The sun was low and cast its light off the mountains ringing the valley. Las Vegas was in that moment when the dusty bowl turned into a neon lit fantasyland.
Maria leaned her head back against the headrest. She was so tired. She closed her eyes, maybe she could get a few minutes of sleep, but the moment she thought she was drifting off, she saw the picture of Carla strapped to the chair.
She opened her eyes. Looked out the window.
“Call me an asshole or something,” Michael said.
“I was going to beat him with my baton if he didn’t answer my questions,” Maria said.
“Who?”
“Tom,” Maria said.
“He’d have started crying the minute you pulled the baton back to swing,” Michael said.
“Aren’t we supposed to protect people?” Maria said.
“We do,” Michael said.
“You know what I mean.”
“Not for nothing, Tom could probably use an ass whipping,” Michael said.
“I should have known they were all lying,” Maria said.
Michael looked over at her. Tried to gauge how much of this conversation was worry about Carla and how much of it was something else, something that had been brewing for a while and now was surfacing. From the look on his face, he couldn’t quite decide.
“I shouldn’t have pushed to go after Ariella. She died anyway and now my girlfriend is facing the same fate. I should have just done it by the book. Let the California police handle it,” Maria said.
“You falling to pieces on me?” Michael said.
“No. Just being honest with myself. Carla is handcuffed to a chair somewhere in Las Vegas. For all I know we could have driven right by her, and it’s all because I’ve fucked up this investigation from the beginning,” Maria said.
“We can whip ourselves later. Focus on finding Carla now,” Michael said.
“I should have been better. Smarter. Faster,” Maria said.
“And I shouldn’t have let her out the door. And she should have listened to you and trusted you. And worrying about all of that right now isn’t going to get us anywhere, so let it go,” Michael said.
Maria took a deep breath. Leaned her forehead against the glass. How had it all ended up here?
“Where are we going?” Michael said.
“You know where we’re going. I already told you,” Maria said.
“Answer the question,” Michael said.
“We’re going to the newspaper office,” Maria said.
“Why are we going there?” Michael said.
“To talk to some reporters who have been lying to me from the start. To find out what they know,” Maria said.
“What do we hope to achieve?” Michael said.
“We want to find out what the connection between Ariella and Les was. Of if there even was a connection,” Maria said.
“Good, now you focus on thinking and I’ll worry about driving,” Michael said.
The newspaper office was mostly empty. The only light that shone was from Jessica Pool’s office in the back. Maria pounded on the glass door. They waited.
Nothing moved inside.
Maria pounded again. This time with her baton.
The metallic click on the glass echoed in the parking lot.
“Try not to break it,” Michael said.
“At least we’d be inside,” Maria said.
“I don’t think that door is pickable. At least not by me,” Michael said.
Jessica’s office door opened, and she walked across the room. Asked them what they wanted.
“Open the door. We need to talk,” Maria said.
“We can talk through the door,” Jessica said.
Maria could feel the anger rising. Maybe it was best if they talked through the door because if there wasn’t something in between her and Jessica, Maria might end up doing something she regretted.
“We have some follow-up questions,” Michael said.
“About what?” Jessica said.
“About Les,” Maria said.
“I already told you-”
Maria cut her off by striking the glass with the baton.
“What you told us was a lie. You knew all along what Les was involved in, and you were getting your piece of the pie, so cut the holier than thou bullshit and open the door,” Maria said.
“I don’t know if I like your tone,” Jessica said.
“How long will you last employed here if we arrest you for obstruction?” Michael asked.
“The newspaper would gladly defend me in court against such a ridiculous arrest,” Jessica said.
“Guess that depends if we publicize your ties to Les’s side projects?” Michael asked.
Jessica took her time processing what Michael had said, but when she was done thinking it through, she opened the door and led them back to her office.
Maria fought off the desire to grab Jessica by the hair and drag her across the room. She was beginning to think letting Michael take the lead in the questioning was the best plan.
Jessica settled in behind her desk and sat down. Tried to look steely and in control, but she was scared.
“You lied to me,” Maria said.
“Regarding what?” Jessica said.
“You were involved in all of Les’s little projects. So involved that you got a cut of the action,” Maria said.
“Who is claiming this ridiculous nonsense?” Jessica said.
“The person who was paying the bills,” Michael said.
“Why would you believe some swarmy attorney?” Jessica said.
“We never said he was an attorney,” Maria said.
“Or that he was swarmy. Though it's kind of an exceedingly accurate description,” Michael said.
“So why don’t we start over,” Maria said.
“Maybe I should call my attorney,” Jessica said.
“Maybe I should drag you around by your hair until you figure out that answering questions is the best way to go,” Maria said.
“What the hell has gotten into you?” Jessica said.
“Tell us what you know about Les’s investigation into Patrick Miller,” Maria said.
“I didn’t know anything. I didn’t even know who he was investigating,” Jessica said.
“Yeah, yeah, yeah, Les did what he wanted, and you were the last bastion of truth and justice at this newspaper overrun by blah blah blah bullshit,” Maria said.
