Now You See Her - Michael Ledwidge [31]
Peter wasn’t my hero. He wasn’t the love of my life. He was a corrupt, drug-dealing cop and an ice-cold-blooded killer.
What now, Mermaid? I thought, dropping onto the bed. I lay there for a while, staring up at the ceiling.
Then I sat back up and took out the FBI agent’s card.
I turned it in my hand as I stared at the phone.
Maybe I should call him? He knew the jam I was in. He could help me. He said so.
No! I thought, tapping the card to my forehead. Then everything would come out. What I’d done. How Peter had gotten rid of Ramón Peña.
I held my stomach in my hands. Staring down at the bulge that had already started to take over my belly, I envisioned myself giving birth in jail.
Unbelievable! I crumpled the card as I curled up on the bed. I couldn’t call the FBI either. I might as well get a taxi to the nearest prison.
It took a little over an hour for the third option to finally dawn on me: What I needed to do. How I could try to go about doing it. It was an absolutely insane idea.
Right up my alley, I thought, getting to my feet.
Chapter 37
THE FIRST THING I did was carefully put all my clothes away. After I replaced the suitcase, I went into the bottom of my sock drawer and shook out every nickel of catering-tip money I’d put aside to buy Peter a watch for our anniversary. Two hundred and eleven dollars wasn’t much, but it would have to do.
I quickly put the money into the pocket of my jogging fanny pack and changed into a gym shirt and sneakers and shorts. Finally, I went into the bathroom and put on some lip gloss before doing my hair up in a cute ponytail.
I needed to look my best.
I was, after all, going to be abducted by the Jump Killer this afternoon.
It was the news story at the hospital that had inspired me. The missing Marathon woman. The fact that the serial killer was now supposed to be in the Lower Keys.
Nineteen young women had gone missing, as if they’d disappeared into thin air.
I was going to be number twenty.
Peter wasn’t stupid, I knew. If my plan was going to work, it would have to be flawless, perfect in every way. The second he found out, he was going to be suspicious. So was my new FBI friend.
But I didn’t have a choice. If I wanted to get away from Peter, to get out of the immense hole I’d dug for myself, I had to try. It was my only shot.
I checked myself in the bathroom mirror one more time and then looked at my watch. It was just coming on noon. I went into the bedroom and stared out the sliders at the sunlit water. There was no sign of Peter’s boat. At least not yet. I’d have a six-or seven-hour head start.
I didn’t want to be late to my own funeral.
After I locked the front door, I pulled up my gray jogging T and patted my belly.
“Wish us luck,” I said to my baby. “Mommy’s sure as hell going to need it.”
Chapter 38
TEN MINUTES LATER, I was cruising at full throttle along Smathers Beach on my moped. Surprisingly, there were only a few people on its sugar white sand. A woman braiding her daughter’s wet hair and a couple of pudgy old men the color of leather, casting sea poles into the almost glass-still water. I looked up as a biplane sputtered by: COME TO THE GREEN PARROT! RIGHT BESIDE US 1’S MILE ZERO! THE MOST SOUTHERN BAR IN THE US! read its ad banner.
Mile Zero, I thought. That’s exactly where I was. Make that Mile Less Than Zero.
I suddenly put on the brakes as I spotted what I was looking for. A tall, skinny white kid with dusty blond dreadlocks was sitting on the concrete boardwalk in what looked like a yoga position. Yet another one of Key West’s many street kids and skate rats and punk rockers. A young beach bum come down to the country’s lower right-hand corner God knew why, escaping God knew what.
I was escaping, too, in the opposite direction, and I needed his help.
“Excuse me,” I said, stepping in front of him.
The kid held up a still finger, his eyes closed. After a moment, he stood, a guileless smile on his tan face.
“Mornin’, ma’am,” he said in a Texas accent. “Just doing a little Zen breath counting there. Sorry