“Only that time she went to Vegas to make her million-that’s what she said, make her million. She wanted me to go with her, said she’d pay my way, but I couldn’t. Jimmy would have killed me.”
“Jimmy is James Caldwell?” It wouldn’t hurt to remind her I pretty much knew her whole life story.
“That’s right.” She crossed her legs and one foot began to bob.
“When was this trip?”
“You know, I think it was the same year she had the baby-yeah, it had to be, because I remember her saying she wanted to get rid of the leftover baby weight before she took the trip.”
“Did she leave town often?”
Loreen sat back. “That’s the only time I remember.”
“How did she get to Las Vegas? Did someone take her?”
“Who would do that? It’s not like there was all these rich dudes hanging around the bar.” Loreen squinted, seemed to be thinking. “She was only gone for a couple days, if I remember right, and when she came back she went on this giant binge, told me she lost almost every penny playing the slots.”
“But she’d had enough cash for a plane ticket and a vacation before she gambled away most of her money. Think hard. Are there any other times you recall her having extra cash?”
“She always had money for booze, even if it was just beer, but I thought that was because she was working more, spending less time at Rhoda’s-that was the place we drank together. Christy could clean a house like nobody’s business when she wasn’t on a binge.”
“And you’d been helping her with the cleaning? Maybe took up the slack when she was too drunk?”
“Yeah, but she wasn’t as much of a drunk that year before she disappeared, and you probably think this is weird, but Christy and I? We worked good together. Drunks and whores can do some things right. We were a team.”
“Such a good team you decided to go into business together?”
Loreen tilted her head. “How did you find out all this stuff?”
“I’ll explain later. What about your business plans?”
“I thought she was serious, but then she split… sorry. That’s not right, is it? She got herself killed.”
“How did you plan on getting the money to start up? You’d need more than the flyers Emma made that you stuck on telephone poles.”
For the first time since I’d arrived, Loreen smiled. “Emma made those? Christy always said Emma was the real mom in the family. That’s why I called CPS when Christy didn’t come back.”
“You called CPS? I thought they showed up because Emma was missing school.”
“She was. I went to Christy’s house to see if she was sick or something, ’cause she hadn’t been around. This kid answers the door and she’s covered in chicken pox. I asked where her mother was, and she said she’d been gone a long time. She said her big sister, Emma, went to get milk but she’d be right back. So I left and called CPS. It’s anonymous, you know. You can call and no one checks on you or anything.”
I nodded. “How did you find Emma again after CPS took custody?”
“I was still living around there when the kids moved back into the old house. People talk. I heard. I watched them, sorta looked out for them, you know? I’d found out I could never have kids. Too many infections. Anyway, Emma took this one bus all the time, so I went to the stop. Talked to her. Got to know her. Christy was such an idiot to miss out on Emma and the other kids.” She smiled again, but it quickly disappeared when Loreen’s attention switched to the window. “Did you hear that?”
“Hear what?”
“That sound. Someone’s out there.” She hurried to the window and peeked through a crack in the drapes. “Did anyone come with you?” she whispered.
“No.” But I got this sick feeling inside and thought, No one that I know about, anyway. “Do you see anyone?”
She carefully pushed open the drapes a tiny bit wider. “Maybe it was a bird or a squirrel in the bushes.” She returned to the sofa but didn’t take her eyes off the window.
“There’s something else you need to know,” I said. “Christine had a friend named Jerry Joe Billings.”
“Him? A friend? Pure scum, drunk or sober. When I’d come into Rhoda’s and sit next to Christy he’d always say, ‘The whore is here. Let the party begin.’ ”
“Mr. Billings was murdered last Friday-killed after he promised to give me information about Christine. I think he knew something about her murder, and-”
“What?” Loreen closed her eyes for a second, then wrapped her arms around herself and began to rock. “If he got killed because he knew something, that means… you know what that means.”
“I can protect you, Loreen.”
“Did you promise to protect Jerry Joe, too?”
I took a deep breath. “I had no idea that if I talked to him, he’d…”
“End up dead? But you have an idea about me, right? You figured out I know a whole lot more about Christy than he ever did.”
“And there may be other things you know that are important and-”
“Important enough to get me killed. Why in hell did I ever let you in here?”
“We have to catch this killer, Loreen. That’s the only way you’ll ever be safe. And you may need protection for another reason. James Caldwell was just paroled. The police asked him questions about you.”
Her face paled. “Oh, God, no.” She stood and started pacing in front of the sofa. “That’s who was outside. He found me just like you did. I gotta get out of here.”
She started to leave the room, but I went after her, gripped her shoulders and turned her to face me. “Don’t you want to stop hiding?”
She struggled a little, but she couldn’t weigh more than a hundred pounds, and I had no trouble hanging on to her.
“I have to get away. I have to-”
“Listen to me, Loreen.” We were practically nose-to-nose, and I could smell the tobacco on her breath. “I’ll help you if you let me-but first I need more information.”
“I’ve told you everything I know.” But she didn’t shrug me off. She kept staring over my shoulder at the window, looking as frightened as a rabbit in a trap.
I shouldn’t have told her about Billings, at least not until I’d probed for more information about the possible baby switch. I released my hold on her. “You want me to see if anyone’s out there?”
“No. I don’t want anyone to know you’re here.”
I guessed she didn’t realize my car was sitting in front of her house. “I can take you to a safe place. I have police friends and-”
“No police.” She was shaking her head vigorously. “Jimmy will find out. He can find out what the cops are doing as easy as that.” She snapped her fingers.
“All right, what about my place?”
“Are you crazy? I’m not going anywhere with you. You said yourself you led a killer straight to Jerry Joe.”
I sighed. How the hell could I make sure she felt safe? My gut told me she knew more than she realized and I needed to keep picking her brain. But she wouldn’t be much help while she was this afraid.
“I have a suitcase to pack,” Loreen said, jerking me back to reality.
“Wait,” I said. “Let me think about… No, I’ve got it. I have a friend. He’s my boyfriend, as a matter of fact.” She didn’t have to know that he was a cop, too. “He’s big and strong and he’ll protect you.”
She took a pack of cigarettes from her uniform pocket and stared at them, licking her lips. “I don’t know. That’s a short-term thing. Besides, how would he get me out of here without Jimmy finding out?”
“See, that’s the problem, Loreen. You need help getting away, and I’m willing to do that.”
“How?”
“You have a fence in the backyard?”
“No.”
“You could cut through the yard and hit the next block. Jimmy can’t be watching the front and the back of the house at the same time, right?”