“Mr. Novak, if we could communicate like adults for just a minute here, I’d like to know what-”
“I think they’re still governing rules,” he continued. “In which case, I’m in luck. While I’m not local law enforcement exactly, I am working on a case with them. I can provide you with the name of a police officer in DeLand who will confirm that, but it will mean I’ll tell him about Janell before I tell you.”
“Let’s not rush,” she said.
Interesting.
They were silent for a moment, and then she broke it, saying, “You want an exchange of information. I can’t do that. Client confidentiality.”
“I don’t need to know who your client is. I just need to know who Janell is.”
She hesitated, trapping the tip of her tongue between her teeth as she took a deep breath. “A basic profile of what I know about her, that’s all?”
“That’s all.”
“And in exchange…”
“I’ll tell you where she has been staying for the past few months, what vehicle she’s traveling in, and the name of at least one associate. As for the house, well, as I said, it was burning the last time I saw it. And the owner was dead. I think your friend Janell cut her throat.”
“Let me call my client,” she said.
“That’s fine,” Mark said, though he was disappointed. You could only push so hard when you weren’t sure of your leverage. “I’ll go inside to the bar and leave you in private. You want a drink?”
“Vodka tonic,” she said, and she extended a credit card to him as she got her cell phone out. He waved it off but she reached out and caught his wrist.
“No, no. I’ll pay for my own drink, thank you. If I could refer you to rule number one, Mr. Novak?”
She had her index finger on the cocktail napkin: Accept no bribes.
That was the first time Lynn Deschaine smiled at Mark. First time she touched him too. Sometimes you don’t remember those things and later wish you did. Sometimes they stand out, almost as if you know from the start. Like someone whispers in your ear to take note. The last time Mark had experienced that feeling was on a dive boat on the Gulf of Mexico, and he’d been watching his future wife underwater, working her way slowly toward the surface.
Toward him.
Mark ordered another beer and Lynn’s vodka tonic and stood in the cool shadows of the bar and waited while she talked on her phone. It wasn’t a short conversation. He had time for another beer, and most of the ice had melted in her drink when she was finally done.
“Well?” he said, returning to the table and handing her the vodka tonic.
“I’m assuming you aren’t willing to lead off the conversation by telling me how you located Janell,” she said. “So you’ll want me to open the dialogue.”
“Correct. If I led, I’d have nothing left to bargain with. And you, Ms. Deschaine, strike me as a hard-bargain lady.”
“Your intuition exceeds your sense of humor. And please start calling me Lynn.”
“Lead the way then, Lynn.”
“Janell Cole is thirty-six years old, originally from Pennsylvania. She’s a graduate of Purdue University, where she earned a degree in electrical engineering.”
“She really is an engineer.”
“A very good one. She left her job fifteen months ago. She gave no indication as to why she was leaving.”
“Where did she work?”
“Atlanta.”
“I mean the company, not the location.”
She hesitated. It was brief, but it was there. Then she said, “I believe it was a utility company,” and took a long drink of her vodka.
Mark said, “That’s your client.”
She responded with total poise, unfazed. “I didn’t mean to imply that, sorry. But I also asked you to respect the confidentiality of-”
He held up a hand. “I don’t care about your client. But it might be easier on us both if you didn’t have to dance around it either. You’re too good not to know the name of her employer, Lynn. You won’t share it, though, and that means you’re trying to protect them, but I honestly don’t give a damn.”
She looked irritated, but he didn’t think it was with him. It was with herself for allowing him to make the determination so easily.
“Independent detective one, Pinkerton zero,” Mark said. “You hate that, don’t you?”
She didn’t bother to respond and chose to pick up where she’d left off. “After leaving her job, Janell moved from Atlanta to Daytona Beach. She had no known contacts or friends in the area. By the time I was asked to locate her, she’d left there too. I haven’t had any success finding her. As for the vehicle you mentioned, I’m assuming it’s a red Dodge truck? Purchased a year ago?”
“That’s the one.”
She nodded. “That’s how you got the Daytona address. BMV records.”
“Yes.”
“Let me ask you a question,” she said. “Do you know where she is now?”
Mark shook his head, and he could see the air go out of her.
“I know where she was last night. She just took off and left the house burning down behind her. That’s what led me to knock on her door out here.”
“So you’re looking for her? You’re not just interested in background. You’d also like to find her?”
“I’m doing more talking than you,” he said. “That wasn’t the deal. So tell me this: Do you know of any overlap between Janell and the criminal element? I’ve got to tell you, I didn’t have her pegged for an EE. I was going to guess any paperwork she’d left behind was in vice reports, not diplomas.”
“She has no criminal record. Not so much as a speeding ticket.”
“I asked about connections.”
She hesitated again. Mark sighed and set his beer down.
“Listen,” he said, “I get it-”
“My first responsibility is to-”
“Stop.” He leaned forward. “I’m going to go ahead and tell you what case I’m working. Why I want her. Then you can make a judgment call. Okay?”
“Okay.”
“Here’s my case,” Mark said. “Lauren Novak. Homicide. Unsolved.”
She didn’t say anything. She’d gone very still.
He pushed back from the table. “Spend some time on your phone, Lynn. Do some searches for Lauren, and for me. Then call your client back. When you’ve decided what level of cooperation you’re willing to show, I’ll be ready.”
Mark left the deck and returned to the bar.
23
Lynn left Mark in the bar for maybe ten minutes, then she slipped in and took the stool beside him and said, “I’m sorry.”
He nodded.
“That’s an awful thing.”
He nodded again. What the hell did you say? Yes, they shot her in the head, it’s an awful thing.
“So your case is really-”
“Of personal interest,” he finished for her. “Yeah. I don’t have a client, Lynn. I’ve got nobody to protect. I just want to find the woman.”
“You think she had something to do with your wife’s murder.”
“I think she knows the man who killed her. His name is Garland Webb. He walked out of prison and vanished. No contact with the parole office. I’ve got a witness to the, um, events of last night who says that Janell and the man she was with are on their way to meet Garland Webb. ”
He didn’t mention that the witness was a child who also believed Mark was attended by the ghost of a murdered man named Walter.
“Where did the events of last night take place?”
“Cassadaga. The house is one weird place. Someone’s very fond of painting on the walls. Mostly vortex symbols, but some words. Rise the dark, the dark will rise, things like that.”
Even in the dim light of the bar, Mark could see color drain from her face.
“Rise the dark?”
“That mean something to you?”