The Sentry (28 page)

Pike drove to the house. The police had blocked the surrounding streets, so Pike left his Jeep on the boulevard and tried to cross the pedestrian bridge. The police had blocked the footbridges at both ends of the alley, so Pike found himself with three neighborhood women and six children at the construction site where Gomer had been murdered. They watched the activity as uniformed and plainclothes officers searched Brown’s house.

Pike spent little time looking at the police. Gawkers had gathered at the bridges and bike paths, and residents with a view of the scene were in their backyards. Pike searched the faces for Rainey, but knew the Bolivian killer might also be among them. If the killer was still hunting for Rainey, he might return to the house for the same reasons as Pike.

Pike found Lily Palmer’s card in his wallet, and called.

Jared answered, his voice low and dull.

“Hullo.”

“It’s Pike. Remember?”

Jared perked up.

“Oh, man, you should see this place. The cops are everywhere.”

“I know. I’m across the canal.”

“No shit? Man, did you know? Wilson and Dru are criminals. Did you know that?”

Jared came out to the edge of their pool and waved when he saw Pike.

“Hey, dude, there you are! I see you!”

Pike said, “Has anyone been next door?”

“At Steve’s place?”

“Yes.”

“Dude, look at it. The place looks like a cop convention.”

“Not now. Before the police.”

“Right, yeah, the cops asked that, too. No, uh-uh, I didn’t see anyone.”

“Not just today. What about yesterday and last night?”

“Nada, man.”

“Did you hear anything?”

“No, dude. And you know me—all eyes all the time. No evil shall escape my sight.”

“Get something to write with. I’m going to give you my number.”

“Sure, dude. Hang on.”

Jared jogged into his house, and reappeared a few moments later.

“Okey-doke, we are ready to copy, Houston.”

Pike recited his cell.

“If you see anyone next door after the police leave, I want you to call me. Will you do that?”

“Sure, dude. We’re supposed to call the cops, too.”

“That’s fine. Call them, but call me, too.”

“You got it, bro. No problemo.”

“And Jared—do you have alarms on your house?”

“Yeah.”

“Lock up tonight. Don’t leave any windows or doors open. Lock it and arm up.”

“Dude, you are freakin’ me out. Wilson’s cool with me. We joke around.”

Pike wasn’t thinking about Rainey.

“Lock up, Jared. If you see someone or hear something, call 911, then me. Tell your mother. Give her my number.”

The excitement left Jared’s voice.

“Yes, sir. I’ll tell her.”

Pike closed his phone.

Jared stared at him for a moment, then waved again and walked slowly back into his house.

Pike studied the near bridges and surrounding houses. If Rainey showed up because he wanted to enter the house, he would leave, but return later when the police were gone. Pike had nothing else, so he settled in to wait.

Forty minutes later, Pike’s attention was drawn when two men stepped from the crowd at the head of the pedestrian bridge. Special Agents Straw and Kenny showed their badges to the officer blocking the bridge, who immediately let them pass. They disappeared when they reached the end of the bridge, but Kenny reappeared a few minutes later in Rainey’s backyard. Pike wondered why he was here with Straw instead of checking the video.

Kenny walked to the fence, then turned toward the house. A few seconds later, Straw joined him. They spoke for a moment, then Straw went to the kayak hanging on the dock. He rocked it absently back and forth, then spoke to Kenny, who only shook his head in answer. They stared at the house as if trying to solve an unsolvable puzzle, and neither appeared ready to leave.

Pike wondered if Kenny had finished checking the video or if Straw had simply lied.

Pike called Straw on his cell. He listened to Straw’s phone ring, and watched as Straw checked the incoming call window, then returned the phone to his pocket without answering.

Pike said, “Mm.”

Pike dialed again, and again watched as Straw checked the incoming call without answering. This time he said something to Kenny, who shook his head as he walked away.

Pike immediately dialed again, and this time Straw broke. He answered his phone.

“Hello?”

