Call Of The Witch (30 page)

“
She left me,
Tony.”

“
Who?”

“
Lauri.”

“
Your fiancée?”

He kicked his shoes off and crossed his legs.
The sock on his left foot sported a hole the size of a quarter, and
his big toe was sticking out of it.

“
Why did she leave
you?”

He rolled his eyes up to the ceiling and then
back down at his feet. “I gave it away.”

“
Gave what
away?”

“
Oh dear God,” I heard
Dominic say.

“
What?”

“
He gave away his
money.”

“
What!” I got down on one
knee beside Carlos and shook his arm. “Carlos, is that true? Did
you give all your money away?”

He nodded. “Yes.”

“
To Lauri? Did you give it
to Lauri?”

I think the absurdity of that question helped
snap him out of his zombie-like trance. “What? No! I didn’t give my
money to Lauri. That’s why she left me.”

“
I don’t
understand.”

He was making eye contact with the three of
us now, though mostly with me. “You said she was only interested in
me for my money. I wanted to prove you wrong.”

“
So you gave your money
away?”

“
Yeah, that’s why I went
to see my accountant last night. I told him to give all my money to
charity, that all I wanted was what was in my retirement account
before I won the lottery.”

“
Carlos, I’m so sorry. I
didn’t know.”

He nodded. “Yes you did, Tony. You knew. You
told me that all Lauri was interested in was my money. You know it
takes a true friend to tell you something like that.”

“
I told you that, too,”
Dominic said. Man, I hate a suck-up.

Carlos and I ignored him. “Well, I’m not sure
I put it exactly that way,” I said.

“
Doesn’t matter. You were
right. If I married Lauri, she would have turned around and
divorced me and taken half of all my money.”

“
Yes, but you’d still the
other half, over two million dollars. Now you’re broke.”

He shook his head faintly. “I don’t care. I’d
rather have nothing than to see her get half of something.”

Dominic came over and placed his hand on
Carlos’ shoulder. “Well, I’m sorry about the way it turned out
between you two. I really wanted to see it work.”

“
Me too,” said Carlos.
“But I think it’s for the best. You know, after I told Lauri that I
gave away my millions, and she dumped me, I thought I was gonna
die. I was crushed. I drove out to the pier at Suffolk Walk
and––”

“
You weren’t going to kill
yourself,” said Dominic, “were you?”

“
What! No!”

“
Oh, that’s a
relief.”

“
I was going to kill
Lauri.”

“
Huh?”

“
Yeah, but after I let her
out of the trunk I––”

“
You didn’t!”

He laughed. “No, I’m kidding. Cut me some
slack. Of course I didn’t have her in the trunk. I went out there
alone. I just needed time to myself, to get away and think.”

“
What were you thinking
about?”

He shook his head. “About you guys.”

“
Yeah?”

“
Yeah, about how you tried
to warn me. You know, I suppose inside I thought the same thing. I
mean, why else would someone as gorgeous as Lauri be interested in
an old guy like me?”

Brittany said, “I don’t think you’re such a
bad catch, Carlos.”

The three of us turned to look at her. It’s
funny how very attractive Brittany appeared to me then; more so
than I had ever noticed before. Perhaps it was the morning light
streaming in through the window, a soft luminescence warming her
skin with a natural glow. She crossed the room in satin strides as
if riding on a thread of smoke. Carlos pulled his feet in and
tucked them under his chair. She wedged herself between his knees,
cradled his cheeks in her palms and kissed him on the forehead. I
think I heard the lump in his throat bottom out when he swallowed.
I know I heard mine.

After the kiss, she combed her fingers
through his hair, raked her thumbs across his brows and brushed his
chin with a feathered touch so light his whiskers barely moved. She
eased back on a cushion of air, the separation between them
proportionate to the gape of his mouth.

“
Wow,” I heard someone say
when we caught our breaths again. I would tell you it was Dominic,
but I can’t be so sure it wasn’t me.

