The Running Girls(71)

“What’s he got to do with it?”

She sighed. “It goes back to the first murder, something I need to know more about,” she said, reaching out for David’s hand. “It might even prove that Frank didn’t kill your mother.”

David pulled his hand free and leaned away from her. He squinted sourly at her. “He sure did some job on you, didn’t he?”

“David, please. I’ll explain everything. I just need to speak to Warren first.”

“Fine,” said David, who stood up, his head still shaking. “Maybe one day you’ll tell me what the hell happened to you,” he added, turning away before she had the chance to respond.



Laurie looked at the IV drip, contemplating whether it would be safe to remove it. She felt much better, a newfound clarity washing over her following her sleep. Her resolve now was to find Frank. She was still a police detective and her investigation couldn’t simply grind to a halt because of a windstorm. She understood David’s misgivings, but she had to figure this the hell out. She owed it to so many people, David included, and she was sure he would understand in the long run. It was unfortunate that it had come to this so soon after they’d started talking about Milly again, but that couldn’t be helped. The hurt over Rebecca Whitehead was still fresh, even if David’s affair was imagined, but she’d managed to put that to the back of her mind. She hoped David would be able to forgive her in a similar vein, for what she had to do now.

When Warren pulled open the curtain of her cubicle, he looked so wiped out it hurt to look at him. He was usually so particular about his appearance that seeing him in mismatched sweatpants and a sweatshirt, his face dotted with silver-gray stubble, made him look frail and vulnerable. Hell, it made him look his age.

At least he could raise a grin. “You wanted to see me, little lady?” he said, doffing an imaginary hat toward her.

“How’s David?” she asked as he eased down on the seat next to her bed.

“He was worried sick about you. We both were. Thought we’d lost you.”

“And now?”

“Now, he’s a little pissed with you, for whatever reason, but he’s still worried. It’ll work itself out. More to the point, how are you? Filmore told me what happened. Said he caught you clinging to a lamppost like a drunk who’d got stuck up a tree.”

“His words?”

“I embellish.” In the glow of her table lamp, it was true that he looked every year of his age. His eyes were sunken, and his skin seemed scored with a fresh field of wrinkles. Still, his eyes radiated the same sense of strength she’d always seen in him. Despite those deep crevices in his skin, it was hard to believe he was some twenty years Frank’s senior. Put them side by side, and she would have sworn there was little more than five years between them.

“Is he here? Filmore?”

“Resting up. He took a knock too, rescuing some folks before he found you.”

“He tell you about Maurice?”

“Sure did.”

Laurie racked her brains, trying to remember what she’d told Filmore, but came up blank. She couldn’t recall him telling her anything about another rescue mission. “You think Frank did it?”

“Don’t you?”

“I found something,” said Laurie, retrieving the letter from the plastic evidence bag, which had been placed with her belongings.

Warren took a deep breath, taking out a pair of reading glasses hooked over the collar of his sweatshirt before looking down at the note.

“I see,” he said, once he’d finished.

Laurie could tell by the way he refused to make eye contact with her that the note wasn’t a surprise. “You knew about this?”

Warren nodded. “They came to me, asking for advice.”

“Sadie was trying to extort them?”

“I wouldn’t go that far. She was pestering them for money, but as you can see there was no threat.”

“There’s something you’re not telling me, Warren.”

Warren held her gaze, but didn’t answer.

“Is this in the original investigation? Jim Burnell’s report?”

“I wasn’t allowed to get involved in that, you know that.”

“He spoke to her, though. Sadie?”

“Yes, but she wasn’t a suspect.”

“Why’s that?”

“She was Randall’s high school sweetheart,” said Warren. “The girl had some sort of bone-wasting disease. Poor thing ended up in a wheelchair.”

“That was verified?”

“You can check the case notes, Laurie. What the hell is this about?”

Laurie’s head pounded. Frank must have left the letter there for a reason, but it was hard to think straight at the moment. It was as if she was so desperate for him not to have killed his brother, and not to have been at the center of this from the beginning, that she was looking for things that weren’t there. “You sure there’s nothing else I should know?”

“Laurie, I don’t say this lightly. I love you. You and David both. I wouldn’t hide anything from you. You must know that?”

Laurie forced her smile.

“Now get some rest,” said Warren.

Laurie waited for him to leave before yanking the IV drip from her vein.