No Escape (20 page)

Looking up into the rearview mirror again, Lauren saw that the chase car was falling back. Gray smoke billowed from under the hood and green fluid rained between the front tires.

A few blocks farther on, the adrenaline aftershock hit Lauren, and she thought for a moment she was going to be sick. But she kept breathing, kept forcing her way through it, and she gradually calmed down.

“Are you okay?” Heath was looking at her so she could partially read his lips. When he’d at first leaned in, she’d thought he was going to kiss her again, and she knew she would have welcomed that. It was disappointing when she realized he was just trying to talk to her.

“Yes. I’m fine. Are you all right?”

“I’m good. Keep driving. I’ll give you directions.”

“All right.”

“In the meantime, I need you to call the rental agency and tell them your car has been stolen.”

“What?” She shook her head. “The police will start looking for it.”

“The police are already looking for it.” Heath pointed at an alley. “There. Pull in there.”

Obeying, Lauren drove the car into the alley. No one was around at the moment.

“Stop here.”

She did, but she couldn’t help looking back through the broken window, knowing that the police were going to drive up behind her at any moment. “We can’t stay here.”

Heath was already getting out. He paused to pick up the empty casings from his revolver, counting them silently—or maybe just too quietly to be heard through the deafness in her ears—till he was satisfied with the number. He slid them into a pocket and looked at her. “Get out.”

Lauren got out.

“Walk to the end of the alley and flag down a taxi. Hold it till I get there.”

Lauren started walking, almost up to a run in the short distance. She glanced around, afraid that a taxi wasn’t going to be nearby, then she spotted one coming up the street. She waved a hand to flag down the driver. She turned to call out to Heath, but he was already headed in her direction. Behind him, the rental car suddenly sprouted flames underneath it.

“What did you do?”

Heath took her by the arm and walked down the street away from the mouth of the alley. “I cut the gas line and lit a match. I want that car to be as confusing as possible for the forensics team when they get here. Did you call the rental company?”

“No.”

“Do it. Tell them you got up and went out to get your car while you were shopping at the Jubilee Market on Orange Street. You left the car near the park there. When you went back to get it, the car was gone.” Heath helped her into the taxi and climbed in after her.

The young driver turned around and took one earbud out. “Where to, mon?”

“Jubilee Market.”

“Sure, sure. Have you dere in just a minute, mon.” The driver replaced the earbud, bobbed his head in time with the music and pulled out into traffic.

Heath continued talking calmly. “The police will probably want to talk to you. I know I would if I was investigating this mess. All you have to do is tell them the same story.” He looked at her. “Can you do that?”

“Yes.”

“If you can’t, we’re going to get busted. They can’t do anything to us in the long run because they can’t prove that we did anything wrong, but they can send us home.” Heath paused. “Unless you’re ready to go home.”

“No.”

Heath threw an arm around her and gave her a hug. The driver looked at them in the rearview mirror and smiled, then went back to his music.

“Do you have the car keys?”

Lauren was surprised that she’d thought to get them in all the excitement, but she had. She showed him the keys.

“You can’t have those.” Heath took them from her, then separated them from the ring and began dropping them out the open window as the taxi raced along the street and sirens sounded behind them.

* * *

The taxi driver let them out on Orange Street, and Heath walked with her for a short distance. “I’m going to be around, but I don’t want our names entered on the same report, okay?”

Lauren nodded.

“You were here, shopping, alone.”

“Then where are the things I’ve been buying?”

Heath pulled her to one side where a small group of street artists were selling paintings. “Buy from people like this.” He pointed at a painting with seahorses and held up twenty dollars. “People that just take cash and don’t do printout receipts. You’re looking for vendors surrounded by a crowd of tourists. Make small purchases. Knickknacks. Don’t buy big and don’t spend a lot of money, and you won’t even be remembered.” He looked at her and smiled. “At least, not by these people.”

“Are you flirting with me?” Lauren was surprised at how calm she felt moving through the tourist crowd jamming the market. And she understood about the buying, too. It was all misdirection for whatever audience they drew.

