Moon Music (50 page)

Up and down, down and up.

Nothing but empty cement and rows of still-life apartment buildings looking gray in the twilight.

Come on, come on
. Be
here! Show your face.

Those bastards
, Poe cursed mentally.
Those son-of-a-bitch assholes. That motherfucking Lewiston. If anything happened to
her, if
anything
happened to her…

One pass around the block.

Lewiston was dead-ass roadkill as far as Poe was concerned. That son of a bitch had bullied and pushed his weight around for too long. His days on this planet were numbered. The bust last night…it had been a good one. Handfuls of grass. Now all they had to do was match it up. Unusual grass with unusual grass. And if Honey pulled through, they'd have an eyewitness to the murder as well as her verbal confession. Even without Honey, he still had it all down on tape. And he had Lamar Larue to link Yarlborough to Honey.

It all hinged on that grass—if the grass scrapings under Yarlborough's nails matched the grass in Lewiston's office. Ruki had sent the samples to the lab this morning.

Ruki, where the hell are you?

His head pounded like bongo drums. He wondered where she could be as he made a third pass around the block.

Please, let her show up.

Let her show up!

He just wanted to see her face, wanted to hear her voice and touch her soft skin—

Abruptly, he caught sight of flowing fabric as a figure turned the corner.

Thank you, thank you, thank you!

As Rukmani came into focus, she had never looked so beautiful. So beautiful and so wonderfully
alive!

He blinked wet eyes, then suddenly froze.

A hidden presence…eyes on the back of his neck. He jerked his head around, but saw nothing.

Nothing.

But he couldn't shake the ominous feeling.

Damn you, Lewiston!

She was wearing a traditional kiwi-green Indian sari embellished with thread. Her hair was damp and loose—she must have just washed it—and it swayed as she walked. She was holding two shopping bags. Poe pulled the Honda to the curb and leaped out of the car. She jumped back in fright, almost losing her groceries.

She glared at him. "You
scared
me, Romulus!"

Poe took her bags and placed them in the Honda's backseat. Rukmani said, "You're upset. What's wrong?"

"Nothing." Poe leaned against the car, suddenly feeling lightheaded. "Everything's fine."

He slipped into the driver's seat. Rukmani came around to the passenger's side, got in, and shut the door. "What is it?"

He looped his hand behind her neck and gave her a long, hard kiss. Suddenly he broke, whipping his head around. That dreadful being-watched feeling. "Where
were
you?"

She stared at him with concern. "Just went out to do a little shopping. Want to join me for dinner?"

"Anyone follow you?"

Her eyes narrowed. "Romulus, what is going on?"

"Did anyone follow you?"

"Look around. Does it look like anyone followed me?"

Poe took the opportunity to sweep his eyes over his surroundings. Staring out of the windshield, desperately trying to see signs of life. But the area was colorless and deserted. He craned his neck upward. Nothing except a lone hawk circling right above them. A magnificent bird, one he rarely saw in the burbs. Birds of prey, when they came this far south, did their hunting in the desert, where there were snakes, rats, rabbits, and lizards.

He buried his head in his palms, then yanked his head up. "What was that? I heard something."

Rukmani shrugged. "What'd you hear?"

"Like a thump…or a pop." He rubbed his head. "More like a pop…like a gun going off…kind of." Again he eyed the bird. "Maybe it was coming from Sky King up there."

"Romulus, you've been working too hard."

"No, I'm fine." Again he kissed her. "I'm great!"

Rukmani smiled at him in a tutorial sort of way. "Let's examine the evidence. You parachuted out of your car to relieve me of two bags of groceries. You've been kissing me like you haven't had sex in a while. When in fact I know from personal experience that you have."

"No argument there."

"You keep asking me if someone is following me." She grinned. "You thought something bad had happened to me. And now you're very glad to see me."

"I'm very happy to see you."

She pointed to her chest. "Are you going to clue me in?"

Poe related the events of an hour ago.

Rukmani said, "God, that's awful." A beat. "Good for Mom."

"Speaking of which, I have to go…" He glanced over his shoulder. "I swear someone is
watching
us."

"No one's here, Romulus."

