Sweet Dreams Boxed Set (153 page)

“How did you know?”

“You’re not the only one who was bribed.”

Her bottom lip trembled. “I’m sorry. I really am. I needed the money.”

“I’m sure you did.”

Her eyes were pleading, her voice shaky. “You can’t tell anyone about this.”

He chuckled at that.

“No. I’m serious. The voice…the person who called said ‘dead men tell no tales’ and that if I ever talked they would kill me just like they killed Dirk Taylor.”

Chapter Eleven

Dominic’s Italian Market & Deli in Granite Bay was dimly lit, just as he remembered. Jason found a table in the back corner of the restaurant facing the main entrance so he could see who came and went. He hadn’t been to the deli, let alone the city of Granite Bay, since he was twelve. With a shaved head and sunglasses, no way would anyone recognize him.

It was ten minutes past two. His sister was late.

He went ahead and ordered a coke.

Angela was parked within sight of the deli, somewhere between the post office and the gym. If he thought he was being followed or in any sort of trouble, he was to walk outside and signal her by scratching his throat.

When the door opened and a woman entered, he had to take a second look. It took him a moment to recognize his sister since it had been two years since he’d seen her last. She’d cut her hair and lost a lot of weight.

The smile she gave him when she spotted him was tentative at best. She made her way over, then slid into the chair across from him. Reaching over the table, she took his hands in hers. “Wow. It really is you, isn’t it?” She gave a little shake of her head, her silky brown curls moving gracefully around her heart-shaped face.

“You look good, Tracy.”

“Thanks. It’s really good to see you, Jason.” She glanced over her shoulder, then back at him. “You shouldn’t be out in the open like this. What if someone recognizes you?”

He looked toward her leather bag. “Did you bring the computer?”

“I couldn’t find it. I’m living at home right now since all those cops outside make Mom nervous. Anyhow, I was able to check your old room and the garage where some of your stuff is being stored. Mom says there was never a computer in the box Colin brought from your office at work.”

He sighed, rubbing his jaw.

“I’m sorry. I had no other way of letting you know.”

“It’s okay,” Jason told her. “Not your fault. It’s good that you’re here. I want you to tell mom that everything’s going to be fine.”

She pulled her hand away. “I can’t, Jason. I didn’t even tell her where I was going today. I refuse to get Mom’s hopes up.”

“I’m never going back to prison, Tracy. I won’t stop until I find Dirk’s killer.”

Tracy’s head fell forward and her shoulders dipped.

“You know I didn’t kill Dirk.”

When she met his gaze again, her expression was hard to read, but she didn’t say a word.

Her reaction pissed him off.

His own sister made him feel as if he were an annoyance, doing anything he could to make her life more difficult. “Do you have any idea what it’s like being in prison? For the past eight years, it’s as if I’ve been living on a different planet. I’ve had to learn a new language, traditions, how to fit in and stay alive. It’s been all about survival, which isn’t living at all. The only thing that got me through each day was staying focused on the day I would break out of there. I’m not a murderer and I’m not going back.”

“I’m sorry. You’re right. I can’t imagine what it’s been like for you.” She sighed. “I guess I always hoped you would be granted parole.”

His sister didn’t have a clue. “I got life in prison, Tracy. My lawyer made sure of that. No chance for parole. Ever.”

“So, what now?”

“I’ve already paid Mike Gabaldon a visit. I got the scumbag to admit he was paid off. Just as I thought.”

“Mike Gabaldon? Your lawyer?”

“That’s right.”

“What did he say?”

“Not much. Whoever paid him to keep me in prison has done a decent job of staying out of the picture.”

“Have you talked to anyone else?”

“I think it’s best if I keep you out of this. I never should have asked you to meet with me.”

“What do you need your computer for?”

“There’s a lot that’s not adding up. I thought maybe I would find some info there. I have to get going. How’s mom holding up?”

“She’s doing as well as can be expected under the circumstances. There are federal agents are all over the place. Mom kicked them out of the house, but the men in black are lined up on the street right outside the front door. All the neighbors are talking. You know how Mom hates that.”

