Late Checkout by Carol J. Perry

Author:Carol J. Perry
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Kensington Books
Published: 2019-08-22T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 26

After I’d talked to Pete I tried to stay focused on River’s show, watching her carefully to see if she showed any sign that anything was wrong. Buck Covington appeared after the second commercial, anchorman-handsome and as composed as possible considering his proximity to the ravishing River. He shuffled the tarot deck flawlessly and showed no sign of anxiety resulting from his conversation with Pamela.

O’Ryan had returned to his position beside me, watching River as carefully as I did. She did a reading for a woman who confided that she was anticipating moving to another state and needed to know if that was a good idea. She read for another who had met a new man and needed some guidance in that direction. She introduced the movie and I began to relax a little as lightning struck the tree where the spirits had been imprisoned and lovely Veronica Lake assumed human form once again.

Come on, Pete. Call me. I’m worried about the child. Did she see the killer? More importantly, did the killer see her?

I jumped, startled, when the phone rang. I muted the TV control and answered the phone.

“Pete? Did you talk to Buck? Did you find out what Pamela saw?”

“Yes. To all of it. Fortunately Buck recorded the conversation with Pamela, so we’ve got a good idea of what she saw. The producer has Pamela’s cell number and location of course.”

“Can you tell me what she said?”

“I’ll give you a fast rundown of it. Can’t release the recording.” He sounded apologetic, as though he truly wanted to share it.

“That’s okay. I understand.”

“Here’s the gist of it then. The kid, Pamela, went to the library with a bunch of other kids from her school. Seems she’s tall for her age and some of the boys were teasing her. Made her cry.” He paused. “Kids can be so damned mean. Anyway, she was at the rear of the group when they went in the side door. She saw a door that was partly open and ducked through it, planning to dry her eyes and join the group when she felt better.”

I could see it in my mind. “That’s the door to the old kitchen. It shouldn’t be open.”

“I know. She closed it behind her. She says the room was full of boxes and stuff and some old office furniture.”

“That sounds about right. I’ve never been in there myself,” I said.

“She was starting to feel a little better. Figured her eyes looked okay and was about to go and join the others for the music thing.” Another pause. “She heard somebody coming. She was scared so she ducked behind a pile of boxes.”

I realized I was holding my breath. “She saw who it was?”

“She did. She says she saw a man with black pants and a black jacket and some kind of shoes she called ‘booties.’”

“That means really low-cut boots. I have some.”

“Oh, I didn’t know that.” He continued. “The guy has short curly gray hair and he was wearing gloves and he had some kind of a big bag like a backpack except it wasn’t on his back.

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