G'Day USA (37 page)

He called his station and instructed the desk sergeant to put out an alert for Kent, particularly in the Venice Beach area. ‘Make sure they know to tell the bike cops too, okay?’

He slid the phone in his back pocket. ‘You guys look really cop. You may as well be wearing uniforms. We need to head back to the cafe Williams trashed and interview them.’

‘
What did he do?’

‘
Sounds like he tossed a chair through their front window. Maybe two. It wasn’t really clear to me and I wasn’t really listening. At that time I was more interested in finding Ellie.’

Perkins adjusted his pants, giving them a slight tug up. ‘How much walking are we talking about here?’

‘
You got comfortable shoes on, I hope. It’ll be a couple of miles today, at least, with a good chance of some running before the day is out.’

Lisa perked up her ears at the word ‘run’ and let out another one of her quiet “woof’s”. ‘Yeah, yeah. We’ll get a run in Lisa. If you’re lucky we’ll have to chase the guy across the beach.’

Perkins groaned. ‘If we’re really lucky, the hump has a bad leg or something so we
don’t
have to run.’

Sampson sobered. ‘He’s a loose cannon. If we’re lucky, honestly, we find him before he does any harm to Ellie.’

Chapter Thirty-Three

We sat in a delivery doorway for about an hour. Long enough to make sure Kent wasn’t following me.

‘
He scares me, Ellie.’

‘
As well he should. He’s nuts. This is why you need to stay away from me for a little while. I don’t want you caught up in the crossfire.’ I pulled my knees up and rested my head on them. ‘It’s going to be hairy for a bit today. You’ve had enough hairy in your life. Shouldn’t have to go through any more.’

‘
I’m not weak.’

‘
I’m not saying you are. I just think it would be prudent if you didn’t get yourself killed today. Today is
not
a good day to die.’

She open her coats and muttered something.

‘
You must be sweltering. It’s almost 80 degrees already and it’s not even noon yet. You’re going to die of heat stroke. Take them all the way off.’

She shook her head and closed her eyes. ‘Why don’t you trust me?’

‘
Oh, Jesus, Ann. It’s got nothing to do with trust and everything to do with my concern for your well being. Just go back to a safe place and wait for me to get in contact with you, okay? I promise, seriously promise, I will come back for you.’

Ann shook her head. ‘Not safe, young lady. Not safe at all. I think
you
think I’m incapable of doing anything for myself. Well you’re flat out wrong. Flat out wrong. And your wrongness is going to get you hurt.’

‘
I’m pretty sure I can handle myself. But I can’t protect you, so please, do me a favor and keep your head down for the next twelve hours. It can’t be
that
hard, can it?’

‘
I’ll keep an eye out. But I’m not going completely to ground. If I do, it means the terrorists have won.’

She was fully sane this morning and that was a good sign. ‘Just stay far enough away I don’t need to worry about your safety and we’ll be all good. Deal?’

‘
Deal.’

We stood there and looked at each other for a minute and started talking at the same time.

As she said, ‘Where are you going to trap him?’ I said, ‘Where are you going to go?’

I shook my head. ‘No way.’ I smiled and shook my finger at her. ‘Not falling for that trick. I want you to stay clear of me. Got it?’

‘
Yeah, yeah. You’re super-girl. Powerful. Invincible.’

‘
And I want you to be invisible.’ I gave her a hug and turned my back on her, making a point, I hoped.

I had a plan.

Well, I think I had a plan. Certain things needed to happen at the right time, in the right place, and with the right people. I could control the time, I think. And I had an idea for the place.

There were a couple of half-finished houses near the container we shacked up in. One had the outside walls up. Good place to bring everyone together.

The killer would be easy. The police, maybe not so much.

I wasn’t completely convinced Kent didn’t know I knew. There was always the danger he was pulling one on me. He was a reasonable guy when I knew him in Australia. He even seemed kinda nice when he ran into me at the cafe. Pretty sure it wasn’t luck, now that I think of it. When he was trying to drown my ass under the pier, though, that’s when I was convinced he wasn’t Mr. Nice Guy.

