Scent of Murder (21 page)

She pulled away suddenly. “I'm sorry.”

“Don't be.”

Crystal looked down to hide a smile. “I still worry about you.”

“And I worry about you.”

“You know what I mean. Going out on patrol is a different kind of danger. It causes a different kind of worry. When you were a detective, I could rationalize that you weren't in harm's way every day, but seeing you leave in uniform felt like someone was punching me in the stomach. And I had no one to talk to about it. No one can understand what it's like. My sisters would act like they got it, but worrying about their stockbroker husbands was not in the same league as what I felt every morning you left the house.”

He just stared at her. Finally, he said, “I had no idea.”

Crystal swallowed hard, then turned, ignoring him, and shouted, “Josh, get your stuff together. Your dad is going to take you.”

*   *   *

Hallett couldn't resist taking the boy by to see his mother even if it was late. She had been thrilled by the phone call, and when Josh walked in wearing his Spider-Man pajamas, she held back tears as she grabbed the young man like a wrestler ready to throw someone to the ground.

The only thing Hallett had not considered was his younger brother, Bobby, who was apparently so worn out from his hard day of not working that he couldn't get off the couch and motioned for Josh to come to him for a hug.

Rocky hopped up on the couch and sat right next to Bobby.

Bobby said, “Why does this stupid dog always do that right next to me?”

Hallett rolled his eyes and said, “Because he's alerting on the marijuana odor, you moron.”

Bobby eased off the couch and backed away from Rocky, then hustled into his room at the rear of the house. Hallett's mother ignored the whole exchange, as she had since Bobby started smoking pot at about sixteen. He had always been a slacker, and now, with the addition of THC to his system, he was lazy even for a slacker. Hallett wondered if they had a word for that.

She insisted on making a small meal for him and Josh, even though his hamburger with the homeless man had filled him up. He sat back and listened while his mother asked Josh all kinds of questions about what he'd been doing and what he would like to do tonight.

She looked at Hallett and said, “I'm going to have to pull rank as your mother and insist you spend the night here.”

Hallett considered his obligations and said, “I need to feed the animals out at my trailer.”

His mother said, “I know you have a cute teacher out there who will do it for you.”

His head was spinning from the roller-coaster day. Crystal's show of affection and confession had surprised him. Finding the body had drained him. How could a cop not take something like that home at night? He didn't think he could ever work homicide. Hallett smiled and acceded to his mother's wish as Bobby sheepishly came back into the room in different clothes and sat on the couch with Josh between him and Rocky.

Hallett needed a night like this with his family because tomorrow he was going to start bothering someone else's.

*   *   *

It'd been a long day, but Rocky had grabbed several good naps. He wasn't sure exactly what had happened, but Tim had been very sad after they left the field where Brutus was playing. Another man had gotten into the vehicle with them and he smelled bad. There were other smells that sometimes Rocky would associate with a game, but mostly his scent made Rocky's eyes burn and he was happy to sit back in his cage behind Tim. He was even happier when Tim and the man left the vehicle for a while and he could just sleep.

Then Tim had picked up Josh, and Rocky couldn't believe how happy he was. Usually they picked up Josh when the sun was still in the sky. This was different. And now they were at the house with the other people that Tim seemed to love.

It was a confusing house for Rocky. The other man in the house who Tim called Bobby always smelled like the game he played with Tim. The one that if he sat down next to the smell, Tim gave him a cracker. Although when he sat down next to Bobby, it just seemed to make Tim mad.

It didn't really matter because he had Josh with him that night. Rocky missed checking the fences and the animals at their home, but he would trade it for the few moments with Josh and Tim together.

The problem was that Rocky couldn't keep his eyes open. It had been such a long day and he had done so much that it was time to sleep. He curled up on the floor while Josh lay next to him and rubbed his ears. He wanted to stay awake and gaze at the boy, but he was so relaxed and so happy, all he could do was put his head down and close his eyes.

He knew he could never understand why Tim got angry or sad with other people. All that mattered was that Tim was happy with Rocky and Josh was there, too. He fell asleep happier than he had ever been.

