It’ll help.”

I wrapped my hands around the mug. Suddenly it didn’t matter that it was ninety out. I needed the warmth and the comfort.

“We have to call the cops,” Rob said.

“I don’t know.” I fingered the bump growing on my head. “Will they put him in jail?”

“Until his lawyer gets there.”

“Then forget it. If they only put him away for a few hours it will be worse when he gets out.”

Rob pulled up a small stool and sat facing me with our knees almost touching and studied me as if he expected me to faint. I wasn’t sure it wouldn’t happen.

I set the mug down. “It was the surprise. I didn’t see him and then he had me in the car. And . . . oh my god, I think, I think . . .” But I couldn’t say it, not to this man who was already carrying enough pain, couldn’t tell him Holly hadn’t committed suicide.

I asked, “How did you know?”

“I saw that stupid car. I came out to . . . well . . . I saw the two of you inside.”

“Thank god. I am not sure how it would have turned out if you hadn’t showed up. I might have been one more woman who disappeared from Ryan Vachess’s life.”

Rob got to his feet and pounded his fist on the wall. “Sometimes I think I’d be doing the world a favor if I just got a gun and shot him.”

“Don’t do it until you find Chloe.”

I stopped rubbing the lump on my head and looked at Rob hard. For one second I was tempted to manipulate Rob into destroying Ryan. It wouldn’t take much and if Ryan had it in for me before today, he was going to hate me even more now that he’d confessed to murder.

“You already told me your parents need you.” I couldn’t look at Rob. “Ryan’s about to self-destruct.”

“But how and when? And how many more women are going to get hurt?”

I folded my arms across my chest and leaned forward on my knees. “You need to find Chloe.” And I needed to be alone.

He reached down and picked up the mug. “I’ll call the police and tell them what Dusty Harrison said.”

I nodded. “Do it quick before Dusty leaves town.”

Rob put his hand on my shoulder and leaned towards me, earnest and concerned. “Why did Vachess pull you into his car?”

“He’s paranoid and crazy, thinks I’m following him. He saw me coming out of here and thought it was part of a conspiracy.”

The door was open to a small washroom, just a sink and a toilet. I stood up and went over to the sink and washed my hands and then my face. I pulled a handful of paper towels off a roll and dried my face before turning back to Rob. “He scares the shit out of me.”

“Look, I’ll come to the police with you. I’ll tell them he was holding you in the car against your will.”

I had something else in mind. Heaven help me, one day I’ll grow a brain and the world will be a better place.

I pulled down on the denim skirt riding up over my ass and said, “Let me make a call first.”

I figured I needed less orthodox help and I figured I knew where to get it. “It’ll be okay. You go ahead, I’ll be right out.”

He went to the door to the alley, his phone already in his hand. “I’m calling the police about Chloe.”

Hiding there in the back of the deli, while Rob called the cops, I called Dan.

“Ryan Vachess murdered Holly,” I said as soon as he answered.

I told Dan about being hijacked and repeated Ryan’s confession. I didn’t get the response I had expected. I thought Dan’s explosive temper would send him after Ryan. Instead Dan said, “It’s over. Holly’s death has been put down as a suicide. Leave it at that.”

I was stunned. “Even if he killed Holly, you’re willing to let it go?”

“You’re just guessing.”

“I’m not just guessing. He told me. I’ll testify.”

“Hearsay evidence, it won’t stand up in court.”

“When did you turn into such a wimp?”

“Since I got a life. Shelly and Hannah will be home tonight. They’re all I care about now.”

“Well, what about this—Ryan is knowingly infecting women with
HIV
. That’s how Holly got the poison in her veins.”

“You don’t know that,” Dan said.

“I think it will be pretty easy to prove. Diseases have profiles. He had the disease when he first met Holly. He knew he was going to make her sick and he didn’t care.”

“Intent is a hard thing to establish. He’d be in and out of custody the same day. Plus there’s no longer a victim. Holly is dead.”

“Dusty probably has it. He’s a victim.”

