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IT TOOK SEPTEMBER THREE tries to stand, and two attempts to claw her way out of the grave. The damp earth clung to her clothes, and she brushed it off as best she could. Shadow grabbed her cap, leaped out of the hole, shook himself, and licked his paws. His past bout with frostbite made him more susceptible to cold.
Her head hurt. She picked up the discarded bump cap. Her stomach flip-flopped when the cap crackled in her hands. She rubbed the growing goose egg on the back of her head, feeling shattered plastic clogging her hair, but the bump cap had saved her life. She’d also landed with her face pillowed on her arms, offering just enough trapped air to sustain her for the brief time she’d been buried. But if Shadow hadn’t found her when he did, she would have suffocated. “What a good-dog, Shadow. You’re so smart!”
Shadow grinned and leaned his shoulder against her, offering welcome support. She checked her pockets, grateful to find her wallet, but frustrated by the missing car keys and phone. She peered around the cemetery, still silent but no longer peaceful. Only grave markers and mute stone angels bore witness. She walked, Shadow beside her, and tried to think.
She’d been only semi-conscious, and remembered hearing something about eliminating witnesses. He’d mentioned Heartland...and her mother? What did Mom have to do with this?
Teddy! September gasped, and her gut clenched. Oh God, her fault, all her fault! Teddy wouldn’t give up the thumb drive without an argument. What had she done? So stupid, so self-centered. She’d led Mr. Bleak to Teddy, a gentle man who never had the sense to say no to her schemes.
Why hadn’t she listened to Tee? She should have simply waited to turn over the computer files to Detective Steele.
Detective Steele.
Steele knew Judge Southgate, the man who wanted her arrested. After demanding her arrest, Southgate and his whole family perished. Had Steele arranged to eliminate Southgate to hide the reason behind his $25,000 payoff? And Bleak had been at the bookkeeper’s house, when only Steele knew about the thumb drive on the cat.
Was Steele targeting everyone on the payoff list? She hadn’t paid for Macy, and Victor certainly never had that kind of money. What sort of favors would he have done instead? September gagged, bent over a nearby headstone, and threw up.
Only someone with insider information could manage this conspiracy. Someone able to stay one step ahead of the Chicago police investigation, manage killings in South Bend, and silence potential witnesses. Someone like Steele. His reputation for clearing difficult cases could be explained by insider collaboration, too. Even Southgate could influence the outcome of Steele’s arrests. Or maybe Steele had yet another puppet master pulling strings.
She had to do something. The killer planned to travel to Heartland. If Southgate’s whole family died, they wouldn’t hesitate to target her whole family. Her parents. Brother and sisters. Combs. His kids.
No! September braced herself against the headstone, retching again. The cold granite bit into her bare hand. She wiped her mouth on her coat sleeve. She knew what to do.
Mr. Bleak reported her dead. Fine, she’d play dead. Even if she had a phone, she couldn’t call Tee and risk her sharing with Steele. Even an honest cop could share information with the wrong party. September wouldn’t take the chance, not when her family could pay the price.
She pushed off from the headstone, and picked up her pace down the road. The airport, five minutes by car, wouldn’t take long to walk. She could beat the killer home, but she couldn’t risk him seeing her.
Twenty-five minutes later she trudged into the airport parking lot. The small regional airport, mostly deserted at this hour, meant she wouldn’t be seen by too many prying eyes, but she avoided the plane terminal and headed toward the train platform. She ducked into the first restroom she found and performed damage control as best she could.
Shadow never wore a vest. No law, not even the ADA, required official identification of service animals, but that didn’t stop many people from expecting it. So he always wore an official-looking tag on his collar. The train couldn’t turn away service animals. But she couldn’t afford delays, or too much attention on this trip, so was thankful she still had the extra leash stuffed in one of her massive coat pockets.
She had an emergency stash of cash, a credit card, and driver’s license in her pocket. She feared using the credit card in the ticket vending machine might be tracked. Whoever ran the show seemed to have unlimited resources. She could pay cash on the train. The South Shore ran three trains per day into Chicago, the two-hour trip costing under $20. Fortunately, the first train of the day was in less than an hour.
September bought food from a vending machine. She fortunately had stuffed two more baggies of the homemade dog treats Shadow loved into her pockets before she left Teddy’s, and fed Shadow nearly a whole bag in lieu of a meal. Something else niggled the back of her mind from Mr. Bleak’s conversation. The name, Latana Ojo, sounded familiar.
