Passions of the Dead (A Detective Jackson Mystery/Thriller) (29 page)

“I couldn’t work there,” Evans said as they left the bakery. “I’d get fat.”

“I’m sure you get used to it.”

Jackson and Evans stood in the conference room and studied the board.

“Tyler Gorlock.” The name jumped out at Jackson. “Shane has stayed with Gorlock. Maybe he can tell us something.” He started for the door. “I’m going over to the jail to talk to him. You should run out to Gorlock’s place and see if anyone’s around. Have a patrol unit meet you there for backup.”

“I’m on it.”

They charged out of headquarters ten minutes after arriving. Gorlock could be a waste of time, but Jackson had to keep moving, to keep asking and searching. Sitting around would make him crazy. They had been only twenty minutes behind Shane and Lori all day, but without knowing where they were headed next, twenty minutes was the same as an hour…or a day.

Having committed the crime of holding a police officer hostage, Gorlock had not been matrixed out and was still incarcerated when Jackson arrived. It gave him little comfort to know that’s what it took to be retained for trial.

He still had to wait fifteen minutes while a sheriff located the inmate and brought him to the interrogation room. Jackson paced in the hall, mentally reviewing everything. This case perplexed him. Engall’s story was a fluke, yet seemed plausible. A drunk stumbling into something so shocking he wasn’t sure it was real until he saw it on the news. Shane’s hair on Carla’s clothes placed him at the crime scene but why had he wiped his prints off the knife and not the bat? How had he come and gone with none of the neighbors seeing him? Shane hadn’t driven there, Jackson reasoned. The cousin also spent enough time at the house, no one would think twice about seeing him.

What had sent him into a murderous rage though? Shane was bitter about his father’s brain damage and blamed Jared Walker for it, but was it enough? Or as Evans had pointed out, if Lori’s parents had tried to keep their daughter from seeing Shane, that may have been the catalyst, especially if Shane was high at the time. If Lori and Nick had tried to protect their parents, they could have been caught up in Shane’s drug-induced onslaught.

A middle-aged deputy reeking of tobacco led Gorlock to where Jackson waited. “Do you want him cuffed?” the deputy asked.

“Yes.” Gorlock had taken a police officer hostage, and Jackson suspected he was reckless enough to try it again. The sheriff clicked the wrist locks, leaving Gorlock’s hands in front of his body, and led the prisoner into a sickly green room about the size of a walk-in closet.

Jackson sat at the scarred wooden table and decided he wouldn’t waste more than ten minutes here. “I need to find Shane Compton. Where would he hide out with his girlfriend?”

Gorlock quickly calculated the situation. “What are you offering in exchange?”

“I’ll tell the jury you helped track down a killer.”

Gorlock let out a scoffing sound. “I want a decent plea bargain.”

“That’s up to the district attorney.”

“Get him in here.”

“If you help us find Shane, I’ll work with the DA to reduce your charges.”
Not a chance in hell
.

“I want a promise I won’t be charged with crimes against a police officer.” Gorlock’s voice held little hope.

Jackson shook his head. “Lori Walker’s life is in danger, you prick. If you don’t help me, I’ll make a point to testify about what a cold bastard you are at every parole board hearing for the rest of your life.” Jackson stood to leave.

Gorlock was silent. Jackson opened the door and motioned for the guard. As the sheriff led the inmate out, Gorlock tossed back, “Try Alton Baker Park. Shane likes to feed the ducks. Back when he was really strung out, he would sleep in the bushes near the concert stage if he couldn’t find anywhere else to crash.”

Four days earlier, Sunday, May 31

Lori walked away from her customers, shaking. They were so rude. Every nerve in her body wanted to run screaming out the door. You can do this, she coached herself. The coaching had become a mantra. Sometimes her head was so filled with self-talk she forgot what she was supposed to be doing and didn’t bring the extra napkins or the side of ranch dressing. That only made things worse. She looked at the clock: 7:38. Her shift was almost over. She would make it through one more day in this hellhole. This morning, when she missed the old guy with the little dog and failed to give him his dollar, she knew this day would be a nightmare. Lori prayed they would not seat her station with another customer in the next twelve minutes. After 7:45, the closing servers had to take all the tables.