But he still had a brain in his head. And like any guy, he could be manipulated.

I was so deep in thought as I walked that I almost walked around a corner and straight into Cathy. I recognized her voice before I saw her or I would have flattened her. I pulled up just shy of the corner and peeked around. I was shielded by a rack of tourist t-shirts. They looked great, but they wouldn’t last past the first washing.

She and Sampson were talking.

About me. Of course, I listened.

‘
Listen Detective, what are you doing to keep Ellie safe? She’s in a lot of trouble right now.’

‘
I know. And I know you’re good friends with her, but this is a matter for the police. Stay out of it. It’s not a matter for a young lady such as yourself.’

Oh, that was a mistake.

‘
Listen, you pig. I’m not something if I don’t have a dick? I’ve been her good friend longer than you’ve known her. Would you be talking like this to Bernie?’

‘
Where is he? I would have thought he’d come with you.’

‘
He’s an asshole. I’m not sure anymore he has balls.’

Oh, shit. Not because of me, I hope. I fought the urge to reveal myself and give her a hug. She was on fire. Sampson was about an inch shorter than her and was out of his depth.

‘
Well, I’m sorry to hear that. I’m sure you’ll work things out with him.’

‘
I doubt we will. He thinks, much like you, I shouldn’t be out here looking for my best friend and, like you, he can go fuck himself.’

Ouch. I heard enough. They were both looking for me. Sampson I’d need when I needed him. Cathy, bless her, needed to stay out of this. I needed to get clear of the both of them. If they split up and I was in the area I’d be toast.

I turned to leave and bumped into Kent. Literally.

‘
Ellie.’

‘
Shit, you scared the crap out of me. You’re not looking so good. You okay?’

He squinted and gently touched his cheek. I fought the smile which would give me away.

‘
That looks painful, mate. You really should see a doctor.’

‘
In good time. It won’t kill me.’

‘
Are you sure? It’s just screaming infection. I suspect if I touch it
you’ll
be screaming.’ I raised my hand and he flinched and took a step back. ‘Yeah. There’s got to be a hospital or a clinic around here somewhere.’

He shook his head and wagged his finger. ‘No, no, no. I’ve got something I’ve got to show you.’

Really? He was going to try that line? ‘I’ve got no interest in seeing your dick, buddy boy.’

He took my arm. ‘No, nothing like that. Just come back to my place and let me show you some stuff I found. Might clear you of the Sweeney killing.’

I gently retrieved my arm. ‘I’m doing just fine on that front. Appreciate the offer but I’m afraid I’m going to have to pass.’ I looked over my shoulder. Cathy and Sampson had left, searching for me. Where’s a cop when you need one?

He took my arm again and dragged me into the alley. ‘Come on, Ellie. Seriously. I’ve got some information on this guy. My girl inside the police station has passed on some info.’

‘
Sammie, right?’

‘
Yeah.’ He held his head. ‘No. Stevie. Stevie.’ He took a breath. ‘Apparently this guy is a stone cold killer and what he’s going to do to you when he catches up to you,’ he shuddered, ‘it’s just horrible.’

‘
I bet.’

‘
You think I’m kidding?’

‘
No, I’m sure you’re dead on.’ I twisted my arm free. ‘Stop grabbing me, okay? It’s starting to freak me out.’ I was getting a little loud.

He backed up a bit and smiled. ‘Don’t want that. Keep your voice down. There are people looking.’

‘
Yeah. Don’t want an audience.’ I rubbed my wrist. The asshole was strong. ‘So what is this information? Why can’t you tell me here?’ I had a brilliant idea. ‘You just want to take me off somewhere. Alone. Don’t you? To put the moves on me.’

‘
Well.’ He shook his head. ‘No. No, not at all, as tempting as that may be. For reals. You’ll regret this, you know.’

