First to Die (15 page)

"Billy." I was half-assed telling the truth.

"Why do you waste your time on that germ?"

"Shit, I don't know." Maybe I wanted someone to waste their time on me when I was his age?

"Call the house. I'm sure he's sleeping off whatever he inhaled this weekend."

"Don't you read your reports anymore, slacker? He's not there. His mom came by today. He’s been gone since Friday.”

"What?" Neville flicked his cigarette out the window. "Something’s not right." He closed his eyes and pushed back into the seat.

"Spit it out." I reached over into his window and pulled on his sleeve.

"Hayes was at the Randall house Friday night."

"How do you know that?" I shook my head at him. "Never mind."

"I saw him leaving."

"So, what's the problem?"

"He doesn't do house-calls. Something has him all wound up."

"He's been acting weird for a while," I said. "How about a few dead bodies."

"Bullshit, he can handle anything. There's nobody sharper than Hayes. This is different. I don't like it." When Neville said he didn't like it, you’d better pay attention because it was a good indication that something bad was coming our way.

"I'll find out tomorrow, if he decides to come to work."

"That's just it. He's always there, and it wouldn't surprise me if that wall unit in his office had a pullout bed in it. I heard he was out of the office three days last week. Stella told me when he is there, he's popping those damn pills like they’re candy," he huffed. "Pay attention, Sam. I thought I taught you better than that."

"I am, and I do know Hayes is freaking on something, but I can't fucking see straight right now. I'm exhausted."

"No excuse. Wake the hell up. He's not right. I don't trust him right now, and your case is circling the drain."

"Stella said he's acting the same way that he did the day my dad died. He was my dad's best friend. I'm sure it's stress. He was the one that found him." I choked on my words. "You were there, too."

"You were the closest to your dad. Did you ever think he would do something like that?"

"No, I never saw it coming." I shuddered.

"None of us did."

"Do you remember anything about the Harper murder twenty years ago?" I flipped the switch and tuned him off.

"Yeah, never found the scum who did it." His forehead looked like an old washboard. "Why?"

"Saw a few articles from back then, and found out that she was best friends with my mom." I looked in the rearview mirror and saw her eyes staring back at me. An eerie feeling covered my body. No matter how many times I tried to hide the resemblance with makeup or hair dye, I would always be reminded of her.

"We tried our best to nail Bill Randall. Everything pointed to him, but we had no evidence." He tossed his coffee cup on the floor. "We threw every noodle on the wall and none of them stuck."

"Only thing in the file is the M.E.'s report and a few notes."

"Does that surprise you?"

"Not really," I said.

"Did you find anything else I should know about?"

"No, but do you know anything about a personal file my Dad used to have?"

"He always had a file in his hand, gotta do better than that."

"Something to do with the Harper case, and maybe my mom," I said.

"No, I didn't know that." He stared at me with blank eyes.

“After he died, I spent days going through his stuff. I would have seen it. I would have found something like that.” I looked over at him. “Maybe somebody took it. Maybe he hid it.”

“Well, knowing him, if he hid it, nobody’s gonna find it.”

“That’s what I’m afraid of.”

"You got Ward on the case now?"

"Hell, no." My voice echoed down to the river.

"Well, there's another one sticking his nose where it doesn't belong."

"Why, what did you catch him doing this time?"

"I've seen his truck at the Mason and Edwards’s house more than once."

"You're kidding me?" White knuckles gripped my steering wheel. "That son of a bitch."

"That he is," he said, shaking his head up and down "That he is. I gotta get back on the road, vacation starts tomorrow."

"What do you mean vacation?"

"I'm leaving tomorrow, camping trip." He grinned "That's why I stopped here in the first place, to let you know I'd be off the grid. He was bouncing in his seat.

"No, please don't go. Don't leave me here with these lunatics," I demanded.

"You'll be fine, no doubt in my mind." He pointed his finger at me.

"I'll be back Monday. Try to stay out of trouble until then." He laughed as he rolled away.

"That's a whole week. Impossible," I yelled out the window "I can't guarantee it."

"Hey, Sam." He cranked the spotlight around and aimed it at me. "Don't go back to the Junkyard."

"Shit." I opened the garage door and pulled in, so I had a place to hide, but was trying to think of any excuse not to go in. Mrs. Schultz's lights were still on, and I needed to let her know what had happened. I made my way across the lawn, through the bushes and jumped up her steps, two at a time. I rang the doorbell. I heard the clicking of the locks and the big door swung open. "Hi, Mrs. Schultz. I'm sorry to bother you so late."

"Oh, honey." She wiped her hands with a little checkered towel. "You have time to come in for a cup of tea?" She patted her tiny gray curls and smiled. "I must look a mess."

"You look gorgeous, as always, and thank you, but not tonight. I'm pretty tired."

"I'm so sorry to hear about our baby, Max. I can't believe it." She tighten her lips.

"I was just coming to let you know." My jaw dropped. "Who told you?"

"That handsome fella that you work with." She danced around a little and laughed. "He sat out there most of the night watching your house." She raised her brows and smiled. "I took him a cup of coffee and he gave me his number in case I needed anything."

“That’s a good number to have, but I don't think you should be wandering around out here in the dark."

"Oh, hell, I'm not worried. I've got a gun, and I know how to use it." She laughed again.

"I'm sure you do, and you’re probably a better shot than I am."

"We had a delightful conversation. I filled him in on all the old stories from years ago," she said. "Such a nice man."

"Yes, he is, and I'm sure he loved that." My laughing opened a valve and released about twenty pounds of pressure. "I'm glad you had a nice time."

