Searching for Secrets (19 page)

She looked out the car window at Kirk, who was talking to Hadley outside a coffee shop. He was convinced that his friend should have picked up Fast Freddy by now, and judging by the elation on his face, he had heard the news he wanted. Kirk turned to look at Christa, and he gave her thumbs up sign. She returned it, careful not to appear too pleased. No sense letting him think anything he did made her especially happy.

"They got him," Kirk said as he slid behind the steering wheel. "You'll be pleased to know Freddy tried to tell Hadley that he was in the apartment with your permission."

"What!"

"Don't worry. Hadley made it real clear you hadn't issued any invitations to drug dealers."

Christa didn't like the queasy feeling in her stomach. "He'll be angry that he was arrested for breaking into my place. Suppose he comes after me?"

She noticed Kirk gripped the steering wheel a little tighter as he spoke. "Our department will be able to hold him until at least tomorrow, given his record and the fact that it's almost 5 p.m. now. By that time, hopefully we'll have something else to charge him with."

Since his words were the only comfort she would have, Christa tried to take solace from them. They were pulling into the parking garage at the mall. She wondered if she would ever be able to go shopping there again without thinking of the two times she had been accosted in the garage. Not for a long time, she thought.

"Look," Kirk said as they approached Mr. Watkins' store. "Why don't you do most of the talking here? You know him, and you talk his lingo."

"Are you saying I know something you don't know?" she asked, trying to keep a straight face as she said it.

"About a couple of things. But don't push for a longer list."

Christa detected humor in his reply. She didn't want to let Kirk Reynolds into her heart again, but she would probably see him with Frances and Amy a lot. It would be better to be able to speak to him cordially.

Mr. Watkins was alone in the store when they came in. He was on the phone, and Christa saw that he was very agitated about the conversation. His eyes met hers as he looked up to see who had entered the store, and Christa used her good arm to raise her left arm in the air and wave the fingers that protruded from her cast. He raised a finger to acknowledge them, then returned to his phone call for a moment.

"I have a favorite customer." He paused for a moment. "Yes. I'll have to call you back."

Christa tried to motion that he should continue his call, but Mr. Watkins was already recradling the receiver. "Well, you certainly move that arm better than you did a couple of days ago," he said, smiling broadly. "You'll be back on that keyboard in no time."

"I hope so," Christa said, feeling the full fervor of the reply. "You remember Officer Reynolds."

Mr. Watkins extended a hand to shake. "Of course. The muscle man you brought to carry home your new computer."

Christa smiled, half in relief. This wonderful man had been duped, as had a lot of other people. There was no way he was involved with the darker side of Chas Johnson's life. "We hope you can help us. Officer Reynolds and I are still trying to figure out who tried to steal my computer and chased me around Mahaska Springs."

"Good, good." Mr. Watkins reached for a can of glass cleaner that was on the counter. Christa had often seen him spray it on the glass display cases and quickly wipe it off. He began to tackle a few offending smudges as they spoke. "How can I help?"

"I believe you knew Chas Johnson, didn't you Mr. Watkins?" Kirk asked.

Christa stared at him in annoyance. If he requested that she be the one to ask Mr. Watkins questions she wished he would stick to the idea. "Not well, of course," she threw in.

Mr. Watkins' expression grew somber. "A very nice young man, at least in my experience. And a talented one to boot. I was sorry to hear of his death." He looked puzzled. "How does he fit into this?"

"He would occasionally come in the store, but I know he had gone to Mr. Stone's place for many years. Worked for him later."

"Are you aware of why he left his job there?" Christa asked.

Watkins shook his head slightly. "I only heard about that after he died. I learned a lesson about doing reference checks on all future employees, that's for sure. Did you know I was about to hire him?"

Kirk ignored the question "So, you didn't know he had been fired from two jobs in the previous six months?" Christa wondered why Kirk was studying Mr. Watkins so carefully. Hadn't he heard what the man said?