Again, Poe looked out the window. Empty. Nothing caught his eye. Even the hawk was gone. He sighed. His brain was quickly transforming from creative imagery to paranoid hallucinations. "I just feel this
presence—"

"In view of what you just told me, it's a normal feeling. It's just not accurate." She took his hands and kissed them. "I'm safe, and so are you."

Poe rubbed his forehead. "Maybe I'm going nuts."

"Maybe you need some nourishment." Rukmani smiled. "If you indeed broke into my place—"

"I didn't break in. I had a key."

"—you would have seen a fresh pot brewing and
gobhi matar
rasedar
in the oven—"

"I wasn't thinking of
that
kind of nourishment."

"One type of nourishment is
not
exclusive of the other."

Poe smiled wistfully. "I left Patricia with Mom duty. I told her to stick around until I got there. And the nurse isn't due for another hour."

Rukmani didn't say anything.

With a shrug, Poe picked up his cellular and called home. "Hey, Patricia."

"Have you found Dr. Kalil?"

"Yes."

"I could hear it in your voice. When are you coming back?"

Poe said, "Patricia, if you don't mind, I was thinking of running over to the Bureau and looking over last night's haul from the Laredo. I wanted to go over a few details with Dr. Kalil about the…"
Shut up, Poe. Cellular lines aren't restricted
. "Well, all sorts of stuff."

A few details
, Patricia thought.
Like bedroom details.

Poe added, "If you have other plans, I can work with Dr. Kalil later."

"It's no problem, sir."

"Thank you, Detective." Poe paused. "Look, Patricia, I don't think they're coming back, but…just watch your
derrière
." A pause. "I keep feeling that someone is watching me. So just be extra careful."

"Being shot at will do that to you, sir. Besides, I have Emma Poe for backup."

"She's telling the truth," Poe said. "She saved my ass."

"What else are mothers for?"

Poe laughed. "I'll see you in a bit."

Patricia hung up her phone and stowed it in her pocket. Emma said, "He isn't coming back, is he?"

Such disappointment in her voice. The woman saved the guy's life and all he could think about was his groin.

Patricia put on a brave smile. "Actually, he wants to go over some crucial evidence with Dr. Kalil—"

"Goin' over crucial evidence?" Emma snorted. "Is that what they're calling hanky-panky nowadays?"

Patricia stumbled over some words, then just threw up her hands.

Emma said, "That's okay. A mother's love is forever." She paused. "I don't know why that is, but it's true. How 'bout if I fix us some chow?"

"Sure." Patricia patted her belly. "I love to eat."

Slowly, Emma inched her way over to Patricia. She stopped in front of her, and with bony fingers, the old woman stroked Deluca's face. "I would have loved to have a daughter like you."

Patricia was stunned. "Thank you."

"You be proud of what you are…
who
you are."

"Thank you, I…I actually am proud…of myself."

"Good." Slowly, Emma trudged over to Poe's tiny pouch of a kitchen. She lit a kerosene lamp and started warming the hot plate. "It's much milder now. Why don't you go take a walk. Be back in twenty minutes. You won't believe what I can do once I get a fire going."

"After hearing about this morning, Mrs. Poe, I think I'd believe anything about you."

Emma smiled. "Go."

Patricia chuckled as she stepped out of Poe's pod. Walking a few paces, she tried to clear her head. So much to think about: Alison on the loose, Steve recuperating, Gretchen in the morgue, Honey in the hospital, Lewiston sending goons after Poe…threatening both Rukmani and him. It was she who had found the information that linked Yarlborough to Lewiston. Was she next in line for an ominous phone call?

Then there was Nate. Was their relationship moving too fast?

Don't think about anything, Patty. Just enjoy the fresh air.

Fresh, hot air.

She wiped her brow, realizing she must have been walking faster than she thought. Poe's house was now about half its size. The sun had baked the sand all day, and now the heat was rising up through the desert floor. She could feel warmth up through her shoes. In half an hour or so, the place would be magnificent—quiet and dark and warm and peaceful.

