‘You do your thing, Tess. I’ll just be over there.’ Po waited for Tess’s nod before moving.
It was almost an hour since fleeing Rutterman Logistics. Po had parked Pinky’s SUV out of sight of the nearby highway, beneath a graffiti-scarred underpass – the underside of a bridge that spanned a tributary of the Mississippi. Trash had accumulated in the angle between hard-packed dirt and concrete, a shopping cart piled high with cans and bottles marking it as a hideout for some homeless person. Broken glass littered the sloping bank, and the reeds poking up from the diseased earth were sickly and stunted. Even the lily pads on the river looked diseased, like purple scabs on the surface. There was a stink off the sluggish water that was acidic and agitated Tess’s sinuses. She needed to sneeze, and her roiling stomach contents also demanded some kind of release, but more than anything she absolutely had to pee. While she’d been flooded with adrenalin the desire to empty her bladder hadn’t troubled her, but now she was finally calming down it had become a necessity. Po did the gentlemanly thing, walking away to give her some privacy while she peed behind the SUV. After she was finished she walked to the front of the SUV, to get away from the incriminating puddle. She heard the crunch of Po’s boots on the gritty earth.
‘Done?’
‘Much better, thanks. But can we talk about something else?’
‘F’sure.’ Po waited. ‘Maybe we should just get moving again. We can talk while I’m driving.’
Po drove out from beneath the underpass, following a levee road that stood fifteen feet above the riverbank. He was driving by instinct, heading for Baton Rouge. ‘So what would you rather talk about, Tess?’
She touched the folded delivery manifest in her pocket. ‘We have evidence that ties Rutterman Logistics to those who rammed our car, the same ones who undoubtedly fitted the tracking device to it. But does it really help? It doesn’t prove that they were the same men who abducted Crawford Wynne, and certainly doesn’t prove they had any part in his murder. It’d have been much better if we’d found something more damning in that warehouse. Illegal guns, drugs, a cell full of sex slaves. I don’t know what I expected to find, but I was hoping for more. Maybe if we’d more time …’
‘We didn’t. So it’s not worth getting pissed about again.’
‘Again?’
‘You’re often pissed at me, and for the life of me I can’t figure why.’
‘I’m not pissed; I’m disappointed.’
‘With me?’ He frowned.
‘No …’ she said. ‘With the lack of evidence.’
‘It’s good that we got away with what we did. The guard almost got the drop on both of us.’
‘You heard him approaching. Why the hell didn’t you warn me?’
‘It worked out better in the end. If I’d warned you, he’d have probably come running and caught the two of us. I moved away to get round behind him. Luckily when you ran, you went the right way.’
‘So I was bait?’ Tess shook her head. ‘Nice.’
‘You were never in any real danger.’
‘I wasn’t? Having his elbow jammed in my throat wasn’t exactly comfortable.’
‘He saw you as easy meat and underestimated you. It meant he didn’t bother drawing his sidearm. If he had, things might’ve ended much worse.’ Po twiddled with the air-con buttons. ‘Anyway, you were just gathering yourself: I trust you’d have handled him even if I hadn’t intervened.’
‘I ran.’ Tess felt a prick of shame. ‘In all my years as a deputy I never feared anyone; hell, back then I was the one doing the chasing.’
‘It’s psychology at work, Tess. You felt you were up to no good, and the natural instinct was to run away when cornered. Under the circumstances anybody would do the same: it’s only once you began thinking straight, forced down the natural instincts that your training would’ve kicked in. I had the benefit of forewarning, and was able to take the initiative sooner.’
‘I have to admit that was a crazy move you used. What was it, some kind of jiu-jitsu throw?’
Po frowned in consideration. ‘I guess. But I never took martial arts classes, not in the usual sense. You ever heard of Jailhouse Rock?’
‘Elvis, right?’ She curled up the corner of one lip, mimed a couple of hokey karate chops. ‘Uh-hu-hu.’
