Flirtation. Part 10

"There's nothing you can do, darlin'."

Sirens screamed in the distance, and Charlotte took a few steps backward, though she didn't obey EJ's orders-how could she? How could she just go cower in fear as this man lay dying out in the open on the sidewalk? She stepped forward, crouching, and took the wounded officer's limp hand in hers, willing him her energy to hold on.

"Charlotte," EJ bit out her name, but then looked deeply into her eyes, his own gaze weary and sad. He signed deeply, relenting. "Okay."

Charlotte flinched when tires screeched to the curb, but she knew this time it was the ambulance and more police. As EMTs rushed up the sidewalk, shouting to make room, she let go of the officer's hand and backed away. Chaos ensued, and she felt as if she were in a fog, drifting up the steps and into the house, away from the horrible intensity of the moment. That man had to live. She couldn't bear the thought that someone died because of something Ronny might have gotten involved in.

She pushed a battered, plastic shade away from the window-she'd always offered to make Ronny some curtains, but he thought they were girly-and looked on as the officer was carted into the ambulance. EJ stood on the sidewalk talking with another man and a tall, gorgeous woman who looked really p.i.s.sed off.

Were they all cops? Suddenly she felt very alone, and very scared. Ronny was gone, her home was devastated, she was suspected of being a criminal, someone had been shooting guns over her head, and EJ was certainly not who she thought he was-what was going to happen to her next?

Looking down, she noticed she had some bloodstains on the hem of the dress, and felt her stomach clench. The sc.r.a.p of material she wore was unimportant, relatively speaking, but she'd made a promise to Phoebe, and now the dress was ruined. It was the last straw. With a peek back out the window, she headed for the back door.

"DID YOU FIND ANYTHING inside the house?" inside the house?"

EJ had called Ian to the scene as soon as he'd called for an ambulance, and he shook his head.

"Not yet. We didn't really have time. I came back out to get Charlotte, and then all h.e.l.l broke loose."

"Any idea who was in the car?"

"h.e.l.l, no."

"Will she know?" Ian tipped his head toward Charlotte, who was peeking out through a shade. EJ knew he was walking a thin line on this one-to say his behavior was unprofessional didn't even begin to describe it. Ian would want to take Charlotte in for questioning, but EJ had a gut feeling that wouldn't get them anywhere.

"I don't think so. She seems pretty clueless about the entire thing."

Sarah stepped forward. "Are you making that a.s.sessment with your big head or your little one?"

EJ's temper flared, his emotions stripped too thin to put up with Sarah's s.h.i.+t tonight, and he stepped forward, toe-to-toe with his colleague. "Don't push it, Jessup."

Ian sighed. "Though badly phrased, I think it's a fair question, EJ. Not that I don't normally trust your instincts, but it could have been you getting loaded into that ambulance tonight. If you're off on this one, for whatever reason, you need to be straight about it."

EJ took a deep breath, neither he nor Sarah breaking their standoff, and he answered Ian. "I've seen her house, spent time with her, asked her straight on about what's going on-she could be lying, I've played out the scenarios, but I don't think so. There's a better chance her brother's been using her to run his own scams. He sounds like trouble waiting to happen, and probably got in over his head." He took a step back, watching as Charlotte stepped back from the window. "She didn't stay down. When Nate went down, she came and sat with him. Held his d.a.m.ned hand."

"That's hardly-" Sarah's comment was cut short by a look from Ian.

"Okay. They're at her place now, brus.h.i.+ng for prints, and we'll do the same here, though it doesn't look like anyone was here. We'll go with your gut for now. Though whatever she's involved in, it's gone way beyond theft," Ian concluded.

"Agreed." EJ paused for a moment, then added, "How'd they know we were here?"

"Huh?" Ian said.

"The shooters. How'd they know where we were?"

"A bug maybe. A neighborhood snitch. Could be anything," Ian said, shrugging.

"Could be a leak," EJ said, blowing out a breath.

Ian's eyes widened. "You think someone at the station told them you were here?"

"I called in for backup, for someone to come to the house, then this happens. It's not impossible."

"s.h.i.+t," Ian said.

"Yeah."

"That would put a whole new spin on things-who could have their hands in something that reached that far?" Ian asked.

The question settled between them, and EJ rubbed his hands over his face, shaking his head.

"I have to get in there. See how's she's doing." He looked Ian in the eye. "You know I can't bring her in if there's a chance someone on the inside set this up."

"So what are you going to do?" Ian asked.

"I don't know, but I'll be in touch."

"This won't go down well. She's involved, even if she's not guilty-with one of our men down, there isn't going to be much patience waiting for her to tell what she knows, even if it's not much. They'll want to know why she hasn't been brought in."

"Tell them I'm on it." EJ met Ian's doubtful glance solidly before turning and walking back into the house.