“You think Dusty Harrison is going to have his perverted sex life come out by charging Vachess? Not likely. Just drop it.”

“You loved Holly a little. Are you going to let Ryan Vachess get away with this?”

“You’re asking me to destroy my life. I’m not going to end my career to give Vachess a slap on the wrist. Forget about it, Sherri.”

“What about the note?”

“What about it?”

“Something bothered me about that note, like a small stone in my shoe. It just kept irritating me. I got Aunt Kay to copy it out for me and her note had the same mistake in it as the one you wrote. The first word of the suicide letter wasn’t capitalized. It looked like it was the beginning of a sentence but it wasn’t. It said, ‘. . . because my Angel is gone.’ It was the middle of a line. Ryan used the second page of her letter as a suicide note.”

“And that’s it? You think that’s enough to get a guilty verdict?”

“It’s right there in black and white, proof.”

“The defense will argue she was about to kill herself, not surprising if she slipped up and didn’t use a capital letter.”

“Things like that are habits. You don’t make that kind of a mistake.”

“It isn’t enough. Can you prove Vachess ever saw that note? Can you prove any of this shit you’re telling me?”

“You could if you did your job.”

“It’s going to be your word against his. Don’t get me involved.”

“Please, Dan, for Holly’s sake.”

“I want to forget I ever knew her,” he said, and then he hung up on me.

A tsunami of anger swamped me and I cursed Dan. He was supposed to serve and protect, isn’t that what cops always said? But he was leaving Ryan on the street.

All those times he said Holly had called him and he hadn’t got back to her. Had she been calling him for help, trying to get away from Dusty and Vachess?

CHAPTER 48

How many days had it been since I first heard the name Ryan Vachess? Three, no, it had been four days since my world imploded. And how many days would it be before I got it back again? But Ryan Vachess had to be stopped.

The man was a walking time bomb set to go off in my direction, not only paranoid but now he’d be afraid I’d go to the police and tell them he killed Holly. He wasn’t going to let me walk around knowing that, but Dan was right, it would be my word against his. Would my word be enough?

Cautiously, I left the deli with Rob beside me. There was no sign of Ryan. Rob walked me to my truck and stood on the sidewalk and watched with his cell phone in his hand, his face creased with concern.

My pepper spray was on my lap and my cell was open on the seat beside me. I drove out of St. Armand’s Circle, checking the traffic around me. Not seeing a red Mustang did not make me feel safe. Ryan might have changed cars. Rob pulled out of a side street and in behind me to follow me back over the bridge to the mainland and north on Tamiami Trail.

It didn’t matter how it turned out, I wanted Ryan’s crimes on record, wanted to stand up and say what he’d done. Someone else would decide if they believed me and if he was going to jail for what he’d done to Holly. That wasn’t my responsibility. My only part in this was to tell what I knew and try to get justice for Holly.

With Rob following me I headed for the Sarasota police headquarters on Adams Lane, north of Payne Park. I’d been there once before, in my life with Jimmy, when I was still running to his rescue and still believing he would change.

The Sarasota police headquarters looks like a blue plastic storage box that someone cut window slits in and topped with a sheet of glass.

Rob went to put in a report on Chloe while I waited in a tiny room to talk to an investigator in the Crimes Against Persons Unit. It took some time before a detective named Benning came to talk to me. She was very polite and listened to my story without interruption but gave absolutely no indication if she believed me or not. “And the brother, Cal Vachess, conspired in Holly’s murder. I think he destroyed the journals and cleaned up after his brother fed her the pills.”

Benning’s eyes got big when I told her about being at Dusty’s house. My account seemed impossible even to my own ears. “Rob McCabe will back up my story of Ryan Vachess holding me in the car.” I handed over Rob’s card and she took it without comment. “He’s here in the building making a report on his sister Chloe.”

By the time I was done I thought it was going nowhere, that she would put me down as one more crazy woman with an ax to grind. After she’d heard the whole story she politely asked me to wait and went away.

The adrenaline and the telling had dulled the sharpness of my fury. Now, exhausted, I just wanted to go back to Brian’s and sleep until Clay came home to hold me.

