Tess Gerritsen - Peggy Sue Got Murdered

Perhaps that was the best they could hope for.

They sent Leland and his buddy off with twenty bucks apiece extra, and walked back to Adam's car. It was still there, courtesy of Anthony's hired guards-an additional service, they were informed, requiring an additional fee. Once they had dispensed with those boys they got into the car and sat there, silently regarding the barren strip of South Lexington.

Adam let out a breath, heavy with disappointment. "That wasn't very productive. Expensive, yes. But not productive."

"Well, it's clear they all knew each other. Which means any one of them could've been the source, passed the drug on to the others. I'd bet on Nicos."

"Why Nicos?"

"You heard what his parents said. He worked evenings at the Super E. Think about it. Since when can a part-time stockboy afford a new car?" She shook her head. "He was dealing on the side. I'm sure of it. And somehow, he managed to get his hands on a supply of Zestron-L."

They were quiet for a moment. Then Adam said, "It could still be Maeve."

She looked at him. He was staring ahead, his eyes focused on some faraway point. "What if she is the source, Adam? What then?"

"I don't know." He shook his head. "I suppose there's no way around it. She'll have to be charged. Sale of a dangerous drug. Theft. Whatever the law requires. It's not in my hands any longer. Not with three people dead."

Again, they fell silent. He knows it now , she thought. Maeve is beyond salvation . The time to set her right had long passed. All those missed opportunities, the months, the years when he might have made a difference, would haunt him, as it did every parent of a wayward child.

The sound of skipping feet and rope snapping rhythmically against the pavement penetrated the silence of the car. M. J. looked out and saw Celeste jumping rope, her bird's-nest hair bouncing with each skip. The girl drew even with the car window and she jumped in place, all the time nonchalantly ignoring the occupants of the car.

"Hello there," called M. J.

The girl glanced sideways. "Hi."

"You seem to be everywhere today."

"Gotta keep myself busy." The girl panted. "That's what my mama tells me." She stopped jumping and sidled up to M. J.'s window. Curiously she peered inside. "Like your car."

"Thank you."

"Didn't tell ya nothin', did she?"

M. J. frowned at her. "What do you mean?"

"No way Fran's gonna talk, y'know. Not with that Leland hangin' around."

"Everyone is. He's Jonah's man."

"Jonah?"

"You know. The main man. Can't take a step round here, 'less Jonah lets you."

"We asked for Jonah's help. He sent us Leland."

" 'Course he sent Leland. Wasn't gonna let you talk to no one without a set of his ears around." Celeste suddenly glanced over her shoulder and spotted a boy watching her from a doorway. At once she began to skip rope again, moving away up the sidewalk. M. J. thought the girl would continue on her way, but when Celeste reached the front of the car, she circled left, onto the street, and back along the other side of the car, toward Adam's window.

"Jonah, he's worried, you know," said Celeste, all the time skipping lightly on the blacktop.

"Why?" asked Adam.

"He thinks you're one of them. But that's stupid. I can tell you aren't. 'Cause you're too obvious ."

"What do you mean by-" Adam didn't finish the question, as Celeste was already skipping away, toward the rear of the car. He and M. J. glanced at each other. "This kid ought to be on police payroll," he muttered.

Celeste had rounded the rear bumper and was moving on the sidewalk again, coming alongside M. J.'s window.

"Who's he afraid of?" M. J. asked the bouncing child.

"The folks who killed Nicos."

"And Xenia?"

"Same ones."

"Who are you talking about, Celeste? Which people?"

The girl stopped jumping and looked at them as if they were idiots. "The police, of course!" she said. Then, with a snap of the rope, she was off and bouncing again.

Adam and M. J. stared at the girl. "That's crazy," muttered Adam. "It's just the mentality around here. People are afraid of authority. Naturally they'd blame the police for everything."

"Fran was clearly afraid of something ," said M. J.

"Of that fellow Jonah, no doubt."

By now Celeste was moving up the sidewalk, to make her second circle of the car. When she came around to Adam's side, he was ready to pose the next question through his window.

"Why does Jonah think the police killed Nicos?" he asked.

"Gotta ask him ."

"How do I reach him?"

"Can't." She slapped rope in place. "He don't talk to outsiders."

"Well," sighed Adam. "That's that."

"Show her Maeve's picture," said M. J. "See if she knows her."

Adam took out the photograph and flashed it at Celeste. "Have you seen this woman?" he asked.

Celeste glanced at the photo and did a double take. She stopped jumping for a moment and bent forward for a closer look. "Sure looks like her."

"Like who?"

"Jonah's lady." With that, Celeste bounced off, away from the window.

Adam looked at M. J. in shock. "Dear God. Maeve ?"

"Ask her to take another look."

They glanced back to see where Celeste was in her jump rope circuit around the car. To their dismay, the girl was halfway down the block, skipping swiftly away.

Instead of Celeste, it was Leland approaching their car. He bent to speak into M. J.'s window. "Time you got movin'," he said. "Like, right now ."

"I want to talk to Jonah," said M. J.

"He don't talk to nobody."

"Tell him I'm on his side. That I only want to-"

"You want I should give your car a shove or what?"

There was a silence, heavy with the threat of violence.

"We hear you," Adam said, and started the engine. Swiftly he pulled into the street and made a U-turn. Leland was still glowering at them as they drove away.

"Not taking any chances, is he?" said Adam, glancing in the rearview mirror.

"Jonah's orders."

Just ahead, Celeste was jumping rope along the sidewalk. As they drove past, she stopped and raised her hand in farewell. Then, aware that she too was being watched, she grabbed both ends of the rope and continued her bouncing progress along South Lexington.

For two days, Dr. Herbert Esterhaus had avoided going home. Instead, he'd holed up under an assumed name at the St. Francis Arms and ordered all his meals delivered. It was a no-frills establishment, the sort of place frequented by traveling salesmen on tight budgets. The sheets were slightly frayed, the carpet well worn, and the water spewing from the faucet had a distinctly rusty tinge, but the room served his purpose; it was a place to hide while he considered his next move.

Unfortunately, he had few options to choose from.

That he'd soon be arrested, he had no doubt. The investigation into the Zestron-L theft had just begun; soon they'd be running background checks and polygraphing everyone in the lab, and he would fail the test. Miserably. Because he was guilty.

He could run. He could change his name, his identity. The way he had before. After all, it was a vast country, with countless little towns in which to hide. But he was weary of hiding, of answering to an assumed name. It had taken him ten years to feel comfortable with "Herbert Esterhaus." He loved his job. His work was valued and respected at Cygnus, and most important, he was valued and respected. Even by Mr. Q. himself.

Would they respect him when they learned what he had done?

He went to the window and stared down at the street. It was a blustery day, and bits of paper tumbled in the wind. Downtown Albion. All right, so it wasn't the city of his dreams, but it was home to him now. He had a house, a good paycheck, a job that kept him on the cutting edge of research. On Saturday nights he had his folk dancing club, on Sunday nights his water-color classes. He didn't have the woman he loved, but there was always the chance Maeve would come back to him. "This is my home now," he said to himself. The sound of his own voice speaking aloud was startling. "I live here. And I'm not going to leave."