Michael Connelly - Blood Work

She frowned. He could tell by her expression that she knew he was right but it didn’t sit well. He reached into his pocket and pulled out the photocopy of the list he had made in Fox’s office.

“Here, take this. If something happens to me, you have a copy. Give it to Jaye Winston at the sheriff’s office.”

“What do you mean if something happens?”

Her voice was almost shrill and McCaleb immediately regretted his choice of words. He moved her into a little alcove where there were pay phones. No one was using the phones and they had a small measure of privacy. He put the bag on the floor between his feet and leaned forward so his eyes were close to hers.

“Don’t worry, nothing is going to happen,” he said. “It’s just that all this work I’ve done, ever since you came to the boat that day, it all has led to this. The names on this paper. I just think it’s better if we both have a copy of it, that’s all.”

“Do you really think the killer’s name is on there?”

“I don’t know. That’s what I’m going to think about and work on when I get to the boat.”

“I can help you.”

“I know you can, Graciela. You already have. But right now you have to pull back a little bit and be with Raymond. You don’t have to worry. I am going to be on the phone telling you everything that happens. Remember, I’m working for you.”

She tried a half smile.

“No, you’re not. All I had to do was tell you about Glory and after that you were doing what your heart told you.”

“Maybe.”

“How about if I take you and just drop you off at the boat?”

“No way. That will take you into rush hour and you’ll be driving for two hours. Go now, while you can. Go be with Raymond.”

She finally nodded. Still leaning down into her face, McCaleb brought his hands up to her shoulders and gently pulled her into a kiss.

“Graciela?”

“What?”

“There’s something else, too.”

“What is it?”

“I want you to think about this, think about if I’m right. I have to think about this.”

“What do you mean?”

“If I’m right, if somebody killed Glory for something she had inside, then in a way they killed her for me as well. I got a part of her, too. If that’s true, then can we…”

He didn’t finish the question and she didn’t say anything for a long moment. Her eyes dropped their focus to his chest.

“I know that,” she finally said. “But you didn’t do anything. You didn’t cause this.”

“Well, I want you to think about it and just be sure.”

She nodded.

“It’s God’s way of making something good out of something so bad.”

McCaleb leaned his forehead against hers. He didn’t say anything.

“I know what you told me and I know that story about Aubrey-Lynn. It’s all the more reason to believe. I wish you would try.”

He pulled her into an embrace and whispered into her ear.

“Okay, I’ll try.”

A man with a thick briefcase stepped into the alcove and went to one of the phones. He glanced at them and did a double take when he saw Graciela’s nursing uniform. He obviously believed it was a Cedars nurse engaging in some form of unprofessional conduct. It ended the moment for McCaleb. He broke the embrace and looked into Graciela’s face.

“You be careful and say hello to Raymond for me. Tell him I want to go fishing again.”

She smiled and nodded.

“You be careful, too. And call me.”

“I will.”

She leaned forward and kissed him quickly and then headed off in the direction of the parking garage. McCaleb glanced at the man on the phone and then walked away in the opposite direction.

THERE WERE NO taxi cabs waiting at the curb outside the emergency room. McCaleb decided to change his plan. He hadn’t eaten anything since breakfast and was growing weak with hunger. He felt a low-grade migraine beginning to throb at the base of his skull and knew if he didn’t refuel, it would soon crawl over the top of him and encase his whole head. He decided to call Buddy Lockridge to come get him, then have a turkey and coleslaw sandwich from across the street at Jerry’s Deli while he waited. The more he thought about the good sandwiches they made over there, the hungrier he got. Once Buddy arrived, they could drive over to Video GraFX Consultants in Hollywood to pick up the tape and the hard copy of the frame Tony Banks had enhanced for him.

He quickly stepped back into the ER lobby and over to the pay phone alcove. There was a young woman on one of the phones tearfully telling someone about somebody else who was apparently being treated in the ER. McCaleb noticed that one nostril and her lower lip were pierced with silver hoops connected by a chain of safety pins.

“He didn’t know me, he didn’t know Danny,” she wailed. “He’s totally fucked up and they’re also calling the cops.”

Momentarily distracted by the safety pins and wondering what would happen if the woman yawned, McCaleb picked up the phone furthest from her and tried to tune her out. He was about to give up on Lockridge after six rings-on a boat like the Double-Down, you can’t be more than four rings away-when Buddy finally picked up.

“Yo, Buddy, ready to go to work?”

“Terry?”

Before McCaleb could answer, Lockridge’s voice dropped to a whisper.

“Man, where are you at?”

“Cedars. I need you to pick me up. What’s the matter?”

“Well, I’ll pick you up but I’m not sure you want to come back here.”

“Buddy, listen to me. Skip the bullshit and tell me exactly what is going on.”

“I’m not sure, man, but you’ve got people all over your boat.”

“What people?”

“Well, two of them are those two guys in the suits who were here yesterday.”

Nevins and Uhlig.

“They are inside my boat?”

“Yeah, inside. Also, they pulled the cover off your Cherokee and have a tow truck out there. I think they’re going to take it. I went over there to see what was going on and they almost put me down on the boards. Showed me their badges and a search warrant and told me to get lost. They weren’t nice about it. They’re searching the boat.”

“Shit!”

McCaleb looked over and saw that his outburst had drawn the attention of the crying woman. He turned his back toward her.

“Buddy, where are you, up top or below?”

“Below.”

“Can you see my boat right now?”

“Sure. I’m looking out the galley window.”

“How many people you see?”

“Well, some are inside. But altogether I think there are four or five of them over there. And there’s a couple more with the Cherokee.”

“Is there a woman?”

“Yeah.”

McCaleb described Jaye Winston as best as he could and Lockridge confirmed that a woman matching the description was on the boat.

“She’s in the salon right now. It looked like before when I was looking at her that she was just sort of watching.”

McCaleb nodded. His mind was running over the possibilities of what was happening. Each way he looked at it, things added up the same way. The fact that Nevins and Uhlig knew he had FBI documents would not have engendered such a response-a warrant search with a full team. There was only one other possibility. He had become an official suspect. Accepting this, he thought about how Nevins and Uhlig would conduct an evidentiary search.

“Buddy,” he said, “have you seen them taking anything off the boat? I’m talking about in plastic bags or brown paper bags, like from Lucky’s.”

“Yeah, there’s been some bags. They put them up on the dock. But you don’t have to worry, Terror.”

“What do you mean?”