The Four Corners of the Sky_ A Novel - Michael Malone [179]
She was hoping he hadn’t seen Raffy. “Ah. Yes. Thanks.”
Dan swung the case in the direction of the kitchen doors. “Rafael Rook had another appointment all of a sudden?”
She shaded her eyes from the sun that was glinting in the big window behind him. “Rook? That was just some man hitting on me.”
He righted the knocked-over chair and picked up the broken coffee mug. “Looks like you had a strong reaction.” Sitting across from her, he placed the case on the seat beside him. “You’re actually a pretty convincing liar. But Rafael Rook is peeking out of the kitchen doors at us right now.”
She glanced behind her, and in fact Raffy was undeniably standing with his head stuck out of the doors. She said, “Hey, come on, give that poor guy a break, Dan. I told him you’d intercede for him. He just wants to help out my dad.”
“Everybody just wants to help out your dad. You included. Well, I’m officially off the case.” Dan blew a flamboyant good-bye kiss in Rook’s direction. “So vaya con dios, Rook.”
She rubbed at her temples. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome. You look like you’re seriously hung-over.”
She nodded. “I said I wasn’t much of a drinker.”
He looked solemn. “Annie, there’s something I‘ve got to tell you.” Her heart sped: what if he were going to say that their being together last night had been a terrible mistake? Instead he reached for her hand and kissed her fingers. Relieved and preoccupied with the feel of his lips on her fingers, she nodded. “One. You know your dad stole a car from Golden Days?”
She shrugged in an uncommitted way.
“Also.” He pulled a police bulletin printout from the pocket of his jeans. “My partner just took this off the MPD feed.” The gist of the police wire was that a stolen vehicle, a 2000 Lexus SUV, had been recovered from Biscayne Bay after crashing through a guardrail on the causeway. Inside the car were certain personal effects. There was no body in the car but fingerprints on the driver’s license had identified the driver as John Ingersoll Peregrine, who was currently wanted for questioning in three states, including Florida. He was presumed drowned. “You don’t look surprised,” Dan added.
Annie asked if the effects included her father’s wallet. After glancing through a two-page document, Dan said yes, the wallet was there with Peregrine’s driver license in it. She asked what the wallet looked like. The description didn’t resemble the wallet her father had shown her in the hospital. “Were there old photos of me in it? Baby pictures?”
He checked the list. “Nope. No photos in there.”
Annie smiled. “Then he planted the wallet and he’s not dead.” Odd how sure she was that he would always keep those pictures of her in his wallet.
“But there were a couple of IDs. Plus $280 in cash.” Dan handed her the report.
Looking over the list, she let her eyebrow arch. “You think my dad had IDs in his own name? No way.”
Rubbing his unshaved cheek, Dan studied her face. “You’re saying he dumped the Lexus and swam off? The thought did occur to me.” Grinning, he ran his fingers through his curls. “I sure hope Melissa kept up her car insurance. It was her Lexus.”
Annie laughed. “I heard that rumor.”
He set the metal case on the table between them. “Okay. This morning I wake up with your dog but you’re nowhere to be found. So I’m taking a shower and I hear the dog bark. There’s no one in the room when I get there but the door’s wide open. I see this metal case lying in the middle of the floor.”
“In the middle of the floor?” Her first thought was that Rafael Rook had robbed her before showing up at Rest Eternal.
“So now you’re surprised.” He swiveled the case on the tabletop. “Is this where you kept La Reina Coronada?”
Annie spun the combination to 2506 and popped open the latches. The Queen of the Sea was no longer inside. In its place, there was a note in printed capitals on Dorado stationery that said “IOU $1,000,000.”
Annie slapped the lid shut. “Goddamn it. My dad took the Queen.”
Dan looked at her with skepticism. “You and