Little Girl Gone (12 page)

At the next intersection, the countdown clock on the crosswalk sign was almost at zero. Logan weaved into the fast lane, then pressed the accelerator to the floor again, and shot through the intersection as the traffic light went yellow.

He looked in the mirror, expecting to see that the sedan had been left behind. But instead of getting stuck at the light, the sedan pulled out into the oncoming lanes, and hit the intersection moments after the light turned red. Horns blared, and brakes screeched, but their pursuer didn’t stop.

Logan swore under him breath, then scanned ahead. A half block up was a sign that read: 405 FREEWAY.  Below the words were arrows, one for southbound traffic and one for north.

Logan kept out of either lane until the last second, then shot across the traffic, and onto the 405 northbound onramp. The road dropped quickly toward the freeway. They got all the way to the bottom of the ramp before the now familiar single headlight car entered at the top.

The 405 freeway had always been one of the busiest in Los Angeles, and that evening was no exception. Though technically rush hour was over and everyone was going close to the speed limit, there were cars everywhere.

Logan moved from the slow lane to the next lane and then the next, dropping into gaps in the traffic the moment he spotted them. Soon they were approaching the junction with the I-10 freeway. Logan knew if he could get over to the transition without the guy tailing them realizing it, they could head east, putting their pursuer behind them for good. He eased the El Camino to the right, stopping just short of the transition lanes, then looked in his mirror to see if he could spot the other car.

“Watch out!” Angie screamed.

Logan’s gaze quickly shifted from the mirror to the road. The cars ahead of them had suddenly slowed to a crawl. He hit the brakes, then whipped the El Camino into a hole that opened up in the lane to their right just a few seconds before they would have smacked into the car that had been in front of them.

He glanced at Angie. “You all right?”

The nod she gave him said, “Yes,” but the look on her face said, “Hell
no!
”

The transition lane they were now in was moving better than the others. Apparently, whatever was causing the traffic jam was not on the 10 freeway.

Logan moved over to the far right lane, so that they’d end up going east, then checked to see if they’d lost the other car.

For a second he stared into his mirror in disbelief.

Talk about persistent. The one-eyed car was driving on the shoulder between the right lane and the freeway sound wall, and would reach them before they got to the new freeway. Having no choice, Logan swung his car to the shoulder, too.

“What are you doing?” Angie asked.

He nodded toward the back window, and let her figure it out herself.

The drivers in the cars they were passing didn’t look particularly happy that Logan had created his own lane. A couple of them honked, then one jerk pulled his car partially onto the shoulder in an attempt to block their way. His act of protest was ill timed, though. The sound wall that had butted up against the edge of the shoulder ended a few seconds after he crossed over, and was replaced by a landscaped slope. Logan didn’t even slow down as he veered the El Camino onto the hill, and went around the blocking car.

As the road curved to the right, the speed of the traffic began to pick up, and Logan slipped back into the regular lane. A few moments later they were on the 10.

Their pursuer was at least a dozen cars behind them now, but he
was
still there. Logan knew if he didn’t do something drastic, the other car was going to stick to them until they ran out of gas.

He slowed, bringing the El Camino in line speed-wise with the surrounding traffic. A quick glance back confirmed that the sedan was now gaining on them. Logan then moved to the right, until he was one lane from the slow lane.

Angie looked at him, then out the back window, then back at him again. “What are you doing? He’s going to catch us.”

Logan kept his concentration on the road, and said nothing.

“Hey! Mr. Hooper! You trying to get us killed?”

“Not planning on it,” he replied.

“Then get a move on it. He’s right back there!”

He could see her point at the sedan.

“Do it again,” he said.

“Do what?”

“Point at him. Make him think we’re worried.”

“I
am
worried!”

“Fine, just make sure he sees that.”

“Why?”

About a half mile ahead, Logan saw that the freeway curved to the left. It wasn’t perfect, but it would have to do. He slowed some more, dropping below the average speed.

