William Bernhardt - Deadly Justice

“Any idea where she went?”

“ ’Fraid not. She don’t check in and out with me.”

“Well, if you do see her, tell her a friend is looking for her. I’ll check back here tomorrow.”

“You do that, lover boy. I’m sure she hasn’t gone far.”

The waitress watched as the handsome man walked out of the diner, his heels clickety-clacking on the linoleum floor. He climbed into his van and drove away.

A few moments later, after she was sure he was gone, the waitress crouched down and whispered, “Did you hear all. that?”

Trixie crawled out from under the counter, brushing the dirt from her knees. “Yes. Every lying word.”

“Did you see what he looked like?”

“No. But I heard his voice.”

“You should have seen his eyes. Most of the time, he seemed perfectly normal—handsome, in fact. Friendly. But for just a second there, when he was talking all high-toned and fancy, he let his mask drop, and I looked into his eyes. There was something real disturbin’ about him, Trixie. Somethin’ scary.”

“You’re giving me the creeps, Marge.”

“Good. What you going to do, child?”

“I don’t know. I can’t stay around here, that’s obvious.”

“What’s Sonny say? He’s supposed to take care of you.”

“Sonny only takes care of himself. He thinks I should be back on the street.”

“That man would find you in a heartbeat.”

“I know. I need somewhere to go, someplace to hole up.”

“Got any family?”

“Not around here. And I’m not going back to my father’s house, no matter what.”

“Maybe you should take a vacation. Got any money?”

“Not enough.” She stretched out her legs, careful to make sure she was not visible through the front windows. “Marge, is there any chance you could put me up? It would only be for—”

“I’m sorry, Trixie. I’d do almost anything for you, you know I would. But I’ve got two children of my own at home. I can’t be luring some sicko to my place.”

“But he’s going to kill me!” Tears began to well up in her eyes. “Did you hear about what he did to that nice cop?”

Marge nodded grimly. “I heard. And that’s all the more reason I can’t be inviting that man to my house.” She paused. “Honey, maybe you should consider talking to the police.”

“Get serious.”

“I am.”

“Why? So I can get another bust on my record?”

“They might be able to help.”

“I’ve gone to the police before, and all I got for it was beat within an inch of my life. When did the police ever help any of us? Think about it, Marge. There’s four of us gone now. Four of us . In less than three weeks. And the police haven’t done a damn thing.”

Marge tossed down her dish towel. “Well, you’re going to have to do something, honey. And the sooner the better.”

Trixie remained on the floor, her arms cradling her knees, rocking back and forth. “I know, Marge. I know.”

34

BEN, CHRISTINA, AND JONES rode the glass elevator to the top of the Apollo headquarters building. It was almost one in the morning. The night was overcast; there was no moon, no stars. The effect was breathtaking; it was as if they were flying into the heavens. Oddly enough, Ben thought it much less unsettling than most elevator rides. Perhaps the darkness obscured his sense of height.

“I’m still not sure this is a great idea,” Ben said nervously.

“Getting cold feet, Boss?” Jones asked.

“Don’t worry about Ben,” Christina said. “He’s a scaredy-cat from way back. Nonetheless, he always manages to pull off these escapades with great finesse.”

“And,” Ben added, “I always seem to be pulling them off with you. I thought we swore off break-ins for all time.”

“This hardly counts as a break-in,” she replied. “After all, we do work here.”

“Yeah, but no one expects us to be skulking about at one in the morning. And no one would ever permit us to sift through the computer records.”

“If we asked them.” Christina smiled. “Don’t let him scare you, Jones. Break-ins are Ben’s métier. And who’s going to catch us at this time of night?”

“I’m not worried,” Jones replied. “If I get nabbed, I just plan to blame everything on the Boss.”

That caught Ben’s attention. “Oh?”

“I’ll say I had no idea we were doing anything wrong. Ben hired me to do some computer research, that’s all. I had no way of knowing everything wasn’t on the up-and-up.”

The elevator dinged and the doors opened. “Well, I feel much better now that I know you’ve got your butt covered,” Ben said. “Let’s go.”

They crossed the elevator lobby and turned the corner toward Ben’s office and the computer room. They were all wearing sneakers, broken in and nonsqueaky.

Ben suddenly heard a loud pounding noise. He froze, motioning the others to stay put. “What is that?” he hissed.

“It came from down the hall.”

“Oh, great. Just where we’re headed.” Frowning, Ben crouched and tiptoed down the hallway. The pounding repeated. Ben saw the closed door to Herb’s office quiver and shake.

He crept closer and saw Herb standing outside his office, pounding on the door—buck naked. Herbert the Pervert strikes again.

“Goddamn it!” Herb yelled at the closed door. “This isn’t funny! What if someone comes?”

Ben heard a reply from the inside, but it was muffled and he couldn’t make out what was being said. The voice was definitely female, though. Perhaps he’d called Candice a nasty name one time too many.

“Let me in!” Herb repeated, pounding again and again on the door. “I mean it!” The door did not open. “Look, I’m sorry I said you’d put on a few pounds. I was just teasing. You look great.”

He waited, but there was still no response from the other side. “I can’t believe you’d take advantage like this, just because I had to go across the hall to the crapper.” He shook with frustration. “Honey, what if someone comes through the front door—”

He gestured toward the front door, and in so doing, saw Ben crouched on the floor. “Too late.”

Herb ran behind a secretarial station and tried to hide himself behind a typewriter. “Kincaid! You again?”

Ben stood up. “This is becoming a distressingly familiar event. What’s the problem, Herb? Can’t you afford a hotel room like everyone else?”

“That’s none of your goddamn business. What are you doing here, anyway?”

“I…had some work I wanted to finish before tomorrow morning’s staff meeting.”

“Sounds suspicious to me.”

“Says you. At least I have my pants on.”

Herb made an evil, growling noise. “Look, I don’t want this story going around the office, understand? Especially not to Crichton.”

“Really? I was thinking about putting it in staff notes.”

“Hardy har har. Cut me some slack, Kincaid. Guy to guy.”

“Well, since you put it like that.” Grinning, Ben headed back the way he had come. He heard Herb do some more pounding, then finally heard the office door open. He hated to think about what Herb must’ve promised her.

To his surprise, Ben hadn’t walked halfway down the hallway when he saw Candice approaching from the other direction. And heading toward Herb’s office.

“Candice!”

“True. What of it?”

“But I thought—I mean—I assumed—”

“Pull yourself together, Kincaid. You’re not making any sense.”

“I—never mind. What are you doing here this time of night?”

“I’m looking for that asshole Herb. Have you seen him?”

Ben felt beads of sweat forming on his forehead. “I think he’s in his office.”