“What kind of vehicle did Ricky drive?”

“Something big, expensive.”

“Color, make, model?”

“I don’t know. I only saw it at night and not even close. I think it was light colored, maybe gray or silver, a Mercedes or Cadillac, an SUV.”

“Do you remember anything about a plate number or state?”

“Are you kidding?”

“And you’re sure you don’t have a last name?”

“I’m pretty sure he never used it.”

Ray took some time scanning the notes he’d made. Rood sat perfectly still for the first time during the interview. “I think that’s it for now,” he said, finally. “But I want your cell number in case I need to talk with you again. And here’s my card. Please call if you remember anything that you think might be helpful. Are you planning to stay in the area?”

“Yeah, I am as a matter of fact. I’ve got a job lined up at the casino. Start next weekend.” Her tone softened, “I’m sorry for Jim,” she said. “Really. As men go, he wasn’t a bad sort. I just caught him crashing and burning. And I needed to get away. I didn’t sign on to be part of the wreckage.”

41

Mackenzie ran her hands back, fingers spread, through her hair. She was Skyping with Ken Lee again, but she’d just woken up and the home video feed was a useful mirror.

“I’ve got your tracks on screen,” Ken Lee was saying, “and I’ve just imposed Sabotny’s over yours.”

“Anything interesting?” she yawned, stretching her arms and slowly rolling her head from side to side.

“You okay? I thought you were up and at it hours ago.”

“I fell back to sleep. Now I feel worse for the wear. What do you have?”

“Lots of stuff. First Sabotny. He was in town earlier in the evening. Looks like he had dinner at Outback, yet again. I’ve noticed that ex-military types think that’s the epitome of….”

“You’re ex-military. You wouldn’t go near any chain restaurant, especially that one,” she chided.

“Got close to dying too many times. Now I make sure every meal is worth eating just in case it’s my last. As I was saying, his vehicle was there for about an hour and a half, and then he stopped at that grocery complex on U.S. 31 for 20 minutes before heading back up 22. He was home for 15 minutes before going out to Moarse’s place. Looking at your track and timeline, you’d been in place quite awhile by then.”

“Yep, I was starting to go crazy. I’m not designed for surveillance work.”

“Your track is more interesting than Sabotny’s. All I can see is his vehicle’s movements. Your movements I can tie to Google Earth and know your exact location, even when you’re walking.”

“What’s so interesting about it?”

“I’m just getting to that. Eventually Sabotny leaves the Moarse place, and you plant the phantom cell. Then you hustle out of there, return to your car, drive around for a bit, then roll by again. Sabotny did sort of the same thing, only he headed south, then came back north. Then he does this really curious thing. He heads west and drives all over hell’s half acre before finally going back down to Traverse and home. You two probably passed in the process.”

“I did see a car or two. Not much moving up here at that time of night. What do you think he was up to?”

“Here’s me speculating. Sabotny does the deed on Moarse, goes off, then comes back to check on something, like to make sure the dude is stone dead. But surprise, the cops are there. Quick switch to panic mode. He’s wondering how the heat got there so fast. So he does a run, paranoid as hell, thinking maybe he’s being followed.”

“Yeah, okay, that’s good,” said Mackenzie. “I’d like the SOB to feel some of the terror he inflicted on my brother.”

“The downside is I don’t have his GPS signal anymore. The unit failed or he found it. My bet is that he found it. He doesn’t just ‘think,’ he ‘knows’ he’s being watched. I’ve told you before, baby, this guy is bad. He’s a killer, a psychopath. And now he’s feeling like a trapped animal. He isn’t going to feel safe until he finds and eliminates whoever’s after him. He’s going to take out anyone that looks like a threat.”

“I hear you Ken Lee. But what can he know? He doesn’t know anything about me,” asked Mackenzie.

“And that’s where we should leave things. It’s time to pull the plug, time to get out, time to find an exit strategy, and get your pretty ass out before things go totally to shit.”

“I don’t agree. He can’t possibly know I’m after him.”

“Do you know that for sure? One hundred percent for sure? No. And the other thing you don’t know is crazy. I mean, really crazy, smart crazy. You don’t know these people. That dude is totally wired and he’s going to use all his resources to eliminate the threat. If you found him, he can find you.”

“All right. I’ll think about it. So why did he kill Moarse?” she asked, trying to change the direction.

“Moarse was a liability. Whatever Sabotny needed from him was over. And it would have been a perfect murder. Drunk dies in sauna, someone finds the putrid body days later. Just another dumbshit, accidental death. But things don’t go down like planned. And now he’s on the hunt. Mackenzie, we need to get you out of there. Let’s bring in some pros, see if we can get enough on the dude to take to the police.”

“I want that SOB to rot in jail for the rest of his life, Ken Lee. I want him to be caged up with the other human garbage, wherever they put them in this state, Jackson, Marquette….”

“Good. Go to the cops. Tell them what you know. There might be enough to nail him.”

“Would they believe me? Do they have enough evidence to build a case, or did they screw up the scene? What if the sheriff is an old friend of Sabotny’s—and I’ve blown my cover?”

“Yeah, yeah. Lots of problems” Ken Lee admitted. “And the prosecutor might have gotten his degree online. Sabotny is going to have the best lawyers money can buy. But still….”

“You know what, Ken Lee, I like the fact that he’s crazy. I want to turn up the heat.”

“No, Mackenzie. We need to get you out of there.”

“I’ll say it again: how’s he going to find me?”

“Okay, okay. Give me a minute. I got it. When he looked up his old buddies, he was wondering about you. What happened to that skinny little girl, he says to himself? You’ve made yourself hard to trace, but he’s been trying. And don’t think you haven’t been noticed around there. That’s too small of a place. It’s not like Manhattan or L.A. You’ve got to come home, baby. We’ll come up with another strategy.”

“What’s all this ‘baby’ crap?” asked Mackenzie. “You’ve never used that term before, but it’s been creeping into our conversations lately. I’m not your baby. I’m not anyone’s baby. I’m a woman. And I’m not leaving until this is over.”

“I should come out then.”

“No. Listen. I appreciate all you’ve done, but this is mine. You can visit after everything is over. We’ll walk the beaches, drink wine, watch the sunset, the things couples do. But right now, just keep giving me the support. No more lectures. I’m going to figure this out and nail him myself one way or another.”

42

“How did your interview with Ms. Rood go?”

“Just give me a few more minutes,” Ray said, his eyes not moving off the screen. “Where is Simone?”

“She’s at home.”

“All this time?”

“I have a guest; flew in last night. He’s looking after her.”

“Sorry,” said Ray.

“It’s okay,” said Sue. “He needs to know what I do and the hours I work.”

“Sure that’s a good thing?”

“I was asking about your conversation with Sally Rood.”

“I just posted my notes. You can look at the video when you have time. In short, she’s not a morning person, and she has a certain ambivalence about law enforcement, especially when she’s pulled from the arms of her lover at an early hour.”