J. Jance - Hand of Evil

Dave took a few seconds to process that. “Thank God for small blessings,” he said. “Saves me the trouble.”

Farris nodded. “I’m on my way to Tempe right now to see what I can do about tracking down our bad guys.”

“Me, too,” Dave Holman said.

“No,” Farris objected. “Absolutely not.”

“What do you mean, no?” Dave argued. “At this stage of the investigation, the more feet on the ground the better.”

“Not your feet,” Farris returned. “We need uninvolved feet, Dave. We need people with no ax to grind. Uttley’s murder happened in Mojave County. They’ve got a pair of detectives headed this way. We’ll be able to use them. The attack on Mr. Hogan happened in my jurisdiction, and I’ll be working the case as well. What I want you to do is walk away and let us handle this.”

“I’m supposed to ignore that one of these guys was hanging around here looking for my daughter?”

“That’s all the more reason for you not to be involved,” Farris returned.

“I’m off duty,” Dave pointed out. “What I do on my own time is none of your business.”

For a long tense moment, the two men squared off, staring eye to eye. Afraid punches might be thrown, Ali held her breath. Lee Farris was the first to blink.

“Look,” he said with a conciliatory sigh. “You know you’re too close to this part of the investigation to be unbiased, but there is something you could do. How about if you head down to Chandler and see if you can locate Mr. Hogan’s daughter? You’re a cop, but you’re also one of his friends. It would be a big help to me, Dave. That would mean one less thing I’d have to worry about.”

Dave thought about that for a time. “All right,” he said at last. “Fine.”

“Good,” Farris said. “Thanks. You have all the information you need?”

Dave nodded. “I’ve got it,” he said.

With that, Detective Farris strode off. As soon as he was out of sight, Dave, too, headed for the lobby door, with Ali trailing behind. “Where are you going?” she asked. “Chandler?”

Dave shook his head. “Tempe,” he said grimly.

“But I thought you said…”

“I lied,” Dave said. “Besides, I still have these.” He reached into his pocket and unfolded the three composite sketches. “I’ll stop by a Kinko’s on my way and make a bunch of copies, then I’ll start canvassing gas stations and grocery stores in the area. Even bad guys have to eat and buy gas. If the driver of that Explorer could access a garage door with an opener, chances are he lives somewhere around there. Somebody is going to recognize him.”

“What about contacting Kip’s daughter?” Ali objected.

“I’m sorry,” Dave said. “Getting these guys off the street is a hell of a lot more important than doing a next-of-kin notification.” He opened a small notebook, tore out a page, and handed it to Ali. “If it’s so important to you, you do the notification. You’re Kip’s friend every bit as much as I am. Or maybe your father can do it. We’re dealing with a bunch of cold-blooded killers, Ali. They’re out there looking for Crystal. Right now, finding them is my first priority.”

“What about Crystal?” Ali asked.

“What about her?”

Dave, suddenly focused on the hunt, was prepared to head out without uttering a word to his daughter. “You can’t just walk away and leave her here,” Ali said.

“I can’t very well take her with me, either,” Dave said. “Could I leave her with you awhile longer?”

As Dave’s friend, Ali had listened sympathetically to his version of how the wheels had come off his marriage. The way he told it, Roxanne had been largely to blame. In that instant though, as he prepared to walk away without a word, Ali understood the end of the marriage wasn’t all Roxie’s fault. Whenever duty called-whatever kind of duty-Dave would have been off and running, leaving Roxie holding the bag, juggling the three kids and trying to keep the home fires burning.

In two days, Ali had had more than a bellyful of Crystal Holman, and she wasn’t eager to sign on for more. “Did you make any progress when you talked to her?” Ali asked.

“Some I suppose,” Dave said with a shrug. “We called her mother from the conference room and talked to her together. Roxie says she and Richey will drive down tomorrow and take Crystal home. But that’s tomorrow. Tonight I can’t very well take her along to Tempe with me. It’s too dangerous. What if something were to happen to her?”

What if something happens to you? Ali wondered, but by then, Ali knew she was stuck. “All right,” she agreed. “I’ll keep Crystal with me for the time being, and when I go back to Sedona, I’ll take her to my house.”

“Thank you,” Dave said. “Thanks for everything.”

“You’re welcome,” Ali said. “But you’re not leaving without telling her what’s going on. You’re her father, Dave. She needs to hear it from you, not from me.”

“All right,” he agreed reluctantly. “I’ll tell her.”

When Ali and Dave turned back toward the conference room, they were both surprised to see that Crystal, looking isolated and resentful, was standing silently in the doorway. There was no telling how long she had been there or how much she had heard.

While Ali watched, Dave hurried over to her. Crystal greeted everything he had to say with a temper tantrum of stormy objections. Eventually he wore her down.

“Please, Crystal,” Dave begged. “I need to help catch these guys.”

“All right,” Crystal said, relenting. “But it’s just for tonight. She treats me like I’m a baby or something. I’m glad she’s not my mother.”

And that, Ali thought with genuine gratitude, makes two of us.

Jason Gustavson could hardly believe that the crazy bitch had followed him all the way home from Phoenix, but now, watching the evening news, he was putting it all together. It was terrible luck that the girl was somehow connected to the guy from the store, but that was the problem with small towns. Everybody knew everybody. Everyone was connected to everyone else.

Thanks to the eager news reporter standing in front of St. Francis Hospital, he knew the man they hadn’t quite managed to kill was being treated there. Jason fully intended to go there and finish the job. He’d take care of him and of the others, too-the girl who had somehow gotten away and the crazy broad in the blue Cayenne, who had driven like a maniac to keep up with him.

After a lifetime of keeping his urges bottled up, Jason had finally given himself permission to be real. He wasn’t appalled by what he’d done. He was proud of it. He’d finally stood up for himself. All his life he had talked about doing something spectacular. Time after time, he’d laid out plans and then given them up. This time, he was moving forward. This time he was really doing it. The other guys were petrified, of course. They were scared shitless of the cops and of Jason, too, and they weren’t wrong.

On his way to the bathroom, Jason felt the slightest twinge of guilt for the Roto-Rooter guy. After all, he was just a poor jerk out doing a dirty job to support his family, but he was also in the wrong place at the wrong time. Because of that, he would be the first to die.

Jason found Tom Melman on his knees in the bathroom, replacing the broken toilet. When the door opened behind him, he didn’t look up. “I’ll be done in a few minutes,” he said, “then I’ll get your water turned back on.”

He may have heard a click because he started to turn around, but the bullet from the silenced.38 plowed into the back of his head and exploded out the front. He fell face-first into the uninstalled Toto. If it hadn’t been for the blood splatter all over the room, he might have been a frat boy who’d had way too much to drink.