Panic lashed through Angie. She had to get out of here. Stat. A woman’s voice filled her head. She was screaming ... in some foreign language, yet the words seemed to make sense ...
Uciekaj, uciekaj! ... Run, run! ... Wskakuj do srodka, szybko! ... Get inside ... Siedz cicho! ... Stay quiet!
“I ... I’ll be back,” Angie said, lurching to her feet and eyeballing the exit door across the room. “I’ll come visit again as soon as I can. It’ll be better next time, I’m sure.” Angie bent down and kissed her mom quickly on the cheek. She hurried for the door, heart slamming.What the fuck?
Maddocks sat waiting in the Mount Saint Agnes parking lot for Pallorino, engine turning to keep warm.
The passenger door swung open suddenly, and Pallorino entered with a blast of cold. She slammed the door shut and rubbed the knees of her jeans. “Thanks for waiting,” she said, looking dead ahead.
“Jesus, you spooked me.” He laughed. “I didn’t see you coming—thought you’d exit out of those other doors.”
She buckled up, still avoiding his eyes.
“All okay?”
She rubbed her mouth. “Yeah. Yeah, fine.” She turned to him, her game face on. “Dropped the dog off?” she said.
He studied her. And she met his measuring gaze, unblinkingly, almost defiant. Something unspoken surged between them. Then he said, “Yeah, I dropped him off.” And he engaged gears.
As he drove back to the station, he said quietly, “Got an update from Buziak while I was waiting. Leo and Holgersen found Hocking’s apartment—it’s been cleaned out.”
“What do you mean,cleaned out?”
“Apparently Hocking called and gave notice eleven days ago. Moving van came and took all her stuff.”
“So she was alive eleven days ago?”
“Or someone else claiming to be her called to cancel her lease. Holgersen and Leo also located the guy they believe to be her dentist.” He shot her a glance. “Guess what his name is?”
“What is it?” she said, watching him intently.
“John Jacks. Except it’s spelled J O N J A C Q U E S.”
“The same name as Drummond’s boyfriend?”
“Apparently Dr.Jacques has a son. Jon Jacques Junior. Twenty-two years old. Leo and Holgersen have been digging into Jon Jacques Senior’s background. He’s on the board of the Oak Bay Country Club, and he’s been investigated in the past for organized crime connections. Allegations of laundering, tax evasion, bribery of a judge. Nothing stuck. Crown counsel has dubbed him Teflon Jon.”
She whistled softly. “So the dentist and his son could be a nexus between our two dead girls—Gracie Drummond and Faith Hocking.”
“And thatSunreporter, Merry Winston, was also at Faith Hocking’s apartment, same time as Holgersen and Leo arrived there. Somehow she got wind of our floater’s ID and address.” Maddocks cast his partner another glance. “What are your thoughts about this leak being internal?”
“If it is internal, it’s gotta be someone with a serious axe to grind,” she said. “Winston’s informant either wants to take someone inside the MVPD down, or he’s hitting at the entire organization of the MVPD.”
“Not necessarily a he. Could be a she.”
“What are you saying?”
“Exactly what I said.”
“You think it’sme?”
“You’re not the only female in the MVPD, Pallorino.”
She glared at him, waves of hot energy crackling off her. “I’m the only female with this particular case information.”
“No you’re not. There’s tech support staff. And there’s the family and intimate connections of other officers. Cops talk at home—like it or not, it happens.”
She fell silent, just the sound of wipers and the soft hum of the heater in the car.
