But of course.
“Well, I’d like to thank him if he’ll let me. I can drive up to Lambert, meet you guys at your favorite place to eat, buy you two a few beers, some lunch.”
“Sounds good, but that’s why I’m calling,” Morales said. “Marty—uh, Eperson—he just had a family emergency come up. He’s going out of town and he’s not sure how long he’ll be gone. He’s still in town, but I think he’s leaving soon.”
“So, what does that mean?”
“It means if you’re on some kind of deadline and you want to talk to Marty about that visitor Halcomb keeps getting, we should do it today. If you can, I mean . . . I don’t know what your plans are or anything, so . . .”
Lucas closed his eyes and silently exhaled. A stream of profanities slithered through his head. If he hadn’t had the phone pressed against his ear and Jeanie hadn’t been in the living room, he would have let them spill out onto the ugly linoleum beneath his feet.
“I mean, we can do it mano a mano—off the record, of course. All this has to be off the record, or we can’t talk. We could get fired, and that would only be the beginning. But like I told you the other day, Marty works that part of the prison a hell of a lot more than me. He knows those guys better than anyone.”
“Did you tell him I’m interested in figuring out who that visitor is?” Lucas asked.
“Yeah, man. I don’t know what he can tell you, but he’s a good dude. I don’t think he’d be wanting to meet up if he didn’t have any useful info, you know?”
Lucas let his head loll back to stare at the ceiling, the angel on his shoulder assuring him that Eperson would be back, he had to come back. He had a job. And even if he was out of town for weeks, it wasn’t as though Lucas was going anywhere himself. He could catch up with Eperson later, get whatever information he was holding and work it into the book later.
But patience wasn’t Lucas’s best virtue. If Eperson had pertinent info on Halcomb’s secret visitor, it could change the entire trajectory of his work. Eperson could reveal a new lead and Lucas knew better than anyone that you had to follow up on leads as soon as possible, otherwise the trail could go cold. Had he started this project a mere three months earlier, January Moore may have still been walking the earth, willing to talk, ready to give him the story of a lifetime. He couldn’t take the risk.
“Shit, okay,” he said, nearly spitting out the words. “What time should I meet you?”
“I start my shift at three, and I don’t get off until midnight, so lunch would be good. I’ll call Marty, tell him to meet us at the Chili’s on Main. It’s the only Chili’s we’ve got, so you can’t miss it. One o’clock should give you plenty of time to get up here, no?”
It gave him four hours, two of which he’d spend driving to Lambert. “Yeah . . . okay. I’ll see you then.”
“Cool, see you, man. Oh, hey . . .”
Lucas paused, nearly ending the call before hearing Morales speak. “Yeah?”
“I know you probably get this all the time, and I’ll pay whatever it costs, but do you have any copies of your books lying around? Maybe one you could bring with you and sign for me? I know Marty’s going to have his . . .”
“Sure,” he said. “No problem.”
“Cool, man. I appreciate it. That’s awesome. Okay, see you soon.”
Morales disconnected the call.
Lucas stared at his phone for a moment, considering what he’d just done. Another broken promise. “Shit.” The word tumbled out of him in a muted whisper. He shoved his phone into the pocket of his lounge pants and stepped into the living room. Jeanie was watching Adventure Time over the rim of her bowl. She eventually glanced away from the TV and at her dad.
“What?” she asked.
“I’m . . . the worst father,” he said. “I can be back by four or five. We can drive up after that, spend the night in a fancy hotel . . .”
Jeanie gave him a who are you kidding look.
“I’ll put it on a credit card.”
“Forget it, it’s fine.”
“It’s not fine. Shit, I need to call Selma.” If Selma was going to watch Jeanie, she had to leave soon . . . if Selma could watch Jeanie at all. Mark said Selma would be home, but that was later in the day. For all Lucas knew, Selma was out of the house, taking advantage of her day off.
“Or you can finally let me stay home by myself,” Jeanie suggested.
No, absolutely not. Not after what happened last night. Only an insane person would allow their kid to stay home alone after a break-in . . . if that’s what it really was.
“I’m not a little kid anymore,” Jeanie told him.
“Says the girl who’s eating sugary cereal in front of a cartoon . . .”
She made a face at him. “Like, what’s going to happen anyway? I’m not going to burn the place down.”
“I don’t know what’s going to happen,” Lucas said. “That’s the whole point.”
Jeanie rolled her eyes and slid her empty bowl onto the coffee table. “Well, what about that neighbor lady, then?”
“Echo . . . ?” No way. She was a stranger. He appreciated the box of photographs she’d brought over more than words could ever express, but that didn’t change the fact that he didn’t know a damn thing about her. Leaving Jeanie with Echo seemed almost as risky as leaving Jeanie by herself.
“Oh, come on, Dad. Is she a psycho or something? Is that why you were hanging out with her in your office while I was upstairs yesterday?”
“What? No. I wasn’t hanging out with anyone. We don’t know anything about her. I’m calling Selma, okay?”
She shook her head at him as he turned away and dialed Selma’s number. No answer. He left her a message, but unless she checked her voice mail in the next twenty minutes, she had no hope of arriving in Pier Pointe in time, even if she could come to begin with.
Dammit. Maybe . . . maybe Echo wasn’t that crazy of an idea, come to think of it.
She’d been nothing but helpful, and having her babysit would show that he trusted her. It would build rapport.
This is your kid’s safety we’re talking about, and you’re thinking about rapport?
Okay, that was the wrong way to think about it, but he had to get to know Echo better sometime, and she had seemed a little lonely. A family friend was far more likely to help him with his project, and it would be good for Jeanie to have someone other than him to talk to. Granted, he could drive Jeanie into town so she could find some kids her own age, but he couldn’t leave her alone in town anyway.
“Okay,” he said. “You stay here by yourself”—Jeanie’s expression lit up—“for now. . . . I’m going to drive over to Echo’s place to talk to her.” Jeanie snorted and went back to her show. “I’ll be back in half an hour, okay?” She didn’t respond. “Jeanie.”
“Okay, okay,” she mumbled. “Whatever you say.”
33
VEE WAITED FOR her dad to pull out of the driveway before sprinting up the stairs. She grabbed her laptop, tucked it beneath her arm, and took the risers two at a time down to his study. Flipping open the laptop lid, she paused to peek out the window—just a quick double check to make sure he hadn’t decided to turn back. She tugged the printer USB cable out of her dad’s computer and plugged it into her own.
34
LUCAS ROLLED UP to what he assumed was Echo’s house. It was the only place anywhere near Montlake Road for at least two miles. It was a little Craftsman-style house in need of a fresh coat of paint, but the flaking clapboard—once a bright red—gave the place a cozy feel. The faded cranberry color scheme was picturesque against a backdrop of never-ending green.