Crush - Alan Jacobson [86]
Vail couldn’t help but look down at the corpse laid out in front of them. It seemed wrong to be having such a conversation in its presence. She turned and headed away. Dixon followed. “That sums it up,” Vail said. “But that’s only part of the deal. Lots of challenges along the way. Makes life interesting, to say the least.”
“Is Jonathan your only child?”
Vail nodded. “Fourteen and full of angst. Overall, he’s a good kid. But I’ll be glad when he gets past the teen attitude.”
Brix came up behind them. “Just got a call. Tim Nance is at the sheriff’s department.”
Vail sighed, long and slow. “This is going to be fun.”
Brix rubbed at his forehead. “Yeah. Not so much.”
THIRTY-TWO
Vail had slipped on the shoes Robby had bought for her—they fit well, felt like tennis shoes, and were a welcome relief. She joined Dixon and they entered the sheriff’s department facility. They were immediately met by Stan Owens, who was already having a less-than-friendly chat with Redmond Brix. As they approached, Vail’s phone rang.
It was Gifford. He must have thought Vail had already programmed her new phone, or that she would recognize his voice, because he didn’t bother identifying himself. “I guess this shouldn’t surprise me, but you’ve dug yourself a new hole.”
“Which hole are you referring to, sir?”
Gifford hesitated just a moment. “There’s more than one?”
Vail smiled. She didn’t mean to push his buttons. But it was, she had to admit, a bit of a kick.
“You know what?” he said. “Don’t answer that. I don’t want to know. I just got a call from the assistant director, who got a call from the director, who got a call from Congressman Church. Do you know who Congressman Church is?”
Shit. The conversation she just witnessed between Sheriff Owens and Brix was now coming into focus.
“I know of him. He represents Napa, as well as—”
“The correct answer is that Congressman Church is the man who’s making my life miserable. And that means that he also happens to be the man who’s now making your life miserable. Do you see where I’m going with this?”
“I’m beginning to get the picture.”
“So what can you tell me about Church’s district director, Timothy Nance?”
My chance to douse this fire before it rages. “I believe Nance was involved in the plot to kill me, sir. We got a confession from one of his friends who stated that he and Scott Fuller and—”
“Fuller’s the dead LEO who was found a few feet from your body while you were . . . sleeping?”
Obviously, he’s already been briefed. “I wasn’t sleeping, sir. I was drugged. Someone—I believe it was the Crush Killer—came up from behind and injected me, then shot Fuller. Probably with my handgun.”
There was a moment of silence. “And when did you think it was appropriate to inform me of this?”
“Don’t take this the wrong way, sir, but I’ve been a little busy.”
“We’ll address that when you return. Meantime, I need to deal with this Nance issue.”
Vail turned and saw Brix, Owens, and Dixon staring at her from down the hall. Whatever was about to happen was not going to be good. She swung back around. “With all due respect, there’s no issue for you to deal with. Nance is a suspect in an attempted murder investigation. He was implicated by his purported accomplice. If he does the smart thing, he’ll lawyer up and everything will be put into the court system here in California, where it’ll be harder for congressmen and assistant directors and directors to influence the outcome of a properly conducted trial in front of a jury of the asshole’s peers.”
“Jesus Christ, Karen. You’re shortening my life, you know that? Shaving away precious years.”
“Not to sound unfeeling, but I’m the one who was nearly burned like a french fry. Talk about cutting one’s life short. So let’s keep things in perspective.”
“How close are you to catching this Crush Killer?”
Vail sighed deeply. She needed some caffeine. And a vacation. Oh yeah, this was my vacation. “Not as close as I wish we were.”
“I think your time