Lori took another round of sodas to the rude family in the corner, then started her sidework. With a sense of urgency, she hustled around cleaning and filling and praying to not be seated and to not encounter Greg. At 7:42, Lori watched in horror as the hostess sat five college boys in the corner booth.
Oh fuck
. Lori went in search of Jaylene, one of the closers.

“Will you take the guys they just seated? I really need to get out of here.”

Jaylene kept making salads and didn’t even look at her. “I can’t. I’m too busy.”

“It’s five cute guys. You know it will be a good tip.”

“You take ’em. I’m slammed.”

“If I get them started, will you take the ticket?”

“No.” Jaylene gave her a bitchy look. “Just do your job.”

Lori started to ask the other closer, but Jason saw her coming and shook his head. She clamped her teeth together, grabbed her tray, and marched out there.

They guys were half drunk and it took six minutes just to get a drink and appetizer order. During the process, one said he liked the way her uniform fit and another asked if she was the “age of consent.” Lori finally walked away. The pricks. She was just trying to earn a little money. They had no right to make her feel like a pole dancer.

Lori took their ticket to the hostess. “I’m not feeling well. I have to go home.” Her jaw tensed and she could barely squeeze out the words. She hurried away to avoid a discussion, then finished her sidework. She couldn’t quit or let herself get fired. She had to keep this job until she had enough money to move to Maui. The apartment and roommate were already lined up and she had enough for a ticket, but she still needed money to live on after she got there.

A few minutes later the manager called her into the office. Oh great, she thought. This would be the frosting on the shit cake of her day.

Greg closed the door behind her. “I keep hearing you won’t take late tables,” he said, standing between her and the door.

“Just tonight. I have a migraine, I’ve been here for eight hours, and I need to go home.”

He slid close and laid one hand on each shoulder. “I can make your job here a lot easier.” His fingers stroked her collarbones.

“I need to go home,” she repeated, not knowing what else to say. Grabby Greg stood directly in front of the exit. What was she supposed to do? Push him out of the way? Lori could feel an outburst coming. All the control and self-talk would not get her past this.

“In just a moment, you can.” Greg ran his hands over her breasts, giving each a gentle squeeze.

Lori exploded. Both hands came up and slammed into his chest, shoving him back. Greg staggered, but caught himself before he bounced into the wall. Too stunned to speak, he stared open-mouthed.

“Get out of my way,” Lori screamed.

The manager shuffled to the side, straightening his glasses. “You don’t work here anymore.”

“No shit.”

Lori grabbed her backpack and sweatshirt from the cabinet and ran from the restaurant. Her co-workers glanced over as she hurried past, but only Jason said good-bye. Fuck ’em, she thought. It was a crap job anyway.

Outside, the sun was low on the mountain, the sky was pink, and the air was warm. Another blue-sky day spent inside. Wasted. Lori ran to the Subaru. Thank God it was Sunday and her mother had let her take the car to work. Behind the wheel, she burst into tears. It was so unfair. Why couldn’t she have found a fun job? Like working at a camp? Now she had no job and her parents would be mad as hell.

Lori couldn’t go home and face them yet. She hated what was happening to her parents. Her sweet, fun loving father never made jokes anymore, and they hadn’t played softball together in weeks. Dad was either at the computer looking on Craigslist for jobs or at the tavern drinking. Her mother had become a stranger, a quiet, worried imitation of herself. Lori just wanted to grab Shane and take off. They both needed to get away from Eugene and start fresh somewhere else.

Tears still rolling down her cheeks, she started the car, then called Shane. He didn’t pick up and she left him a message. Where was he? He was supposed to meet her after work. With Shane, it was hard to know. Once he lost his job and gave up his apartment, he was all over. Sometimes he was at his parents, but he also stayed with Damon and sometimes at Tyler’s. Shane didn’t stay long enough in one place for people to get tired of him. That way he could always come back.

