Bouquet of Lies Part 38

"She never talked to me."

"Charlatan."

"Lacey. Did you happen to tell her your mother is really alive?"

Lacey smiled. "No. It didn't occur to me. And she did most of the talking."

"What did she say exactly?"

Lacey wasn't sure how far to take this and decided she'd said enough. "Right now I have to go." She cut Randy off.

He called her back. She didn't answer. She stroked the cat and smiled. "Bet he's as nervous as I am now."

The cat mewed. She picked up the phone and called Dan and told him she thought Randy was on his way.

Thirty-seven.

THE NAME ON the lease was Bonnie Malone. The name on the mailbox was Reverend Irene.

Inside the apartment with his uncle and two deputies, Ames and Jackson, Dan wore latex gloves even though he wasn't helping with the search. He was the boyfriend of the victim's daughter. If anything incriminating was found, anything that ended up in court, his uncle didn't want him to be the one to find it.

"Lawyers love to blow smoke up jurors' a.s.ses. You'd be the kindling they'd light a fire with," his uncle grumbled.

Dan's cell phone rang just as Uncle Carrick opened another drawer in the desk he was searching. Lacey. Dan answered quickly.

"Are you okay?" he asked, walking a few steps away from his uncle.

"Of course," Lacey responded. "Have you found anything?"

"Not yet."

"Oh." She sounded disappointed. "Well, he didn't say where he was going, but if I were to place a bet, I'd bet Randy's on his way."

"Is that the warning bell?" Uncle Carrick looked up from the desk.

Dan nodded. "Randy left the house. She thinks he's coming here."

"Better move the squad car. Why don't you do that?" Uncle Carrick went back to his search.

Dan heard the directive, but his mind was on Lacey. He wanted to take the cell phone and hole up in some corner and find out how she was really doing and what she was up to. "So everything is fine there?"

"Yes."

"I wish you'd tell me what you're doing."

"I'm talking to you."

He sighed. She wasn't going to share. "Lacey. Whatever you're up to, please be careful."

"You be careful. He's headed for your neck of the woods."

His uncle tossed a pile of IDs on the desk. "Well, lookie here."

Dan didn't want to hang up. If he kept her on the line, it felt like he was keeping her safe. He wasn't though, was he? Now they'd found evidence and he needed to move the car.

"Lacey . . ." He wanted to tell her he loved her, but instead told her to be careful again and ended their conversation. He moved to his uncle at the desk.

"Fifteen fake IDs," his uncle said.

Ames entered carrying something lumpy and flesh-colored. "There're a lot of wigs in her bedroom closet. And clothes, all styles. This is my personal favorite." He held up a fat suit and pressed it against his body. "Think it does anything for me?" He laughed.

"Now that's evidence," Uncle Carrick said. "Take it. h.e.l.l, take all the clothes and the wigs."

"And the shoes," Dan added. "Lacey said the Reverend Irene was tall."

"Shoes." Ames nodded and went out.

The detective spoke without looking at his nephew. "Probably be able to connect some of those outfits to other scams."

Jackson got to work dismantling the PC on top of the desk. "Let's hope she was sloppy."

"Thought you were going to move the car." Uncle Carrick glanced at Dan. Jackson tossed him the keys. Dan went out.

The street was a quiet cul-de-sac with lots of shade trees and four other apartment buildings. Vehicles crowded the curb. The unmarked car his uncle drove wouldn't attract Randy's notice, but the black and white stuck out like a sore thumb. He drove it around the corner in the opposite direction from the busy boulevard Randy would be coming from.

He hurried back, walking through the courtyard, past the pool. Her apartment was in the rear on the ground floor. The living room and kitchen faced the courtyard; her bedroom and another that served as an office faced the boulevard.

He found his uncle at the kitchen table perusing papers in a manila folder. "We got her." His uncle chuckled. "We got her."

Dan stepped closer. "What is that?"

