I open the phone and start to turn it off, but hesitate. “Hurley, that guy at the gym came after me while I was on the phone with Izzy. He was with Richmond and they were expecting me to meet them at the morgue. Izzy must have heard me yell and when I don’t show up, he’ll be worried and send Richmond out looking for me. I should let him know I’m okay.”
Hurley doesn’t answer right away but I can tell he’s thinking.
“Please?”
Hurley cusses under his breath and rakes a hand through his hair, leaving it tousled and messy looking. There’s an exit coming up and he turns on his blinker to take it. “Let’s stop here and grab a bite to eat,” he says. “Turn the phone off for now. I need to think.”
He steers into a McDonald’s drive-through while I shut down the cell phone. I order a Quarter Pounder with cheese and some fries, effectively negating the workout I did earlier. I try to mitigate the damage by getting a diet Mountain Dew to go with it and the thought that I’m no better than Richmond comes to mind, but I shove it aside. Hurley orders a Big Mac, fries, and a regular soda. He parks in a distant space at the back of the lot and we sit inside the car eating in silence.
The food gives new life to my frazzled brain and as I watch Hurley stare out the window, his brow furrowed in thought, I remember that I have other things to tell him.
“Do you want to know about the search warrant they exercised on your house today?”
“I don’t know. Do I?” he asks, looking pained. “Did they find anything?”
“Well, they found that potassium cyanide stuff in your workshop and they collected some metal fragments that I’m betting will match ones we found in Callie’s hair. Plus Minniver apparently kept a spare key to his house hidden inside the light on his front porch, but it’s missing. They found it in that drawer where you kept these earrings.” I touch one of the delicate filigrees still hanging from my ears.
Hurley’s face darkens. “Is that it?” he asks.
“Afraid not,” I say, wincing. “They also sprayed Luminol in your workshop and they found a blood smear on the floor leading to the exterior door. We sampled some blood we found in the threshold to do a DNA comparison with Callie’s blood.”
Hurley squeezes his eyes closed. “I’m sure it will match,” he says. “Smart bastards. I’ll give them that.”
After another period of silent eating, I say, “What about calling Izzy? I don’t want him to worry and the last thing we need is a big manhunt focused on me.”
Hurley nods. “I have an idea, but it means letting Izzy know you’re with me and that you’re going to stay hidden for now. It might put your job in jeopardy.”
I let out a mirthless laugh. “Too late for that,” I tell him. “Izzy already knows I’ve been keeping secrets from him regarding this case and he’s contemplating firing me.”
Hurley leans his head back against the headrest and sighs. “I’m sorry, Mattie. I never should have dragged you into this. I didn’t know who else to turn to.”
“It’s okay. You didn’t force me into it; I did it willingly. I knew what the consequences were.”
“How did Izzy find out?”
“I got a bit profusive defending you during the search of your house and revealed some knowledge I shouldn’t have had. Izzy picked up on it right away.”
“He’s a very smart man.”
“Yes, he is. So, what’s this plan of yours?”
Hurley sits up and leans forward, staring out the front windshield at the surrounding lot. “We’re about half an hour from home now, so I’m going to turn around and head back.”
“Back to Sorenson?” I ask with a have-you-lost-your-mind tone.
“Well, back toward Sorenson, but we won’t go into town. Once we get close I’m going to head east and after we’ve traveled for a half hour or so, you can turn the phone on. Then I want you to make either one very long call or two calls, to make sure the phone pings off of at least two different towers heading in an easterly direction. Once we’ve made the calls, we turn the phone off, head north and west, and make our way back toward Tomah. That way we can give Izzy a heads-up while also giving the impression that we’re heading east. Hopefully that will throw people off the trail.”
“It’s a start, but what are we going to do once we get to this cabin of yours?”
“I don’t know,” he says with a shrug. “I guess we lie low and wait for whoever’s behind this to make their next move.”
Chapter 35
Sometime later we’re headed toward Milwaukee on back highways and Hurley gives me the go-ahead. I turn the cell phone on and start to dial Izzy’s number when it hits me that I don’t know what it is. The number was plugged into my phone’s memory by Izzy himself and all I ever had to do to call him was hit two buttons.
“You don’t happen to know Izzy’s number, do you?” I ask Hurley.
“Not from memory,” he says. “Don’t you know it?”
“Nope. It was programmed into my phone as one of my speed numbers so I’ve never had to dial it.”
Hurley thinks a minute and then says, “I suppose we could call information.”
“It won’t help. Izzy’s cell phone is an unlisted number.”
“Wait, didn’t you say Izzy wanted you to meet him at the office when he called? Do you know that number?”
I shake my head. “I do, but I doubt he’s still there. Even if he is, he doesn’t usually answer the main office phone. He lets it flip over to voice mail.”
Hurley white-knuckles the steering wheel and scowls. Then his face lights up. “You said the throwaway phone was in your purse, right?”
“Yes.”
“That number we have. Call it.”
“But if it’s in my purse—” I see where he’s going then and smile. “Ah, very smart, Hurley. You’re thinking they might have found my car by now.”
He nods. “Izzy knew you were at the gym when you were attacked, right?”
“Yes, I think so. I thought it was Richmond calling and since he was supposed to meet me there, I started cursing him as soon as I answered. Richmond should remember our gym appointment and figure out that that’s where I was. Plus I left a message on Richmond’s cell phone.”
“And judging from the way things will look when they find your car, I’m sure they’ll be treating it as a crime scene. They’ll have your purse with that throwaway cell in it, and when it rings, they’ll answer it.”
“Yeah, but who will answer it?”
“Doesn’t matter,” Hurley says. “Just insist on talking to Izzy.”
“Assuming he’s there. What if he isn’t?”
“I consider myself a pretty good judge of character and I’m willing to bet Izzy will be there.”
I pull up the number of my cell—the only one stored in Hurley’s phone—and dial it. It rings several times on the other end and just when I’m about to tell Hurley no one is answering, someone does.
“Hello?” I recognize the voice as Bob Richmond’s.
“Bob? It’s Mattie Winston.”
“Mattie! Where the hell are you? Are you all right?”
“I’m fine, but things got a bit dicey earlier. Are you at the gym?”
“I am. I’m by your car. What the hell happened?”
“It’s a long story.”
“Give me the abbreviated version.”
“Someone tried to kidnap me.”
“Kidnap you? Who?”
“I don’t know who it was. I take it you didn’t find anyone with my car?”
“No, all we found was your purse lying on the ground, along with your keys and your broken cell phone. What’s with this other phone? Where are you?”