Drift Away (Noah Braddock Mysteries) (22 page)

Jackson reappeared, clutching a ragged instruction manual. He shuffled closer to me and set himself down in my lap and I wondered how much of the conversation he’d overheard.

“You should come with us,” he said. “So we can play Legos all the time.”

Bella raised an eyebrow at me.

“Hey, Jackson,” Alex said. “Do you know what’s in San Diego?”

“No, because I’ve never been there.”

Alex smiled. “Of course. But Legoland is in San Diego.”

“Legoland?”

He nodded. “Yep. It’s like Disneyland but with Legos.”

Jackson looked at his mom, wide-eyed. “Can we go to Legoland when we get to San Diego?  Please?”

“Thanks a lot,” she whispered under her breath to Alex, but she smiled as she said. “We’ll see, Jax.
If
we go to San Diego.”

“I wanna go! I wanna go!” Jackson yelled.

She laughed at her son, but looked at me without any amusement. “I’ll think about it.”

THIRTY-SEVEN

I needed to find Zip.

I spent a few minutes helping Jackson build his space station before Alex took over.

“Can you build?” Jackson eyed him skeptically.

Alex nodded. “Sure can. Let me talk to Noah for a minute and then I’ll be back. And we’ll trick out your space station, I promise.”

I said goodbye and Alex walked outside with me.

“He likes you,” I said.

“He’s a good kid.” He rocked on his heels. “So. Anything I need to know?”

I shook my head. “I didn’t fudge on anything. It went the way I said it did.”

“You think he’ll stay off?”

“No. He’ll probably come after me again. But I’m okay with that. You need to work on getting her to understand that San Diego is a good idea.”

He nodded and something crossed into his expression. “I will. Is there anything I should know about?  With Bella, I mean?”

“I’m not following.”

He hesitated. “Between you and her.”

I shook my head. “No. Nothing. I’m just trying to help her out.”

“Okay. Just wanted to make sure.”

“Why?”

“I just wanted to make sure I understood the dynamics here,” he said, shrugging. “That’s all.”

“She’s been really nice to me,” I said. “I like her. I like the kid. I wanna help her. That’s all.”  I took a deep breath. “And she knows about your sister.”

“Everything?”

“I told her everything.”

“Wow,” he said. “Okay. Good to know.”

“I trust her,” I said. “If she asks questions, you can answer them.”

“Okay. Where are you headed?”

“To find Zip,” I said. “I need to know how stupid he’s been.”

“You want me to come along?”

“Nope. You stay with them. Convince her about San Diego.”

He nodded. “Okay.”

“I’ll be back here later on. Okay if I take your car again?”

“Of course,” he said. “Be careful.”

As I walked to the rental, I thought about how careful I’d been for the previous few months. It had worn on me. It had changed me. And I wasn’t sure it was for the better. I was tired of being careful. If I was really going to help Bella and Jackson, I wasn’t going to be able to be careful.

I was going to need to be me.

THIRTY-EIGHT

The first place I’d run into Zip was the laundromat and I could make several guesses about why he was there.

He needed clean clothes.

He needed change.

Or he was dealing.

I went with the latter, which meant it might be the best place to find him anytime anyone needed him.

I parked across the street from the laundromat and waited for almost an hour before he finally showed up. No laundry basket, no clothes, no running in to get change. He just kind of meandered around the lot of the strip mall. Twice, he walked to a car that pulled up at the end of the lot, made small talk and then a quick exchange through the passenger window before the car took off.

Old habits die hard, especially with idiots.

I drove across the street and parked in the lot. I was already out of the car and heading toward him when he realized it was me.

That stupid, cocky smile spread over his face. “Hey, Noah. What’s shaking?”

“Not much,” I said. “Buy you dinner?”

“Dinner?”

“Yeah. Sandwich or something?”

“Isn't it a little late?” It was almost nine o'clock.

“Didn't know you had regular meal times, Zip. Dinner or no?”

He eyed me cautiously. “Why?”

“I was kind of a dick the other day, okay?  You said if I wanted to hang out or something, we should. Here I am. Come on. Meal is on me.”

I headed for the car without giving him a chance to answer. I heard his footsteps behind me, following.

“Where’d you get the wheels?” he asked, slipping into the passenger seat.

“Just borrowed them. Had to run some errands this afternoon,” I said, turning the key and starting the engine.

He took out a cigarette, lit it with a cheap blue lighter, and exhaled out the window. “Right on.”

I backed out of the spot, but rather than driving out of the lot, I swung around the laundromat and into the alley behind it.

Which was empty.

“Where are we going, bro?” he asked, looking around.

I yanked the cigarette out of his mouth and jammed it into his thigh, just below the end of his shorts. He screamed and shot up out of his seat, smashing his head into the roof. I held it on his leg for another moment before flicking it out the window.

He writhed in his seat and reached for the door, pulling on the handle. It didn’t budge, thanks to the automatic door locks.

“What the hell, man?” he cried. “What the hell?”

I pushed the button on the door and his window rolled up. I didn’t need anyone hearing him scream again if I had to hurt him.

“Tell me what you told David
Hanson
about me,” I said.

“I don’t even know who that is, man.”

I put my hand behind his head and snapped it down into the dashboard, his forehead crashing against the glove box.

“Try again,” I said. “Tell me what you told David
Hanson
about me.”

He sat up slowly, shrinking into the seat, a bright red mark on his forehead. The red dot on his thigh puckered and blistered.

“Told him I knew you back in Cali,” he whimpered. “That we were friends. Well, not friends, but that I knew you.”

“What else?”

“Nothing, man.”

“If I slam your head down again, I’ll break your nose. What else did you tell him?”

He pushed back against the door. “Okay, okay. I told him you were in trouble in San Diego. I wasn’t exactly sure what for, but that you were. Man, he said he was gonna shoot me if I didn’t tell him. I’m sorry.”

Zip wasn’t sorry. He didn’t have it in him to be sorry. The only thing he was sorry about was that he’d been dumb enough to get in a car with me.

“But I didn’t give him any of the details, Noah,” he said. “I swear. Man, I don’t even
know
the details, alright?”

I didn’t know if that was true or not, but it was irrelevant. David could start digging, could reach out, start asking questions. At the very least, he could tell people where I was.

If Zip hadn’t already.

“What else?”

“Nothin’.”

“You didn’t tell him anything else about me?  Nothing?”

His eyes darted around the interior of the car. “Man, I don’t remember.”

“Try. Hard. Everything you said about me.”

His hands were balled into fists and he couldn’t get comfortable in the seat. “I dunno, man. I told him you were from San Diego. That you were in trouble.”

“Tell him I was a detective?”

He hesitated, then nodded. “Pretty sure, yeah.”

“Tell him where I lived?”

He shook his head. “No. Just said San Diego.”

“Tell him about Carter?”

He shook his head emphatically. “No.”

I’m sure there were other details, but I didn’t think they really mattered. David had enough to get a decent picture of me now, probably enough to know I was a threat. But also enough to know I was vulnerable.

“I’m gonna say this one time,” I said. “One time. So pay attention.”

Zip nodded, rubbing at his leg, wincing from the pain.

“You open your mouth about me again to anyone and I find out?” I pointed at his leg. “I’ll put a bullet there instead of a cigarette.”