about that green car....
An officer approached her. “Hey, you look really pale. Do you need to sit down? Do you need an ambulance?”
She felt Max take her arm and lead her away from the cop to the curb, where he helped her sit. “Take a minute and get your breath.”
She looked up at him. “I think I know who hit us.”
“You saw the driver?” Max asked.
“No. But I saw the car.”
His eyes narrowed. “And you recognized it?”
“Maybe.”
“Who does it belong to?”
“Well, I didn’t get a good look, but I’m pretty sure it was my brother Peter’s.”
FIVE
Erica waited while Max shared all the information he could with the officers and they promised to get a BOLO—a Be On the Lookout—on the vehicle and find Peter for questioning. He looked at Erica, who had risen from the curb to pace. “Do you want me to take you home?”
“I think we need to find Peter.”
“The cops are going to be looking for him.”
“I know. Which is why I want to find him first.”
“Where do you think he is?”
She sighed. “He has a job doing construction. When he’s sober, he’s working but it’s a different job every week. But if that was him in the car...”
“You want to try his house first?”
“Okay.”
“Then let me tell the officers we’re leaving and we’ll head over to see if Peter’s at home. I’m pretty sure my truck is drivable.”
She nodded. “I’ll see if I can reach him on his phone. Depends on if he has any minutes or not.”
While she tried Peter, Max let the officers know they were leaving and to contact him if they needed anything else.
As they drove, Erica tried Peter again. “He’s not answering his phone. Who knows where he is?” She chewed her bottom lip.
“We’ll find him.” He glanced at her. “You’re going to be sore. You really flew into that seat belt.”
“I’ll be all right. I’ll take something if I need to.”
They rode in silence for the first few minutes then he asked, “So how do you fit in?”
She blinked at the out-of-the-blue question. “What do you mean?”
“With your company. You told me all about everyone who works there. What about you?”
Erica sorted through what to tell him, then decided to just lay it out there. “After Molly disappeared, I spent all my money trying to find her. At least all the money I could get my hands on. My husband...” She gave a heavy sigh. “My marriage fell apart. We tried counseling, but by that time...” She waved a hand. “Anyway, I just couldn’t give up on finding Molly. I had to be doing something, not just waiting for the phone to ring. So I picked the career that would allow me to do that. I became a skip tracer and I specialize in finding missing children.”
“While you keep searching for Molly.”
“Yes.” She pointed. “Turn here.”
Max turned into Peter’s subdivision and followed her directions until she motioned to the one-story house on the corner. “It’s nice.”
Her lips quirked into a wry smile at his surprise. Junkies didn’t usually have nice places to sleep. “I pay for someone to do the yard each week. I don’t want the neighbors complaining.” She frowned. “I don’t recognize the car at the curb.”
Max had noticed the black Mustang, too.
“He may have company.” She hesitated. “Inside is pretty bad most of the time. Every once in a while I’ll come over to check on him and clean up some. It’s been a week since I’ve been here so no guarantees about what it looks like in there.”
He nodded. “I’ve seen worse, I’m sure.”
She knocked on the door and waited. Then knocked again.
* * *
Max was ready to concede Peter wasn’t home when the lock clicked. The door swung open and Peter stood there blinking in the sunlight, unshaven and offensive to Max’s nose.
Erica acted as though she didn’t notice. “May we come in?”
“Why?”
Impatience tightened her features. “Because we need to talk to you before the cops get here.”
That seemed to wake him up a bit. “Cops? Why’d you call them? I thought all that was straightened out last night. I just needed some cash.”
“For a hit.” Erica glared at him. “Looks like you found some.”
Pain flashed in his eyes for a brief moment then a silly smile crossed his dry, cracked lips. “Yeah. I did. Polo hooked me up. He’s got this friend named Sandy—”
Erica pushed her way inside. Peter stopped his explanation and didn’t protest, so Max kept his mouth shut and followed.
And wished he’d volunteered to wait outside.
Body odor and spoiled food assaulted his nose. Erica gagged and walked into the kitchen to the right. She shook her head and came back into the tiny foyer. “I’m not going to lecture.”
“Good. ’Cuz I’m not going to listen.”
Polo stumbled from the rear of the house. “Who is it?”
Peter sighed and rubbed his bleary eyes. “My sister and her friend. Let me take care of this.”
Polo eyed Erica. Then his gaze slid to Max. “She belong to you?”
“Yeah,” Max said before Erica could answer. He stared Polo down until the man gave a short nod.
“Bummer.” He looked at Peter. “Get ’em outta here. We got business.”
“Cops are on the way. You better vanish. Business can wait.”
With a glare at Erica and Max, Polo slipped out of the house. Within seconds, they heard the roar of the motor and the squeal of tires as he pulled away from the curb. Erica looked at Peter. “Were you at the corner of Henry and East Main earlier today? Like about an hour and a half ago?”
Peter squinted. “No, man. I was asleep. I haven’t left the house since I got home from Sandy’s.”
Knowing
