Hindsight, p.25
Hindsight, page 25
“Just the way I look.” She thought about it. “But better than last night. Lynch said I would, but for most of the night I was doubting him. It took me a long time to get to sleep. But you’re right, I’m moving too slow. If you’ll help me shower and dress, I’ll be ready to go by Olivia’s deadline.”
“That sounds like a plan.” She helped Kendra to her feet. “Because Lynch called me right after he phoned Olivia and filled me in on Dietrich. He told me he wanted me to cruise over to that hotel where you found Hayes’s corpse and ask a few thousand questions of anyone I ran across. I’ll have to leave right after I turn you over to Lynch.” She was guiding her gently toward the bathroom. “He sounds like a son of a bitch but very interesting. I had no trouble putting him down at that factory, so he must have lost some of the skills he had at Cambridge. It’s intriguing that he’s fascinated by guns now. They aren’t nearly as satisfying. Maybe he got lazy.”
“Or maybe his true nature came out and there wasn’t anything sportsmanlike about him,” Kendra said bluntly. “He’s just another murderer.”
“No, I believe he might be much more.” Jessie turned on the shower and tested the water. “At any rate, I can’t wait to renew my acquaintance with him.”
* * *
Kendra and Jessie arrived at Olivia’s condo ten minutes earlier than Olivia’s schedule for Jessie had demanded, and it was Lynch who opened the door. His gaze raked Kendra’s face; he nodded approvingly. “A few dark circles and your color isn’t the greatest, but not bad on the whole. How do you feel?”
“Like I’m tired of answering that question.” Kendra came into the condo and carefully knelt to pet Harley. “There’s something vaguely humiliating about being taken down by a sewer system anyway. It’s even worse being treated as if I’d gone through a major catastrophe. I’m fine.”
“My apologies,” Lynch said solemnly. “I can see you’re at least well enough to be bad-tempered. May I remind you that there were bullets involved in your attack by the killer sewer system, so it’s not quite as humiliating as you’re making out?” He handed a hypodermic case to Jessie. “She shouldn’t have a narcotic, but this medication should help her get through the day, Jessie. I was going to give it to her, but I believe I’ll yield that duty to you. A shot in the butt certainly won’t make her any more pleased with me. I’ll go help Olivia make coffee.”
“I don’t need you,” Olivia said as she came out of the kitchen. “Did Lynch take good care of you, Kendra?”
“Not bad.” She looked up from stroking Harley and met Lynch’s eyes. All the colors and shadings of last night’s events were suddenly flowing back to her. “No, he took great care of me,” she said quietly. “I couldn’t have asked anything more.”
“Amazing,” Olivia said. “Then I guess I’ll give him breakfast.”
“I’m humbly grateful,” Lynch said.
“You should be.” Kendra looked quickly away from him and down at Harley. “Olivia, Harley didn’t bark once when I came in just now.”
“Of course he didn’t. He knew there was something wrong with you,” Olivia said. “He realizes that his bark is disturbing, but it’s what dogs do. It’s natural. But his trainer said he was a born service dog. He senses everything. He wants to give everything. So he’s giving you his silence. And you’ll find when you sit down at the breakfast table, he’ll sit beside you and not with me as he usually does.”
“That’s kind of wonderful,” Kendra said softly.
“You bet it is,” Olivia said fiercely. “And yet slimeballs like Hayes and Dietrich targeted him? Why?”
“We don’t know yet. We assume Hayes took the photo but we’re not sure about that, either. Metcalf will check it for fingerprints.” She started to get up and found Lynch beside her, helping her to her feet. “Thank you. It was easier going down than getting up.”
“It happens that way sometimes.” He gave her a little push toward Jessie. “Your shot. Either go in the bathroom or bare your butt here.” He turned away and headed toward the kitchen table. “While I keep Olivia entertained by telling her how all the forensics experts were holding their noses to keep from breathing our stink at the crime scene yesterday.”
