Capital Crimes by Jonathan; Faye Kellerman

Author:Jonathan; Faye Kellerman
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
Published: 2006-11-21T05:00:00+00:00

Barnes floored his Honda. The car balked, tried to tackle the grade, kicked back, finally slipped into gear and chugged along.

Blackness all around. Amanda rechecked her gun and wondered if the backup they'd called would get there. Rural sheriff, claiming to be understaffed. He hadn't sounded too impressed to begin with and "Berkeley" had caused him to grow silent.

That's unincorporated land, not really our jurisdiction.

Whose is it?

Good question. I'll see what I can do.

The tiny car continued to labor up the mountain road. Why did a big man like Will drive such dinky wheels?

Up here in the boonies, small things like insufficient acceleration mattered. Jane's scrawled map was helpful to a point, then everything started to look the same and landmarks vanished in the darkness. The GPS Amanda had attached to her handheld computer had been rendered useless ten miles back, reception blocked by massive oaks and giant redwoods.

"What's wrong?" said Will.

"With what?"

"You're fidgeting. Like you do when you have serious doubts."

"If we really suspect this joker of blowing off Davida's head, we could be making a big mistake by going in alone."

"Davida was sleeping. We're wide awake."

"Mr. Macho."

"Hey," he said, "it's a social call. We'll ring the guy's doorbell and act nice and polite."

"It's almost ten PM and we didn't clear it with Torres."

"We tried. Is it our fault he's at a fund-raiser?" Shaking his head. "Community gardens, there's a law-enforcement issue for you."

Amanda went silent.

Five miles later, Barnes said, "You know, maybe it's a good idea for you to wait in the car, especially if Parker doesn't cotton to women."

"I should just sit by and watch as Parker plugs you in the gut?"

"If you hear rat-a-tat put the pedal to the metal and get the hell out of here. You've got someone to go home to."

"Not funny, Will."

Barnes smiled. Wondering if he'd really been aiming for humor.

He slowed to five per, had Amanda shine a flashlight on Jane's map, drove another ten miles and forked left. "Nothing is going to happen to me or to you. We're just paying the guy a visit, that's all."

Amanda shook her head. "Just make sure your gun is drawn."

They came to a dirt lane marked by a small wooden sign, nearly overtaken by vines and suckers.

RISING GLEN NO TRESPASSING.

A chain-link gate sagged on its hinges. Barnes got out. No lock, the clasp wasn't even set in place. Swinging the gate inward, he got back in the car and coasted down on a rutted dirt lane.

Amanda said, "It's so dark I can barely see my hands."

Barnes stopped, had another look at the map, clicked off the flashlight. "When we come to a pond, it's fifty yards to the right."

Moments later, Amanda spotted a pinpoint of light.

A sliver of moon breaking on water. She pointed. "Over there."

Off in the distance, another dot of illumination. Amber, like the lit end of a cigarette.

They watched for a while. The dot never moved.

Barnes said, "Probably a porch light." He aimed the Honda at it, driving carefully along the curving surfaces of the pond bank.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.