“Have you lost your mind?”
I took a swig of my Coke, gazing pensively at a huge moose head mounted above our booth. “I still don’t understand why you insist on coming to this hole,” I complained, sidestepping his question.
Arnie shrugged. “Great pizza and cheap beer. Let’s get back to the question of your sanity, pal. You realize it’ll mean your badge if you’re caught.”
“This thing’s personal now.”
“I was afraid you were gonna say that. Damn, you’re already in deep enough without makin’ things worse. Have you seen the news lately?”
I nodded. “Grim.”
“Grim’s an understatement.” Arnie looked at me curiously. “How’d you get hooked up with Van Owen, anyway?”
With a lurch of regret, my thoughts returned to the horror at Lauren’s condo. “I don’t know,” I said softly. “I wish to God I hadn’t.”
“How’s she doing?”
“I visited her yesterday at the hospital. They still had her pretty sedated. The doctors say it’ll take time and a lot of plastic surgery, but she’ll make a full recovery. Fortunately, it appears the guy was waiting for me to show up before he really got down to business.
“Why do you think he left her alive?” Arnie asked.
I shrugged. “Who knows? The patrol officers I called in probably caught him off guard. After killing them, maybe he got spooked and bolted, leaving Lauren for dead. She had several chest wounds that barely missed major arteries.”
“The papers say she has a daughter.”
“Candice. She’s staying with her dad in Pasadena.”
Apparently hearing something in my voice, Arnie sighed. “What happened wasn’t your fault, Dan.”
“I wish I could believe that.”
“It wasn’t. You were trying to push the killer into making a mistake, and he did. He should have been caught at the Bakers’ house. And no one could have predicted he would lash out at Van Owen like that afterward. Besides, if it hadn’t been for you, right now the entire Baker family would be dead. Welcome to the real world, amigo. It’s one where you don’t control everything that happens. Now, let go of this thing with Van Owen and move on. Maybe I’m stepping out of line here, but you need to hear this. Kate’s the best thing that ever happened to you. Life doesn’t give you a lot of chances at happiness, and you’re blowin’ the best one you ever had.”
An uncomfortable silence descended. Arnie drained his beer, then refilled his mug from a pitcher on the table. “Have you phoned Kate since last night?”
I lowered my eyes. “Yeah, I called her. After what happened at Van Owen’s, I insisted that she and the kids go someplace safe. They’re all staying with Catheryn’s mother in Santa Barbara. I’d feel better if they were even farther away, but Kate’s not listening to me much these days.” I started to add something, then stopped.
“What?”
“I don’t know, Arnie. On top of everything else, I’m afraid Kate blames me for putting our kids in jeopardy.”
“She said that?”
“No, but-”
“I didn’t think so. That’s bullshit, Dan. I know Kate. She would never lay that kind of guilt on you, because it isn’t true. She knows you were just doing your job.”
At that moment, a youngster at the counter called out a number over the loudspeaker. Arnie checked our order ticket. “That’s us,” he said, sliding from the booth. “You want a refill on your Coke?”
I shook my head.
“Suit yourself.” Arnie rose and crossed the sawdust strewn floor, returning with a steaming, sixteen-inch pizza. Setting the platter on a wire stand, he squeezed back into the booth and for the next ten minutes we ate in silence. After polishing off his fourth slice of pizza and third mug of beer, Arnie leaned back and wiped his fingers with a napkin. “Can I say one more thing?” he asked. “After that I promise to shut up.”
“Do I have a choice?”
“As a matter of fact, no. I’m gonna give you a little more advice, whether you like it or not. Drop the task force investigation and get things straightened out with Kate. That’s what’s important.”
“Don’t you think I know that?” I replied miserably. “I want to make things right with her more than anything. But according to Lauren, this guy’s got me on his radar. And as long as he’s out there, Kate isn’t safe, and neither are my kids. And I can’t forget what he did to Lauren, either. Like I said, it’s personal now. Will you help me?”
“Somehow I knew that was coming.” Arnie frowned, contemplating his half-empty beer mug. “I’m off tomorrow,” he said at last. “I have some vacation days accumulated at my new job, too. I don’t like it much, but yeah. I’ll give you a hand.”
“Thanks. If there’s any fallout, I’ll take the heat.”
“How comforting. Listen, I’m gonna say one more thing.”
“I thought you were done giving advice.”
“This is something you already know. Maybe you forgot, but it’s one of the first things you learned when you started doing police work.”
“What’s that?”
“When a case gets personal… things go wrong.”
47
I had been working in the squad room for over an hour the next morning when Lieutenant Long strode in. Arnie was sitting nearby at Deluca’s empty workstation, talking on the telephone. At Long’s raised eyebrow, Arnie nodded, then continued his phone conversation.
Long paused at my desk, glancing at his watch. “Morning, Dan. You’re here early.”
I looked up. “Lieutenant.”
“Didn’t your ex-partner over there retire several years back?”
“I believe he did, sir.”
“So what’s he doing here?”
“Arnie’s, uh, helping me chase down a few leads. Don’t worry, he’ll be gone before you know it.”
“Leads on what?” Long asked, then quickly raised a hand. “I don’t want to know, do I?”
“Nope.”
“I thought not. If someone asks, I probably didn’t see Arnie here, either.”
“No, sir. You didn’t.”
“Don’t screw up, Kane. If Snead gets wind of-
“He won’t.”
“He’d better not.” Long hesitated. “About yesterday. Although I sincerely question some of your recent actions, I did everything I could.”
“I know. And thanks. I appreciate it.”
“If you get jammed up on the candlelight case again, I won’t be able to help.”
“Don’t worry, Lieutenant. If things turn out like I hope, there won’t be a problem.”
“And if they don’t?”
I spotted Deluca entering the squad room. “I’ll worry about it later. Right now I have work to do, so if you’ll excuse me…”
Long gave me another questioning look. “Okay, Dan. But watch your step.” With that he turned and headed for his office, glaring crankily at Deluca as he passed.
After stopping to talk briefly with Arnie, Deluca ambled over to my desk. “What’s with the el-tee?” he asked, setting down a cardboard box he’d been carrying.
Ignoring his query about Lt. Long, I opened the box and began pawing through its contents. “You bring the stuff I wanted?”
“There wasn’t much. A picture of Kate and the kids, some pens and pencils, a coffee mug-”
“You know what I mean.”
“Oh, this. Remember, you didn’t get it from me.” Deluca pulled a computer disc from his pocket and set it on the corner of my desk. “I copied each data category as a separate file. Health club members, hotline callers, employees at that lawyer’s office-”
“Is there one of remote control purchasers?”
“The garage door stuff? It’s there. Why do you want all this, anyway? Come up with a new angle?”
“Maybe. It’s nothing Snead would go for, though, even if I were still working for him.”
“Minor point,” said Deluca. “At least for you. Listen, I’ve gotta hustle to make the task force briefing. You’ll let me know if you come up with anything?”