I waited. People going by the cell-like interview room peered in the open door and took a good look at me for future reference. I ignored them and slumped down in the chair, trying to get comfortable, and then I folded my arms on the desk and put my head down. I was drifting in and out of sleep when Officer Benning came back into the room.

Her attitude had changed. Before she even sat down across from me she said, “Are you willing to bring charges against Ryan Vachess for your illegal confinement?”

So they weren’t going to arrest him for murder or spreading a disease. I took a deep breath. “Yes, I’ll swear out a complaint for kidnapping me.”

“Good.” Her smile brightened the room. “What about Dan Raines?”

“Oh, don’t worry; we’ll take care of Officer Raines.”

I nodded. Dan should have shown a little more compassion for Holly.

It took some more time to swear out a complaint. I knew it would only slow Ryan down for about half a second but it might give the police leverage.

When it was done she said, “I’ll call you as soon as we pick Ryan Vachess up.” She stood up and held out her hand. “Don’t worry, he won’t hurt you now.”

I wished I could be as hopeful as she was that my problems were over.

When I turned on my cell outside the station there were two calls from Ryan Vachess. He’d heard from Dusty. Both of the calls used words that were neither nice nor complimentary. He did not leave a number nor did he suggest I call him back. That was fine with me. I had all the friends I could handle. And, since I was sure that what he suggested was physically impossible, and might injure me if I tried, I decided to ignore his advice.

One thing was clear. Ryan made no mention of being worried about contracting the virus—that didn’t come up in all the vile things he said in his messages—so he already knew Holly had
HIV
and didn’t need me or Dusty to tell him. I didn’t erase the calls. I saved them to play for the police. But not now. I was well and truly done. I had one more stop and then I was going back to Brian’s to crash.

There was no sign of Rob but his car was still right beside my pickup. I figured I’d catch up with him later. I hit the freeway and headed south, back to Jacaranda.

At the hospital Aunt Kay was in a real room with real walls instead of curtains. It even had a window. She was sitting up in bed and she’d lost that dead fish look.

She brushed my questions about her health aside and said, “Where’s Angel?”

I told her that Angel was now called Lily and I told her about Lily’s wonderful home.

Her lips trembled. “Thank you, Sherri.”

“You’re welcome.” I pulled a chair up to the bed. “I met Dusty Harrison. It was most interesting.”

“Interesting?” She settled her arms across the mound of her tummy. “Don’t leave anything out.”

But I was going to leave something out. She didn’t need to hear anything about my time with Ryan or about my talk with the Crimes Against Persons officer. It could wait until she was stronger and could handle the shock of Holly’s murder. I was going to keep it as light as possible.

I pulled the visitor’s chair up closer to the bed and told her about the call from Dan and about my visit to Dusty. “It will take old Dusty a while to walk upright. Then he’ll be running out to get an
HIV
test.”

“My guess is you’ve ended the friendship between Ryan and Dusty.” She frowned. “Ryan is going to be very unhappy with you.”

“Ryan is a weird one. No guessing what he’ll do. I’m staying far away from him.”

“If Dusty didn’t know Holly was
HIV
-positive, and she didn’t have the virus when Angel was born, is Ryan the one who infected Holly?” Her eyes widened. “Did Ryan knowingly infect Holly?”

She’d come to exactly the place I had. “Maybe.”

“Do you think Ryan meant to infect Dusty through Holly or did he just not give a damn?”

“It’s all too cruel to contemplate.”

“All the same,” Aunt Kay said, “if Ryan doesn’t know Holly was ill, he should.”

“I thought you’d given up interfering.”

“Well, yes, but as you pointed out yourself, if we do nothing, bad things can happen as well. Then we’re responsible for those.”

“We can’t win at this blame game, can we?”

“Not as long as we’re still breathing.”

“But volunteering can be good for the soul.” I pulled out the check and handed it to Aunt Kay. “Wasn’t it nice of Dusty to pay for Holly’s funeral?”

Her monitor went crazy and I was asked to leave.