Heads You Lose - Lisa Lutz [27]
Doug gave her a long, queasy look as if he was about to throw up again. Then he composed himself. “Next time, use a hose,” he said. “Oldfashioned, but it works.” He wiped his palm on the inside of his jacket and walked out to the cruiser. After Doug left, Lacey rolled a joint and sucked it down. Then she went back to bed.
Paul turned off the road onto the dirt driveway of Terry’s place. He hated doing this without asking permission first, but what could he do? Terry was probably still at the fire tower, out of cell phone range, and even if he wasn’t, Paul wasn’t about to make a call. He’d seen way too many guys get triangulated on ThugTracers.11
And besides, Terry had just called in all the favors Paul owed. So he didn’t owe Terry anything. He knew there was space in one of Terry’s grow rooms, and the security here, for anyone who didn’t know all the combinations like Paul did, was impeccable. As long as no one came poking around while Paul unloaded, he’d be fine.
It took Paul a half-hour to carry in his plants, set them all up under the lights, and water them by hand. They’d be fine for a while.
As mad as Paul was about his sister’s decision to call the cops without consulting him, he wasn’t surprised—it was typical impulsive behavior for Lacey. And it hadn’t really made things worse. The return of the body made things about as bad as they could get, short of actually implicating them in the murder. What were they going to do, move the body again and wait for the killers to move it back? As to why the killers would want to involve the Hansens, Paul was at a loss. Did someone hate Hart so much that they wanted to hurt the woman he loved—even after he was dead? Or was someone getting back at both Hart and Lacey?
The truck bed was empty now except for the tarp and a tire jack. Paul hesitated for a second, then decided not to leave it with his plants. He folded it up and put the tire jack on top of it. When he got into the truck, he felt Darryl’s watch in his back pocket as he sat down in the driver’s seat. The truth was, he’d made his own rash decision to remove the watch—it was instinctive, and maybe dumb. There was only one way to find out.
On the way to Darryl’s, he thought about his alibi for the night. What Lacey didn’t realize was that if the cops questioned him, there was a woman in Tulac who’d vouch for him. But hopefully it wouldn’t come to that. There were some things he wanted to keep to himself.
This time he parked right out front of Darryl’s and went straight up to the door. Darryl answered the knock in a few seconds.
“We need to talk,” Darryl said immediately as he opened the door, and gestured him into the house.
“Couldn’t agree more,” Paul said.
They walked through the carpeted living room and into the bright kitchen. It was a distinctly parental home out of a nineties sitcom. Despite Darryl’s relative success, he still lived like a teenager. His stepmom cooked all the meals and kept up the house. There was an actual list of chores on the fridge. She was apparently out with her new boyfriend.
They sat at the table. Darryl went first.
“So. You don’t seem too curious to follow up about the so-called prowler you saw,” he said. His voice was shaking a little. “What was up with that? You just happened to be driving by out here? I know we haven’t been on great terms for a while, but if someone was breaking into my house and you noticed it, why not at least scare them off?”
“I think the real question,” Paul said, “is if you were home, why didn’t you pick up the phone?”
“Look, man, I’m in full turtle.” It was a phrase of Terry’s that meant maximum retreat.
“That’s funny. Terry’s been turtling pretty hard himself,” Paul said. Darryl gave him a blank look.
“Listen,” Paul continued, “I have something of yours. I’ll give it to you in exchange for some information.”
“Keep it,