"Stark's missing file. He may have been a maggot, but he was one h.e.l.l of an investigator. Finding Crystal was a cakewalk compared to what else he dug up. That Edward. He was a piece of work."

"What?" Dan asked.

"Are you ready for this? A few years back there was this. .h.i.t and run the department never solved."

"Edward?"

"Looks like it. That b.a.s.t.a.r.d ran down a woman in a crosswalk. Killed her. On purpose, witnesses said. Look at the victim's picture."

Dan stared. The victim resembled Lacey and Darla's mother. "You think he was trying to kill Crystal?"

"Maybe she threatened to proceed with the divorce and Edward wigged out. We'll never know. But this explains why Edward would pay Stark."

"How was it Maggot, or Stark rather, was able to solve it?"

"He was working from the other direction. You know. Looking into Edward, he stumbled upon things Edward did and looked into why. Like, here. Edward sold a car around then. Stark checked into it. Talked to the buyer. Found out it was a great deal and that the car had just been painted. Stark asks himself, why? And why was Edward selling it and not Henry, the chauffeur? That would have been part of his job. See?"

"Well. It'll be nice for the victim's family to know who did this. Guess his murder will be some kind of justice for them."

"Yeah. Small comfort."

Ames and Jackson entered the kitchen. "Are we done here?"

"Not quite. Hopefully, Randy will show up soon." Uncle Carrick looked at Ames, then Dan. "I should have thought of this earlier. You two switch clothes."

"You want me in uniform?" Dan said.

"I want Ames in street clothes."

Five minutes after Dan and Ames exchanged outfits, the doorbell rang. Dan checked the peep hole and moved back to the kitchen. "That's him."

Uncle Carrick motioned to his team and they moved deeper into the kitchen. The detective spoke softly. "Best scenario, he uses a key and walks in."

Randy rang the bell again.

"He may not have a key," Dan said.

Randy knocked this time. Hard.

"Ames. Go. Watch. If he walks away-"

"I'll open the door." Ames walked over and looked out the peep hole. He swung the door open immediately. "h.e.l.lo." Ames said.

Randy's voice: "Ah, hi. I thought this was the Reverend Irene's apartment." He sounded unsure of himself.

"It is. You been here before?"

Dan smiled. It was a great leading question. But Randy didn't bite.

"No. I, um. Who are you?" Randy asked.

"Who are you?" Ames replied.

There was a pause.

"She's not here?" Randy said.

"You just missed her. She should answer her cell phone. Unfortunately, I don't know the number."

"Who are you again?" Randy asked.

"I was a client, but ah. Well, you know how those things can go."

"A client. What's your name?"

"Kind'a nosey, aren't you? Look, I'll tell her you came by if you want to tell me your name."

"So she'll be back."

"Oh, yeah."

"Then give her a message for me."

"No problem."

"Tell her to stop hounding my wife."

"d.a.m.n," whispered Uncle Carrick.

"He's quick," Dan said softly.

"Hounding?" Ames questioned.

"Tell her to leave Darla alone from now on. And she doesn't need to be talking to Darla's sister either."

Dan and his uncle looked at each other.

"Think you can do that?"

Ames chuckled. "It's a tall order."

"Then just to be sure, have her call me on my wife's phone. I'll answer. She has the number."

"And your name?"

"Tell her to call Darla's phone."

"I heard you the first time."

"Good."

Ames closed the door on Randy's retreating footsteps. He moved to the kitchen. "Tried to get him to call her."

"You did good," Uncle Carrick said. "He's just slippery."

"Think he was warning her to stay away? And when did Lacey talk to her?" Dan said.

"She might have just told him that. He sure wants to talk to her." Uncle Carrick started in on the Tums. "He knows he'll get to if she calls Darla's number. And it still won't connect her to him."

Dan nodded. "How did he know where she lived? I mean, if they aren't in cahoots, how would he explain it?"