It occurred to her that she wasn’t coming back. And that she had a full two-weeks’ pay that she hadn’t collected. That left her with maybe a hundred, which wasn’t going to take her far.
She started her car and drove slowly to the busy downtown street. Once she reached the freeway heading toward the Valley, she started shaking.
DETECTIVE VINCE YARROW stared at the body on the floor. He tried like hell to think in terms of weapons, trajectories, points of impact, but this wasn’t just another body. It was Tim Purchase, a man Vince had grown to respect and admire. A friend.
“Christ, they didn’t leave much.”
Vince glanced at his partner, Jeff Stoller, who looked small and weary in his heavy coat. “Just a message.”
Jeff shook his head as he went over to the department photographer, there to capture the scene for the detectives and for a jury that would probably never be called.
The room was starting to get crowded, and that wouldn’t do. There wasn’t going to be much evidence, that much Vince knew; still he’d collect what he could. Then he would leave Tim to the coroner while he and Jeff went room to room looking for a witness.
He also knew that no one would talk. No one would admit that the perpetrators had been gangbangers. Everything about the murder screamed colors. The question was, which gang? Tim had worked against most of them, from the MS-13s, Crips and Bloods to the Aryan Nation. He’d dedicated his life to stealing kids from the gangs, to giving them opportunities to make something of themselves. He’d been a hero. A savior to hundreds. If it took him the rest of his life, Vince would catch the pricks who’d done this.
He got out his notebook and began the work. Most of the time, getting into the case soothed him. The familiar procedures helped distance him from the inhumanity of the crime. Not today. With every notation, every cold observance, his anger grew until he could feel the heat in his face and the grinding of his molars. God damn them. All of them. All the selfish little bastards who thought nothing more of murder than they thought of taking a piss.
“Vince.”
He looked up from his book to find Jeff scowling. The reason was Corky Baker, a reporter for the Times who was a walking pain in the ass. Whenever there was a high profile murder, Baker would attach himself, leechlike, to whomever he could. Vince was all for freedom of the press and the public’s right to know, though not at the victims’ expense. Baker had caused him problems too many times in the past with his sleazy version of crime reporting. He owed it to Tim not to let that happen this time.
“Get him out of here.” Vince looked pointedly at the bottom-feeder. “This is still an active crime scene.”
Baker didn’t move. “Yarrow, you never fail to enchant. I have a couple of questions—”
“Go jump off the roof.”
“Can I quote you on that?”
“Jeff. Ask the officers to come in and remove Mr. Baker.”
“You got it.” Jeff smiled broadly at the reporter. “Should I tell them to use all necessary force?”
“Sounds good to me.” Vince went back to his notebook, reading what he’d written before the interruption.
“All right, I’ll go. Just tell me, was it crack? I heard Purchase was taking a hefty percentage as hush money.”
Vince dropped his notebook as he crossed the room. He hit Baker so goddamned hard his head bounced off the doorframe. It wasn’t nearly enough. As he moved in for round two, the bastard slid down the wall, landing in a messy heap on the floor.
Jeff stepped in front of Vince carefully. “You might have made your point there, buddy.”
“Not even close.”
“He’s an asshole. Let it go.”
Vince took in a deep breath, his body still thrumming with the need to pummel. “Get him gone, Jeff. Now.”
“Why don’t you go get some water, huh?”
Vince sniffed as he looked at the reporter who was just coming to. A small trickle of blood had started at the corner of his mouth, which wasn’t as satisfying as one would think. The bruise would be a good one though, large and painful.
He headed for the bar, wishing he could have something a lot stronger than water. His thoughts of bourbon were interrupted by the sight of the room service cart. It was open, with all the little liquor bottles, candy bars and fruit drinks in neat order. He turned to Jeff, but cut his remark off as he saw Baker rise to his feet. The last thing Vince wanted in the paper was that there had been a witness in the room.
Baker raised his hand, swatted at the blood on his face and stared at the evidence on his fingers, then at Vince. “Thank you, you miserable prick. I’m going to sue you and your department for so much money they won’t have enough left over for toilet paper. You got that?”
“Fine. Just do it somewhere else.”
One of the uniforms put his hand on Baker’s elbow, but he shook him off. “You’ll be hearing from me.”
Vince turned back to the cart. As Baker’s voice receded, Vince crouched down in front of the small refrigerator. From there, he looked up into the mirror. Shit. Whoever had been here had likely seen everything. Tim opening the door. The rush inside. The blaze of bullets. They’d be able to ID the gunmen, if not by face, by colors, clothing, tattoos, headgear, weapons. It would all help him identify who’d done this. The question was, who had been behind this bar, and where were they now?
“Vince?”
“Come here, Jeff.”
His partner walked over to the side of the bar. “Whoa, what have we here?”
“A witness.”
“Excellent. I’ll go to the manager and ask who was working.”
“I’ll go with you.”
“I think you’d better call Emerson,” Jeff said. “The second he hears about Baker’s lawsuit, he’s gonna blow a gasket.”
Vince stood, his knee cracking with the effort. “I don’t give a shit about Baker.”
“You assaulted the man. He can have you arrested.”
“No, he won’t. He’ll get more mileage from a lawsuit.”
“Yeah, the Captain’s gonna love that.”
“I’ll tell Emerson what happened. But first I need to find this witness.”
Jeff, who’d been his partner for almost three years, shrugged. That’s what was so good about him. He wasn’t just a fine cop, he knew how to roll with the punches. And he put up with all Vince’s bullshit. “I’ll wait for the coroner. Come back up here when you’re done.”
Vince picked up his notebook on his way out, his bruised knuckles making him wince.
KATE PARKED HER beat-up Toyota in the parking lot of her apartment building. The prospect of moving again so soon after she’d found this dive made her sick. There was no choice, of course. The police could already know that she’d been in the suite during the murder. They’d be after her, and she wouldn’t let herself be found.
Truthfully, it wasn’t the moving that had her so edgy. It was the smell of death that was still on her, the coppery odor of blood in her hair, on her uniform. She wanted to shower, but there wouldn’t be time.
She’d learned how to live in the smallest possible way. A few changes of clothes, toiletries in one tote, her computer and paperwork all in one box. She had nothing extraneous, nothing that couldn’t be abandoned if she had to leave quickly. She kept the contents