“It’s Pike. How’s it coming with the video?”

“You’re becoming a pain in the ass, you know that? We’re getting there.”

“I’ll pitch in. Maybe Kenny needs some help.”

“He’s doing fine without you.”

“He find anything yet?”

“No, Pike, I told you I’d call you, but here you are calling me, and it’s slowing us down. Don’t call again.”

Pike watched as Straw lowered his phone. He said something to Kenny, which made Kenny laugh.

Pike jogged back to his Jeep and drove along Venice Boulevard until he found the green Malibu. If Straw wasn’t going to check the video, Pike would check it himself.

Pike didn’t know what he would find or if he would find anything, but the Malibu’s back seat was filled with their duffels and sleeping bags. Pike checked to make sure no one was watching, then used a jiggler key to open the car.

Pike wanted the camera case, but did not see it, so he searched through the duffels. The top duffel was jumbled with clothes and toiletry bags. He quickly checked for the camera, zipped the bag, and shoved it aside. Pike was working fast, but when he opened the second bag, he spotted a thick manila envelope with
Rainey
written in longhand on the cover.

Rainey’s name stopped him.

Pike could tell by the envelope’s worn condition and faded ink that nothing about it was new. It looked old, and used, and as soon as Pike saw it he knew something about Jack Straw was wrong.

The envelope contained photocopies of what appeared to be reports and documents about William Allan Rainey written on Drug Enforcement Agency letterhead and field forms. The documents appeared official, and contained blurry, black-and-white photocopies of surveillance pictures. Like the envelope, the documents showed their wear with torn edges, coffee rings, and handwritten notes in the margins. Pike was fingering through the pages without reading them when he found a smudged picture of Rose Marie Platt with a banner for Jazz Fest behind her in the background. The picture quality was so poor she was almost unrecognizable, but Pike knew it was her.

Pike pushed the pages back into the envelope, and continued looking for the camera. He found it a few seconds later, closed the duffel, and left the bags on the back seat as he had found them.

Pike hadn’t been looking for files and documents, but now he wanted to see what Straw had. He took the camera and envelope, and drove to a quiet residential street three blocks away.

Pike checked the video first. He spent a few minutes figuring out how to work the camera, then watched several seconds of Straw’s recording. He fast-forwarded, then skipped between tracks to watch more. A hard knot between his shoulder blades grew larger with each scene he watched, and soon it spread down his back.

Straw’s surveillance team had not recorded Azzara or the members of Azzara’s gang. They had recorded Rainey and Dru. Entering and leaving the shop. Entering and leaving the house on the canal. Dru in the backyard. Rainey in the kayak. Driving their Tercel.

The video confirmed what Pike suspected the moment he saw the worn envelope bearing Wilson Smith’s true name.

Special Agent Jack Straw had lied. Straw and his team never cared about Miguel Azzara. They had known who Wilson and Dru were since the beginning. They were chasing Rainey and Platt.

P
ike put the camera aside, then skimmed the reports. Most of the documents were case notes recounting meetings or conversations with Rainey by a DEA agent named Norman Lister, who appeared to be Rainey’s handler. Most of the reports were written while Rainey was still functioning as an informant, though many were dated when the agents were investigating his disappearance. Pike skipped these parts as he did not care about Rainey. He wanted to read about Dru.

He searched the pages until he found the picture of Rose Marie Platt, and discovered a collection of documents stapled together. The first was a compilation of Lister’s notes condensing statements made by Rainey’s associates, describing how they knew Rose Platt, and what they knew, if anything, about her relationship to Rainey. Their names were highlighted in yellow, and their addresses were handwritten in the margins.

Most of those interviewed were identified as co-workers, and most knew nothing incriminating. One of those interviewed was Rose Platt’s mother and two were identified as her brothers. These condensations were as short as the others, and contained no information useful to Lister’s investigation. The brothers claimed they had not seen their sister for six years, and the mother complained she had not seen nor heard from Rose in almost ten years. Rose was alternately described as rebellious, fucked up, selfish, and a tramp.

