J. Jance - Hand of Evil

“Drive carefully,” he urged.

“Don’t worry,” Ali said. “I will.”

Before Ali left the house, though, she stopped in the hallway closet long enough to strap on her holstered Glock. Ali had a license to carry a concealed weapon. If she was going to go driving around by herself in the middle of the night, she was going to have her nine millimeter along-just in case.

Better to have it with her and not need it than the other way around.

Out in her frigid car, Ali turned on her heated seat and once again headed for I-17. This time she merged into the northbound lanes rather than the southbound. She actively disliked doing nighttime driving on that particular stretch of the freeway. For one thing, during the winter, it was often icy in spots-icy or snowy or both. This time snow wasn’t the issue. There had been a single big blizzard just before Christmas, but by now most of that had melted away. All that was left lingered along the highway in murky gray strips or lay in a patchwork of shady spots off in the woods. The real danger that particular night consisted of wandering herds of elk who liked to make leisurely nighttime crossings of the highway, meandering across the busy lanes with zero regard for oncoming vehicular traffic.

As she approached the Mund’s Park exit, Ali saw flashing emergency lights. As she slowed for the turn, it was clear from the collection of vehicles that someone had come to grief on the far side of the southbound lanes. Tow trucks had probably removed the damaged vehicles, but a few cops were still in attendance busily completing paperwork.

Ali pulled into the deserted restaurant parking lot and flashed her lights. She was feeling tired and more than slightly resentful toward her teenaged charge. For the better part of five minutes, nothing happened, then a figure materialized out of the darkness on the far side of the Cayenne and tapped sharply on the window. Ali rolled it down.

“Crystal?”

“Yes.”

“Are you alone?”

“Yes. Hurry. I’m freezing.”

Ali unlocked the passenger door and a shivering Crystal Holman scrambled inside. “Are you all right?” Ali asked, switching on the interior light.

Crystal didn’t answer. Her teeth were chattering. She was wearing jeans, tennis shoes with no socks, a rhinestone-decorated lightweight denim jacket, and a black T-shirt that didn’t come close to covering her bare middle. No wonder she was cold. What might work as outerwear for school in wintertime Las Vegas wasn’t nearly enough for wintertime Mund’s Park.

Ali reached in the back and collected the featherweight wool shawl she kept there. When she handed it to Crystal, Ali caught a glimpse of the girl’s face. In the tearstained remains of layers of makeup, Ali noticed the clear outline of a hand on Crystal’s right cheek. “You’re hurt,” Ali said. “Who hit you?”

“I’m all right,” Crystal said.

“If you’ve been assaulted, we should call and report it.”

“No. We don’t need to report anything. Can we please just get out of here?”

“Not until your father knows you’re safe,” Ali said.

“You call him, then,” Crystal said, huddling in the far corner of the seat. “I don’t want to talk to him right now.”

Dave answered his cell the moment it rang. “Got her,” Ali said.

She heard Dave’s heartfelt sigh of relief. “She’s okay?”

From what Ali could see, Crystal was a long way from okay. “Medium,” she said.

“Put her on the phone,” Dave said. “I want to talk to her.”

Ali held the phone in Crystal’s direction. She sat with her arms crossed, staring straight ahead, and refused to take it.

“That would be a no,” Ali said into the phone.

“She won’t talk to me? What the hell’s going on with that girl?” Dave demanded.

“I’m not sure,” Ali said. And she wasn’t.

“I’ll get in the car, head back down there, and straighten her out,” Dave said.

Ali doubted Crystal was in any condition to be “straightened” just then.

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Ali told him. “You’ve already driven five hours tonight. We don’t need you to crash and burn driving another five back to Sedona. Let Roxie and everyone else know that Crystal’s safe. Get yourself a decent night’s sleep. I’ll take Crystal home with me. You can pick her up in the morning.”

Although it already is morning, Ali thought.

“You’re sure you don’t mind?”

“Not at all.”

Ali knew Crystal was frightened and upset. She had come to get the girl, and Ali was prepared to be sympathetic and understanding, but Crystal’s adamant refusal to speak to her father was puzzling. Still, the warmth in the vehicle had worked its magic. At least Crystal’s teeth were no longer chattering.

“You should have talked to him,” Ali said. “You put your whole family through hell, Crystal. He just wanted to hear the sound of your voice so he could tell for himself that you were all right. Are you going to call your mom?”

“He’ll call her,” Crystal said defiantly. “Can’t we just go? Do we have to sit here all night?”

“You need to fasten your seat belt,” Ali reminded her.

“My mom doesn’t make us wear seat belts,” Crystal replied.

By then, Ali’s sympathy was pretty much stretched to the breaking point. I can’t help it if your mom’s an idiot, Ali thought. “Either fasten your seat belt or get out and walk,” Ali said firmly. “It’s up to you.”

“But you told my father you were taking me home,” Crystal argued.

“Yes, I did, but seat belt use is required in this state, and it’s nonnegotiable. I won’t break the law by letting you ride in my vehicle without one. So you choose. It’s either use your seat belt or get out. Which is it?”

With an exaggerated sigh, Crystal flung herself around in the seat, located the seat belt, fastened it, and then settled back into the seat. “Satisfied?” She scowled.

Ali shoved the Cayenne into reverse. Moments after exiting the deserted parking lot, they were back on the freeway. As they headed south, Ali wanted to know more about what Crystal had been up to, and since kindness didn’t seem to work, maybe a touch of toughness would.

“Whose house did you break into?” Ali asked evenly.

“Who says I broke in?” Crystal returned.

“Do I look stupid to you?” Ali wanted to know. “You weren’t standing around outside dressed like that the whole time you were waiting for me, and if you’d been loitering over by the gas station, somebody would have called the cops.”

There was a pause. “I didn’t hurt anything,” Crystal said finally. “I was cold and hungry, and I didn’t have any money. Only there wasn’t any food in the house. Not even crackers.”

Since being tough was working, Ali didn’t let up. “Well, boo-hoo-hoo,” she said with zero sympathy in her voice “Everybody should leave some food lying around the house so whatever burglars happen to break in won’t have to go hungry. Why did you run away?”

“You’re not a cop. You can’t ask me all these questions.”

“No, I’m not a cop,” Ali agreed. “I’m just the poor dope who’s spending a couple of hours of her beauty sleep saving your butt from freezing to death. So consider this a replay of the seat belt situation. Answer the questions or I’ll stop the car and let you out.”

There was another long period of silence. Finally Crystal said, “I wanted to come see my dad. I wanted to come live with him.”

“But you wouldn’t talk to him on the phone just now.”

“He’s mad at me.”

“If you wanted to come live with him, you should have asked; you should have discussed the custody situation with the adults in your life instead of running away.”