I was shocked by Sally’s tone and rhetoric.
“Is something wrong, Jo-el?” asked Pippa, she read my face, she was scared.
“What is it, Sally?”
“I was running through Pippa’s movements on Wednesday and I lost her for nearly thirty minutes. Part of those minutes’ co-inside with the time Alberton was missing.”
“Are you saying she’s working with him and this whole arrest thing is a lie?”
“Could be.”
“Could be isn’t enough, Sally, I need to know, definitely.”
“Jo-el, are you okay?”
I glanced at Pippa, I was feeling distraught, I didn’t want to believe what Sally was saying. I had feelings for her, I thought she was on my side. My throat went dry. “Give me a minute, Pippa, something’s up. I need to check it out.” I stood up and went to the living room, Billy was watching TV, he looked up at me so I went out the front door, quickly adding a coat. The wind swirled around me, blowing my coat out, I pulled it toward me and buttoned it down. In the distance I saw white-horses on the ocean.
“How long do you need, Sally?”
“Hang-on, here’s what I’ve got. Alberton wrote something on a small piece of blue paper, like a tear-off strip from a note pad. This was before he saw Pippa. It said ‘Go to the basement in ten minutes.’”
“And she went?”
“Yes.”
“So, Pippa and Alberton met in the basement and we have no idea what they talked about and then she was told to go home? Shit! How could he know I’m blind underground?”
“It’s not brain surgery, Jo-el, maybe he figured it out or maybe he’s just testing a theory. He tells Pippa something significant in the basement and wants to see if you respond.”
“These guys aren’t stupid, that’s for sure. But if he’s so smart, why doesn’t he believe me? I’m trying to help. Why were you checking Pippa?”
Sally was quiet for a moment. “Because Alberton spent most of yesterday in the basement.”
“Shit! So, they have a way of keeping secrets from me?”
“That’s the crux of it.”
I paced around the side of the cottage, out of sight, trying to figure out what to do about Pippa. “Maybe we can play their game? I need a bug that I can place on her somehow.”
Sally was quiet for a moment, “found one, shop store in Miami, nobody there right now.”
“Okay, bounce me there.”
I was suddenly blind, my eyes fought the darkness, slowly shelves came into focus. “Third shelf down, just to your left.” I searched the shelf and found a round, plastic device in a plastic package. “That’s it.” I put it in my pocket.
“Back to Rodanthe.”
I was back along the side of the cottage, I stepped to the front door and pushed it open, Billy was glued to the TV, Pippa was still sitting at the kitchen table, both hands around her coffee.
“There’s a pocket inside her handbag, load of crap in there. Remove the bug from the plastic and switch it on, little black slider on the side, the battery is good. There’s a micro SD card in place, it will record up to sixty hours. You’ll have to get it back to listen to it.”
“It doesn’t transmit?”
“Not powerful enough, too small. Wouldn’t work anyway underground.”
Pippa’s handbag was in the bedroom, I found the pocket, switched on the bug and drop it inside. There wasn’t a zipper but a small piece of Velcro held the pocket shut.
“Now you need to ditch the bitch.” Sally at her most eloquent.
I went back to the kitchen and kissed Pippa on the cheek. “I need to go to London.”
“What’s up?”
“The Home Secretary wants to meet me.” I smiled, “they appear a little more grateful than your lot.”
“Yea, I’m sorry about that, they’ll come around.”
“You can stay here, the keys for the car are on the mantelpiece.”
“Will you be long?” Pippa, didn’t look comfortable.
“Gosh, I don’t know, no more than a couple of hours.”
Sally piped in, “She doesn’t know what to do, the two-faced shit.”
Pippa beamed at me, her expression pleading. “Can you take Billy and me back to DC?”
“Is that wise?”
“Oh yea, Joey, play the bitch!”
“I think I’d like to visit my father.”
“Are they still watching her condo?”
“Of course.”
“Pippa, won’t they arrest you as soon as they know you’re there?”
“They want you, Jo-el, not me.” She stood up put her arms around me and pressed her cheek against mine.
“Oh, please, I think I’m going to barf.”
“Sally, shush a minute.”
“Whatever you want,” I said.
“I’ll be fine, Jo-el really. Anyway, you can rescue me,” she kissed me lightly on the lips and grinned.
“Where’s your father?”
“He’s in Maryland, my mom’s in India right now, he’s lonely.”
“Okay, I guess you should get Billy ready.
Chapter 36
BYE BYE RODANTHE
I took Pippa and Billy back to their condo and bounced home to San Francisco. The weather outside was a vast improvement to the Outer Banks. I made coffee and settled onto my sofa. This was more comfortable. “Sally.” I shouted at nothing in particular.
Sally appeared, dressed in black. Black pants, black, silk top with long black sleeves, very menacing. I smiled.
“You rang?” She acted delighted, but her expression was deadly serious.
“What’s happening?”
“With the brown bitch?”
“No, oh, don’t be so nasty, it’s only been ten minutes.”
“Might have only been ten minutes, but she’s on her way to Langley in a chauffeured car. She’s already spoken to Alberton and told him about Rodanthe. There’s a Delta team heading down there by helicopter, out of Norfolk.”
I straightened up and glared at Sally. “You’re kidding?”
“No, Joey-boy I’m not.”
“I left some stuff there.”
“Better go get it.”
“Shit! How long have I got?”
“Not long, they’ve alerted the local police. They are maybe two minutes away. The helicopter is thirty-five minutes out.”
“Bounce me.”
I picked up my bottle of Black Label from the kitchen and my toiletries from the bathroom. As I searched around I realized I didn’t need the balance of the food I’d bought and there weren’t any clothes. Then it dawned on me that I’d touched just about everything in the cottage. All the cans of food, the bottles in the trash and the glasses. God knew what else? “Sally, help, fingerprints.” I screamed into the air. Sally was suddenly standing in the kitchen. “What do I do?” Then I thought of the rental car and just then I heard a police siren, moments later two squad cars were outside the front door. I couldn’t believe how the shit had hit the fan so damn fast. “Did I have gloves on?” I didn’t even know.
Sally was shaking her head. “Blew that one, Joey. Amazing the risk you guys will take to get laid.”
“I can’t have them finding my prints,” I exclaimed.