I don’t know what possessed Brittany to do
what she did, but its affect on Carlos was greater than any
medicine money could buy. He stood up, pulled the wrinkles from his
coat, picked up his shoes and carried them to the door.

“
Where are you going?” I
asked, after realizing he wasn’t going to volunteer the
information.

“
I’m going to take a long,
hot shower, a close shave and a big…you know what.”

“
Shit,” I said.

“
Right.”

“
No, I mean shit.” I held
my phone up. “It’s a text message from Burke. He’s upstairs at the
courthouse. Judge Hayes allowed Santana and Martinez to bail out of
jail this morning.”

“
You’re kidding? Who put
up the money?”

I shook my head. “You’re not going to believe
it.”

Dominic said, “Amanda Brewbaker.”

I pointed at him. “Bingo.”

Carlos rolled his eyes. “Unfuckinbelievable.
I think the shower and shave can wait a little bit. I’m going to go
do the third thing. I’ll see you at Brewbaker’s at nine.”

He shut the door. I strolled over to one of
the chairs at the table and sat down. “So, what do you think of
that?”

“
I think it sucks,” said
Brittany. She pulled out a chair and sat down beside me. “How could
Amanda Brewbaker bail those two son-za-bitches out of jail when she
knows one or both of them might have kidnapped her
daughter?”

“
Easy,” said Dominic. He
pulled the chair next to Brittany out from the table and took a
seat. “Isn’t it obvious? She’s in on it.”

“
Maybe we should have put
her in jail.”

“
We could have,” I said.
“If I had called the K-9s in to search her house yesterday and
found her coke stash.”

Dominic shook his head. “Wouldn’t matter. All
three of them would still be out on bail this morning. Money will
buy you anything.”

I scoffed lightly. “Huh, don’t tell that to
Carlos.”

The three of us sat quietly after that. I
felt bad for saying it, but it was true. Maybe money couldn’t buy
happiness, but enough of it could buy a person just about
everything else.

“
Hey,” I said. “Can we
spare a couple of uniforms to keep tabs on Santana and
Martinez?”

“
Who?” said Dominic. “We
have all available hands assigned to the stakeout. Besides, those
two are gone now. We could lose half the morning tracking them
down.”

Brittany said, “Dominic’s right. If they’re
in on the kidnapping, then they’re not going far. We have all the
bases covered down at the creek.”

“
You’re right.” I checked
my watch. “We should head out now. The bank’s opening
soon.”

It was already 9:30 before Carlos met up with
us at the Brewbaker’s. He looked a sight better than he had earlier
that morning. Though his clothes were wrinkled, (I assumed they
were from his locker, as he had showered at work) he smelled
suspiciously nice. I walked up and gave him a handshake when he
came in, and leaning in close I said, “You smell good. Did you do
that for Brit’s sake?”

“
Nooo,” he whispered back.
“It’s cologne Lauri gave me. I just want to use it up.”

“
All at once?”

He looked wounded, but I knew better. I
crossed the room to where Amanda Brewbaker was sitting. She had
arrived just ahead of us from the courthouse and was still wearing
her jacket. Lionel Brewbaker was close enough to hear what I had to
say to her, but with Carlos entering into conversation with him, I
didn’t suspect he would.

“
Mrs. Brewbaker, I
understand you were down at the courthouse this
morning.”

She looked up at me through slotted eyes.
“Yes?”

“
You know you bailed out
the two prime suspects in your daughter’s kidnapping.”

“
Detective. Raul hasn’t
the brains to plan and execute a kidnapping.”

“
But I suppose you
do.”

“
Are you accusing
me?”

“
Are you aware that we
arrested Raul Martinez for possession of child
pornography?”

“
Yes, I’m aware. He told
me you planted those images on his computer.”

“
And you believe
him?”

“
I believe he’s a decent
man.”

“
Do you?”

“
Yes.”

“
And Hector? What do you
believe about him?”

“
I believe he’s a decent
fuck.”

