Lifeguard - James Patterson [11]
I was letting myself think about Tess lying next to me on the deck. In a tight little suit, all gorgeous and tanned. And we were sipping those martinis. Don’t know who was making them. Let’s throw in a skipper and a crew. But we were somewhere in the Caribbean. And they tasted soooo good.
That’s when Dee’s voice crackled on the walkie-talkie. “Ned, where are you? Neddie!”
Just hearing her voice made me nervous all over again. I wasn’t supposed to hear from her until we met back at the house in Lake Worth at 9:30. She sounded scared. I think I knew right then that the scene on the sailboat was never going to happen.
“Ned, something’s gone wrong!” Dee shouted. “Get back here, right now!”
I picked up the receiver and pressed the TALK button. “Dee, what do you mean, ‘gone wrong’?”
“The job’s busted,” she said. “It’s goddamn over, Ned.”
I had known Dee since we were kids. She was always cool. But disappointment and anger were exploding through her voice.
“What do you mean ‘busted’?” I said. “Bobby and Mickey, are they all right?”
“Just get back here,” she said. “Mickey’s contact . . . Gachet. The bastard set us up!”
Chapter 13
My heart almost came to a full stop at that moment. What did Dee mean, ‘set us up’?
My head dropped to rest on the steering wheel. All I knew was a name—Gachet. Mickey never told us any more. But it was clear, the job was gone. My million dollars, too. Then I realized it could get worse. Much worse. Mickey, Bobby, and Barney could get nabbed.
I put the car in gear but I wasn’t sure where I should go. Back to the safe house? Or to my room at Sollie’s, and just stay clear? I suddenly realized that everything was in jeopardy. My job, my place at Sollie’s. My whole life. I flashed to Tess. . . . Everything!
I started to drive. I made a right onto Royal Palm Way, heading toward the middle bridge over to West Palm.
Suddenly sirens blared all around me. I froze. I looked behind and there were cops cars gaining on me. My heart got a jolt as if I had touched a live wire. I was caught! I slowed, waiting for them to pull me over.
But, incredibly, they raced right by. Two black-and-whites. They weren’t looking for me, or even headed in the direction of Ocean House, or of any of the places I’d set off alarms. Weird.
Suddenly they turned down Cocoanut Row, the last major street before the bridge. They made a sharp left into traffic, sirens blaring, lights flashing. Didn’t make sense at all.
Where could they be headed with all the shit going on all over town? I followed, at least for a couple of blocks. The black-and-whites turned onto Australian Avenue. I saw them come to a stop halfway down the block.
More cops cars. A morgue van, too.
They were pulled up in front of the Brazilian Court. I started to get nervous. That was where Tess lived. What was going on?
I parked the Bonneville at the end of the block and wandered up closer to the hotel. There was a crowd across the street from the entrance. I’d never seen so many cop cars in Palm Beach. This was crazy. We were the ones they ought to be after. I knew I’d better get back to Lake Worth. But Dee’s words echoed in my head. The bastard set us up. Set up, how?
A ring of onlookers had crowded around front of the hotel entrance. I eased my way in. I went up to a woman in a white sweater over her sundress holding the hand of a young boy. “What’s going on?”
“There’s been a murder,” she answered anxiously. “That’s what all those sirens were about.”
“Oh,” I mumbled.
Now I was really starting to get scared. Tess lives here. I pushed out of the crowd, not even thinking about myself. Hotel staff in black uniforms were being ushered outside. I latched onto a desk clerk, a blond woman I recognized from earlier in the day. “Can you tell me what’s going on?”
“Someone’s been killed.” She shook her head, dazed. “A woman. In the hotel.”
“A woman.” I held her eyes. Now I was starting to freak. “You mean a guest?”
“Yes.