When Lori looked up, Shane was there in the twilight, sauntering across the parking lot. Some of the tension left her shoulders. Shane put his face to the windshield and grinned, dimples popping, and her heart lightened. If he would only come with her to Maui. He had to.

“Hey, babe.” He climbed into the passenger seat, kissed her gently, then pulled away.

Lori’s anxiety flooded back. “What’s wrong?” She peered into his eyes, but saw no glassiness.

“How come you’re so perceptive?” Another gentle smile.

“Tell me what’s going on.” Dread filled her stomach, expecting the worst.

“Let’s get going. I’ll tell you on the way.”

Lori started the car. “Where are we going?”

“I need to stop at Zor’s and pick up some medicine.”

“I wish you could find another source.” She pulled onto the street. When they were in Maui, they could bike everywhere and she wouldn’t have to feel like a chauffeur any more.

After a few minutes on the road, Shane said, “I’m not going to Maui with you. I’m sorry, babe.” He stroked her hair.

She took her eyes off the road to stare at him. “Why not?”

“I can’t. I’m too vulnerable right now. It’s all I can do every day just to find and pay for methadone.”

“There’s methadone in Maui.”

“But can I find it? Or afford it? I’m not going to let myself relapse.” Shane’s jaw muscles contracted.

Lori glanced up at the heavy traffic, then over at Shane again. “What are you keeping from me?” She was in full panic now.

“It’s my dad. His head injury isn’t getting any better. Mom wants me to stay here and learn the business.”

“Are you kidding? After all these years of refusing to give you a job, now he wants you to work for him?”

“Mom wants me to train with him. As an intern.”

“For no money?” Lori didn’t understand.

“I owe them for a year’s worth of methadone. I owe them a year’s worth of rent.” Shane squeezed her leg. If she hadn’t been driving, he would have grabbed her hands. He always made contact when he was trying to be persuasive. “I owe them everything. They saved me.”

Lori loved his loyalty to his mother. She also hated his loyalty to his mother. “What about our life together?”

Shane seemed to brace himself. “I can’t be with you.”

“What are you saying?” Lori’s heart hammered. Her body shook and she considered pulling off the street.

“My parents are unhappy about us being together. Especially Dad. He’s still pissed at Uncle Jared about the fight and at Nick for taking his Lou Gehrig card. After Dad saw us together he stopped speaking to me.”

“None of that has anything to do with us.” Lori knew it wasn’t true, even as she said it.

“Of course it does. I hope our families can work everything out, but Dad may never forgive Jared or Nick.”

“How many times do I have to tell you? Nick didn’t take the damn baseball card.” Lori thought she knew who did, but this wasn’t the time to say it.

“Don’t cry, babe. I feel bad enough as it is.”

“Don’t call me babe. Not if you’re breaking up with me.” She turned on Almaden, grateful to get away from the traffic.

“Your parents would have found out eventually. Your father, cool as he is, would never accept us.”

Lori was crying too hard to respond. Shane was dumping her at the worst point in her life. She drove the last five blocks in silence, then pulled up in front of the shabby blue house.

“I love you, Lori. This breaks my heart too.”

“Just get out.”

Shane started to say something else, then decided against it. Lori watched him walk up the path. After he disappeared inside, she rested her head on the steering wheel, while silent tears rolled down her cheeks. How had everything gotten screwed up so fast?

Her parents had lost their jobs, that’s how. After that everything turned to shit. Now she had to go home and tell them she’d lost hers too. Lori started the car and drove away. She practiced what she would say and how they would respond. She couldn’t even make it go smoothly in her imagination. Her pulse raced, pumping stress into her nerves and muscles, making her feel poisoned. She pulled into a Safeway parking lot and called Jenna, but her best friend didn’t answer. “I’m totally stressed and I need to talk,” she said to the machine. “Call me.”