Читать книгу Day Zero - Chris Jayne - Страница 14

Five minutes later, having navigated all the way without ever driving on a main road, she pulled onto the cul-de-sac where Sylvia and Rob Henson had bought their retirement home. When she and Jack had moved to Miami, Sylvia’s husband Rob, brother to Jack’s grandmother, had still been alive. They’d seen the couple casually a couple of times a year, but after Jack had been killed, Sylvia and Rob had reached out and moved into Lori’s life in a way that had been invaluable. Then Sylvia went through a loss of her own when Rob had passed away from cancer three years ago.

Sylvia and Rob had been childless, and she’d been thrilled to become a surrogate grandmother to Brandon and Grace, all the more welcome because Lori’s own mother had been killed in a terrorist attack in London when she was just a child. At least she’d caught one lucky break. She happened to be close to the one place in Miami where she could go and it would be very difficult for anyone to find her.

Lori pulled up the driveway, parking the Range Rover as close to the garage door as she could get it. Sylvia was not home; her sister took a villa in Tuscany every fall, and Sylvia was staying with her for a few weeks. She’d asked Lori to water her plants while she was gone, so Lori had a key to the house and knew the security code.

Almost on auto-pilot, Lori walked around the back of Sylvia’s house, where the key Sylvia had left was hidden under a flowerpot. Not terribly original, but with the security system in place, someone who didn’t have the code wouldn’t get very far even with the key. Lori opened the door and carefully keyed in the security code, taking an extra second to do so. Mistakes would be easy to make and the last thing she needed was for the security company to call.

Quickly she went to the attached garage and hit the opener, then jumped back into the Range Rover and pulled it inside, next to Sylvia’s Escalade. Only after she’d pulled her distinctive car inside and shut the door again did she allow herself to breathe a tiny sigh of relief.

She walked into Sylvia’s kitchen, Sasha bounding behind her. The house was quiet, still, terribly peaceful. Sylvia loved scented candles and the fragrance of whatever she had burned last - cinnamon spice? - lingered.

A sense of unreality crashed over her and she caught her breath, deep and ragged. Had all of that really just happened? She reached up to push hair out of her face, and her hand caught on something sharp. She realized that it was a chunk of safety glass from the back window. Safety glass in her hair. Gingerly, she threaded it out of her long hair and stared at it numbly.

Lori had absolutely no idea what she should do. It seemed crazy - insane even - to not call the police yet with every passing second, she knew in her heart that - at least for right now - it was the right decision. At least five police cars had roared down Harbor Drive. She would be crazy to ignore that it was at least possible that had something to do with her. Sure, it might have been someone simply calling in her reckless driving, but five cars? That seemed a bit excessive. Her instincts said she was in danger, and those same instincts were telling her to be careful whom she trusted.

Sylvia’s electric kettle sat on the counter; Lori suddenly felt as if she desperately needed a cup of tea. While the water was heating she sank down onto the cushioned bench in Sylvia’s breakfast nook, and tried to make sense of all of it.

Again, she questioned her own interpretation of the reality, and again she came up with the same conclusion. Whomever or whatever she had accidentally stumbled onto, these were people who could fake a Senator’s death and get it on the national news media in less than eight hours. Lori had done enough parties in the last five years that she recognized most of the local “notables.” The assistant chief of police for Miami had been present at Saldata’s the previous evening. She wasn’t sure who the others men were, but they’d all appeared to be affluent American men.

This was Miami; corruption was everywhere, a fact of life. It was possible to live here and mostly avoid it, live a very safe, quiet, and family-friendly existence. But there were also evil people of great power, money and influence who moved through the city at will, and Lori knew unequivocally that she did not know who she could trust. She’d heard the joke about Miami police a dozen times: there were only two kinds of cops in Miami, those who were on the take and those who were dead. Suddenly, the jest didn’t seem so funny.

Thoughts tumbled through Lori’s head randomly. Could she have done more to save Senator Michaels? Her stomach clenched as she remembered the blood, the screams, the hole on the side of his head where an ear had been.

Lori absently opened a tea bag, placed it in a mug, reached for the electric kettle and then her eyes snapped open widely.

She dropped the glass kettle onto the granite countertop. It shattered into a million pieces, hot water splashing everywhere. Instinctively, Lori jumped back. Very hot water splashed onto her leg, soaking through her jeans but she barely felt the pain.

What in God’s name had she been thinking of? Or more accurately, not thinking of?