"I hope he comes around more often." She cupped her hands around her mouth. "He's a keeper."

"Oh, I'm sure he will," I smiled. "I'm having a hard time getting rid of him."

"I don't want to keep you, it's getting pretty late," I said. "If you see any sign of Max, please let me know."

"I'll be watching for Max and you, and don't worry," she said. "I just know she'll be back."

"Thank you, Mrs. Schultz. Have a nice night and if you need anything, you know how to find me." I gave her a big hug.

The walk home was brutal. A night without Max was like a night without air. The closer I got to the house, the harder it was to breathe. I stood in the driveway and stared at the house. It felt cold and empty now. Absent. Hollow.

Chapter 22

T
he old lion strolled in looking a bit on the mangy side. Tired and worn out. When he passed my office, he waved and kept walking. Hayes always stopped to chat. Odd. Up to something? Now I was watching him. It wasn't like him to be late, especially two hours late. He usually arrived before dawn and had the whip cracking. Neville was right. There was something wrong with him. Maybe I was too close to see it. Maybe I didn't want to see it.

I thought about the wreckage that was piled behind me and Hayes hadn't mentioned any of it. He always asked, and he liked to give advice. I enjoyed our conversations, but these days they were few and far between. He never mentioned the incident at my home. He never mentioned Max. He wasn't friendly anymore.

I waited a few minutes so he could get his shit together and strolled down to his office. The door was closed. I felt like I was intruding. Maybe he was hiding something. Maybe it was my imagination. I rapped on his door.

"Come on in." I opened the door and he was sitting, watching out the window. He was in a trance or he was on medication.

"Chief." I pushed my head further around the door.

"What do you need, Samantha?" I walked in, threw my shoulders back and waited for my confidence to kick in.

"I just wanted to see how you are." I stood at the back of the cadet blue chair facing him.

"I'm fine as long as you don't attempt to interrogate me again." His beard was pushing past the current length requirement.

"I haven't seen you around much this week."

"I had some things I needed to take care of." My mind ran the gamut on his things. No family, organized to obsession, affairs always in order.

"Anything I can help you with?" I went ahead and cast my hook into the murky pond.

"It's been handled." Whatever it was, his handled meant that he was the only one that could take care of the problem.

"Good." I thought maybe he would come back to Earth now. "Did you know that Billy Randall's been missing?"

"Yes, and why does it matter?" His tone was harsh.

"Because it's been days and that's not like him. He never goes far and two days is the longest he's ever been gone." I took a breath. "He’s just a kid."

"Don't worry about it." His words were sharp. I felt a knife slide into my belly.

"What did he say to you when you were there the other night?"

"Who told you I was there?" He shouldn't have cared.

"One of the guys, I can't remember." I kept my eyes locked with his.

"You always remember." He laughed.

"Mrs. Randall said he was scared." He shifted in his seat.

"I went to see how he was, since the Randalls were not letting anyone see him."

"Did he see something that he didn't tell us?" I held my breath. I was pushing him to the limit.

"No, he didn't see anything," he blurted out. I could feel his hot breath brush over my face.

"How long were you there?"
Sam, shut up, you know better. Stop interrogating
. "What do you think made him run?" I was already in deep shit, so a few more inches weren't going to matter.

"Jesus, Sam, you sound like your father again. Knock it off." He wasn't kidding.

"I apologize, I'm just worried."

"He wouldn't leave well enough alone." He was correct with that statement. He never settled. If he was on to something, he'd chew it apart and not let go until he had the answers.

"What's that supposed to mean?" He was wandering off to the past.

"He asked too many questions." He straightened some files on his desk.

"About what?"
That's exactly what he was supposed to do. He was the chief and if he was a good cop, that's what he was supposed to do. He was your best friend
. I wanted to scream at him.

"Sam, leave it alone. Just leave it alone."

I didn't know if I should cower in defeat or stand and fight. He was skirting around my questions. I stood up and walked over to a big maple shelving unit, decorated with metals and family photos. I made small talk to buy more time, and tried to figure out if he was lying to me. He was back in his trance and paid no attention to me.

A small photograph in a thin, silver frame caught my eye. I picked it up and smiled. It had been a long time since I had seen a picture of my parents so young. They looked happy, posing like movie stars with Hayes and his late wife, Kathy, a few other couples, and a younger guy that I didn’t recognize, leaning over my mother’s shoulder. She had her hand up, cradling the side of his cheek. He had big, dark eyes that seemed vacant. “Chief, who is this guy in the picture?” I walked over and handed it to him.

“I don’t remember.” He stared at the picture. “That was a long time ago.”

“I know most of my parents’ friends and I’ve never seen him before.”

“Your mother made friends with everyone. Could have been anyone.” He handed the picture back to me.

“Not a big deal,” I said.

I walked back to the shelf and looked at it again. Who was he? I wanted the picture. I wanted to know who the guy was. Hayes’, in his current condition, wouldn’t notice that it was missing. I slipped it perfectly into my back pocket. Hayes and I spun around at the same time. My heart thumped. “Anything else?” he said.

"Yes." I caught my breath. "Can you please keep Ward away from our case?"

"I'll handle it." Hayes got up from his desk, collected a few papers, walked to the door and held it open. It was my cue to leave. He didn't speak to me all the way down the hall. He didn't speak to anyone. He popped his head in Stella's door and told her "If you need me, I'll be at home." He walked out and I watched through the front window for him to drive away before I sprinted to the reception area.