I backed away through the t-shirts on hangers and waved him off. ‘I’ll catch up with you later.’ I turned and started jogging, trying to blend in. I needed to get space between him and me and he wasn’t very fast with his bum foot.

Danny and his puppy were sitting on the ground. He was playing tug-o-war with Damien, and the puppy appeared to be winning most of the time. He stood when he saw me jogging toward him.

‘
You okay?’

I slowed and looked over my shoulder. No sign of Kent. ‘Yeah.’ I squatted and gave Damien a pat. ‘Can’t stay and chat. I’ve got a couple of things to do real quick.’

Danny sat back down on the ground. ‘Hey, this older dude with a great looking Golden Lab was by looking for you. Said he was your friend. I didn’t tell him anything.’

‘
A cop, right?’

Danny shook his head and frowned. ‘He didn’t identify himself as a cop. What an asshole. He needs to identify himself as an officer of the law when he’s questioning me.’

‘
He is a friend, so maybe he was off duty. Don’t worry about it. He’s a good guy.’ I stood. ‘Really got to run. Anyone asks - ’

‘
You’re in Oxnard,’ he interrupted.

I laughed. ‘No, not this time. Just say you saw me around here somewhere this morning, but you can’t remember where.’

‘
You know what you’re doing?’

‘
I hope so. Take care, Danny. And be good to Damien.’

I jogged down to the pier and rested for a minute on the south side, concealed by one of the concrete pylons. My first hiding place three days ago. It would end today, or I’d die trying.

Literally. Enough was enough.

I was fed up with being pushed around. Kent was strong, but I was stronger. And he was sick.

But first the house. I needed to check it out. I backtracked toward the container. Past it, by about half a mile, the two houses were side-by-side and abandoned in mid-construction. The economy was shit.

The first was just a frame. Beams and studs and a real skeleton look to it. Not much point in trying to hide and lay a trap in that. The next one, a two story, had the outside walls built. Temporary stairs led to the front door which was, fortunately, just hanging on the hinges. No lock. Not even a knob. Weather damage made the place a total write-off. The beams were warped and the floor had buckled in places. A rat scurried out the back. A big sucker. If I was lucky I wouldn’t run into it again.

The place would do.

The largest room, probably going to be the living room, gave me plenty of space. I would have the space to do what I needed to do. He caught me by surprise before and couldn’t close the deal. I’d catch him by surprise and finish his ass, then collect the cops.

Boards, some wiring and general refuse needed to be cleaned away. I pushed the small stuff to the edges and dropped a load of the large crap on the front yard, turned and plowed into Ann.

‘
Shit. I told you to stay clear. Come on, girl. This is serious shit.’

She pulled her coat tight and said nothing.

I took her by the shoulders, pointed her in the general direction of the container and gave her a bit of a push. ‘That way. Home. Hide and be safe. I’ll find you later.’

She stumbled forward a couple of steps and turned. The look on her face was heart-breaking. Tears streamed down her face, etching tracks through the dirt. I ran toward her and gathered her in a hug. She was completely non-responsive, physically, but the tears kept flowing. ‘Ann, Ann. I’ll be fine. We’ll be fine. Let me get this one thing out of the way and I’ll make everything right.’

‘
Not if you’re dead.’

I held her at arm’s length and looked into her eyes. ‘That chump? The punk who hit you in the face? He’s nothing. I know his sore spots and I don’t fight fair.’

‘
He’s psychotic. You never know what he’s going to do. He could have a gun.’

‘
He would have shot me by now. Don’t worry. I hung out with some pretty tough guys in Australia and learned how to fight there. And I got some excellent hand-to-hand combat training for this movie. He doesn’t have a chance.’ I pointed at her lip. ‘I have extra motivation. I need to pay him back for that. Very ungentlemanly of him, hitting a lady.’

She sniffled and hugged me again. ‘You don’t have to do this. The police can -’

‘
The police don’t have enough evidence. I’m going to record him bragging about what he did. I’ll use my phone.’ I held up the phone and external battery pack.