Brandon and Grace.

How could she not have thought of them until now? Were the children even safe? If someone wanted her, really wanted her, how long would it take someone with police and FBI connections to figure out where her children went to school? Gasping for air, she ran back out to the car and grabbed the cell phone.

Every minute - hell, every second - counted now. She dialed Brandon and Grace’s elementary school, frantically, as the call connected, trying to think of a plausible reason to pick them up.

“Sea View Elementary School, Mrs. Marshall speaking.” Lori felt a moment of relief. This was a lucky break. Gena Marshall was friendly and sweet, the “nice” secretary, while two of the other women who worked in the office were “by the book” rule followers, and would never have considered an unusual request.

“Gena, it’s Lori Dovner, Brandon and Grace’s mom?”

“Yes, Lori, how are you?”

Lori took a deep breath, hoping that no quaver would betray her frantic state of mind. “I’m fine,” she answered casually, “but I’m in a bit of a bind.”

“What’s going on?”

“I messed up,” she said, hoping she sounded sufficiently chagrined without sounding desperate. She took a quick glance at the kitchen clock hanging on the wall and tried to do math that would make her story plausible. “I totally forgot my kids have dentist appointments today at eleven.” That was in thirty minutes. “They’re so strict there, and if we’re more than ten minutes late, they cancel the appointments and charge us for the missed appointment. I’m coming in to pick up both of the children. If they are waiting for me in the office when I get there, I think I can make it. But if they don’t get called up until I come in, we’ll never get to the dentist office on time.”

“Well, you know we’re not supposed to do that,” Gena Marshall sounded uncertain.

It was school policy, Lori knew, not to call children out of their classrooms until after the parent had arrived. “I know. But I’m twenty minutes away, and the office is about ten minutes from the school. If the kids are waiting for me, I have a chance. And listen, I wouldn’t ask except one of Brandon’s teeth has been hurting. We really need this appointment.” Lori held her breath. There was a long pause.

“All right, just this once. They’ll be in the office when you get here.”

The call clicked off and Lori looked at the phone in her hand, wondering what to do next. Not only were the kids at risk, but, Lori supposed, so was Simone. It was Monday morning, and Simone had classes at the community college. She’d been on her way there when she took the kids to McDonald’s for breakfast. She was safe for now, Lori realized, as there was no way anyone could know her name or where she was, but she’d be coming home in less than two hours. If someone was watching Lori’s house, Simone could be in terrible danger.

What to do? Quickly Lori keyed the text function of her phone; she knew Simone wouldn’t answer the phone in class, but Lori was fairly sure that, like most students, she’d read a text. “It’s an emergency, Simone,” Lori typed. “Leave class now, and call me.”

She looked around Sylvia’s quiet, peaceful house, wishing she could just stay. Well, why not? This was a safe empty house, at the end of a quiet cul de sac, and she knew where Sylvia’s spare keys were, which meant she could drive Sylvia’s car, a vehicle that could not be connected to her. She hadn’t gotten so far as even to begin to consider what she was going to do after she got the children and Simone, but there was no reason she could not come back here. Sylvia was the widow of Lori’s dead husband’s great uncle, and her last name was different than hers. Because of that, it would take quite a bit of digging to connect her to Sylvia.

Whether she stayed here or not it was a private safe place to at least take inventory and plan.

The phone in her hand vibrated. She glanced at the screen: Simone. “What is it, Lori? What ees this emergency?” Simone’s French accent was stronger than usual, showing that she was upset.

“I can’t explain right now, Simi. But you need to trust me. You’re out of class?”

“Yes, oui. I went out as soon as I got the text.”

“Something’s happened, something dangerous. I’m afraid.” Lori paused, wondering how to phrase it so that Simone would realize it was very serious, but at the same time would prevent her from becoming so frightened she would freak out. “I saw something I shouldn’t have seen and I’m afraid,” she repeated, “that I might be in danger.” There was dead silence on the other end of the phone. “Until I can work things out, I need to know you and Brandon and Grace are safe.”

“What happened? What’s wrong?”

“Simone, I can’t explain right now. You need to trust me.” She paused, still not quite sure what she should tell Simone to do, but then a plan gelled in her mind. “I need you to leave school. Don’t go back to the house. Whatever you do,” she repeated, “do not go back to the house. Did you take the kids to the McDonald’s by their school this morning?”

“Yes, but…”

“Just listen, please. The one right by their school? On Ocean, across from the bank?”

