Cold air from the Pacific whipped through the cabin of Lock’s car as he drove back down the 10 freeway, heading for home. He set the cruise control so he wouldn’t exceed the speed limit and risk being pulled over by CHP.
This time of year was prime DUI season. While all he had pumping through his bloodstream was caffeine and rage, there was enough blood spatter on his clothing to make for a potentially troublesome encounter.
Turning Andre’s phone over in his hand, Lock pushed through the front door and threw the dead bolts. Before he’d left, he’d extracted details of where he might find Hanger. It was a long list. He was hoping to use the phone to finesse a meeting via text or messaging. Failing that, he would start running down the list of locations. But first he needed to get some rest.
The home he shared with Carmen was quiet. He took off his shoes and left them by the door before padding through into the living room.
He took a moment to admire the Christmas tree they had decorated together. A silver angel, an heirloom passed down by Carmen’s grandmother, sat at the very top. they had decorated the tree together, drank some wine, went to bed and made love.
It had been set to be a perfect Christmas. Then Lock had decided to help Angie Garcia.
He stood in the middle of the living room and stripped off his bloodied clothes. He wasn’t sure if he should wash his shirt or burn it.
Probably burn it, he thought, letting it drop onto the polished wooden floor. He doubted there was enough stain remover in the house to leech out that amount of blood.
One thing he wouldn’t do was lie to Carmen about what had happened. That was something they had agreed from early on. No secrets. Sometimes she would ask him to invoke his right to take the fifth, to not tell her something, but that was always her call to make.
He stretched his arms up above his head. He could feel a couple of knots forming in his back from the day’s unresolved tension. He doubted they would loosen up much until he found Kristin Miller.
Pulling out Andre’s cell phone, he dropped a quick text to Hanger. He’d left Andre tied up, but he would free himself, eventually. Then he would alert his buddy. After that, if he was in any way smart, he’d patch up his tires or buy new ones and get the hell out of Los Angeles for a time.
Hanger would know Lock was coming. That was fine. It might be enough for him to throw Kristin back into the ocean of victims that Andre had pulled her from. It might not.
Lock prayed for the former, but he was primed for the latter.
In the kitchen, Lock filled the sink with hot water, poured in half a bottle of stain remover and threw his clothes in. Naked, he walked through into the guest bathroom and took a long hot shower. He finished with a thirty second blast of cold water that would lower his core temperature and help him get to sleep quickly.
He got out, dried off, and set the alarm on his phone to wake him in five hours. Five good hours of sleep was plenty for someone used to long draining months who had spent the last few months getting the most sleep he had in years. His battery, he figured, was charged enough that he could keep going on full tilt for the next few days.
Naked, he walked into the bedroom. Carmen stirred. She rolled over onto her side and smiled sleepily. Damn, she was beautiful, he thought, reminding himself how lucky he was to have found her and have her in his life.
“You find her?” Carmen asked.
“Not yet,” said Lock, deciding that he’d explain the clothes soaking in the sink in the morning. “Go back to sleep.”
She gave him another goofy, sleepy smile. “Okay.”
He pulled back the sheets on his side and got in, wrapping a protective arm around the swell of her pregnant belly as she scooted her body into him.
“Hey, Ryan?”
“Yeah?”
“Merry Christmas.”
“Merry Christmas. Now go back to sleep or Santa Claus won’t leave you anything under the tree,” said Lock, kissing the top of her head, taking in the smell of her as he closed his eyes, thinking of this time next year when they’d be celebrating their first Christmas with a daughter.