Читать книгу Don’t Look Twice - Andrew Gross, Andrew Gross - Страница 24

CHAPTER NINETEEN

You don’t have to do this, she said to herself. Things are just starting to turn for you. For Jared.

You don’t have to get involved…

It was later, in the small one-bedroom apartment Annie rented on the point neighboring Cos Cob, with a glimpse of the sound. A few French liquor posters hung on the walls. Her favorite majolica pitchers were arranged on the kitchen shelves. Basically all the possessions she had brought east with her.

Two glasses of wine hadn’t made much more sense of it for her.

Annie sat in her flannel pj’s writing a good-night e-mail to Jared. He always checked in before going to sleep.

Hey, dude, how’d your day go today? I had a great one. Our best night yet…

She took her fingers off the keyboard and paused.

She had seen the TV news reports. They all had. It was on at the restaurant all afternoon as they prepped for dinner. That horrible drive-by shooting in Greenwich.

Only five miles down the road.

When they first heard it, everyone stopped working and fixed on the screen. Manuel, her sous-chef. Tim, preparing the desserts. Claudia, from the waitstaff. The rumor was that it was some kind of crazy revenge attack. Involving gangs. Eighty shots. And this poor federal prosecutor had been caught in the line of fire. Just filling up his tank. Anyone could have stumbled into it.

“Jesus.” Claudia turned pale. “I fill up there all the time. It’s near where I work out.”

Manuel, always the conspiracy buff, weighed in. “You wait, there’s something deeper. This is all about drugs. Wait and see.”

“It’s not about drugs,” Tim shot back. “Didn’t you hear? It’s about some girl who drowned.”

Manuel spread out a flour mixture on the counter. “I know these people. You don’t want to mix with them—you just stay clear. What do you think, boss?”

“I think you better get those tamales filled,” Annie yelled over, “or you’ll be in my line of fire.”

They all laughed. Gradually they went back to work.

But now she was involved.

She had found the gun. She knew it. She had seen the police lieutenant on TV. Heard how they’d found the shooter’s truck. How they had a “person of interest” in custody. The red bandana. How they knew what kind of gun it was.

A Tec-9.

Annie knew exactly what she’d found.

The only question was, what was she going to do about it? Things were going well. Starting to turn around. This was a place she could bring Jared. There were good programs here.

This was a life she could build for herself.

Now all she could think of was the warning in that guy’s eyes.

Stay out, his stare had said bluntly. I know where to find you. I know who you are. If they had done that horrible thing at the Exxon station, what would they do to her?

Everything rode on this. Everything, Annie. It’s not your business. Don’t get involved. But yes, it was her business. They had made it her business. She took a sip from her glass of wine.

The poor man, he had kids, a family. Just like Jared.

And now he was dead.

She knew exactly what she’d found.