SKULL
nearly running him over on her way out of the police station, Skull took note of which direction she ran. Her hotel. He’d follow her in a moment. For now, he pocketed his phone and approached the service window.
“How can I help you?” the dispatcher asked.
Skull offered a warm, professional smile. “Hello, I’m new in town. I’ll be teaching fourth grade at Central-Denison, and I was wondering about having one of your officers speak to my class this fall?”
The dispatcher smiled. “Oh, of course.” She grabbed a flier and paused to write something on the cover. “You should talk to Sergeant Brown. He’ll be happy to set you up. I’m writing his hours. Just call the front desk, and we’ll put you through to him when he’s on duty.” She slid it through the glass.
Skull took it and used it to offer a friendly wave. “Thank you. I can’t wait.”
He walked out the door. His whole time in the lobby, he’d been careful to never make eye contact with Wade Erickson. The Man wouldn’t approve.
He wouldn’t have needed to follow Angelica inside in the first place, except that keeping a bug on her was practically impossible. He’d dropped one into her purse the first day of the tail—but it turned out Angelica Read changed handbags as often as her makeup. A fashionista was a damn hard target to follow.
Once outside, Skull scanned the street and noted that Angelica hadn’t gotten far. She was just rounding the corner a few blocks away, straight for her hotel, as he had guessed. He followed at a more leisurely pace. He didn’t need to be seen again. Still, the risk had paid off. Her stress over wanting case records so badly—then abandoning them altogether—was very telling. He could smell her fear. The Man could use fear.
Of course, Skull hadn’t known Erickson would be there. The Man might berate him later. He hoped not. This was a good gig. He didn’t want to lose it.
Or become The Man’s next target.
He gave The Man good information. Details. Nuances. After The Man’s interest had been piqued by the boy Jimmy Beacon, it was Skull who had brought to his attention the fact that Beacon and Bud Weber were unwittingly connected by the murder of Beacon’s sister. Skull was a finder and knower of facts. And he could connect facts, putting them into the right hands at the right time—for the right price.
He had, of course, told The Man about the electric enmity between Delilah Beacon and Monica Steele. But The Man had merely appeared to file the information, plugging it into whatever puzzle, whatever grand plan, he was building in his mind.
And then he had instructed Skull to continue following Angelica Read.
So follow her he did. And now that he understood how obsessed she was with Wade Erickson—he knew why.
The Man was going to go to town.