Daylight (Atlee Pine, #3)(48)

“And this CID guy you’re working with?”

“John Puller, yeah.”

“You talked to him?”

“I haven’t talked to anyone, other than Carol Blum on your phone.”

“All this pushback you’ve been getting from the locals and the feds, that’s really troublesome, Atlee.”

“You think I don’t know that?”

“And this lowlife Tony Vincenzo playing with the big boys in that penthouse? How does that make sense?”

“I don’t know. Maybe they like to keep the foot soldiers happy. Hell, it’s probably empty except when they let the riffraff come up to play. But it is bizarre.”

“Well, I wish you luck. Sounds like you’re going to need it.”

He dropped her at her car, where Blum was going to meet her.

As Laredo pulled away, Blum drove up in an Uber. She got out, walked over, and gave Pine a hug.

When Blum stepped back, Pine saw the other woman’s strained features. “I’m fine, Carol, I really am.”

“I know,” Blum said in a hushed voice. “But it was close, wasn’t it?”

“It was,” she conceded.

She held up a spare set of car keys for the rental. “Now, let’s get you back to the hotel and cleaned up.”

They drove back to the hotel and Pine did just as Blum had suggested. The hot water took off the blood and grime. She stood in the shower for at least thirty minutes, letting both the stink and another woman’s blood flow off her. As she watched the red swirl down the drain, she leaned her forehead against the tile of the shower wall and started to sob. She wasn’t sure why—no, maybe part of her did know.

Lindsey Axilrod played me like a fiddle. And Sheila Weathers is dead because of it.

She toweled off, dried her hair, and changed into fresh clothes after throwing the scrubs and flip-flops into the trash.

Starving, she took the elevator down to the lobby and walked into the hotel restaurant, where she ordered coffee and a sandwich. She pulled out her phone to check her messages. There were three from Puller in her mailbox.

She quickly called him. “Everything okay?”

“I guess it didn’t warrant the national news pipeline,” he said.

“What are you talking about?”

Puller filled her in on the attack at his apartment.

“Oh my God. How did you get out of that alive?”

“My cat alerted me.”

“Wait a minute, you have a cat?”

“AWOL. He sensed them before I did. Not sure how, but I pay attention when he gets riled. So when they came in, I wasn’t there. I was waiting outside my apartment with flashbangs and my M11s. Got the jump on them. But some reinforcements showed up and they all got away.”

“Thank God for AWOL.”

“I’ve been trying to get ahold of you,” he said.

Her coffee and sandwich arrived, and she took a sip of her drink. “You got a few minutes? I had my own little adventure.” She filled him in on what had happened to her the previous night.

“You’re lucky to be alive, too,” he said.

“I know.”

“So this Lindsey Axilrod was a setup?”

“Yes.”

“I gave you her name. So this is on me.”

“You had no idea. I’m normally suspicious of everyone, but Axilrod played it just right. She put me off my guard with her dumb-girl routine, and letting me think I was leading her around, when it was actually the reverse. I can tell you I’m never getting into another Uber again.”

“So the odds are very good that Axilrod does not show up for work today.”

“And I highly doubt we’ll find her at home, but I’m going to check there anyway.”

“I can send you the address. I have it in my files.”

“How did your ‘attack’ plan go?”

“I met with him yesterday, drove home, and got ambushed. I have no idea if the two events are connected. I hope they’re not, because that would suggest a mole inside the Army at a pretty high level.”

“I think Teddy Vincenzo was spot-on when he said his son was in way over his head.”

“The son might not even be alive at this point,” noted Puller.

“If not, there goes my only lead to Ito. So what’s your next move?”

“I should wait for my command to get back to me. But I don’t think I will. I don’t like it when people come to my home and shoot it up. I take that personally.”

“What are you going to do about it?”

“Somebody must have seen something last night. It’s not like they were bothering to keep quiet; they brought full artillery. What about you?”

“I also don’t take kindly when someone pulls the shit they did with me last night. So shoot me her address and I’m going after Axilrod.”

“Let’s compare notes later, and Atlee, I know I don’t have to tell you, but I am anyway.”

“I’m going to watch every flank I have. And trust nobody.”

“Copy that.”

The phone went dead. Pine finished her coffee and sandwich and then had another cup.

When she saw Blum enter the restaurant, she waved her over.

“I’m sorry, Carol, I should have invited you to eat with me.”