*   *   *

Claire was nervous. Not like on the job when she faced down a gangbanger. These nerves were legit and well founded, but not as much fun. Or maybe they were. She said she needed to get Smarty home, but John Fusco had taken it as an invitation. Claire was too intrigued to say no. But now, as Smarty marked his territory near her front door, she realized she wasn't up to much other than talking. She didn't think she could fall asleep even if she went to bed. Every time she closed her eyes she pictured Tina Tictin left in the canal.

At the moment Fusco stood by his car, on his phone. She could hear him saying, “Yes, sir, I'll handle it first thing.”

Claire felt a thrill of the unknown as he closed the phone and turned toward her. She said, “Problems?”

“Always.”

As the tall, well-built detective approached her she felt her resolve melt. Then Smarty growled. Out of instinct she scanned the area and then realized he was growling at Fusco.

The detective had frozen in place, cutting only his eyes up to Claire in an effort to see what the next move should be.

Was Smarty thinking for the both of them now?

*   *   *

Claire looked into John Fusco's dark eyes. With his perfectly combed hair and receding hairline, expensive shirt, and silk tie, he was exactly the kind of guy her biological father would've hated. He was ambitious, intelligent, industrious, and, from her father's point of view, completely corporate.

She appreciated the fact that he never tried to move her off the comfortable couch, and he had listened with a great deal of interest to her babble about her childhood and early days at the sheriff's office. He'd reached over to play with her hair once, but Smarty's intense gaze and guttural sounds had put a stop to any of his moves.

Claire said, “I'm sorry, I just wanted to talk. I guess Smarty had the same idea.”

“He's better than a dad with a shotgun.”

“It doesn't mean that I'm not interested in you.”

Now Fusco took a minute to gather his thoughts and said, “It might be better this way as long as you're working on the squad. There is a policy about fraternization within squads, even though I doubt anyone follows it.”

Claire smiled. “That's a much more mature attitude than most men would have.”

“Is that a shot at my age?”

She let out a giggle that sounded more like a teenager's than she had intended. “How old are you?”

“Thirty-five.”

She let a sly smile slide across her face and said, “Yeah, I guess it is a shot at your age.” Seeing the look on his face, she had to kiss him.

 

22

Tim Hallett enjoyed the casual morning at his mom's house. It was almost like he was a kid again, sleeping in the same house as his brother, in his old room with Josh on the other single bed and Rocky sprawled on the carpet between them. He had awakened to the smell of his mother's famous pancakes and bacon.

After breakfast, while he worked on his mother's shutters, Josh and Rocky played in the front yard. Bobby joined them after a while and fulfilled the stereotype of the stoner who could throw a Frisbee five hundred different ways. At least he'd cleaned up enough that Rocky wasn't alerting on his every move, and his spectacular Frisbee skills were a challenge for Rocky.

Hallett had changed into his spare uniform he kept in the Tahoe, then managed to drop off Josh a few minutes early to Crystal, who gave no hint about her feelings toward the kiss the night before. Women were one of the puzzles he would never figure out. But he enjoyed trying. He was glad his mother got to spend the evening with Josh and even happy that his brother got to see the boy for a while.

He realized this quick respite was the quiet before the storm. Everyone involved in the kidnapping case knew they now had to find this creep before he struck again. Any hope that he had gotten bored and moved on was gone. Tina Tictin fit the profile of the victims perfectly. Theoretically, there were no specific suspects, and the effort to go down the list of usual suspects continued, but for Hallett there was only one target: Arnold Ludner.

Now Hallett was parked down the street from the odd residence of Arnold Ludner's sons. It was more of a compound, with a lot of land between it and any neighbors, and two separate houses on the lot, both two-bedroom, two-bath, with one house in front and one sitting way back on the two-acre lot. The county tax records showed one person owned both houses. His address was listed as the rear house. The common assumption was that the boys were renting the house in the front.

