Leann Sweeney - Shoot from the Lip

“I have my own car, Doris. I’ll be there in a little while. This is my friend Loreen. She’ll ride with you.”

“Hi, Loreen. Jeffy already has Abby for a girlfriend, and you know what that means.” Doris smiled.

Loreen actually returned the smile. “I do know what that means. I’ll be very careful.” She looked at Jeff then. “Where are we going?”

He gave her the general location of his apartment, then looked at me. “Abby, remember that problem with your bumper the other day? I know you got it fixed, but check it again before you drive through traffic. I don’t trust that body shop you used.”

I hadn’t thought to check for another GPS device. “I’ll do that. Now you guys get going. I’ll catch up with you at the apartment.”

Loreen handed me her gun. “Take this. You shouldn’t walk back to your car without protection. I know Jimmy’s out there.”

I started to protest, but she insisted.

I was surprised she didn’t want to keep the gun, since she wasn’t exactly thrilled about this whole arrangement. Must be that some part of her trusted us, and that was a good sign. I stepped back, closed the car door and watched Jeff drive away.

Rather than take the shorter route through the grass, I chose to stay on the sidewalk to go around the block. I kept the gun tucked into my waistband. Loreen’s paranoia seemed to be contagious, and I stayed alert for any indication that someone was watching or following.

I made it to the Camry without any trouble. But when I checked under the bumper, I kept the gun ready in my right hand.

A minute later, damned if I didn’t find another little black box, this time stuck beneath my front bumper. It was different from the other one. Smaller. I wanted to stomp on the thing, smash it into a million pieces, mostly because I’d been played for a fool again. Guess I’d have to put a mirror on a stick and check under my car every time I went anywhere. At least I’d partially learned my lesson by sneaking Loreen out the back way. Good thing I had Jeff thinking for me, since I’d totally screwed up.

Still steamed, I got into the Camry, locked up and removed the GPS device’s batteries. When I turned the ignition I decided that beating myself up wouldn’t help. I took a few deep breaths and pulled away from the curb. Time to see if I’d learned my lesson about dumping a tail. It would be side streets and running every yellow light for this trip. I wasn’t about to lead a killer to another victim.

On the way to Jeff’s apartment, I pushed my anger about the tracking devices as far to the back of my mind as possible. I had no clue who had put them on my car, and until I knew, they were only a distraction. Instead, I thought about what I’d learned from Loreen and what it could mean. Where had the extra money for Christine’s trip to Vegas come from? A baby sale? Probably.

The other money, the cash Christine always seemed to have to buy booze, most likely came from Gloria Wilks-money intended for Emma. But it wasn’t enough to start a new business. Christine had probably gone to whoever took the child she’d given up and asked for the start-up money for the cleaning business. What if that person figured out her requests would never end and killed her? A child you’d raised, probably loved with all your heart, would be a powerful motivator, especially if the child had no idea she was bought or adopted.

Then there was the infant found under the house. An exchange had obviously been made. But how had this deal been brokered? I didn’t know the answer. I was hoping Loreen had more to share about her relationship with Christine O’Meara, some small something that would piece all this together.

I arrived at Jeff’s apartment about thirty minutes later than if I’d taken the freeway. Good thing I knew Houston streets. I rapped on the door and Jeff let me in. The smell of pepperoni and pizza crust filled the apartment.

“I don’t think I’ve ever been so happy to see a pizza box in my life.” We joined Loreen and Doris at the card table.

Loreen had changed out of her uniform into jeans and a T-shirt, Doris had pizza sauce at both corners of her mouth and Jeff must have finished eating, because he was chewing gum.

I took the GPS device out of my purse and showed Jeff. “DeShay has another toy to play with.”

“What kind of toy?” Doris said. “Can I see it?”

“No, Doris, it’s not that kind of toy,” Jeff said. “After Abby’s done eating, we can set up that jigsaw puzzle we bought today.”

I picked up one of the three slices left in the box and took a bite.

“What is that thing?” Loreen nodded at my purse, where I’d returned the GPS device.

“A piece of equipment our friend DeShay-”

“I know Jeff is a cop.” She glanced at him. “An ex-pro like me can smell a cop a mile away. What is that?”

“You can smell Jeffy because he smells nice,” Doris said. “He smells like our dad.”

We all had to smile, and I said, “He does clean up good.”

“Loreen has a pretty smile like yours, Abby. She said she had a friend like me when she was in school a long time ago. Can you be my friend now, Loreen?”

Loreen blinked several times and then slowly reached out to Doris, her palm up. “Yeah. I’ll be your friend.”

But Doris wasn’t about hand squeezes. She got up and wrapped the miniature woman in one of her hugs. Jeff had to put an end to this affectionate gesture or risk Loreen ending up with a few broken ribs. Time for the jigsaw puzzle, I thought, hoping Loreen had forgotten her question. Knowing about the GPS device, knowing I may have been tailed to her house, would make her feel like she’d sat down in a bear trap.

Loreen did seem to forget, and after only an hour of puzzling, something we discovered Jeff’s sister was quite good at, Doris wanted to watch The Little Mermaid again. She abruptly left us for the DVD player. I guessed her attention span was limited. I’d have to get used to that.

With Doris occupied, I took Loreen’s gun from my purse, unloaded it and handed her the weapon and the ammo. “Thanks.”

Loreen put everything in her own bag. She looked tired, but I had been patiently waiting for a chance to finish questioning her about Christine and hoped she didn’t fade on me. Jeff offered her a drink, and while the two of them broke into a bottle of Scotch, I had a Shiner Bock. Hard liquor isn’t for me, and I usually have beer only at Astros games, but I’d forgotten to pick up wine when I did the shopping.

“Loreen, you’ve been so helpful, but I need to pick your brain a little more,” I said.

“Yeah, well, I gotta call in sick for tomorrow first. Believe me, that won’t make my boss happy.” She gulped her Scotch. “Phone?”

“On the kitchen wall,” Jeff said.

She left us to make her call, and Jeff leaned close. “She’s scared for the wrong reasons, thinks her ex-pimp is the biggest threat. Get that GPS box to DeShay in the morning.”

Loreen came back to the table. “Guess who’s fired if she’s not at work day after tomorrow?” She took another long swallow of her drink. “Why in hell did I ever write that letter?”

“Because you wanted to right a wrong,” I said. “Usually that ends up paying off in the end.”

“Yeah, well, I’m not seeing any nice payoff about now.”

“You can still help Christine’s kids,” I said. “On the drive back here I was thinking about who Christine could have met who had the money to buy her baby-because the cash she had for Vegas could have been payment. You’ve said no one at Rhoda’s seemed like a good candidate, but what about the people you two cleaned for?”

“Some of them were rich, yeah.”

“Longtime customers?”