Sunset Swing by Ray Celestin

Author:Ray Celestin
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Pan Macmillan

PART THIRTEEN

IDA & KERRY

40

Ida and Kerry drove in convoy to a store so Kerry could buy cellophane and tape to fix up the car window that White and his men had broken. Then they drove over to a bar downtown to meet Ida’s cop friend. Ida went in and Kerry sat in her car and waited, looking around for any sign of White and his goons. On top of the incident with them that morning, Ida’s revelations about the Night-Slayer had further set Kerry on edge. If the Vacaville inmates who’d taken part in the drug trial were on a kill list, then surely Stevie must be on it, too.

After about ten minutes Ida stepped back out with a folder in her hand, got into the Cutlass next to Kerry.

‘All right,’ Ida said, skimming through the paperwork. ‘I got some more info on the three inmates who died. Henderson and Rawls were both killed in hit-and-runs. Paxton was knifed to death in a suspected burglary. All not long after their release. All of it suspicious as hell. Someone’s definitely trying to cover up the Night-Slayer’s connection to those drug tests. Paxton’s room-mate told the cops that a few days before he was killed someone claiming to be a policeman visited him and after the visit he was nervy as hell. The policeman matches Hennessy’s description. Looks like Hennessy turned up there with his fake police ID to warn Paxton he was in danger. After that, Paxton was too scared to leave the house, which is probably why they killed him in a staged burglary rather than a hit-and-run like the other two. Anyway, the room-mate also said Hennessy had someone with him in his car. Someone younger who matches Stevie’s description. If we can trust the room-mate, it means Hennessy and Stevie are definitely working together. Which means Stevie’s under Hennessy’s protection.’

Kerry mulled this over, feeling some reassurance that Stevie wasn’t alone.

‘It also means it’s less likely Stevie’s the Night-Slayer,’ she said. ‘Hennessy wouldn’t be working with him if he was a killer.’

Ida nodded. ‘It’s leaning that way.’

‘So what do we do?’

‘We go after the two inmates who escaped from Vacaville – Ronnie Mouzon and Pete Cooper – they’re assumed to be at large somewhere in the state. The police have issued BOLOs for them, that’s be on the lookout for. They were visited by Hennessy in Vacaville. They managed to hightail it before they were bumped off. If we find one of them they might point us in Hennessy and Stevie’s direction. Maybe they can point us to the Night-Slayer, too. You never know, one of these two escapees might actually be the Night-Slayer. That’s if we can find them, and if you want us to work together?’

The question surprised Kerry, she’d assumed they already were.

‘Sure I do,’ she replied.

‘Good.’

Ida smiled at her, then looked down to skim through more paperwork.

‘So, the two escapees. Mouzon was caught dope dealing in sixty-two and sixty-seven. Picked up in street stings by the Narc Squad both times.

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