Rocky fidgeted in his rear compartment in case Hallett needed to hit his emergency button and open the rear door. He had no real plan, but he knew that both of the sons had extensive criminal histories. Between them, they'd been arrested sixteen times for everything from a marijuana possession to aggravated assault. One of the narcotics agents in the office had told him they were smart enough to fly under the radar, and they were tough. They cut off the ring finger of a pot distributor who owed them money. The laid-back marijuana dealers weren't used to that kind of violence. One of them had told a deputy, “If I wanted to get my ass kicked, I'd sell crack.”

Hallett had a criminal intelligence analyst looking for a contact number for the owner of the houses, but so far it had proven difficult. His general idea was to find a way to hook up the two brothers on dope charges and use that as a way to loosen Arnold Ludner. No father, no matter how depraved he was, wanted to see his kids in trouble. At the very least, the third son, the attorney, might agree to let his father be interviewed so that Fusco could eliminate him as a suspect and focus his interest on other people.

Rocky sat in the back patiently as Hallett scanned the large piece of land with two houses through a set of Tasco binoculars. In the last hour he'd seen both of the Ludners as they came from the house to the Toyota Highlander parked next to it. One of the brothers was lanky, over six feet tall with long hair. The other was short and beefier. Even though there was only a year and a half's difference in their ages, the chubby one looked much older, with thinning hair. Hallett had to check twice to make sure he wasn't looking at Arnold Ludner Senior.

The taller brother carried something from the house and opened the rear door to the SUV. Hallett couldn't see clearly but it looked like he placed something in the back seat of the vehicle. Then both men got into the gold Highlander, and it slowly backed down the driveway.

Hallett said out loud, “It's show time.”

*   *   *

Claire Perkins had been helping interview girlfriends and schoolmates of Tina Tictin. It was not an assignment that required her K-9 handling abilities or gave Smarty the chance to do something spectacular, but it was different from her normal days of patrol. John Fusco had recognized her ability to talk with Katie Ziegler and thought she might have a better chance of gaining information from one of these younger girls. The handsome detective had been an advocate for her to the sergeant and higher-ups. She hoped it was because of her ability and not due to their burgeoning personal relationship. She put the idea out of her mind as she interviewed girl after girl, desperate to find a shred of information that might tie the case together. So far no one had any idea who could have kidnapped and murdered Tina Tictin.

She knew the crime scene people were still out by the canal where Brutus had found the body, which they had somehow already identified. Claire was just glad she wasn't sitting out there doing nothing.

A break in the interviews gave her a chance to sit and think about the evening she spent with John Fusco. It was nothing serious, yet it had pointed out how lonely she had been. Did she really want to be one of the cops who had nothing but work in her life? She'd have to consider this more closely when she had more time, or when work wasn't dominating her life.

Claire didn't like leaving Smarty in the Tahoe. He was her partner, but she didn't want to scare the girls at this technical school not far from Tina's house. Smarty appeared relieved to rest quietly in the air-conditioned vehicle. Claire ignored her “no public affection” policy and leaned in to kiss Smarty on the head and pat him. He gave her a rare wag of his tail, sighing as if ready to sleep.

Claire and a young burglary detective who had been assigned with her had just finished the final interview and decided they had learned nothing new about Tina Tictin. She seemed to be a pleasant girl with an extreme wild streak.

Her cell phone rang, and she pulled it from the pouch on her tactical vest.

Tim Hallett didn't wait for her to speak. He just said, “Are you busy?”

“I just finished some interviews.”

“I'm going to try a vehicle stop over near Fruity Acres. Can you give me a hand?”

“I'm on my way.”

Tim Hallett added, “Let's use the cell phones and keep it off the radio.”

Claire wasn't sure she liked the sound of that.

*   *   *

Darren Mori kept to his policy of shutting up and listening whenever he got a chance. Sergeant Greene had asked him if he minded sitting in on a meeting with John Fusco. It had nothing to do with his abilities as a dog handler. They just wanted another body in the meeting. He was smart enough to recognize it was a way to use manpower from another unit that was paid for from a federal grant. But he didn't mind the change of pace, and Brutus enjoyed the cool room and comfortable rug. He had curled up under the conference room table and had his head draped across Darren's boot. Every once in a while Darren could catch the sound of him breathing deeply as he snoozed.