Simone’s voice was more insistent. “Yes.”

“So, I want you to drive there. Right now. Park around back. I’ll be there in fifteen or twenty minutes and I’ll explain then.” When Simone didn’t say anything, Lori pushed her. “Promise me you’ll leave right now.”

“Yes, I will but what is it? Have I done something?”

“No! You haven’t.” This was exactly what she wanted to avoid: a drawn-out conversation with Simone. “I cannot explain right now. I cannot. You need to go to that McDonald’s and wait for me.” Lori paused. “Promise?”

Simone’s voice seemed tight with tension and confusion, but at least she agreed. “Yes, I will.”

“Leave right now?”

“Yes.”

Lori clicked off, and moved towards the garage, but paused, her stomach sinking, as her eyes rested on Sasha, sitting on the sofa in Sylvia’s front room, her head on the back of the sofa looking out the window. What should she do about the dog? Just last week a story had made the news about a family pet that had been shot at a traffic stop when the dog had jumped out of the car and started barking at the police officer. If things went south, the last thing she needed to be dealing with was a frantic dog. On the other hand, what if somehow she couldn’t get back to Sylvia’s house and the dog was left alone?

After only a second, she’d come up with a solution, and as soon as she pulled Sylvia’s Escalade out of the garage, and shut the door again, she dialed Michele’s number once more. Her employee picked up on the first ring.

“My god, Lori. I was just going to call you. Did you hear the news?”

Lori cut her off. “About Senator Michaels? Yeah. But listen, there’s more to that. Things you’re not hearing on the news. This whole thing has gotten messed up really fast.”

“What are you talking about?”

“I don’t want to tell you over the phone. I need to focus on my driving right now. But this could be life and death.”

“Life and death? Come on…”

“Just listen.” Quickly Lori gave Michelle the address of Sylvia’s house and explained about the dog. “I need you and Sal to go there right now. Don’t shower, don’t eat, don’t do anything but run to the car and go. The back door is unlocked and the security system is not armed. Go in, open the garage door, pull your car in, close the garage and wait for me. I should be there by eleven thirty.” After a long moment of silence, Michelle, her voice breaking with stress, agreed to do as Lori asked.

Lori piloted Sylvia’s car out to the main road, feeling enormously relieved that she was in a completely anonymous car. She took a quick glance at her watch. Ten minutes had passed since she’d called the school and she was still about ten minutes away: right on schedule.

As she drove she flipped through the news channels offered from the satellite radio service in Sylvia’s car. Almost all of them were talking about Senator Michaels’ death, and speculation was already rampant about what the political ramifications of the death would be, but no one had information about the actual murder that was any different from what she’d already heard.

Suddenly, her phone, lying on the console next to her rang. She didn’t recognize the number, and she stared at the phone’s screen, her heart racing all over again. It could be anyone; the main number for Top Hat Catering was actually her cell phone, but right now she could only assume the worst. Without answering the call, she thumbed the phone off.

Right on schedule, at 10:55, she approached the school, traveling down Ocean Drive. A red light gave her an opportunity to see the school up ahead. A right turn off Ocean would take her into the pick-up circle in front of the school. It was empty, as it should be at this time of day. The light changed and she drove on, turned on her turn signal and slowed… Then, her heart racing in her chest, she zoomed forward. What in God’s name was she thinking of? There were security cameras everywhere in front of the school. If she picked the kids up in Sylvia’s Escalade, her connection to Sylvia’s house would be known as soon as someone checked the plate with the DMV.

What now? Should she park the car down the road, and walk in and get the kids, and hope none of the secretaries noticed that she was on foot? Well, so what if they did? It would kill the “on the way to the dentist” story if anyone noticed but so what? They were her children and there was nothing illegal in her taking them.

Lori paused, then cursed her stupidity. Of course. Simone had a car, and she’d be only a couple of blocks farther down Ocean, at the place where Lori had said to meet. Only two minutes later, she pulled into the lot and spotted Simone’s car immediately.

Ash-faced, Simone jumped out and grabbed Lori’s arms. “What is the emergency? Are you hurt?” She peered intently into Lori’s face, then looked at the Escalade, confused. “What car is this?”

“I can’t explain right now. You need to trust me. We don’t have much time. We need to go to the school in your car and get the kids.”

Simone looked more frightened and baffled than ever, but she nodded without arguing further.

Lori considered the options. “You drive, okay?”

“Okay. D’accord.”