Mean Streak(39)

“What people? What angles?”

“Angles. In the morning, we’ll get an early start. Might actually help to have you come along, Jeff.”

“I’d like that very much. I don’t think I could endure another day of just sitting around.”

“Good. You can ride up there with us.”

In that rigged-out SUV? Not likely. “I’ll follow you in my own car.”

“Naw, let’s all go together,” Knight said, settling it and leaving no room for argument. The detective lifted his quilted coat off the back of his chair and pulled it on. Eyeing Jeff’s overcoat and Burberry scarf, he said, “You’ll need different clothes.”

“I packed a ski jacket.”

“You packed?”

Jeff turned to Grange. “Sorry?”

“You packed before leaving Atlanta to come up here?”

“I brought some things, yes.”

“How come? Did you count on being up here for a while?”

“I reasoned,” he said, emphasizing the word, “that when I joined Emory, it was unlikely that we’d drive back before Monday morning. I came prepared to spend at least one night.”

Grange registered no reaction to the explanation.

Knight pointed Jeff toward the exit. “Tomorrow morning we’ll pick you up, say…seven? Is that too early?”

“I’ll be ready. I only hope the motel can accommodate me for another night.”

“Taken care of,” Grange said. “We called and booked the room for you.”





Chapter 14



Emory clutched the strap above the passenger window as the pickup took a curve. They were on the same dark and icy road as before, this time ascending, which made the navigation even more difficult. But in addition to the perilous roadway, she worried about being pursued.

They’d been in and out of the doctor’s office within five minutes. The man who had engineered the break-in had held a flashlight and monitored not only what she was doing, but had kept watch through the windows to make certain that no one had been alerted to the break-in.

She’d collected instruments, supplies, and medications she thought she might need and had placed them in a plastic trash can liner to bring with her. No one accosted them when they left. They drove out of town the same way they’d driven in: unobserved.

Or so she hoped. The third time she turned her head to look out the cab window at the road behind them, he said, “Relax, Doc. There’s no posse chasing us.”

“Since I’m new to thievery, I’m a bit nervous. How did you know there wasn’t an alarm system in the doctor’s office?”

“I didn’t.”

Stark with disbelief, she said, “What would have happened if an alarm had sounded? We would have been caught.”

“No we wouldn’t.”

“You think we could have slipped out of that sleepy little town in this large and conspicuous pickup truck?”

“Yes.”

“Impossible.”

“No it isn’t. I’ve done it.”

She didn’t know whether to be shocked by his admission or comforted to know he had a knack for eluding capture. “I still can’t believe that you—that I—broke the law.”

“Don’t beat yourself up. You’ve more than compensated for our minor B and E tonight.”

She gave him a pointed look, and he answered her unasked question.

“There’s a lot online about your philanthropy.”

“Is that why you called me a do-gooder?”

“You don’t need to go to Haiti or organize fund-raisers to help someone in need. You’ve got a girl right here.”

“If she’s as you described, she needs an ER.”

“I offered to take her. She refused to go.”

“Why?”

He concentrated on climbing a steep grade, downshifting and steering with care, but Emory thought he used that as an excuse not to answer her.

“Why did she refuse?” she repeated.

“She’s scared.”

“Of what? Doctors? Hospitals?”

“When we get there, you can ask her.”

“When we get there, I’m calling nine-one-one.”

“Good luck with that.”

“You’d stop me?”

“They would.”

“The brothers?”

He muttered what sounded to her like f*cking hillbillies.

“If that’s your opinion of the Floyd family, why did you get involved with them?”

“Would you rather the girl suffer?”

“Of course not.” Knowing she was treading on thin ice, she said, “But I think the situation with her has given you a valid reason to engage with them. It’s an opportunity you didn’t expect, but you’re seizing it. Tell me if I’m getting warm.”

His gloved fingers flexed against the steering wheel before resuming their grip, but he didn’t say anything.

“You’ve locked horns with them before.”

“No. I haven’t.”

“I don’t believe you. You said—”

“Look, Doc, you could speculate till you turn blue, and you’d still be wrong. All you need to know is that I gave Lisa my word that I’d bring back help. I keep my word.”