“Nothing new there.”
The Captain let him go. “Get out of town. Go get drunk. Get laid. Relax.”
“I’ll do my best.”
Emerson was already on the phone when Vince got to the door. The Captain had the press to deal with, and the city council and the mayor. It was all part of a thankless job, and keeping Vince’s badge was way, way down there in terms of importance. But that didn’t change things.
There was no way in hell he was going to let this thing go. He had Kate Rydell’s address in his pocket. He’d find her, question her about what she saw, get her to testify if necessary. If it got him fired, oh, well. It was time for him to leave the job, anyway. He didn’t have the heart for it anymore.
He walked into the squad room and to his desk. He unlocked the bottom drawer and reached far into the back, where he pulled out a black leather case. He didn’t open it until he was outside.
Once he got in his car, he took out a badge. He wasn’t supposed to have it, let alone use it. But it went into his pocket, and the gun under his seat went into his holster. Screw it.
THE KOSOVO PAPERS on her desk beckoned, but the want ads were more important, at least for the moment. She had two sections, one for jobs and one for furnished apartments. With red pen in hand, she started with the jobs.
The primary criterion was the invisibility factor. Room service had been great for that. She’d also been a waitress, a housekeeper and worked at a copy store. Since she’d returned from Kosovo, the one time she’d tried to do anything close to her qualifications, she’d been forced to quit, leaving the R & D company in a real bind. She wouldn’t do that again.
It had only been a few months since she’d seen the depths to which Omicron would go to stop her and her friends. They’d terrorized Christie, an innocent woman whose only crime was being Nate’s sister. It had come to a bloody end, and if things hadn’t worked out, they could have all been killed.
Despite everything she’d seen, it was still hard for her to grasp that it was the U.S. government after them. The public didn’t know about this side of their government, and wouldn’t, unless she and the others could put together enough hard evidence to prove what they knew beyond doubt was true.
If it had just been Omicron, it would have been easier, but someone—someone very powerful—was making sure the group was funded. It wasn’t enough to lay out the paper trail of deceit and murder. Kate and her friends had to dig deep into the black heart of the organization and find out who was pulling the strings.
One thing at a time. She had to get a job. She needed a place to live. But first, she needed her new name, a new ID, a new license plate for her car.
Nate was handling that. Right now she had to find the job and the apartment. And she had to figure out how to do it damn fast, because her money situation was more dire than she’d imagined.
If only she could use her savings. She had over sixty-thousand dollars in a bank account in Washington, D.C., but she couldn’t touch it. Well, maybe she didn’t have it anymore—now that her family thought she was dead.
So, she had seventy-four dollars to her name. That was it. And one night in this motel was going to eat up half of that. How was she going to get an apartment with no security or first month’s rent? Which meant she was probably going to end up sleeping in her car for a while.
She felt vulnerable enough behind locked doors, but to be on the street? In a rusty old heap of a car? She thought about asking Nate or Harper to take her in, but that could put them in danger, what with the police likely searching for her. There had to be a way to get her check from the hotel. She didn’t want any favors, just what she was owed.
She put her pen down and picked up her cell. There was no way she could go get the check herself. Perhaps there was something she could do.
She had Ellen’s number listed in her phone. Kate had taken the housekeeper to work a few times when her husband hadn’t come home in time for her to get the car. It was six-forty, so the shift was over. It would be safe now to call.
The phone rang so many times that Kate almost hung up, but finally an out-of-breath Ellen answered.
“I’m interrupting,” Kate said.
“No, I was just doing laundry, and I couldn’t get to the phone. Kate?”
“Yeah.”
“Where did you go? I heard you were up in that guy’s room when he was shot.”
“No. I wasn’t. I was down the hall.”
“Oh. The cops think you were there.”
“They’re wrong. I was close enough though to hear the gunfire.”
“Is that why you left like that, in the middle of a shift?”
“Yep. I was scared. I’m sorry to do that to Mr. Tyson, but I couldn’t help it.”
“You should probably call and tell them you didn’t see anything.”
“I will. I promise.” Kate squeezed her eyes shut and crossed her fingers. “Uh, could you do me a favor?”
“If I can.”
“Could you pick up my check for me tomorrow? We could meet for coffee after work. At the Copper Skillet.”
“Oh, sure. No sweat. You’ll have to be there right at six because I have to get the car back to Rick.”
“Absolutely. I’ll be there before six. Thanks, Ell. You’re a doll.”
“It’s nothing. Just don’t forget to tell the boss, you know? And the cops.”
“Right. I’ll do that. Thanks.”
“Sure. See you tomorrow.”
Kate disconnected the phone and closed her eyes, though this time it was with relief. Two weeks pay would get her into an apartment. It was going to be in a lousy part of town, but it beat sleeping in the car. She blessed Ellen in all kinds of ways, mostly for just being nice.
The warm fuzzy feeling lasted about ten seconds, then she turned back to the ads. If she got a job first, she’d know where to find the apartment. No reason she couldn’t get an interview tomorrow afternoon. If Nate came through with her new identity.
She circled every menial job she could find, from the San Fernando Valley to Torrance. With that done and the promise of cash tomorrow, she went to get some dinner. There was a place she knew where they sold burritos, big ones, for a couple of bucks. That would do.
THE APARTMENT WAS completely empty. Not a matchbook, a hairpin or a paper cup. Kate Rydell traveled light and fast. What was she running from? An abusive husband? A criminal warrant? Whatever it was, her behavior told Vince she wasn’t going to answer questions willingly. He’d have to find out more about her so that he could apply pressure. He didn’t give a damn about her reasons, she was going to help him put Tim’s killers behind bars. How hard it was going to be was up to her.
