Faye Kellerman_Decker & Lazarus 07 by Sanctuary

Author:Sanctuary [Sanctuary]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: Los Angeles (Calif.), Police Procedural, Detective and Mystery Stories, Police, Contemporary Women, Mystery & Detective, Police Spouses, Political, Lazarus; Rina (Fictitious Character), Fiction, General, Decker; Peter (Fictitious Character)
ISBN: 9780747225645
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 1994-01-01T06:00:00+00:00

23

Slipping on his shades, Decker said, “Two things stick out in my mind. One: Why did Milligan act so weird when we mentioned Gold—?”

“Yeah, something was off. Her voice cracked, the smile got hard.”

“But her eyes never wavered. You notice that?”

“Sure did,” Marge said. “Probably something she learned in CEO school—the same one that teaches ‘never let them see you sweat.’”

Decker smiled. “The disparaging way she talked about Gold. And for no apparent reason.”

“So right away, being of perverted mind, we start thinking that Milligan and Gold are up to something.”

“The thought crossed my mind.” Decker walked slowly. “The other thing that bothered me was this: Why would Milligan be dealing with someone like Arik Yalom even if he was a top cutter. Milligan was in charge of marketing, not manufacturing.”

“I know how your mind works,” Marge said. “You’re thinking that maybe she had no choice. Yalom was blackmailing her.”

“Something.” Decker thought a moment. “The letters Milligan and Yalom exchanged. The veiled threats in them. Actually not so veiled in the later correspondence.”

Marge said, “To me, they sounded just like Milligan described them. Like the ravings of a lunatic.”

“So assume he was a lunatic. Why would Milligan deal with a lunatic?”

“She stopped dealing with him, Pete.”

“Or maybe she dealt with him in the ultimate way. She had him popped.” Decker paused. “I know, I know. Big leap. I’m stretching from here to China, looking for something that isn’t there. Probably VerHauten told her to deal with Yalom because they needed him as a cutter.”

“Besides, why would Yalom blackmail Milligan?”

“I’ve got an answer for that. Yalom wanted an in to VerHauten to hawk his mining stocks and land and Milligan was his ticket.”

Marge pushed hair off her forehead. “I like that.”

Decker licked his index finger and sliced air, making an imaginary tally mark. “If you assume Milligan in the role of blackmailee, it makes sense why she answered Yalom directly. You don’t go to the boss if you have a personal problem. You keep everything hush-hush and attempt to take care of it yourself.”

“But Pete, she eventually did forward the letters to VerHauten’s attorneys.”

“Yeah, she did.” Decker shrugged. “So I’m off base. Not the first time.”

They walked into the darkened labyrinth of the underground parking lot. After the requisite minute needed for orientation, they found the unmarked. Marge took the wheel, Decker rode shotgun.

Marge said, “What I want to know is, what’s with Shaul Gold? His partner’s dead and he’s nowhere to be found. Last we saw and heard of him, he was half drunk with a loaded gun, planning to rescue the boys.”

“You forgot impersonating a police officer,” Decker said.

“What’s his role in all of this? Then we mentioned him to Milligan, and she went all hinky. Maybe we weren’t off base. Maybe Gold and Milligan are in on something together.”

“In on what?”

“I don’t know.” Marge thought for a moment. “Let’s go back to your blackmail thing, Pete. Say Yalom was blackmailing Milligan. Say he had something really big on her.

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