Time and Trouble (48 page)

“
You!
”
Arthur bellowed.
“
The goddamned girl snoop
—
what the hell are you
…
?
We
hired you
—
you were supposed to
…”
He grew silent, then his skin darkened.
“
You found her, then, didn
’
t you? And switched sides.
”
He waved the gun in the direction of his cowering stepdaughter, who looked at Billie in confusion.
“
You brought her here, you bitch.
”
he shouted at his daughter.
“
A detective! Goddamned detective to spy on your own family
—
to ruin me!
”

“
Jump!
”
Billie shouted, although the girl was within a hand
’
s reach.

“
Sharks,
”
Penny whimpered.
“
Or I
’
ll drown.
”

“
It
’
s shallow here. No sharks. Jump!
”

“
I
’
m afr
—”

“
Jump! Get behind a boat and hide!
”

The girl looked at her with wide, crazed eyes, looked at her stepfather and mother, and climbed the wooden railing.

Arthur bellowed and raised the gun just as Penny was on the top rail, her head and shoulders vulnerable above her mother
’
s silhouette.

Sophia screamed,
“
Don
’
t shoot her!
”

Penny jumped and screamed.

Arthur pulled the trigger.

Sophia gasped and crumpled onto the planks.

Arthur looked down at her, then back at the end rail. His stepdaughter was no longer visible.

Billie was. Very. Her outlines ached, she felt them so acutely. An accidental visitor, she wanted to say. Not part of whatever this is. But Arthur, looking again at his wife, who lay motionless, a dark stain edging her midriff, seemed no longer to notice Billie.

Billie
’
s mind turned over the controls to her muscles. Her legs and arms reached out, forward, and she sprinted, top speed
—
before he snapped back, before he synthesized what he
’
d already done
—
forward into Arthur. And then used the only self-defense technique she really knew
—
the knee. Up, hard. Arthur
’
s grunt sounded as if it emptied out all the air in his lungs. He doubled over. She grabbed at his hand, dug nails into his palm, felt the split second his hold loosened, and yanked away the gun.

And then she backed off, stunned, looking at her hand, as if someone else had forced the gun into her grip then forgotten to say what to do next.

But she had seen movies. You pointed it. You cocked the thing on top and pulled the trigger. Or you didn
’
t have to cock it, you simply pulled. If thugs could figure it out, so, surely, could she. The thing was to look as if she knew, look as if she
’
d won marksmanship medals. The thing of everything seemed to be to pretend competence. She held up the pistol and pointed it at him.
“
Don
’
t think about moving except where I tell you to,
”
she said.
“
I have a phone in the parking lot. I
’
m going to use it. Walk in front of me and do not try anything stupid.
”
That sounded right. As long as he hadn
’
t left home with only one bullet in his gun this morning. Even if he had
—
as long as he didn
’
t remember.

Apparently, he either hadn
’
t or didn
’
t. He seemed cowed, stuck in a mix of furious disbelief and shock.

And with each duo of boats they passed, she shouted again.
“
Call nine-one-one
—
somebody
’
s shot!
”
She shouted it twice each time, herding Arthur.

“
What did you think you were doing?
”
Billie asked between shouts.
“
Shooting your wife? Maybe your daughter? With an eyewitness here? Were you going to kill all of us
—
me, too? Did you think nobody would figure that out? How stupid can you be, Arthur, and for what? What is
wrong
with you?
”

She enjoyed venting spleen. Easy, too, when pointing a gun. Easy to be the tormenter. The bully. Everything she hated. Horribly, guiltily, pleasurable, too. Burns the adrenaline, perhaps, blocks the physical memory of the fear.

They didn
’
t need to go the distance. She heard sirens. Thank you, whoever had called. A sense of community
—
or fear
—
lived on. Then there they were, two men in blue, guns in their hands, followed by paramedics, running.

“
Drop it!
”
the police shouted at Billie.
“
Drop it right now!
”

“
Okay, sure, but I
’
m not the
—”

“
Drop it, lady!
”

“
She killed my wife!
”
Arthur shouted.
“
About to kill me, too! Thank God you
’
re here!
”

“
His wife
’
s hurt
—
shot
—
bleeding
—
out there,
”
Billie said to the paramedics, who set off, top speed, around her. She put the gun down on the boardwalk, afraid to literally
“
drop it
”
the way they said because guns went off accidentally all the time in movies, her only firearms text.

She tried for a beguiling, ingenue smile.
“
That
’
s his gun,
”
she said. With her prints all over it.
“
Officers, you surely don
’
t believe I was the one who
—”

They looked as if they surely did, until one of them, having taken his good time about it, spoke.
“
We
’
ll decide that, but the first caller said it was a man waving the gun. Big ruckus, the caller said. Another caller said a man shot somebody. You want to explain that?
”
he asked Arthur.

“
There
’
s a girl in the water,
”
Billie said.
“
Hiding. Maybe hurt. She
’
s behind a houseboat. Can I
—
Can somebody get her back up here? She
’
d explain everything.
”
She sincerely hoped there was some truth in that.

