“So are you, sweetie,” he kissed her softly. “So, do you know what you’re going to do?”
“I’m not sure. I have to get my life back, but I’ll never be able to do that with Jack and his men out there.”
“Do you have a plan?” he said, as he sat up and put on his shirt.
“Not, but I think I should carry out the plan … without Parker or whatever his name is.”
“What if you confronted Parker?”
“I don’t know. I’m so hurt by him. I thought about faking it, but I’m not there anymore. I’m sure he knows I’m gone by now.”
“He will look for you.”
“I know. I don’t know if he lied about his feelings for me or what. I just know that I can’t trust his words.”
“Does he know that you heard him on the phone?”
“No. I told him I was sick and told him to go out without me.”
“What was he going to do?”
“Oh, he was scoping out the next mark.”
“Do you remember the name of the mark?”
“Luke, I’m sorry I involved you with all of this,” she said, as she got dressed.
“I know you didn’t call me here for just sex. I know you want my help, don’t you?”’
“Yes, I bought a disposable phone. We can be in contact on that. I know that you’ll probably have to arrest me but can’t you wait until it’s all over.”
“I don’twantto arrest you, Samantha. I just want you to be careful,” he kissed her softly. “I don’t want to lose you.”
“I’ll do my best,” she said.
“I should go. Are you staying here?”
“Yeah, at least for the night. I have a lot of thinking to do, as well as planning.”
He kissed her again. “Do you want me to come back later?”
“Um, no, that’s all right. I’ll be fine. I’ll go downstairs and get a slice or two, then I’ll be right back up.”
“OK. Take care of yourself and keep me informed. Call me on my cell if you need anything …anythingat all.”
“I will. I promise,” she said, as he walked out the door.
She got off the bed and went into the other room. She opened the bag and took out her clothes. She stared at the pile of money in her bag. “Time to go shopping,” she said, as she grabbed a stack of cash and put it in her purse, that she pulled out of the bag.
She put on her hat and sunglasses and headed out of the apartment. She headed down the street to the localArmy Navystore and walked inside.
“Can I help you?” the elderly man asked at the counter.“Yes,” she smiled. “I need three rifles and six boxes of ammo. I also need night vision binoculars and a digital camera.”
“Coming right up.”
“Oh, great. I see a few things. I’m going to look around. I’ll be right back,” she said. She walked over to the telescopes and pulled a small one off the shelf. She headed over to the clothing department, and grabbed a khaki jacket, boots and several shirts and pants. She took a deep breath and placed the items on the counter. “Oh, is there a hardware store around here?” she asked the man.
“Yes, ma’am. What did you need?”
“Duct tape and rope. Oh, you don’t happen to have any steel handcuffs, do you?”
“Preparing for war?” he laughed.
“War games,” she laughed. “Oh, do you sell air darts?”
“Yes, they’re on the back wall.”
“They don’t kill, do they?”
“No, but I have several that are high velocity. They will subdue someone if they’re shot with it. You can also control the velocity with a knob on the side of the gun.”
“Great. I’ll take one,” she said.
He walked away from the counter to get the rest of her supplies. She looked around and noticed a display on the counter. “What’s this?” she asked, as he came back.
“Oh, those are bullet etchings. A lot of the hunters use these.”
“How do you use them?”
“You pick out the design you want. You slide the sheets of metal in the barrel and heat up the rod. This adheres the sheets to the barrel. When a bullet is fired, the design, such as the star or a cross, embeds itself on the bullet. The hunters use them to designate their kills.”
“Hmm,” she said. “Star? No. Cross? No. Wait. That I likethat.”
“The rose?” he asked.
“Yeah, the rose. Are the instructions in the package?”
“Yup, all you do is heat the rod on a stove or open fire and slide it in. It’s very cool. Here, I’ll show you a bullet,” he opened the drawer from behind the counter. “This is a .50 caliber. The gun was installed with a cross etching. See here?”
“I like that. Thanks,” she said. “I’ll take the rose… three of them. Also, do you have any red paint?”
“I have modeling paint. I think I have some red.”
“Great, bag them all up and I think I’m set.”
He bagged all her items. “Oh, I do need your license for the rifles.”
She opened her purse and took out her wallet. She showed him her police detective’s badge and her driver’s license. “Will this do?”
“Yes, ma’am,” he rang her up. “You total is one thousand forty six dollars and fifty nine cents.”