She turned her eyes upward to the darkening sky. The stars were beginning to come out, and the moon was magnified as it stepped out from the horizon. No civilization impeded. Only a hawk circling overhead. A big mother thing; beautiful in its athletic prowess, with a massive wingspread that looked to be over six feet. Suddenly, the bird dipped as if it sensed Patricia's vibrations, almost as if Deluca's presence were an intrusion on its privacy.

Dipping, then soaring upward in a perfect arc. It caught the wind and glided through the air. The big birds usually hunted at this time of the evening. There was still enough visibility to see, and their prey usually came up for air after sleeping through the hot day.

It circled lower down this time. Patricia could see how truly
big
it was. More than big. The bird was
enormous
. She could discern the creature's talons, feel the wind as it flapped its wings and hovered overhead. So large it loomed like a caped vampire silhouetted against the moon.

Without warning, the bird once again dipped. As it pulled back up, Patricia could see a trapped desert rat squirming in its beak. Swallowing its prey in midair, the bird shot back upward and started circling anew. One big gulp and the rat was history. All within a matter of moments.

Patricia was mesmerized. It was as if the hawk were showing off for her, displaying its awesome aviation skills, its fearsome talent as a hunter.

Now the bird was directly overhead. For a moment, Patricia felt paralyzed, helpless and small against nature's hunters. But then again, she was human. What could a bird…even a big, big bird…possibly do to her?

Still, a cloud of inexplicable dread passed through her body.

Then the bird swooped down.

FORTY-SEVEN

J
UST AS
Poe slipped into that blissful state of tingle, glow, and slumber, his cellular rang. Too exhausted to move, he murmured, "S'probably a wrong number."

Rukmani reached over his half-dead body to the nightstand. "Sergeant Poe's phone. This is Dr. Kalil."

"It's Emma."

Rukmani sat up, pulled the covers over her lap. "Emma, are you all right?"

His mother's name caught Poe's attention. He grabbed the phone and tucked it under his chin as he put on his pants. "What's going on? Are you okay?"

"Patricia's gone."

The adrenals started squirting. A millifraction later, the heart began hammering. Poe said, "What do you mean, she's gone? Where'd she
go
?"

"I don't know. I sent her out for a little stroll while I fixed us some dinner. When I went outside to call her back in, she didn't answer. I called and called. Then I noticed that her car was gone."

"Mom, stay in the house—"

"Is your mom okay?" Rukmani asked.

Poe nodded yes. "Deluca's gone." To his mother, he said, "I'm sending out a cruiser. They'll reach you faster than I—"

"Are you coming down?"

"Of course." He slipped on his T-shirt and asked Rukmani to call 911. "Tell them to send a black-and-white out to the house with full sirens and lights. Do you need exact directions?"

"I know the route."

"Also, call up Dispatch. Ask them if they've sent Deluca out on an emergency. It's an improbable long shot, but just in case. I don't want to look like an idiot." On the line, Poe said, "Mom, where's the shotgun you used on those jokers?"

"I got it right here."

"You know where I keep the buckshot?"

"Yep."

"Good. Just don't shoot the police when they knock at the door. Next question. Think carefully. When Detective Deluca left for her walk, did she have her purse with her?"

"I'm not…" A beat. "She left me her phone. That's what I'm callin' you on. Lemme look around for the purse. Right now I don't see it."

"Look for it, Mom. I'll wait."

Rukmani had donned a pair of scrubs. "A cruiser's on its way."

Poe said. "While you've got Dispatch on the line, tell them to patch you through to Lieutenant Michael Weinberg. Explain that it's an emergency—"

"I can't find her purse, Romulus," Emma said. "Come to think of it, I think she did leave with it."

Poe was somewhat relieved. If she had her purse, she had her gun. "Mom, did you see anything strange?
Hear
anything?"

"I had the radio on, Romulus. It wasn't blasting, but I wasn't paying much attention. I'm sorry—"

"Don't be sorry, you didn't do anything. I'm leaving right now. Be there in around ten minutes if I speed."

"Don't speed. It's not worth you crackin' up your head. Besides, in a true emergency, buckshot travels faster than you ever could."

Poe jerked the wheel to the right, swerving to avoid a head-on. The car screeched, but remained on all four tires.