* * *
“You’re very quiet.” Lynch glanced at Kendra as soon as he got on the highway. “Don’t tell me that shot didn’t work. I’m an expert at pain management in all forms.”
“You’ve had enough practice,” Kendra said dryly. “All I have to do is look at all your scars to see your credentials. No, that extremely illegal shot worked fine. Only enough ache to remind me to be careful.”
“Then why are you so quiet?”
She ignored the question. “Was it illegal? You didn’t answer. You said it wasn’t a narcotic.”
“It wasn’t precisely illegal. It’s an experimental medication from China that Beijing is trying to keep a lid on until they can situate themselves to gain dominance in the world market. No more adverse effects than a few Tylenol. They’re going to make a bundle. But it depends on the country you’re in at the time, or the organization you’re working for when you dispense it.” He smiled. “But it’s safe, and I’ve used it many times before. You know I wouldn’t put you at risk.”
“Never mind. I needed a clear head and a mobile body and it’s entirely my responsibility anyway.” She paused. “What I told Olivia was true, you know. You were very kind to me last night.” She added lightly, “So it’s only fair I do payback. After all, I made you a promise. I know you don’t really care about all that General Kotcheff business, but it’s something I can do now. So you’ll just have to put up with it while I rattle it off and get it over with. Serves you right for using it as a bargaining chip. Ready?”
“I’m always ready for you, Kendra,” he said quietly.
“I’ll go right down the line,” she said brusquely. “How did I know the general was spending time out of uniform at Kolula Pushta Road? Answer, he has fresh calluses on the lower knuckles of his thumb and the middle two fingers of his right hand. Bowler’s calluses. There’s no bowling alley on the base, but there is one on Kolula Pushta Road. You and I passed it a few times while we were there. I was curious and read that it was the only one in the entire country. And I could see from his tan lines that he often wears a shirt other than his military uniform. I doubt he wears it on base, so it wasn’t a stretch to figure he wears it on his in-town bowling jaunts.”
“Very good. What about the fact that he had a boat on Lake Huron?”
“I’m getting to it. He has fishing lures hanging from the rearview mirror on his jeep. Very elaborate, very well made. I assume he made them himself. In any case, it shows an interest in fishing. He wears a diver’s watch and on his right wrist he has another tan line. It’s for the flexible wrist bracelet that most divers use to hold a key to their boats so that someone can’t come along and easily take it. I can recognize a Detroit accent from a mile away, and Lake Huron offers the best fishing and diving in the area. It’s not the only one, but it’s the biggest and the best lake for that. The bracelet tan line was very fresh so I knew he must have been back there recently. He wears a wedding ring so it was likely that he’d been there with his family.” She took a breath and then realized she had forgotten something. “By the way, I could pick up a faint Alabama twang in his speech, so that’s how I knew he probably spent his younger years there.”
“No, we shouldn’t forget that twang I never even noticed,” he said solemnly. “Are we finished?”
“Almost. The diabetes. He has tiny red spots on his retina. It could indicate diabetic retinopathy. I was angry with him, but I still thought he should know about it.”
“By all means.” He shook his head. “And you followed that act of concern and thoughtfulness by blowing his mind when you threw the bright red underwear at him.”
“Well, I never said I was perfect. Can we forget about all this now?”
“No, I never forget anything about who you are, Kendra.” He paused. “Particularly when you try to distract me by dazzling all those deductions in front of me.”
She stiffened. “You said you wanted to know.”
“Yes, it amuses me. But not if it means you avoid telling me what I want to know. Why were you so quiet?”
“Never satisfied.”
“Not true. On many levels.”
She was silent and then burst out, “Jessie.” She moistened her lips. “You sent Jessie to dig deep and find everything she could about Dietrich. I wish you would have talked to me first.”
“You disapprove?” he asked. “What’s the problem? I thought it was going to be an all-out effort to nail Dietrich. Metcalf is going at it full force and we both know what an excellent investigator Jessie is when she gets the bit in her teeth. She’ll be a major asset.”