Jessica shook her head. Looked up at the ceiling.
“We have a missing person related to Les’s murder, and we don’t have time to go around in circles,” Michael said.
“Missing person? Like the woman on the reservation?” Jessica said.
“More or less,” Michael said.
“But what can that possibly have to do with Les?” Jessica said.
“That’s what we’re trying to figure out,” Michael said.
“When I’m saying I didn’t know who Les was investigating, that’s the truth,” Jessica said.
“But you did know about them and you did receive money for publishing those stories,” Maria said.
“Yes. But that doesn’t mean I was kept in the loop all the way through,” Jessica said.
“Walk us through how it all worked then,” Michael said.
Jessica needed to know a week or so before publication, so she could arrange the space in the newspaper for the articles and also so she could arrange the other articles, whether pushing stories back or forward, so at some point, she needed to be looped in. But she never knew what was being investigated until it was time for the article to be published, and yes, she took a nominal payment after publication because if she was going to be forced to publish articles, she might as well get a piece of the action.
“And all that manufactured anger?” Maria asked.
“That wasn’t manufactured. I hated Les, and I hated what he was doing to journalism,” Jessica said.
“But you took the money,” Maria said.
“Can you blame me? Regardless of what I did, those articles were going in the newspaper. The only question was who was getting a paycheck, and at least if I was involved, I could prevent actual slander from being published. The original draft of your article was much more explicit in its claims about your girlfriend. Les and I fought for an hour over it, but I wouldn’t run it as it was,” Jessica said.
Maria grabbed a hold of the desk to keep herself from hitting Jessica. The article was a hit job, and she was supposed to be grateful because it wasn’t as bad as it could have been. She closed her eyes. Took a deep breath. She couldn’t afford to go off the rails right now, but she desperately wanted to grab this woman and slam her into the wall.
Michael could sense her rage, and he stepped in between her and Jessica. Put on his smile.
“We can certainly understand the situation you were in, but I’m sure you can understand why we have our doubts about your honesty at this point. You already told us once that you barely knew anything, but now we know how deeply you were involved, so how are we supposed to believe you didn’t know anything about what Les was looking into,” Michael said.
“I wish I knew more. Seriously. As much as I hated Les, his death has shaken us all in ways we couldn’t have expected, and I doubt any of us will sleep well until you find his killer, so believe me, if I knew something I would share it with you,” Jessica said.
“So who would know something?” Michael said.
“Pedro. Les and Pedro were tight, and Pedro worked with him on everything,” Jessica said.
“Where is he?” Maria asked.
“I don’t know. He didn’t come in today,” Jessica said.
“Is that normal?” Michael asked.
Jessica shrugged. Said reporters were supposed to work in the streets, so not being around on any given day wasn’t a big deal.
“But?” Maria said.
“But, he missed a meeting with me and hasn’t answered the phone all day,” Jessica said.
“Call him again,” Michael said.
“Now,” Maria said.
Jessica grimaced. She was the type of woman who was used to being in control, and being pressed by the police was infuriating her. But she wasn’t stupid. Being a reporter wasn’t going to help her in this situation. She picked up her cell phone and dialed. The call went directly to voicemail.
“Like I said, he hasn’t been around all day,” Jessica said.
“We need his address,” Maria said.
“Get it off of his driver’s license,” Jessica said.
“Are you sure his license matches where he lives?” Michael said.
“I wasn’t sleeping with the man. I have no idea where he lives. I’ve never been there,” Jessica said.
“What about Nancy?” Maria said.
“What about her?” Jessica said.
“I thought she was the one who was close to Les,” Maria said.
“Shows what the hell you know. Nancy hated Les as much as I did. She tolerated him for work reasons,” Jessica said.
“Supposedly she’s on a trip,” Maria said.
“That’s the rumor,” Jessica said.
“How about giving us the reality,” Michael said.
“Now we are definitely getting into the realm of the free press. Nancy is off on assignment, and what she is doing is none of your business, but as soon as she gets back, I’ll have her contact you,” Jessica said.
“When will she be back?” Michael said.
“Not sure. At least another three days or so,” Jessica said.
“We’d like to speak with her sooner than that,” Maria said.
Jessica wrote a phone number on a piece of paper and handed it to Maria. Told her it was a free country, and she could call whoever the hell she wanted, but she shouldn’t expect Nancy to answer for a few days.
“Why not?” Maria asked.
“Because she’s busy,” Jessica said.
“Some more detail would be great,” Michael said.
“No more detail is forthcoming. Now if you’re done giving me a hard time for no reason, I’d really like to go home now,” Jessica said.
Outside, Maria looked back into the office through the glass door and asked Michael if he believed they were getting all the information out of Jessica.
“I don’t know. She seemed genuine. She was definitely scared, but I kind of doubt it had anything to do with Les’s death,” Michael said.
“I really want to talk to Nancy,” Maria said.
“Call her,” Michael said.
The call went directly to voicemail.
“Back to Pedro then,” Michael said.