His mouth pinched in humour and she felt immediately foolish at her antics. ‘I guess that’s where the name derived, if not the moves,’ said Po. ‘No, I’m talking about the fighting style formulated by inmates. It’s down and dirty, and not pretty to look at. Designed for fighting in close quarters, and it’s about life or death. In prison, someone comes at you, well, they’re going to stick you with a shank or worse. There’s no place for fancy techniques: it’s you or it’s them, no mercy. Job done.’
‘Nasty.’
‘Necessary,’ he countered, and she was reminded of the scars on his forearms and conceded his point.
‘Still, you showed that guard mercy. You could’ve done him real harm but didn’t.’
‘It’s been a while,’ he said, ‘I guess I’ve grown rusty. You’d prefer if I’d hit him with a finishing blow?’
Actually, she believed there was more to his reluctance to permanently maim the guard. For all they knew he was an innocent party, simply performing his duty, and Po had tempered his response with that in mind. He wasn’t a hard ass all the time, just some of it.
‘A soon as he recovered he’d have reported the incident to his bosses. And once they realize what I was photographing they’ll put two and two together. They’ll guess it was us, and probably let Sower’s people know.’
Po pulled the Mercedes-Benz over at the side of the track. He pulled his phone and hit buttons. ‘Yo, Pinky!’
Pinky’s reply was a thin whistle to Tess, but Po kept his phone pressed to the side of his head.
‘Need you to do something as a matter of urgency, my friend,’ said Po. The high-pitched voice raised a decibel or two. ‘It won’t take you more than an hour. Yeah, sure, I know you already gave up last night for me, but this is urgent. Uh-huh. I need you to go retrieve the tracking device off the Chicken Shack. It’s served its purpose, and I’m concerned someone is going to come and take it away before we get back. Trust me, buddy, we need that thing in our hands. I don’t want you getting hurt, but if anyone’s there when you arrive and they try to take it, you don’t let them. You get me?’ Po laughed at Pinky’s response. ‘Just do what you have to do, OK?’
‘That was good thinking, Po,’ Tess said when he’d cancelled the call. ‘The evidence we got at Rutterman’s is worthless without the tracking device. Of course, they could always claim we stole the tracker from the box when we broke into their warehouse. Their word against ours. Considering we were conducting an illegal search I guess I know whose side a jury would take.’
‘We’ve no reason to set them up, but, yeah, you’re probably right.’ Po got the SUV moving again. ‘But let’s go get that tracker from Pinky. Who knows, maybe those guys weren’t too careful when they placed it. I don’t recall Blondie wearing gloves when we caught him in the act; we might get a fingerprint or DNA or something.’ He looked hopefully at her, Tess being the expert. ‘You’ve contacts for that kind of stuff, haven’t you?’
‘Once we’re back in Maine, I’ll get Emma Clancy’s office on the case.’ Supposing that Clancy had come out of hiding, of course. There was something troubling about Clancy’s disappearing act, and this wasn’t the first time she’d wondered about the unusual circumstances behind it: Tess was starting to believe something was wrong with the entire scenario.
‘I promised I was driving back, but I guess there’s a matter of urgency to all this now.’ Po exhaled deeply.
‘Not looking forward to the flight, huh?’
‘Nope,’ he said. ‘But I’ll persevere.’
His decision brought a smile to her. He was still in bodyguard role, not about to give in to his stubborn fear of flying. She was glad, because after everything she’d said to the contrary she wouldn’t feel whole without him by her side if taking the trip home alone. Hell, she needed him. And not just for the calm-under-fire-attitude he’d shown when escaping Rutterman Logistics – when she’d have run up two flights of stairs seeking the skylight exit, he’d grabbed her by an elbow, guided her to a fire exit and booted the door open, ushered her to the front gate, and boosted her over. No, there was more to it than that. He’d followed her to Louisiana as an employee, but the dynamic of their relationship had shifted. Each had a stake in this case; each had a desire to see it through to a satisfying conclusion. They actually were partners now, she realized. She sneaked a glance his way; he was watching the road ahead with intensity. He must have sensed her observation because he snapped his head towards her, his eyes reflecting the dashboard lights. His mouth bowed in humour, or was it affection? She was immediately reminded of waking to that same scrutiny earlier, and felt a tremor go through her. This time it was an enjoyable sensation.