"No. I met him through New Age Computer Solutions. Felt kind of bad about trying to entice him away from Beverly." He smiled. "But not bad enough not to try. I sent him one computer to rebuild, and another to repair. He did it much faster than anyone else I've ever used. What I was trying to do," he spoke a little hesitantly, "was to get those services for my customers at a lower price."

"You were going to pay him less?" Kirk asked.

"Not him, no. But Beverly would have added some overhead to whatever she paid him or paid for parts. I'm always looking for ways to cut corners these days."

"Did you know any of Chas' friends?" Christa asked. "Maybe he came in here with other university students."

"No," Mr. Watkins shook his head slowly. "Don't think I met a one of them." He paused. "If you don't mind my asking, why are you so interested in someone who has passed away?"

"His..." Christa began.

"He may have known some of the people who've been trying to strong-arm Christa, so to speak." Kirk gave Mr. Watkins his most engaging grin.

No doubt he uses that smile to get close to any number of the university's female students.

Kirk stuck out his hand to Mr. Watkins. "We really appreciate your help. We'll leave you alone so you can get back to work."

Mr. Watkins took Kirk's extended hand, but his expression was a far more somber one. "I wish I had known he had problems."

"What do you think?" Christa asked as they left the store and walked through the mall toward the garage.

"Something seems not right." Kirk said.

"You're always ready to suspect someone. No one could be nicer than Mr. Watkins. He didn't know anything about Chas' drug use or why he lost those other jobs."

Kirk shrugged. "Maybe not. Call it a cop's instinct if you like, but I just don't feel as if we're getting the entire story."

Christa fumed inwardly. Kirk was probably just getting a bad impression about Mr. Watkins because he was irritated at Christa. And maybe she was irritated because she was tired of having to look over her shoulder constantly. But, Fast Freddy was in jail. She didn't need to worry about that. Unless he got out tomorrow. She straightened her shoulders. She wouldn't worry about that unless it happened.

"I just realized you and I can go our separate ways this evening. With Freddy in jail, that is." She glanced sideways at Kirk as he pulled out of the parking space. She was beginning to recognize that if his jaw tightened he didn't like something she said, and he wasn't pleased now.

"I don't think that's such a good idea."

"Sure it is," she said, before he could talk her out of it. The last thing she wanted was another night with Kirk in the next room. Even as angry as she was with him, if he put those strong arms around her again, she'd react just as she had done last night. "My tires should be replaced by now. You can drop me at the service station."

"I can't make you stay at the hotel another night, but I also can't protect you if you're at Mahaska Springs." Kirk pulled the car into the hotel driveway. "You can stay here at least one more night, Christa. Consider it a one-day life insurance premium."

She shook her head, more resolved than ever to pick up Brandy and go back home. "I'll just pack my things and get out of here."

"You'll still be billed for tonight, you know."

Christa shrugged. "I'll consider it money spent for peace of mind." She smiled, as cheerfully as she could muster. "Look at it this way. Frances and Amy are safe again, too. You can spend tonight with your family." Which is more than I can say. Christa put the thought out of her mind. If you thought about being lonely then you were. If you didn't, you were simply alone. There was a big difference.

"All right," Kirk said, resignation in every syllable. "But I'll follow you out there and check..."

"No." Even she had not expected it to sound like such a forceful refusal. "I'm sorry, I don't mean to be rude. It's just that I like the idea of getting back to my own routine. And it doesn't include needing police protection each time I walk into my home."

"What about tomorrow? I thought you wanted to be sure we got these morons off the street. We don't even know what they're delivering tomorrow, much less where." Kirk scowled as he spoke.

"Can you think of anything I can do this evening that would help us find that out?"

His silence was his answer. Christa let herself out of the car and Kirk did the same, handing the keys to the attendant. "I'll grab my stuff, and if you've got time, I'd appreciate the ride to my car."