Pike flipped past the remaining statements, but paused again when he found a copy of the warrant issued for Rose Marie Platt’s arrest. The warrant contained an information sheet with a second picture of Dru, her physical description, and background information that might prove useful to investigators. The names of friends and relatives, prior addresses, schools attended, and past employers were all neatly typed into the appropriate boxes.

Pike read this sheet carefully. A tiny box at the top of the page was checked to show she had no arrest record. Another box showed her fingerprints were not on file.

According to the investigators, Rose Marie Platt was born in Biloxi, Mississippi. She had been married three times, the first when she was seventeen years old, the second when she was nineteen, and a third time when she was twenty-two. The first two marriages occurred in Biloxi; the last in Slidell, Louisiana. The names and last known addresses of the three men were listed, along with the brief descriptives: DVR, NO CHLDRN. Divorced, no children.

Pike thought about the young girl in the snapshot Dru showed him. He could picture the little girl clearly. Amy. A pretty kid with a happy smile standing beside a couch.
The love of my life.

The form listed parents and siblings. Pike studied it. Dru’s mother and father were named, but a box by the father’s name was checked. Deceased. The names of her two brothers were typed beneath her parents. Beneath the names of the two brothers was another checked box and a single descriptive: SISTERS—none.

Pike stared at this line the longest. Sisters—none.

Dru had told him Amy was staying with her sister.

Pike stared out the window at nothing, aware but not caring about passing cars or the light that dappled through tortured elms. Pike could see the scene perfectly and recall every nuance of her expression. The awkward uncertainty as she took out her billfold. How she shrugged when she showed him the picture, as if expecting him to reject her. How her smile flashed like summer lightning when he asked her out anyway.

But no sister meant there was no Amy, which meant none of it was true.

Pike tamped the pages together and slid them back into the envelope. He thought for a moment, then started the Jeep and turned toward Pacific Station. It was only five minutes away. He took out his phone as he drove and called Jerry Button. Button had returned to his office.

Pike said, “Who is Straw and what is he doing?”

“What do you mean, who is he?”

“Were you in on it with him?”

“Pike, I’m busy. What the fuck are you talking about?”

Pike decided Button’s annoyance was real, which meant Straw had lied to Button, too.

“Straw didn’t come here to bust Azzara. They were watching Rainey. They’ve known Wilson was Rainey since the beginning.”

Button came back sounding uncertain.

“Did he tell you that?”

Pike described the DEA reports and Straw’s video but Button didn’t want to believe it.

“This better not be bullshit.”

“Meet me outside in five minutes. You can have the camera and the reports. I’ll give them to you.”

Button fell silent, and Pike knew why. Button was embarrassed.

“I’m on my way now, Jerry. You should have checked him out.”

“That fuckin’ Feeb. Those arrogant pricks
always
pull underhanded shit like this.”

“If you had done your due diligence, we would have known what we were dealing with. We could have stopped the Bolivian.”

Button cleared his throat, anxious to change the subject.

“I hooked up with the New Orleans agents. Did Cole tell you?”

“Yes. They don’t have a picture?”

“No, but they’re pretty sure he’s an American named Gregg Daniel Vincent. He’s not a Bolivian.”

“What do they know?”

“Not much, and most of it they can’t confirm. Made his bones guarding dope farms in Honduras from government raids. Made his rep killing snitches and cops the Bolivians want out of the way. Tortures them to death. The Bolivians have this whole rap about him escaping from some kinda nuthouse for psychopaths, but that’s probably bullshit. They use him to scare people.”

Pike didn’t care about any of that, and wasn’t impressed.

“Is there a description?”

“They know he’s a white guy, but that’s it. They don’t have a description or a photograph.”

Pike pulled to the curb by the flagpole outside Pacific Station. He put the Jeep in park, but did not turn off the engine.

“I’m here, Button. By the flag out front. Come get Straw’s stuff.”

Button sounded sick.