The waitress brought his coke, then asked Tracy is she wanted anything.

She declined, and then quickly filled him in on family news: Aunts and uncles, cousins he couldn’t remember. Mom, it turned out, had recently been laid off from her job at a Macy’s Department store.

“If you and mom need money,” he told her, “I could talk to Colin and see what he can do to help you two until I can get my hands on my share of the business. There’s got to be close to three million in the account, and that doesn’t include stock.”

She pulled at her hair on the side of her head, a nervous habit she’d developed when she was just a kid. “Don’t worry about us,” she said. “We’ll be fine.”

He noticed the rock on her left finger. “Something you want to tell me?” He gestured at the ring.

“Oh, this.” She swallowed. “I’m engaged.”

He frowned. “Since when?”

“Oh, gosh…it’s been a while. Beginning of the year.”

The sound of her voice, the way she looked at him, the fact that she’d hadn’t been  to prison to visit him in the past two years…it all made him look at her in a new light. He leaned forward, his gaze roaming over every bit of her face. “You look different, Tracy. Younger. Did you have something done to your face?”

“What? Me?” She smiled, but it was an uncomfortable, anxious smile at best. “Of course, not. My fiancé is doing well, but I would never waste his money on something like that.”

“What’s his name?”

“Benjamin Finch. He’s a banker.”

He felt his jaw tense.

“What’s wrong?” she asked.

“I just can’t help but wonder why you and Mom didn’t feel the need to tell me you were engaged.”

“It’s my fault. Mom wanted to tell you, but I asked her not to.” Tracy looked away, feeling guilty no doubt. “I didn’t want you to feel like you were missing out.”

“That’s real nice of you, Sis, but its bullshit. When you visited me in prison—when you were still coming—I couldn’t look into your eyes without seeing shame. Or maybe it was disgust I saw there. You really believe I killed Dirk, don’t you?”

She said nothing.

“Thanks for the support, Sis.” He stood, and tossed a few bills on the table. “Tell Mom I love her and that I’ll give her a call when it’s safe to do so.” He left the deli for the bright light of the afternoon sun and walked toward the post office, where he could see the Volvo in the distance.

Angry with himself for letting his sister get to him, he thought about going back and wrapping his arms around her, something he hadn’t been able to do in a very long time. But how would he ever be able to hold her tight if she thought he was a murderer? Even Angela, a complete stranger, believed in him. The notion sent a fire through his belly, pushing him to speed up. He needed to find Dirk’s killer.

A movement in the corner of his eye caught his attention.

A man stood on the street corner by the signal. Jason noted his height, a bushy beard, bulbous nose and sunglasses. When he noticed Jason watching him, the fellow turned and pretended to check his phone.

Jason kept walking. Eyes straight ahead, he focused on two ladies drinking coffee and eating pastries in front of a donut shop. But when he glanced over his shoulder, he wasn’t surprised to see the bearded man following him.

Keeping a brisk pace, he stayed on course.

What could this guy want?
Jason aimed to find out.

***

Angela was relieved to see Jason heading her way. She was about to roll down her window and talk to him, but he glanced sideways and began scratching his throat.

Something wasn’t right.

Once he passed the car, he made a run for it, heading toward the street.

She kept her head low, pretending not to notice that someone was running across the parking lot after him. Another man, tall and slender with thick blond hair, suddenly appeared from around the corner of the building, gesturing wildly with both hands for first guy to hurry up and go after Jason.

After both men disappeared, she started the engine and made her way around the building. The guy who had been madly gesturing was now climbing into a black Explorer. She made note of the license plate number as she drove past, then headed in the direction she’d seen Jason go, her adrenaline soaring.

Catching a glimmer of Jason’s white T-shirt as he cut into the empty parking lot of what looked like a junior high school, she drove past the man who was following him, making sure not to look his way.  But in the rearview mirror, she saw something in his hand glinting in the sunlight.
A knife?

Her heart plummeted.

What was she supposed to do now?

She made a U-turn and headed back toward the parking lot where Jason and the other guy had disappeared. She followed a narrow driveway until a guardrail stopped her from driving closer to the school’s soccer field.