“
You don’t get it, Mrs.
Brewbaker. Do you?”

“
Get what?”

“
Your daughter’s been
kidnapped, and it’s quite possible that one or both of those men
are culpable in her abduction. By bailing them out of jail, you may
have enabled them to get away with it, or worse. You may have
seriously jeopardized your daughter’s safety.”

“
Detective, I don’t
believe my daughter’s been kidnapped at all.”

“
Excuse me?”

“
Don’t you see? It’s a
ruse put on by my husband to discredit me before our divorce
proceedings. It’s no coincidence he has you suspecting the very
people I hang around with.”

“
Are you serious? Mrs.
Brewbaker, your husband didn’t point us to Raul or to Hector. The
evidence pointed us there.”

“
Then you underestimate my
husband, Detective.”

“
Or perhaps I’ve
underestimated you.”

“
Tony!” Carlos hurried
over and showed me the text message on his phone. “It’s Dominic.
He’s says all the units are in place. We should get Lionel over to
the bank now.”

“
Right.” I looked at
Brittany and then pointed to Amanda Brewbaker. “Detective Olson
will wait here with you, Mrs. Brewbaker” On the outside chance the
kidnappers let Kelly go in front of the house, I want you two here
to hurry her to the hospital to get her checked out.”

Lionel grabbed my forearm and squeezed it
tightly. “What do you mean on the outside chance? You don’t think
the kidnappers will release Kelly?”

“
We have to be ready for
all contingencies.”

“
But they will let her go,
won’t they?”

Immediately, I thought of Karina Martinez,
about her former employer in Boxford, and what Dominic said about
the little girl kidnapped there. My heart sank. I looked at Carlos,
wanting so much for him to make that commitment to his long-time
friend. But he wouldn’t have it. Lionel was still holding onto my
arm. I put my hand on top of his and I bit the bullet.

“
Yes sir,” I said, just as
sure as I could sound. “They’ll let her go.”

Amanda Brewbaker got up and moved to another
seat in the living room. I angled in close to Brittany and said,
“Keep a close eye on that one. Don’t let her make any phone calls
if you can’t hear her side of the conversation.”

“
Got it,” she
said.

I checked my watch again. It was 9:40. We had
only twenty minutes to get to the bank and then to the drop site.
“Carlos,” I said, “does the bank have the money ready?”

“
Yes, the bank’s president
is there waiting on us now. All Lionel needs to do is sign and
go.”

“
All right then.” I turned
to Lionel. “Mr. Brewbaker, are you ready?”

“
Yes.” He seemed nervous
but in control.

“
Okay. You’re going to
take your own car. Stop out front of the bank. Double-park if you
have to. Get the money and then head straight out to Garfield
Creek. It’s about a five-minute walk from where you’ll have to
leave your car to the bridge. You’ll have plenty of time so don’t
run and don’t draw any attention to yourself. When you get to the
bridge, I want you to lean against the handrail on the south side
with the money bag hanging over. Keep an eye on your watch. At
exactly 10:00, drop the bag into the water and walk away. Don’t
look around. Don’t look over your shoulder. Don’t talk to anyone
that might happen by, and for God’s sake don’t acknowledge any of
my men if you happen to spot one. You got it?”

“
Yes. I
understand.”

“
Good. Carlos and I will
follow you in his Corvette. We know the kidnappers will probably be
watching you when you leave the bank, so we won’t follow too
closely. Just keep in mind, if you don’t see us, it doesn’t mean
we’ve lost you. We’ll still have your back.”

“
I know you
will.”

“
All right, then. You
ready?”

Lionel took a deep breath and let it out in a
steady blow. “Ready.” He glanced across the room at his wife. She
seemed to be looking not so much at him as through him.

I touched his arm and nudged him gently.
“Come on. Your daughter’s waiting for you.”

On the way to the bank, I told Carlos what
Amanda Brewbaker said about her husband. He didn’t even consider
the possibility.