She handed him the cash. “Oh, keep the change. I’ll be reimbursed by the station,” she smiled.
“Great, thank you and have a nice day,” he said.
She headed down the street and walked into the hardware store. She walked inside and bought rope, duct tape, a portable tool kit and several round large files. She left the building and headed back to the safe house.
She dropped on the sofa. “I can’t keep taking a cab. I need to do this,” she picked up the phone book that was on the table. She thumbed through it until she found a local dealership. “Time to get some wheels,” she said, as she touched her stomach. “And some food,” she said.
She headed back out of her apartment and went inside the pizzeria that was downstairs from her apartment. She ordered a few slices of pizza and quickly ate them down.
She hailed a cab and had it drop her off at the dealership that was just outside the city. The minute she got out of her car, one of the salesmen came running over to her.
“Looking for something in particular?” he asked.“Yes. Not too flashy, but it needs speed. I also want it to be black, with a large trunk.”
“We have a lot of cars that fit that description here. Let me take you around. How much are you looking to spend?”
“Money is not a problem. I just need a set of wheels.”
“Well, over here, we have an SUV, black.”
“Too big,” she said. “What kind of sedans do you have?”
“Well, we just got in a fleet ofMustangs.”
“Let me see,” she said.
“Right this way,” he said, as he led her to the back of the dealership.
She looked at the black and silver car and smiled. “I’ll take this one.”
“Great, when do you want to pick it up?”
“I want to take it with me…now,” she said.
“That’s afifty thousand dollarcar,” he said.
“I assumecashis acceptable,” she said.
“Cash?” his eyes widened.
“Yes,cash. Sir, I’m a police officer and I need to have this car. I’ve been properly funded for my, um, case and I need this carnow.”
“Let’s go inside and we’ll take care of the paperwork.”
“Let’s do this,” she smirked, as she followed him into the dealership.
A little while later, she hopped in the car and drove away. She drove inside the parking garage that was next door to her safe house. She went next door to the liquor store and bought a few bottles of wine. She went to the pizzeria and ordered a few more pizzas, and salads.
She headed upstairs and dropped on the sofa.
“Samantha?” she heard his voice.
“Luke? What are you doing here?”
“I was worried about you, so I came back,” he said, as he came
out of the bedroom. “You’re preparing for war, aren’t you?” “Why’d you ask that?” she said, as she opened the pizza box. “Youcan’tlive off pizza,” he said.
“I can. I’ve done itbefore,” she laughed. “Luke, I don’t want you
to get into trouble. You’re a police captain. I can’t do that to you.” “Iwantto help you.”
“Honey, you can’t help me with this. I don’t want you to lose
He sat next to her on the sofa and grabbed a slice of pizza. “Tell me what I can do,” he said.
“Keep your eyes and ears open. The truth is I don’t know where those bodies are. Do you know if they found Alyssa’s body?”
“I went back to the office and checked. There were no bodies that match either of the ones you described. I do know, through rumors, and I checked with vice, that there’s that construction site out on the edge of the city. Morrison owns that. If there is anyway to get rid of the bodies, that would be a perfect place to do it. All that concrete.”
“So, they could be buried?” she shook her head. “Parker must’ve told them where I killed her. I knowIdidn’t. I just showed him the token he wanted.”
“What was that?”
“Some cheesy necklace. I don’t even think it was real gold. She was his mistress.”
“Sam, who is next on the list?”
“A Thomas Barker, I think he’s a lawyer or something,” she said, as her other cellphone rang. She looked at the caller ID. “Oh, Parker must realize I’m not there. It’shim.”
“Are you going to answer it?”
“Nope. I’lllethim worry,” she said.
“You obviously have a plan now,” he said.
“Yup, tonight, it’s me, this pizza and wine, andyou… if you want to stay,” she smiled.
“I’d love to stay,” he said.
“Good.”
“What happens tomorrow?”
“I have a few ideas. The first one is that I’m going to find the truth about Parker.”
“Samantha, you fell in love with him, didn’t you?”
“I thought I did. I really was feeling things for him. Different from what I felt with Ed. I did love Ed.”
“I know, sweetie,” he put his arm around her. “The cable is still hooked up here. Let’s just watch TV and relax.”
“Will you stay over?”
“Of course, I’ll hold you for as long as you need it. What are best friends for?” he smiled, as he turned on the television.