His grin grew bigger. “Maybe a little. Breaking the law and getting away with it kind of makes me reckless.”

“I thought you were a law enforcer, not a lawbreaker.”

“You don’t know everything about me.”

A young woman in island dress nodded, took his twenty dollars and handed him the seahorse painting. Heath gave it to Lauren, who took it and crossed over to another booth that was selling small, colorful purses. She bought one and kept moving.

“Do you have enough money?” Heath kept pace with her.

“Are you offering to give me more?”

“Well, I did get you shot at this morning.”

“You still have to pay me for that suit, mister. I don’t want you claiming poverty later.” Lauren moved quickly, seeking out other tables and wares.

Heath chuckled. “You’re awfully calm.”

“This is a performance. I do performances.”

“Are you going to be okay with the police?”

Lauren stopped at a table that sold shell jewelry. She didn’t know who she was going to give the necklace and bracelet to when she returned home, but she bought them anyway and quickly moved on. “They’re not sending me home, I can tell you that.” No matter what it took, no matter what she had to do or how many times she was going to have to risk her life, she wasn’t going to let Gibson get away with killing Megan. That wasn’t happening.

Chapter 16

T
hirty-seven minutes later, Lauren sat on a bench in the shade while sipping a strawberry juice drink when Inspector Wallace Myton came strolling up in an ill-fitting suit. Two uniformed patrolmen trailed at his heels.

“Ah, Miss Cooper, I hear that you have suffered misfortune.” The inspector was shorter than Lauren, in his early fifties, and had warm, coffee skin. The unmistakable accent of the island echoed in his speech. He was balding and kept the sides shaved to salt-and-pepper stubble, and his neat mustache matched the color. In spite of his small stature, he had a long neck that had always put Lauren in the mind of a turkey during her dealings with him. He wore a light blue suit.

“Inspector Myton.” Lauren looked up at him. “I’m surprised to see you.”

“Are you?” Myton tapped a cigarette against the back of his hand.

“I just called in about my car being stolen.” Lauren’s heart beat faster and she struggled to remain calm.
It’s just a performance. If you blow this one, they’re going to send you home, and Megan’s killer may never be found.
Thinking about her sister steadied her, gave her purpose and direction. She wasn’t going to fail. She refused.

“So I heard. The rental agency called the police department, you see.”

“I thought you only worked homicide investigations.”

“I do.” The inspector put the cigarette between his lips, then lit it with a book of matches. He inhaled, then let out a long stream of smoke. “Sometimes I work very hard to
prevent
them.”

“Are you here to take my report, because there isn’t much to tell, actually. When I went to the parking lot with my purchases, my car was gone. So were my keys. They were in my purse.”

“A tragedy.”

“I’m just glad it wasn’t my car. The rental company said they’ll send me another one.”

Myton waved at the bench. “May I sit?”

Lauren put some of the bags onto the ground and made a place for the inspector. The two patrolmen continued to stand nearby.

Myton sat and started poking around in the bags. “My wife often comes out here. She likes little things like these. They bring her joy, but I fear we are running out of places to put these things.”

Lauren started to worry that she’d gone overboard in buying. Heath had helped, and they’d ended up with quite a haul.

The inspector looked at her. “I hadn’t taken you for a collector of amateur arts and handcrafts.”

“I’m not.” Lauren smiled.
Performance.
“And I have a small apartment. Most of what you see here is going to be given to people I grew up with in foster homes. When you move around like that, you end up with a lot of brothers and sisters.”

Myton smiled. “Yes, I suppose you would.” He gestured with his cigarette. “And you are close to these other brothers and sisters?”

“Yes.”

“Like you were with Megan?”

Lauren let the smile disappear from her face. “No. Not as close as I was with Megan.” She gave the inspector a hard look. “Why would you ask something like that?”

“Forgive me. Perhaps sometimes I am insensitive. I am a very inquisitive man. In part, it is what makes me good at my job.”

Unable to reel in the anger that the inspector had ignited, Lauren lashed back. “If you’re so good at your job, Inspector Myton, why haven’t you found the person that killed my sister?”

