J. Jance - Web of Evil

MARCELLA

Does Valencia count as out of town? Ali wondered.

Dave turned up then, looking agitated. "I just talked to your mother," he said. "I thought we'd managed to ditch the reporters back at the other hotel, but now it seems they've tracked her to the new one, too."

"I know," Ali said.

"You talked to Edie?" Dave asked.

"Not exactly," Ali replied. "I read it online."

"Online?" Dave asked. "Somebody put your mother's whereabouts up on the Internet?"

She brought the article back up and pushed the computer over so he could read it for himself.

"Geez!" he said, when he finished. "They're everywhere."

"So I guess Motel 6 is out?" Ali asked.

"Easy's already working the problem, and it's a good thing, too. When I left him he was on the phone with LAPD, trying to clear it with them so you can go back to your own house tonight."

"On Robert Lane?" Ali asked.

Dave nodded. "We're thinking that's the last place anyone would expect you to be along about now."

Me included, Ali thought. But if Dave and Easy were still concerned about Ali's safety, did that mean some member of the Joaquin group had escaped law enforcement's coordinated dragnet?

"Who's still on the loose?" Ali asked.

"Jake Maxwell," Dave answered. "We're not sure how or where we missed him. Amber and Lucia are still unaccounted for as well. Easy thinks I should pick up your mother and then go to the house and keep an eye on both of you there until we know Jake and the others are in custody."

As if on cue, Easy sauntered into the room. "Done," he said to Dave. "LAPD Homicide has cleared the house on Robert Lane. You'll stay with them and keep an eye out?"

"Absolutely," Dave said.

Easy came over to where Ali was sitting. "Hold out your hand and close your eyes," he said.

Ali did as she was told. A moment later, something metallic and shaped like a silver dollar dropped into the palm of her hand. It was smooth on one side while the other side was tacky with the residue of some adhesive that could have been rubber cement.

"What's this?" she asked, staring down at the shiny disk.

Easy grinned. "A memento," he said, "just for you. Compliments of the DEA."

"But what is it?"

"A GPS tracking device Dave removed from the inside of your rear bumper."

"Don't you need it for evidence?" she asked.

Easy shook his head. "We have enough evidence, and I think you earned this. It turns out we've got several of them from several different vehicles. The warehouse complex out behind the Pink Swan is a veritable jungle of electronic tracking and wiretapping equipment complete with an armload of these. Not only have the Joaquins been keeping tabs on what we've been doing, they've also been running electronic surveillance on their competition. Our IT guys tell us that the place is an absolute gold mine of drug-dealing intelligence if we're able to move on it fast enough and before anyone else knows what we have."

Ali examined the device for a moment or so longer before stuffing it in the front pocket of her jeans. "Are you sure you should be saying all of this in front of a loose-cannon' blogger?" she asked.

"Sorry about that," Easy said apologetically. "I was out of line earlier. I think we can trust you. Dave told me what you did to help out in there, and I'm very grateful. He and Monty might not have managed without you. Clearly we were lucky to have you on the team tonight. Still, now that you mention it, it might be better if you didn't bring up any of the details of this operation in your blog until after tomorrow morning's news conference."

"Maybe you should take a look at what's out there on the Net right now," Dave said, nodding in the direction of Ali's computer screen. "Some of it's already showing up, and she didn't put it there, either."

Without a word, Ali turned the screen so Easy Washington could read it. "They don't have a lot of it straight," he observed when he finished reading. "Just enough to cause trouble." He turned back to Ali.

"Have Dave give you my numbers. Once the press conference is over, I may be able to give you an exclusive about all this."

He was offering Ali an exclusive story about a major drug bust that would appear first on cutlooseblog.com? Ali knew that would be a scoop that would drive her former cohorts in the mediafriend and foe alikeutterly nuts. It would be especially galling to the people who were spending tonight doggedly tracking her mother's every move.

"Thank you," she said. "So in the meantime you and Dave think I should go back to the house?"

"Only if you want to," Easy said. "There's not much sense in your hanging around here. Going to the house makes sense because it's presumably a spot where no one would think to look for you. For one thing, it's still officially off-limits due to being a crime scene. But if you'd be more comfortable somewhere else, or if you'd like me to send some officers along to look out for you"

"No," Ali said. "The house is fine, and sending extra officers along is unnecessary. The less fuss there is about it, the more likely it is that no one will notice we've gone anywhere. For another, Dave will be there. He's just going by the hotel long enough to pick up my mother. I'm sure you can make better use of your people here. We'll be fine on our own. Oh," she added. "Is it all right to use my phone now?"

Easy waggled his hands. "We believe so," he said. "We're hopeful that the Joaquins' entire electronics setup was centered in that one location. At this time, however, there's always a chance that they have backup equipment somewhere else that's still in operation."

"So it's possible someone else might still be listening in on whatever I say."

"For the time being, yes," Easy answered. "Possible but not likely."

Easy went back outside. Ali packed up her computer, and Dave helped carry that and her luggage out to her car. "Do you want me to come with you?" he asked.

"No. You go get Mom. I'm sure she's worried sick. Just make sure that no one follows you when you bring her to the house. Although," she added ruefully, patting the pocket of her jeans where she had stowed the GPS device Easy Washington had given her, "I now know that it's sometimes harder to know you're being followed than one would think."

"I'll be careful," Dave said. "Besides, I don't think the media routinely passes out GPS tracking devices."

"Let's hope," Ali said.

He opened the car door to let her inside and touched her shoulder tentatively as she did so. "Be careful," he said.

"I will."

By then it was late enough that, other than a long parade of slow-moving semis, traffic into the city was relatively light. Among all those trucks, the Cayenne might as well have been invisible.

Propped up by cup after cup of coffee, Ali was tired but nonetheless wide awake as she drove. As the miles sped by, she couldn't help thinking about Paul. Did the fact that he had been working with the authorities at the time of his death mean he was, in fact, some kind of hero?

During that fateful phone call from Roseanne, he had evidently told her that he would go to the authorities but only after both his wedding and honeymoon. That delaymost likely done out of deference for Aprilhad given the Joaquins the ammunition they needed and the opportunity to take him out. The irony was that they had killed Paul because they suspected he might possibly go to the cops when in fact he had already done so. That wasn't lost on Ali, either. She knew those were facets of the story she would need to address when it came time to write Easy Washington's promised exclusive for cutlooseblog.com.

Most of the time what appeared in cutloose consisted of opinionAli's opinions and those of her readers. After months of using the blog to revile Paul Grayson for his two-timing treatment of her, it was difficult for Ali to think of him in any context other than worm. She wondered if she'd somehow be able to muster the necessary distance and evenhandedness to write the rest of the story and do justice to it. For that, Ali would have to revert to her old self and to her original training as a journalistwith one minor exception. Well, a major exception, actually. Most of the time reporters were expected to relate what happened without actually being involved. In this situation, Ali could hardly claim to be a disinterested bystander.