“Are you crazy?” Angie screamed. “He’s just a couple cars back now!”

Logan moved into the slow lane.

“Dude! What the hell are you doing?” she asked.

“Where is he now?”

“He’s right there! Coming up on your side! Ah, Christ. I should have kept running.”

Logan looked into the side mirror, and could see the sedan tailgating the car in front of him, flashing his lights so that the guy would speed up or clear out of the way. Since the El Camino was to the right of the slower car, the man was forced to move to his left.

Now, with the lane ahead of him clear, the sedan jumped forward, coming up beside them, and matching their speed. Logan waited until they were almost to the curve, then snapped the wheel quickly to the left, and immediately back to the right, making it look for a moment like he was going to sideswipe the sedan.

Out of reflex, the guy chasing them jerked his car away to keep from being hit. Logan figured he would do that. Survival instinct. But all that really mattered was whether he’d planted the seed or not.

Do it, buddy. You know you want to.

They were a third of the way through the curve.

Any time now would be good
.

Another few seconds passed. Then the sedan jerked toward them.

Immediately, Logan hit the brakes.

Beside him, Angie closed her eyes tight, bracing for impact. But she needn’t have bothered. The back end of the sedan passed within inches of their front bumper, but shot by without the two cars touching.

As Logan had hoped, the other guy’s momentum carried him all the way through the lane, over the shoulder and halfway onto the barren dirt beyond.

The moment the guy started to bring his sedan back onto the freeway, Logan sped up just enough to tap the front corner of his El Camino against the back corner of the sedan. As soon as they were touching, he jammed the pedal all the way down, and turned the wheel to the left.

The push caused the sedan to swing out perpendicular to the freeway. Logan pulled around him and raced away, watching in his rearview mirror as the sedan spun over the shoulder, and down a slope behind some office buildings.

He didn’t know what happened to the car after that. The only thing that mattered to him was that the guy wouldn’t be following them anymore.

19

Taking the first exit, Logan circled around and got back onto the freeway, heading west.

“Jesus. You’re insane, aren’t you?” Angie finally said once they were cruising down the freeway. She let out a half laugh, like she was just joking, but he knew she wasn’t. “You’re going to take me back to my car now, right?”

He didn’t say anything.

When they reached the 405, he went north.

“Hey, it’s the other way,” she said.

He remained silent.

“I’m serious. I need to get my car and get out of here.” When he still didn’t respond, she said, “Are you even listening to me? Turn this damn thing around, and take me to my car!”

“I believe you promised to answer some questions.”

She rolled her eyes. “Seriously? Fine. I’ll answer your stupid questions. Just take me back to my car.”

“Questions first.”

She groaned, then leaned against the door like she was trying to get as far away from him as possible.

“Where’s Elyse?” he asked.

“How the hell should I know? She was going to go visit her grandfather.”

“Where’s Elyse?”

“Seriously, dude. You really aren’t listening to me.”

“Where is Elyse?”

“Stop asking me that, God dammit!”

“I’ll stop when you give me a real answer.”

“I gave you a real answer.”

“You gave me a lie.”

“The hell I did. I have no idea where she is.”

“All right,” he said. “Then let me rephrase. What happened to her?”

“I
don’t
know.” Though she tried to sell it, some of the conviction had left her voice.

Around them, the traffic began to slow just a little as they neared the crest of the Sepulveda Pass.

“I think you do know, but are too scared to tell me.”

“Go to hell.”

“Why was that guy after you?”

“What guy?”

Logan looked over, his face hard. She was still sitting as far away as possible, her head against the metal frame of the cab, trying to look innocent. In quick succession, he punched the accelerator, tapped on the brakes. The result was the satisfying
thunk
of her head hitting the car’s frame.

“Ah! What the—”

“Why was that guy after you?” he asked again.

“You did that on purpose.”

“We can drive all night, or you can start talking now.”