“I know she will. And she’s definitely got the bit in her teeth. She’s curious about Dietrich and she’ll go the extra step to get him.” She paused. “I’m just afraid she’ll go too far. Investigating him is one thing. What if she finds him and goes after him?”
“She’s a professional, Kendra. She wouldn’t do anything to scare him off.”
“I know that.” She was silent again and then said haltingly, “I don’t want her to run the risk, dammit. She’s my friend. I’ve already lost too much to that son of a bitch. I don’t want to go into some room and see her lying there with a bullet in her brain.”
Lynch was silent. “I’m not going to tell you it couldn’t happen. You wouldn’t believe me. I’m just saying that considering how sharp she is, the chances are minimal. Do you want me to call her and try to get her to stop?”
“It’s too late. I should have sent her away when she showed up at that factory. Just as I should have sent you away. I was just so angry and upset about Elaine and Mr. Kim that I reached out and grabbed any help I could find. It didn’t matter that this was my fight and I might get you killed.”
“It mattered,” Lynch said. “You’re not thinking straight. We know who you are. We had to twist your arm to get you to let us help you. And I’m the one who got you sent here to Griffin and involved in your own personal nightmare. So quit blaming yourself and blame me. It will be much more fun for you.”
“No, it won’t.” She drew a shaky breath. “And I’m thinking straight, I’m just being emotional. I have a right now and then. It’s probably your fault for giving me that shot.”
“Absolutely. I deliberately spiked it.”
“And I just want to say one more thing. In the end, I have to be the one who goes after Dietrich. I can’t have you or Jessie pushing me aside like you did when we were in that sewer. I don’t care how much more experience you have than I do.”
“We’ll talk about it,” Lynch said warily.
“No, we won’t.” She added, “Though you did have another argument that I’ll agree is a winner. I brought my gun with me today and I won’t be leaving it behind until I get Dietrich.”
“Great. Then you can protect me. I always appreciate a woman who—”
His phone rang, and Metcalf’s name flashed on the dashboard monitor. Lynch punched a button on his steering column that would answer the call on speaker. “What’s up, Metcalf?”
“Is Kendra with you?” Metcalf’s voice came through the car stereo system.
“I’m here,” Kendra said. “We’re heading to the FBI building right now. We’ll see you there in fifteen.”
“No, you won’t. I’m not there.”
“Where are you?”
“Back on the campus of Woodward Academy. Listen…You should get down here as soon as you can.”
Kendra didn’t like the way that sounded. “Why?”
“There’s been another murder here on the grounds.”
God, no.
She almost didn’t want to ask. “Who…Who was it?”
She could hear voices in the background before Metcalf finally replied, “We just got here ourselves. We don’t have an ID yet. Just get yourself to the campus.”
* * *
Less than half an hour later, Kendra and Lynch were walking across the Woodward Academy campus, just a few hundred yards from where Elaine Wessler’s body had been found. The uniformed police officers staffing the gate had directed them to the campus’s west side, where a long and winding path led down to the access road that fed into the Pacific Coast Highway.
Kendra steeled herself for the sight that awaited her on the other side of the hill ahead. Woodward had always been a source of comfort, of support to her, but that had all changed in the past few horrible days. Could it ever go back to the way it was?
Lynch squeezed her arm. He knew how this was affecting her. He always knew.
She nodded. “I’m okay.” She swallowed. “Not really. This is scaring me. Another death. Allison must be barely holding on right now. All this scandal and horror…And I don’t understand it. Why would anyone want to kill someone here at Oceanside? It’s a place that only wants to heal kids.”
“Who knows? And this is a beautiful spot,” Lynch said, gazing at the dramatic beauty of the Pacific glittering in the distance.
“Yes, it’s called Lookout Point.” She tried to regain her composure. “Kind of a funny name for a school with so many visually impaired kids. I think it was called that long before the academy was here.”
As they climbed the gentle slope, the crime scene came into view, a little bit more with each step.
