“We’ll figure it out,” I said.“I’m coming around the corner now.With my lights off.”
I switched them off just as I swung onto the street where Rachel was parked.I could see her car halfway up.And I was reminded of what Mendoza had told me a lifetime ago, the day before yesterday.This wasn’t the kind of neighborhood where cars were parked on the street.Rachel’s little white compact stood out like a beacon.
I picked up the phone again.“Drive off down the road.You’re too conspicuous sitting there.There aren’t any other cars parked on the street.”
I imagined her taking the same look around as I’d taken when Mendoza told me the same thing two days ago.“What do you want me to do?”
“I’m going to pull into this driveway,” I said, and did.The house was dark and silent, and the inhabitants were probably dead asleep at this time of night.“Go around the block, park out of sight, and come back and join me.”
A second passed, and then Rachel’s car rolled off down the street.With the lights on.I rolled my eyes, but refrained from comment.Chances were nobody around here was awake to notice, and if the Russians happened to be looking out the window, then all they’d be concerned about, was the fact that she was leaving.
I stayed where I was, in the driveway of a house two doors down and across the street.The view of the house where Rachel had said the Russians went in, was pretty good.
It looked like your standard mid-century split-level, one of four or five I could see on the block.A rectangular shoe box, it had pale brick on the bottom half and what looked like vinyl siding on the top half.One door, a little offset from the middle, sat halfway between the top and bottom floor, with a double picture window to the left and two single windows to the right.
My right.
The driveway led directly to a two-car garage on the bottom floor, below the two single windows.On the opposite side from the garage, past the front steps, was another double window, only half as tall as the one above.
I figured the bigger picture window was probably the living room, while the two single windows were bedrooms with a window each.The basement room could be anything from another bedroom to a den or a workout room or something like that.
There were no lights on anywhere.Not even a sliver where the curtains didn’t quite meet.The inhabitants were either werewolves, who could see in the dark, or they’d boarded up all their windows.
A shadow suddenly appeared next to the car, and I swallowed a scream.Edwina, who had curled up to take a nap now that the car was finally still, raised her head and gave a short, sharp bark.
“Shhhh!”I told her.“It’s Rachel.You know Rachel.You like her.”
I unlocked the door and snagged the dog so Rachel wouldn’t sit on her.“That was fast.”
“I’ve been working out,” Rachel said and slid into the passenger seat.Edwina growled, but once she recognized Rachel—one of the two people who gave her treats and took her outside when I wasn’t there—she subsided.
“You didn’t tell me you were bringing the dog,” Rachel added.
“I was afraid she’d pee on David’s white shag rug.She isn’t used to the apartment yet.Plus I like the company.”
Rachel nodded.“What do we do now?”
I wasn’t entirely sure, to tell the truth.I’d wanted to find out where the Russians took the girls after the nightclub closed.And we’d done that.I wasn’t sure why we were still here.I could have just told Rachel to go home, and then tomorrow, I could have called Mendoza and told him where to go.I wasn’t really sure why I hadn’t done that.
“I guess we could have a look around.”Although we probably couldn’t expect to find much.Especially since I wasn’t sure what we were looking for.
Unless… Was there a chance that Anastasia was working with this group, and they had Steven inside?Was that why they’d beaten up Zachary when he came around asking questions?Because they didn’t want anyone to realize what was going on?
“That’s possible,” Rachel agreed when I said so.“They’re clearly up to something.And after what happened to Zachary, it’s pretty obvious that Anastasia has something to do with it.One way or the other.”
It was.
“I’m not sure whether we shouldn’t just let Mendoza know what we’ve found out and let him deal with it, though.”
“What if they kill Steven?”Rachel said.
“Why’d they do that?It wasn’t Steven’s fault that they didn’t get the money this evening.”Or what they thought was the money.“Diana was there with a big bag.Nobody came to pick it up.”
“Maybe they recognized you,” Rachel said.“Or Mendoza.”
Maybe.I thought back to the crush of bodies at the Arena as the game let out.Had I seen either of the Russian men in the crowd?Even just in passing, without really realizing it?
I didn’t think I had.And I didn’t think they’d gotten a look at Mendoza this afternoon, so they wouldn’t have recognized him.