She sulked in her corner.

“Okay, fine,” he said. “What I can also do is take you to the police. Tell them you’re involved in the disappearance of your roommate. That you probably also have something to do with the death of her friend Anthony.”

“What?” she said, surprised.

“Didn’t you know that?”

“I…I…”

Glancing over, he could see that, though she might not have actually known about it, she at least suspected something had happened to Anthony.

“They’re going to want to know all about you and your buddies Aaron and Ryan.”

“Hey, they’re not my friends.”

Logan shrugged. “But you were working with them.”

She said nothing, confirming he was right.

They passed the transition to the 101 and kept going north.

“What happened to Elyse?”

More silence. He was about to ask again when she finally spoke. “They took her.”

“
Who
took her?”

“I don’t know exactly. Aaron, I guess. A few others. I wasn’t there.”

“When did it happen?”

“Monday night. When she was with…Anthony.”

That answered that. “Where were they taking her?”

“I have no idea.”

He said nothing.

“Seriously,” she said. “I don’t know. I was just trying to make some extra money, that’s all.”

“You need to tell me what happened. Everything.”

She moaned loudly, as if it would be too painful for her to speak. But then she said, “Look, I got myself into some trouble, all right?”

“What kind of trouble?”

She paused, then said, “I took some money. A lot. Ten grand. Well, a lot to me, anyway. I didn’t think it was a lot to them. Thought I was being clever, taking a little here and there. But I needed the cash more than they did, you know?”

“More then who did?”

“The company I worked for. H. Wick Medical Supplies. I worked in accounts payable. Just a clerk, processing invoices. One day I came in and these lawyers were waiting for me in the conference room. They laid out copies of all the phony invoices I’d passed through. Said they were going to have me arrested.”

“Did they?”

She shook her head. “I was fired on the spot, and I spent the next two weeks waiting at home for the police to show up. Only instead of the police, this other guy knocks on my door. Totally professional looking, know what I mean? Expensive suit and nice shoes.”

“Was he from your former employer?”

“No.”

“The law firm?”

“He could have been, but he never said. He just gave me his name, Mr. Andrews, and that was it.”

“What did he want?”

“He told me he knew what I’d done, and said that if my old company filed charges there was no chance I would avoid going to prison for at least a couple of years. Then he told me it was possible he might be able to take care of things, if I was interested.” She paused. “I have a cousin who went to prison. He wasn’t the same when he was released. It changed him. Hollowed him out. I was scared to death that would happen to me. So, why wouldn’t I be interested?”

“And in exchange for this?”

She hesitated. “He wanted me to do something.”

“Set Elyse up.”

“No. No, not at all. I mean, I guess that’s what he really wanted, but that’s not how it was presented to me.”

Logan waited.

“Mr. Andrews said all I had to do was move in with some girls in Westchester, and keep an eye on one of them while pretending to be a student.”

“Elyse?”

“Yeah.”

“Did he tell you why he wanted you to keep an eye on her?”

“Not exactly. He just implied that she might have been involved in something she shouldn’t have been. You know, kind of like what I had been doing.”

“What did you think this ‘something’ was?”

“Honestly, I didn’t care. Mr. Andrews said he’d make sure the case against me was dropped, and told me he would even pay me a salary while I was doing the job for him. That sounded a hell of a lot better than going to jail.”

“Doesn’t sound like you think that now.”

She looked out the window and didn’t respond.

“So you’ve been watching her since January?” he asked to get her back on track.

“They…had to get one of the other girls to move out first,” she finally said. “That took a few weeks. Then they made sure I was ready, and I answered the ad for a new roommate.”

That was three months, plus the planning time before it, and more time getting Angie ready. This was no spur-of-the-moment action.

“So what did they have you do?”

“I was supposed to become friends with her, but we didn’t exactly click, so…” She shrugged. “We hung out sometimes, but not very much. I just kind of kept tabs on when she was around and who she talked to.”