The Second Girl(41)
“You see him driving that car a lot?”
My cell phone rings.
“Hold on,” I say, and pull it out to look at it.
Costello. I let it ring and go to voicemail. She’ll leave a message if it’s important.
“About his car, did he drive it a lot?”
“Yes. Sometimes he’d pick me up at the school bus stop and take me himself.”
“Was anyone else with him when he picked you up?”
“No.”
“Any of his buddies here ever go to DC with the two of you?”
“No. It was always just us.”
“Did you ever hang out with him around here, someplace he liked to take you?”
She hesitates.
“It’s all right. That’s why I wanted to talk to you alone.”
“He’d take me to this place off a path near South Run Park.”
“You’d go smoke weed there and stuff?”
“Yes.”
“Does he hang out there a lot, maybe with some of his buddies?”
“Yes. That’s where they would go to get high and sell their weed.”
“What days and around what time do they go out there?”
“It used to be every day right after school.”
“You said it was a path. Where’d he park the car?”
“At South Run Park, usually at the very far end of the parking lot.”
“Why were you nervous to tell me that? Did you used to sell too?”
“No, it’s not that.”
“Then what?”
“Because we did other things together.”
“You and Edgar?”
“Yes.”
“You mean something more than just kissing?”
“You swear you won’t tell my parents?”
“That’s something I think you should tell them when you’re ready. I won’t. Did you tell the FBI or other detectives any of this?”
“No. I’m sorry. Is that bad?”
“No, because I’ll take care of it. Don’t worry. Where is this South Run Park?”
“It’s off the parkway, right past Lee Chapel.”
I turn my notepad to a blank sheet and hand it to her, along with a pen. “Can you draw a map, show me how to get to South Run and then the path?”
Thirty-six
I follow Amanda’s hand-drawn map, which does a good job of guiding me to the Fairfax County Parkway. I don’t like to use Google maps for certain things, especially shit like this, ’cause the information is definitely logged. You never know.
It’s about five o’clock and the beginning of the rush-hour traffic, but traffic is going the opposite direction. I make the right turn and find South Run Park a short distance ahead on the right. I turn in and follow the road to the parking lot. The rec center is ahead on the left, but I keep right and drive to the other end of the lot, where it borders the wooded area. Several cars are parked in the lot, but none that fit the description of Edgar’s car. I park anyway. Before I can exit, my cell rings again.
Costello.
I answer with “What’s up?”
“Did you get my message?” she asks coarsely, like she’s upset.
“No, haven’t had time. I’m just finishing up in Virginia. Why?”
“Fuck you, Frankie.”
That throws me off.
“What the hell’s the matter with you?” I ask.
“I called Lenny Claypole’s wife earlier today—”
Oh shit…
“—to tell her about the sentencing date and a bit more about the plea offer. She thanked me for some kind of service I supposedly provided that paid off their car loan.”
“Let me explain.”
“Yes, you will explain, but let me finish. I talked to Lenny Claypole, and from what I could gather, it sounded a lot like the two of you came to some sort of arrangement that if you paid off his car debt he’d accept the plea. What the f*ck are you thinking? Are you trying to get me disbarred?”
“Of course not. You know better than—”
“I don’t know what I’m going to do here.”
“You’re going to do nothing.”
“Do nothing? Are you on drugs?”
That’s almost funny, ’cause I know it was just one of those statements only made in anger.
She continues. “Do you realize what you’ve done? I don’t care what type of deal you think you have with my client. I’m his advocate. Do you know what that means? Damn.”
“It won’t f*ck anything up. Just let me explain.”
“Do your best, Frankie.”
“I told him you wanted me to look into everything again, see if we could possibly find something helpful for trial. When we were done and I knew we had nothing, that everything had been exhausted, I simply advised him, based on my experience, that it didn’t look good. I broke it down for him and he came to his senses and said he’d take the plea.”
“And that wonderful offer you made to pay off his car loan had nothing to do with it?”
“That was just something I offered because his wife can’t afford the car payments.”