The yellow tape. The FBI investigators in their suits and polyester-blend blazers. A pair of uniformed officers, doing little but keeping onlookers away.
And finally, the corpse.
Kendra’s eyes narrowed on it as they ducked under the tape.
It was a man, probably Latino, in his early forties. He was lying on the path faceup, his head cradled in a puddle of blood.
No one she recognized. She felt immediate guilt for the wave of relief that brought her.
Metcalf, who was kneeling next to the body, stood and turned toward Kendra and Lynch as they approached. “Campus security found him at about six thirty A.M. One shot to the head, execution-style.”
“Like our friend Hayes,” Lynch said.
“Exactly like that. We found a shell casing that looks like a match. It’s a .44.”
Kendra studied him for a moment longer. She could see that his hands were stained with fingerprint ink. “You took prints to ID him?”
“Yes,” Metcalf said. “He had no wallet, no identification on him.”
“Get a match?” Lynch asked.
“Yes.” Metcalf lowered his voice as he stepped away from the other investigators. “His name is Victor Cardona. Unlike the first two victims, he has no connection with this place as far as we can tell. He’s a known drug trafficker.”
“A very successful one,” Kendra said. “At least judging from his choice in clothing. Armani shirt, tailored pants, Gucci loafers. And that Yurman bracelet doesn’t exactly come cheap.”
“Which is unusual in itself,” Metcalf said. “Since he must have arrived here in the speedboat we found pulled up a little way down the shore. You’d think he would have been dressed more casually.”
“Do we have a time of death?” Lynch asked.
“The M.E. puts it between two and four A.M., based on body temp.”
Kendra nodded. “And I take it no one saw or heard anything?”
“We’ve just started a canvass of the resident students and staff, but no one reported anything. We’re trying to talk to everyone while they’re still here.”
“Here? What do you mean?” Kendra asked.
“The administrator just told me that they may close the academy down until this case gets wrapped up. They’re still weighing their options, but no one’s especially anxious to keep a couple hundred special-needs kids around when murder victims are dropping all around them. I’m surprised they’ve kept this place open as long as they have.”
Kendra nodded. “This is probably going to be the last straw. Allison told me that she was having problems.” And of course, until they knew they could keep the kids and faculty safe, evacuating the campus was the only reasonable thing to do. “She’s going to have to concentrate on getting her students to return when it’s safe.”
“Dietrich is also involved in the narcotics trade,” Lynch said. “Is Cardona a known associate of his?”
“Not as far as our records show, but details are sketchy.” Metcalf pulled out his phone and zoomed in on a document he’d already opened. “Victor Chase Cardona worked for the Gonzales cartel in Mexico. We believe he facilitated the transport of hundreds of tons of heroin across the border. Mostly in Hidalgo, Texas, but lately there’d been indications that he moved his operation west, moving product through Southern California.”
She shook her head in disbelief. “Through this school?”
“I don’t know.” Metcalf turned and looked out at the ocean. “We did find a kilo of heroin under the seat of that motorboat. I’ve been thinking…What if the merchandise was being transported up by boat? This might be the last spot you could land before you hit the waters off Camp Pendleton. The marines keep a tight net over there. But here…” He shrugged. “Just a theory.”
“A theory without any actual proof,” Kendra said.
Metcalf gestured toward the corpse. “Unless you count the dead guy over there.”
Kendra walked back over to Cardona’s body. His face had a bright, uneven tan. His left loafer was almost entirely off, revealing a sunburnt foot and ankle with no tan line. She could imagine he’d spent a lot of time on a boat.
She knelt beside him, brushing aside a pair of pesky flies buzzing around the corpse.
Come on, Cardona. Give me more.
A hairline that was too symmetrical, plus some tiny healed scars that indicated at least one hair replacement procedure. Possibly to alter his appearance, but most likely just for vanity’s sake.
Nicely manicured fingernails, expensive haircut, and eyebrows that appeared unnaturally sculpted. Which all confirmed her impression that he was a looks-obsessed man of means, but little else. Except…