Arthur
’
s mouth curled downward sourly.

“
Freeze her toes off,
”
the blond policeman muttered. He glanced at his partner, who nodded, and he moved past Billie.

“
Her name is Penny!
”
Billie called after him.
“
I don
’
t know if she
’
ll trust you. Even in uniform.
”
Billie turned to the remaining cop.
“
She
’
s pretty freaked-out. Could I
—
Could we all get back there?
”

The paramedics looked up from Sophia as Billie, the second policeman, and Arthur approached.
“
She
’
s alive,
”
they said.
“
Bleeding pretty bad, but alive.
”
They stood and lifted the gurney.

“
Want to leave a blanket?
”
the dark cop said.
“
A girl
’
s coming out of the water.
”

The medics left a packet, a silvery thermal blanket folded inside, the sort that earthquake kits supplied, and then they were off with the pallet between them. Billie heard a reassuring moan from Sophia, her eyes still closed, as they moved out of sight.

“
Penny!
”
Billie called out.
“
It
’
s okay
—
it
’
s over
—
the police are here. Come out. Come back up.
”

By the time they were at the end of the walkway, Penny was being helped back up over the wooden railings by the blond policeman. She winced as she touched her foot to the ground.
“
I hurt it,
”
she said.
“
When I jumped.
”

“
I said it was shallow,
”
Billie said.

“
You didn
’
t say
that
shallow.
”

“
Low tide,
”
one of the cops said.

“
I could probably have gotten off the houseboat that way. Instead of coming back to the dock,
”
Penny said.
“
Could I have walked across to Tiburon?
”

Both cops shrugged.
“
Varies with the tide. Be chilly.
”

“
Your mother
’
s alive,
”
Billie said, although Penny hadn
’
t asked.

“
I guess I
’
m glad.
”
The girl was wet only to her waist, which was still enough to leave her shivering. She looked at Billie.
“
She knew. My mother knew about this.
”

The silvery blanket was wrapped around her. Billie stood, unsure what the girl had meant or of what to do now. It seemed less than necessary to pass on her mother
’
s message not to return home. This job was over.

“
You keep your mouth shut,
”
Arthur Redmond told his stepdaughter.
“
You just shut up with your lies that nobody would believe anyway. You just keep your lying mouth
—”

“
That
’
s enough,
”
the blond cop said. He looked at Billie.
“
This more than a domestic call?
”

Penny stared at her stepfather and spoke as if half-asleep.
“
He wanted to kill me,
”
she said,
“
not my mother. But she
”—
she gestured toward Billie
—“
told me to jump. Otherwise, I wouldn
’
t have, and he
’
d have killed me.
”

Arthur glared at his stepdaughter.
“
Everybody knows you lie
—”

“
I said enough!
”
The sound and its intimations were powerful. It comforted Billie to see the dark side of the police force of postcard-pretty Sausalito, to know it existed. Once you knew Arthurs existed, you needed to know the other, too. The cop handcuffed the mustachioed man and read him his rights.

Meanwhile, Penny was gazing at the blond policeman with much too much adolescent admiration and reverence, even given the situation. Another dangerous curve ahead if she wasn
’
t careful.

“
I had a camera.
”
Penny took a deep breath.
“
I took a picture.
”

Arthur snorted and pointedly looked at Penny
’
s empty hands, first the left, then the right.

She stood straighter.
“
I left it on the catwalk. It will show you what it
’
s all about. Not that I knew until today.
”

Arthur, who had been contemplating the graining of the walkway
’
s planks, looked up sharply.

“
I thought you were having an affair,
”
Penny said.
“
I thought that was disgusting enough.
”

Arthur stared, all bravado gone.

“
Sounds like you
’
ve been very clever.
”
The blond policeman smiled at her.

A camera? Would somebody tell Billie for what? Or was this what Emma had warned about?
—
her job was finished, even if she was left not knowing what, if anything, any of this had meant.

“
It
’
s about
…”
Penny looked at Arthur with revulsion.
“
It
’
s about dirty movies. Probably lots of them. With a kid. Or kids. I thought it was about another woman. A mistress.
”
Her eyes flicked over Arthur once again, then lowered, as did her voice.
“
And my mother was part of it,
”
she added.

“
She tried to save your life,
”
Billie said.
“
She stood in front of a gun.
”

“
We should get you to the hospital now, and for a formal statement,
”
the dark cop said.
“
Tend to that ankle.
”

Penny nodded, but she stayed in place.
“
One more thing. He killed my boyfriend. He killed Stephen Tassio up on the mountain last night.
”

Billie inhaled sharply, and felt a stab of fresh grief.

“
You
’
re crazy!
”
Arthur said.
“
I don
’
t know what you
’
re
—”

“
I warned you
—”
the policeman said.

“
Stephen went to see him yesterday, and he thought Stephen knew about this. He thought I knew, too, but I didn
’
t, and neither did Stephen, but he thought we did. So he followed him
—
probably thought both of us would be in that car, and killed him.
”