IN THE FRONT yard at the curb, I sat motionless in the FBI-issued Toyota waiting for inspiration in how to handle the mess involving Ned and his little girl with no inkling at all forthcoming. Sleep would help, but no way would sleep come, not with everything swirling round and round. Wicks may have been right. There might only be one real option: let the system take over. Plug everything in, stand back, and just let it go. But no way, under similar circumstances, would I want that to happen to Olivia.
I opened Ollie’s note by tearing loose the staple. Enough ambient light from the street allowed me to see without turning on the overhead dome. The note read:
Dat little shit Devon’s layin his head on Willowbrook tween Compton an Roscrans, 11431, its a lime green crib with white trim. He’s a big kid, over six foot and chubby wears his hair in a fade. Has one of dem Cadillac medallions around his neck ona long chain.
I fount out what you woodnt tell me about dat asshole Gadd. I know what he’s all about now, what he’s up to. You doon have ta worry about him no mo. I’ll take care a his sorry ass. You jus hep out my nepfew.
See ya soon lover
O
Another load of adrenaline dumped into my already overtaxed nervous system. No way could Ollie tangle with Gadd. He’d kill her without thinking twice about it. She’d never see it coming either. She had no idea the danger she’d put herself in just entering Gadd’s orbit, let alone trying to put him down. She carried an ice pick in her purse for self-defense. Gadd would never let her get that close. And she didn’t know how to operate on stealth mode, not with her bulk and all those damn bracelets.
I got out, went back in the house to call Ollie to tell her to stay the hell away from Gadd, insist on it. Take her to jail if I had to. I couldn’t tell her about our surveillance that she’d walk right into even if she did try something that dumb. The scary part about it—I knew her well enough that I knew she would try it.
Dad stood in the living room and didn’t ask any questions when I came back in.
I dialed. The phone rang and rang. I hung up trying to think it through. I turned to Dad. “You heard the conversation with my lieutenant?”
He nodded.
I said, “Tomorrow morning CPS will be here for Beth. Under the circumstances, it’s the best thing for her. You understand that, right?”
“No.”
“Dad, you think it’s right that Ned’s on the run with his little girl? Would you want that for Olivia? You and I would never put any child through that kind of thing—I mean going on the lam and ducking the law, hiding out with the children like a gang of fugitives. No, we have to trust in the system and let it do its work.”
“You sure?”
“Yes, I’m sure.”
He put his hand up on my shoulder. “All right then, I’ll make sure everything goes smoothly.”
“Thanks, Dad.”
I went back outside and got in the car. Disturbed—nothing seemed to be working out right, but I started up and headed to Willowbrook. At least Ollie had given me something I could take care of, something I could make right. I’d take Devon D’Arcy by the ear, yank him off the couch he slept on, and shake some sense into him.
Ten minutes later I made my first pass of 11431 Willowbrook Avenue and spotted Ned sitting down the street in the dark in his Pathfinder watching the place.
What the hell?
Seeing Ned let the guilt slither back in, guilt so heavy it about smothered me. I had to tell him, get it over with.
I pulled around the corner and came up on the radio. “Ned, what are you doing at this 10-20?”
“Hey, partner, good hearing from you. Thought you were supposed to be sleeping. We followed the primary over here after he finished up at that other location.”
Coffman jumped in, “Bruno, what the hell are you doing here?”
“I, ah … was … following another lead, and it happens to be right where you two landed.”
“I told you to get some sleep. You’re due to relieve us in a couple hours. You can’t work on no sleep.”
“Couldn’t sleep, I’m good. Hey, Ned, meet me around the corner over here.”
I made the turn into an unknown side street perpendicular to Willowbrook, the street sign removed by the local hoodlums. They also knocked out the streetlights making it much darker and easier to blend into the shadows. Seconds later Ned came around the corner with his headlights already off and double-parked, his driver’s window to my driver’s window, the cars only inches apart. He looked in good humor. The job did that for him; he loved it. He tilted back a chocolate Yoo-hoo and took a bite of a pink snowball cupcake. He spoke around the marshmallow and coconut confection. “What lead are you following that brought you here?”
“Remember this morning, Ollie, and the problem with her nephew? Well, this is the address she gave me.”
“No shit. That means this pad might be Gadd’s main location, the place he operates from. Very nice. What’s the matter? Something’s wrong?”
I couldn’t find the words to answer him.
He sat up and leaned out a little. “Is it Beth? Did something happen to Beth?”
He just tipped his hand that he knew for sure Hannah and JB were on the hunt for Beth.
“I found out what’s going on,” I said. “You should’ve told me. You played me, Ned, and I’m not happy about it.”
“Did Hannah find Beth? Did Hannah get Beth?”
“No, relax. Dad covered for you, but you put him right in the middle of your mess and that’s not right.”
He eased back in his seat and shot me the trademark Ned smile that under normal circumstances might’ve softened me up a little.
“She didn’t get Beth,” he said. “That’s good, real good. Bruno, anything you want, anything I have it’s all yours. I owe you.”
“You’re on the dodge from the service of a court order. You don’t have anything but what’s in that duffel bag sitting in my living room?”
“Sorry about this whole thing. I should’ve told you, but you’re Mr. Law Enforcement, and you would’ve gone all policy and law on me and called CPS. The last thing I want is to have Beth in a foster care home while the court tries to decide who’s the best parent. You wouldn’t want Olivia in foster care, would ya?”
I shook my head; no words would surface.
The knot in my stomach tightened. In a few hours, that’s exactly what was going to happen. Beth would be taken into protective custody and become a ward of the state. Right at that moment I realized no matter how hard that would be on Beth, it was still the best thing for all concerned. It might be the only way to keep Ned out of trouble. If Ned went crazy over this child custody battle, what good would it do Beth? What good would it do anyone? I had to consider the long game and made my decision.
I needed to change the subject and asked, “How long have you and Hannah been separated?”
Ned looked away. The question about losing Hannah yet again hurt him a great deal. “Seventeen months, ten days, and thirteen hours, if you have to know.”
“How long have you been on the dodge?”
“Just since I’ve been at your place, that’s all.”
“She’s got papers that she’s looking to serve you, but I think you already know that.”
“You know this game,” he said. “The judge always, always rules in favor of the mother. It’s not fair, Bruno.” He slugged his steering wheel. “Hannah’s going to get custody, and I’m going to be left out of raising that wonderful little girl.”
I didn’t think that would happen, not with the scars on Beth’s feet. The judge would seriously consider Ned for full custody. But not if Hannah dumped JB, then the threat would be gone. Round and round we go.
“Don’t sweat it,” I said. “Everything’s cool for right now. I haven’t had any sleep and it’s too late to drive home. Can you stay right there and watch my back for a couple hours?”
“You got it, partner, and thanks for covering for me.”
The guilt again rose up in my throat and threatened to choke me. By the time Ned made it home in the morning, it’d be all over and he’d hate me for life. I eased the seat back as far as it would go and pulled the green John Deere ball cap down over my eyes, knowing I wouldn’t be able to sleep.
But in an instant, one as brief as a heartbeat, sleep jumped up, grabbed me by the throat, and pulled me down into a dark abyss.