“Hi,” Nick smiled up at the man, holding onto Deke. “Can I help you?”
“No, but I think I can help you. May I come in?”
“Well, actually, I was on my way out to the grocery store.”
“In your swim trunks and t-shirt?”
“I hate the heat.” Nick shrugged.
“Let’s talk.” The man pulled up his shirt to reveal a holstered automatic. “It’ll only take a moment and you’ll be happy you took the time.”
“Okay… honey, come get Deke,” Nick called to Rachel, who hurried into the room. “Take him upstairs with Jean.”
Rachel nodded, exchanging smiles with the man at the door. After Rachel went upstairs with a reluctant Deke, Nick unlocked the heavy screen door and stepped aside for the man.
“Come on into the kitchen. Are you a cop?” If he’s a cop, I’m the Easter Bunny.
Nick gestured for the man to sit down and then Nick sat down at the head of the table to the man’s right.
“Security. My name’s Brewster. I look in on a family who lives near you, over on Ketchikan.”
“The kids we met over at the Excalibur… Kelly and Garth?” Nick realized the conversation was going in a completely different direction than he expected.
“Yeah, their Mom’s name is Suzan. I work for her husband. I watch out for the family when he’s away. I was doing my job this afternoon and saw your little family. Suzan said your wife’s name is Rachel and the daughter’s name is Jean. That right?”
“Yes it is,” Nick answered, resigned to the fact he had blundered once again. I’m better at this alone. Then Rachel in the black bikini and Jean making faces at him from the backseat with Deke draped over her lap popped into his head. Nick took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “What’s this all about? Why come over here with a gun?”
“I have -”
Rachel walked into the kitchen. She had put on her shorts and a blouse over the bikini. “Is something wrong?”
“I have a photo I’d like to show you.” Brewster pulled a picture from his right breast pocket and set it down on the table in front of Nick.
Rachel leaned over Nick’s shoulder, saw the picture, and then stumbled back away from the table. It was a picture of Rachel, Rick, and Jean. “Who…who are you?”
“I figured I could make a call and maybe get a pat on the head, or I could come to you with this. I figure it’s worth ten grand easy.” Brewster leaned back in his chair.
“How do we know you haven’t already made the call?” Nick stopped smiling.
“You don’t for sure.” Brewster waved his hand in an expansive gesture. “Anybody holding back info like this can get whacked. I figure to make a little money and no one’s the wiser. That is, if you two play it smart.”
“Sorry about all these questions. How do we know you won’t take our ten grand and still make the call?”
“You don’t.” Brewster chuckled and patted his holstered weapon. “I could make a whole lot more by -”
Nick’s strike was a blur. Brewster’s head jolted backwards with a sickening crack. Brewster’s body flexed in an eerie series of motions as if all the parts were acting on their own without direction. Blood trickled from his nose. Brewster’s nose appeared flat, as if the bone and cartilage inside it were somewhere else. Nick could see that Brewster’s eyes froze Rachel’s blood. Brewster gazed at her in surprise, small gurgling noises issuing from his throat. Seconds later, the eyes looked on into eternity. Nick hurriedly unbuttoned Brewster’s shirt.
“Get a towel quick, Rachel,” Nick ordered.
“What…what did you do?” Rachel turned toward the sink as if she were a marionette, her limbs moving jerkily to the task.
“C’mon, Rach, get the towel and hold it over his nose! He’s dead, so it won’t be fresh blood. Keep it from dripping while I strip him down.”
Nick paused, seeing Rachel’s face lose all color. The towel she had retrieved dropped from nerveless fingers, her mouth worked but no sound came out. Nick tilted Brewster’s head onto the top of the chair back. Taking Rachel in his arms, he half carried her out to the living room, guiding her onto the couch.
“Look at me, Rachel!” Nick shook her a little.
Rachel’s eyes regained focus slowly. She blinked a few times, recognition overtaking her features once again.
“Hey, are you with me?”
“I…I think so.”
“I have to get Brewster’s clothes off him. Stay here and take deep breaths. Don’t let Jean and Deke down until I tell you it’s okay.”
Rachel nodded without speaking. Nick ran into the kitchen and carefully stripped Brewster out of his clothes, leaving the man in his underwear on the kitchen floor. Nick put the holstered weapon from Brewster’s belt up in the cupboard over the refrigerator. He then emptied Brewster’s pockets onto the kitchen table, reclaiming only the Toyota keys. Putting on Brewster’s clothing and a ball-cap, Nick went into the garage and activated the door opener. Thankful the sun had gone down, he backed the Escalade out to the street. A Toyota Camry was parked in front of the house. Nick used the remote to unlock it before driving the Toyota into the garage.
With the garage door shut again, Nick donned plastic gloves. He wrapped Brewster in black plastic garbage bags: one over his upper torso, one with cut out leg holes over the middle part of the body, and another over Brewster’s legs. He duct-taped the body tightly, and half dragged, half carried it out past the Malibu to the Toyota. Nick had some difficulty crushing the body into the Toyota trunk, but managed with some sickening adjustments. Nick put bleach, rags, and a shovel on the floor behind the front seats along with two other garbage bags.
He went inside the house to check on Rachel. She wasn’t in the living room, so Nick called to her from the stairwell. Rachel walked down the hall towards the stairs hesitantly, gritting her teeth upon seeing Nick dressed in the dead man’s clothes. Holding on to the railing tightly, Rachel trudged down the stairs.
“It’s getting dark.” Nick kept eye contact with Rachel. “I have to get rid of Brewster and then drive the Toyota somewhere it won’t be noticed in town for a while. When I find a good spot for it, I’ll call the house phone. It works. Can you come pick me up?”
“I think so. Jesus, Nick. Did you have to kill him?”
Nick watched Rachel’s lip trembling in her attempt to keep from crying.
“You’re reacting and not thinking. We will always have very few choices. When we choose, it will be quick, and there will be no time for regrets. Can you pick me up?”
“Yes.”
Nick started toward the garage, and then turned back. “This is all still a trial time until we get those flash drives to Tim and Grace. Afterward, you’ll be free to choose again.”
“I know.”
Chapter Nine
By the time Nick drove back to the Las Vegas city limits, it was nearly ten o’clock at night. He had decided to leave the Toyota in a low-income housing project on the outskirts of the city. He parked the Toyota and carefully went over the inside of the car again with his rags, cleaning the vehicle meticulously, wiping every square inch of the trunk and passenger compartment. Nick wrapped the shovel, rags, and bleach bottle in a black plastic bag, took the bag with him and abandoned the vehicle. When he reached the corner of East Sunset and Pabco, Nick called Rachel, giving her specific directions to his location. Twenty minutes later, she drove up next to him in the Escalade with Jean and Deke in the back. Nick threw the black bag into the rear storage compartment and got into the front seat.