“I have touched a nerve.”

“Yes, you have.”

Myton shrugged. “Such is the nature of this business that I do. Sometimes I must ask the hard questions. Like, would it surprise you to know that your stolen vehicle was involved in a shootout at a hotel only a short time ago and later burned in an alley?”

“After hearing how my sister died, I’m not much surprised by anything these days.” Lauren kept her face unreadable.

“Then you deny that you were involved?”

Lauren waved at the bags of purchases. “I’ve been shopping. I noticed the car was missing. I checked for my keys. They were also missing. I was told the market was notorious for pickpockets.”

“So it is.” Myton took another hit off his cigarette and expelled smoke. “These
thieves
who took your keys, I think they must have been very lucky to find your vehicle in all those that are parked around here.”

“Not if they saw me leave it and decided to take my keys.”

“So you were a prospect targeted by these people?”

“I don’t know.”

“Because I have to ask myself, why would a thief take your car, then go to a hotel and start shooting?”

“Maybe he didn’t have cab fare.”

Myton laughed at that, and the sound was genuine. He pointed his cigarette at her. “That is a very funny answer.”

“Who was shot at?”

“Alas, that is also a question to which I do not have an answer at present. But soon, perhaps. I am still working on things.” Myton stood and brushed ashes from his suit coat. “I am a very patient man, Miss Cooper. Eventually all answers come to me. I’ll bid you good day, and I hope that your next experience with a rented vehicle goes much smoother than your first.”

“Thank you.”

Myton started to walk away, then he stopped and looked at her. “You know, you have never said what you are doing back in Kingston.”

“Vacation.”

“I would think, given the circumstances, there would be better places to vacation.”

“Not at the moment.”

Myton dropped his cigarette to the pavement and crushed it out underfoot. “Have you seen Detective Heath Sawyer since you’ve been back?”

Lauren thought about that for only a second. There was no right answer, and she thought it was better to go with the lie than an admission at this point. “No. Why?”

“Because he is still here, too. I thought it wouldn’t be too much to presume that the two of you might run into each other.”

Lauren didn’t say anything. A midsize car glided to a stop in front of the bench. The driver wore a cap that advertised the rental agency Lauren was using. He got out with a clipboard and searched the surroundings till he spotted Lauren.

“Miss Cooper.” The driver smiled and waved the clipboard. “I have your car.”

Lauren got up, grabbed some of the bags, and headed for the car. The driver opened the trunk, then scurried over to help her. Myton gestured to the two uniformed patrolmen. They stepped in and helped transfer purchases, as well.

Once she’d signed the rental form, the driver told her that he would take a taxi back to the agency. Myton came over to hold the door open to allow Lauren to slide behind the steering wheel, then he closed the door.

“Have a good day, Miss Cooper. Please be safe.”

“Thank you, Inspector.” Lauren put the car in gear and pulled into traffic. Her cell rang almost immediately.

“Hey.” Heath’s voice sounded laconic, as if getting shot at and burning cars was an everyday thing. Maybe back in Atlanta it was.

“Hey.” Lauren’s clenched stomach relaxed a little when she heard him.

“Good performance. Very nice.”

“So what do we do now?”

“Standard police work.” Heath didn’t sound happy about that. “We watch, we learn, we hope we catch a break. Gibson is rattled now. He’s trying to manage his situation because I’m making him uncomfortable. With your help, though he doesn’t know that. What I’d like to do is find out who the new players are and what they’re doing here.”

“You said you didn’t recognize any of them.”

“I didn’t, but you’re not the only one that can pick up things that don’t belong to you. I picked up the weapon the
maid
used at the hotel. I’m going to run her fingerprints, see if we get a hit. She was an ice-cold pro. Somebody will know her.”

“Do I need to circle around and pick you up?”

“No. I’m in the taxi four cars behind you.”

Lauren glanced in the rearview mirror and counted back cars till she spotted the taxi. Knowing he was there made her feel safer, not as alone.

“I’ll meet you at your hotel. Wait for me in the lobby.”