Heads You Lose - Lisa Lutz [90]
“Yes,” Brandy replied. “Close the deal tonight and sign those papers as soon as possible.”
Lacey dropped by Doc Egan’s office on her way home from the Timberline. The new doc was sitting on his stoop, wearing some lame leather jacket from the eighties, and smoking a cigarette.
“I didn’t know you smoked,” Lacey said.
“I bet there are a lot of things about me you don’t know.”
“Menthols, really?”
“They’re refreshing,” Egan replied, blowing out a minty stream.
“You make contact with Holland yet?”
“Yeah. I just got an e-mail from him. He wants to meet day after tomorrow at some Italian restaurant in Birkton.”
“Verducci’s? That’s a bit of a drive.”
“Yep. What’s in it for me, Lacey?”
Lacey pulled a dime bag from her purse and tossed it on the stoop next to Egan.
“That work for you?”
“For now,” Egan replied.
“I wouldn’t smoke it all at once,” Lacey said. “We’re closing up shop soon.”
“What’s new?” Lacey asked Paul the second she walked through the door.
“Irving is still missing,” Paul said.
“Sorry to hear that. Anything else new?”
“Yeah, Big Marv upped the offer again.”
“To what?”
“One million.”
“He sure wants that land,” Lacey said.
“Enough to kill for?” Paul asked.
“Don’t know,” Lacey replied. “I wouldn’t put it past him.”
“You think he killed our folks?”
“Maybe. But I’m gambling on another suspect,” Lacey replied.
“What are you talking about, Lace?”
“There’s something I should tell you.”
“More secrets. That’s just what we need.”
“Ilsa Sundstrom called a few days ago.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I met with her. Did you know her parents were filing a malpractice suit against Doc Holland? But then her father started negotiating with Holland without an attorney. I think Holland tried to kill them because he couldn’t risk being exposed and he had no other place to go.”
“And you think he accidentally killed our parents?”
“It makes sense. The Sundstroms were supposed to be at the cabin that night and then two months later they die in a car accident.”
“Then why did Big Marv say something to you at the bar?” Paul asked. “What would he know about it?”
“Maybe he was just trying to scare me. I’m not saying Marv’s innocent. I’m just not sure what crime he’s committed,” Lacey replied.
“So do we take his offer?”
“I don’t know. Do we?” Lacey asked. She knew better than to tell Paul what to do. Somehow it had to seem like his idea.
“I don’t want the land. Do you?”
“No.”
“If they’ll pay a million, they’ll probably pay more,” Paul said.
“Maybe. But how long do you want to strategize against the Babalatos?”
“Just the other day you were pushing for more. What’s changed?” Paul asked.
“Five hundred thousand is enough for me,” Lacey casually replied. “Just remember that the offer is only good as long as both brothers are alive. People seem to be developing a habit of getting themselves murdered lately. Either way, the decision is yours.”
“Really?” Paul skeptically replied.
“Really.”
The next morning, Paul took the deal. Irving was still nowhere to be found.
On Monday afternoon, Lacey reprised her Verducci’s disguise and followed Egan to Birkton. She parked across the street at the $1 to $5 store and then scoped the Verducci’s lot for Doc Holland’s Oldsmobile, a tan clunker from the early nineties. It wasn’t there.
Instead of waiting outside and raising suspicion, Lacey sat at a table in the corner where she could spy on Egan’s booth in the glass mirror that crossed the length of the restaurant. She figured if her own brother couldn’t recognize her, how would old Holland?
Egan ordered a soda and waited. Lacey chose a burger, trying to stay in character with her trucker disguise.
An hour passed and boredom set in. Egan eventually ordered a sandwich and Lacey was on her third refill of Coke. She picked up the Birkton Bee, a flyer-sized newspaper, and dove into their crime blotter. Birkton had a little more action than Mercer. Just last week there was a hit and run, a nude drunk-and-disorderly, and a UFO sighting by three separate individuals. In fact, the UFO sighting also made