NEITHER OF THEM SAID ANYTHING as they rode back to the garage near Mahaska Springs. Christa felt a keen sense of loss, and it wasn't just because they weren't able to find out who was behind Chas Johnson's murder. Trevor had seemed like the perfect partner and he had left her for his fashion plate. That had hurt for a long time, but Christa had finally realized he would always put himself first. Kirk whom she had known just a few days, who gave and received his family's love so readily, she would miss a lot more. No, she chided herself, you'll miss what you wanted him to be. He is a man who went from your arms to a young coed's. What's to miss about that?

Kirk pulled up in front of the garage, just a mile from her apartment. "I'll let you know if we find out anything more."

"Thanks," Christa said, careful to maintain a cool demeanor. She closed the car door and walked into the customer waiting area. No sense letting Kirk Reynolds see tears on her cheeks.

BRANDY HAD BEEN HAPPY to see her. Christa unfastened the latch on the pet carrier and, predictably, the cat headed to the kitchen to see what was in her food bowl. "Aren't you even going to say hello?"

Christa poured dry food and water into the bowls and opened the cupboard to see if there was any canned food. There wasn't. Brandy meowed loudly, obviously expecting something better than she'd been offered.

"Listen, kiddo, I know they didn't give you canned food at the kennel." She reached down and stroked the cat. "We'll get you something better later."

She noted the blinking light on her answering machine. Sandra Macklin wanted to be sure she knew that Buckingham Elementary's Halloween party started just after lunch. If Christa was feeling up to it, her students would like to see her. Unspoken was the question in Sandra's voice. She undoubtedly wondered why she hadn't heard from Christa since her visit to school on Monday. If only she knew.

Christa walked into the hallway and turned toward her bedroom when she heard the metal clicking sound. She froze, and turned slowly to face Fast Freddy Chambers. He had her spare keys!

"I thought you were in jail," Christa said, far more calmly than she felt. How could he have her keys? She looked toward the hook by the door and realized he must have come in previously.

"I have a good lawyer." The look on his face could only be described as a sneer. Without his long leather coat, Freddy was as nondescript as anyone in a shopping mall. Except for his eyes. They were such a dark color Christa could swear they were black. And they bore right through her.

Why is he letting me see him? "What is it you want?" she asked, her mouth growing drier with each word.

"First, you're going to be real quiet. Would you like to know why?"

Christa nodded. Freddy walked to the window and looked at the cars parked in front of the apartment. In profile, his thin face had an almost rat-like quality. "Because you like that little girl who lives across the hall. If you cause me any trouble, I'll make sure she never sees her mama again. Might take me awhile to get near her, but I'll do it. You understand?"

"You have my computer. What else do you want from me?"

"Two things. First, you have just become my insurance policy." Freddy gestured toward the door, using his gun as a pointer. "We're going back to your favorite part of the old farmhouse. You're going to go just ahead of me, real slow."

"All right. But I'd like to put on a warmer coat. That's not too much to ask, is it?"

Freddy looked at her with suspicion. "Just remember I'm watching you. Me and my friend here." He held up the gun, and Christa could see that the barrel had been elongated with an attachment the same shape. She had seen enough movies to assume it was a silencer.

Christa walked the few steps to the coat closet, and pulled out her well-worn car coat. Was it just a few days ago she had window-shopped in the mall, thinking of buying a replacement? She inserted the arm with the cast first, and felt it tear the lining as she forced the cast down the sleeve. She wished she was the rugged outdoors type who had a Swiss Army Knife in the pocket. "Can I go to the bathroom?"

"No." Freddy's voice was fierce. "You'll figure out some kind of trick. I know what you school-teacher types are like." More calmly, he continued. "The second think I want is for you to tell me what all you know about what I'm up to." He smiled, showing a set of perfectly-straight teeth, with gold caps on two of the top ones.

"You went in there. I have a couple other," he paused and his smile was a sneer, "local business men watching you. I searched your desk a few minutes ago. You don't have an account at Heartland National Bank." He stood and moved a few steps closer to her. "Let me ask you again, real nice, what you found out there."