With shaking hands and her insides doing flip-flops, she found a pen and quickly jotted down the license plate number she’d set to memory.

Then she looked around. All she saw were trees. Everywhere. She couldn’t just sit there and do nothing. Jason could be in serious danger.

Making a split-second decision, she turned off the engine and grabbed the gun from the glove compartment. With it gripped tightly in her hand, she hopped out of the car and ran toward the sound of a dog barking wildly in the distance.

Pine trees and oaks surrounded the school campus. Only halfway across the soccer field, she already felt winded. But she forced herself onward, climbed over a four-foot chain-link fence, and snagged her shirt, ripping the sleeve as she fell to the other side.

Where did they go?

Heart racing and legs trembling, she followed a dirt trail that led her through myriad trees. She hurried past a row of homes protected by a high wooden fence and a German shepherd out for blood. The dog shoved its snout through a loose board and its low growl unnerved her as she passed the animal. By the time she made it to the top of the hill, she was winded.

Bent over, one hand on her side, she lifted her head for another look around. There were homes to her left and a vast lake to her right. Having no idea which way to go, she headed toward the water, once again running as fast as her legs would take her. She stopped when she caught a glimpse of the bearded man sliding down an embankment toward the lake.

From her vantage point, she was able to spot Jason. He was hiding, hunched down behind a large grouping of boulders.

***

The heat was unbearable.

Jason thought back to the last time he’d been in Granite Bay, when he was twelve and he and his dad had gone bass fishing at Folsom Lake. But no time to go down memory lane now. The big guy was closing in on him. He could hear the sounds of his boots kicking up rocks and dirt. Jason tensed, preparing himself, and the moment he heard labored breathing, he pounced.

They rolled around on the ground. His attacker had to have sixty or seventy pounds on him. Sharp rocks and branches left behind after the water levels dropped cut into Jason’s arms and neck.

They both strained, grunting and gasping, each trying to get the upper hand.

A sharp pain in his side sucked the breath right out of him.

It wasn’t until his attacker attempted to get to his feet that Jason spotted the knife in his hand and realized he’d been stabbed. Blindly, he reached out to his side for the sharp rock he’d seen earlier. Instead, he claimed a fistful of sand and dirt and threw it into the guy’s face. The man cursed and covered his eyes, giving Jason a chance to try and wrest the knife from him, but it was no use. He had to be six-five, two hundred and fifty pounds, at least.

Jason’s attacker got the better of him and rolled on top of him, the sharp tip of his blade hovering a few inches above Jason’s chest. Dizzy and weak, he realized he couldn’t hold him off much longer.

“Drop the knife or you’re dead.”

Jason squinted into the sun and spotted Angela. She was pointing a gun at the man’s head.

When the idiot looked over his shoulder at her, Jason pushed him off of him, rolled to his right, grabbed the rock he’d been looking for earlier, and bashed it against the guy’s head.

He toppled over with a thump.

“Is he dead?” Angela asked, worried.

Jason reached into the guy’s pocket and took his cell phone. He found a wallet, too, and flipped through the contents. “He’s breathing. He’ll be fine.” Pulling out cash and an ID, he said, “He doesn’t appear to be a cop or an FBI agent.”

Jason thought about waiting for the guy to come to so he could force him to talk at gunpoint, but there were too many houses overlooking the lake. It wouldn’t surprise him if someone had already called the police. “We better get out of here.”

“Take this,” Angela said, handing him the gun, “I don’t want anything to do with it.”

Jason shoved the cash, ID and cell phone into his pocket and then took the gun.

Her gaze fell to his blood-soaked shirt. “You’re hurt!”

“Barely grazed. Let’s go.”

She put out her hand and wiggled her fingers. “Give me the guy’s phone. Hurry.”

He did as she said, watched her open it, push a button, then lean over and press the guy’s thumbprint to the button on the phone. Nothing happened.

She used his other thumb next. “It worked.”

“What are you doing?”

“Unlocking the phone so we can see his contact list and then setting it so there’s no longer a password to get in.”