Dead Cold Mysteries Box Set #3: Books 9-12 (A Dead Cold Box Set), Blake Banner [reading in the dark TXT] 📗

She turned and stared at the house, then at me as I pushed through the gate. She looked like she wanted to slap me. I ignored her and said, “Get the back, would you?”

She disappeared around the side of the house. I rang the bell, tried the door, looked through the window, and called his cell phone, all with negative results. His car was gone. Dehan came back around the other side of the house.

“So you proved there is nobody at home. Shall we go get Paul now?”

I nodded. “Yeah. But he won’t be there.”

She climbed in the car and I got in behind the wheel. She sighed noisily as I closed the door. “He won’t be there.” She said it in a flat echo of the way I had said it. “Fine. Where will he be, at the reunion?”

“Makes sense to me.”

My cell rang. When I answered it, it was the sergeant.

“Detective, we’ve only canvassed a couple of neighbors so far, but I thought you’d want to know, somebody from the YMCA across the road says he saw a small green hatchback in her drive six AM this morning.”

I nodded. “Thanks, Sergeant. That’s helpful.”

I swung the car around and headed at speed up toward Randall Avenue and Paul’s gym. It was a short drive and we made it in just over a minute. I screeched to a halt outside the shopping mall, climbed out, and ran. Dehan was close behind me. The dojo was open and the first students of the afternoon were just beginning to trickle in, in twos and threes. Dehan smirked and said, “Looks like you were wrong, wiseass.”

I shook my head. “No, I’m not.”

We entered the school just as a big guy with Marine Corps written all over him stepped out of the office. He had a black belt and bare feet that looked like they could break bricks. He half smiled at us. “Can I help you?”

We showed him our badges. I asked, “Is Paul here?”

He shook his head. “He is away until early next week. I am standing in for him.”

Dehan was staring at me. In fact she was scowling at me. I asked him, “Did he say where he was going?”

“No, sir. He just told me it was a last-minute thing and he would be back Monday or Tuesday.”

We thanked him and walked back out into the sunshine.

“Tell me, Stone.”

“In a minute. Try his cell. It will tell you it’s either switched off or is out of range or something. Try Don and Jasmine. You’ll get the same thing. I’m going to call Stuart and May. I’ll get the same result too.”

“If you know that, why are we doing it…?”

“To prove it, Dehan. To prove it!”

Her cheeks flushed and her eyes went bright. I raised an eyebrow and smiled. She dialed. A voice on my phone told me the number was not available. I opened the car. She was dialing again. I climbed in and she climbed in the other side. We took off up Rosedale Avenue, back toward the precinct.

Dehan hung up and stuffed her phone in her jacket. “OK, you were right. Now, are you going to tell me what the hell is going on or do I just run along at your heel with my tongue hanging out, feeling grateful for whatever crumbs of wisdom you feel like tossing my way?”

“Forgive me.”

She looked startled.

I smiled. “I just haven’t had a chance to explain, and it will take some explaining. I had to check on Don and Paul, and the others, before I could be sure. Now we are going to see the inspector, and then we have a four or five hour drive ahead of us. I promise I will explain everything to you as we go.” I shrugged. “I meant no disrespect, Carmen, but if you feel like running at my heel and drooling, you know, that could be fun.”

“Asshole.”

“Funny, that was my mother’s pet name for me.”

I pulled up outside the station in the shade of a London plane tree, loped across the street and ran up the stairs to the inspector’s office. Dehan was right behind me. I knocked and he opened the door.

“John, Carmen, come in. What’s this about? Sit down.”

I shook my head. “There is no time, sir. We need to go to Macomb Mountain and we need to go immediately. We haven’t time for the proper formalities, sir, or to clear it with the local sheriff. I’m not even sure what county it is. It might be Essex. Either way, it’s a vast area and it’s mainly forest, six million acres of the stuff, sir.” I shook my head again. “Putting it into the hands of the local sheriff’s department will take time, and frankly, the evidence I have is going to sound slim, at best.”

He and Dehan were both staring at me like they were worried I had taken leave of my senses. The inspector frowned and said, “If your evidence is slim, why would I be any easier to convince than the sheriff of Essex County, John?”

I looked him straight in the eye. “People are going to die, sir. Possibly tonight. The old UFO group are having a reunion. Jane didn’t want to go, she had evidence that might have convicted Danny’s killer. She was killed this morning, I suspect to silence her. All the other members of the group are out of town and we can’t connect with their cell phones. I have reason to believe they have returned to Macomb Mountain for a reunion. I am pretty sure Don has a cabin up there. You are familiar with the case and you know I don’t go off half-cocked for no reason. I need you to trust