CHARLOTTE QUICKLY WENT to Ronny's bedroom, looking for something less obvious to wear, and found his clothes thrown around, and his one beat-up suitcase gone. He'd taken off, apparently. The thought provided her some small bit of relief-she'd been afraid he might have met with a much worse fate. A piece of white paper was on the bed, and she moved toward it, slowly, and then read the brief message scrawled out in Ronny's rough handwriting. to Ronny's bedroom, looking for something less obvious to wear, and found his clothes thrown around, and his one beat-up suitcase gone. He'd taken off, apparently. The thought provided her some small bit of relief-she'd been afraid he might have met with a much worse fate. A piece of white paper was on the bed, and she moved toward it, slowly, and then read the brief message scrawled out in Ronny's rough handwriting.

Charlotte, so sorry, hon, I was doing this for us. For you. But there could be some big trouble, so watch yourself. I'll try to straighten it out, but won't be in touch for a while. Love, Ronny Charlotte stared at the note, her voice thin.

"Oh, Ronny, what have you done?"

She grabbed the note as she heard the screen door in the front hallway squeak open and shut. EJ. She had no time to find clothes, she had to go. She had to find her brother before he did another stupid thing.

Quickly, she pushed up the window by the headboard of the bed and swung her legs over the sill, unconcerned at this point what further damage happened to the dress. She was done in on that score anyway. Kicking her shoes off, she slid to the damp ground, heard EJ calling her name somewhere inside the apartment, and took off at a run.

She knew the backlots well enough to find her way to the next neighborhood, and looked around frantically for a taxi. She couldn't trust EJ-he had a job to do, but that job meant she could be spending the rest of the night in a police station ratting out her brother instead of looking for him, and she wanted to find him before the cops did. Or before whatever nasty people who were after them did.

Luck was on her side. She didn't see EJ behind her, and a taxi pulled up at the curb. She got in, but wasn't sure where to tell the driver to go. It hit her then: Rascal's. It was a dive on the edge of town where Ronny and his friends hung out. She'd only been there once or twice, and she didn't really know anyone, and doubted they'd remember her. But they might know where Ronny is.

She directed the driver, and sat back, chewing on her thumb as they drove to the outer edges of the city, where there were fewer people and darker streets, but she barely noticed. Spotting a twenty-four-hour convenience store, she asked the driver to stop and ran in, purchasing a pair of cheap scissors before moving on.

While she thought about her plan, and how she might contact Ronny, she ruthlessly cut the French lace she wore off at the knee, going as evenly as she could so she'd look a little more casual and avoid drawing any attention to the bloodstain on the hem. Smoothing her hair, she handed the driver her credit card and hoped she had enough money on it to pay for the fare, and exhaled in relief when he handed it back to her without a problem.

The cab drove away, leaving her standing in the dusty parking lot with the sounds of tree frogs and other night creatures humming behind her and the booming sound of rock music and raucous laughter thrumming from the bar.

Straightening her back, she took a deep breath and headed for the door. She wasn't in any danger. It was just a bar, which meant there were waitstaff, bartenders and cooks-no one was going to hurt her here. The most she might have to endure would be some comments or leers, and she could deal with that.

EJ RACED BACK OUT RACED BACK OUT to the sidewalk, looking around sharply, and didn't see a thing. Sarah was gone, and Ian was on his cell phone in the front seat of his car. EJ slid in beside him, covering his mouth with his palm for a second, and then looked at Ian, who clicked off his phone and met EJ's glance. to the sidewalk, looking around sharply, and didn't see a thing. Sarah was gone, and Ian was on his cell phone in the front seat of his car. EJ slid in beside him, covering his mouth with his palm for a second, and then looked at Ian, who clicked off his phone and met EJ's glance.

"I lost her."

"What? How could you lose her? She was right there in the window."

"She must have bolted through the back when I came in, or while we were dotting the I's and crossing the T's out here." He slammed the heel of his hand into the dash. "s.h.i.+t. I can't believe we let this happen."

"Want to put out an APB?"

EJ considered. "No. It's still possible whoever's after her and her brother could be clued into the police communications. She's in enough danger already. At least if we don't know where she is, maybe no one else does, either."

"True. But to disappear that quickly she had to have some help. She caught a bus, took a cab, or hitched, but someone, somewhere, knows where she was going, so it won't be hard to find out. Let's head back to the lab."

"Shouldn't you get home to Sage?"

"She'll call me if something happens."

EJ nodded curtly, p.i.s.sed at himself, at Charlotte, and hoping desperately that they found her before anyone else did.

"Okay, let's go."

7.

"I'VE GOT HER."

Ian slapped the desk, his exclamation pulling EJ away from his own inquiries as Ian slammed down the phone, smiling like the cat who got the cream.

"Well, whether she's guilty or not, she's not very slick. Took General taxi and paid with her credit card about an hour ago. They dropped her at a place called Rascal's. Here's the address. You know it?"

EJ nodded. "I've been past it. A real dive on the outskirts." His gaze darkened as he grabbed his jacket. Thankfully he kept a change of clothes at the office and wouldn't have to go to the roadhouse in his expensive suit. He'd have trouble before he made it through the door that way. But in jeans, sweats.h.i.+rt and Norfolk Tide baseball cap, he should fit right in. He hoped.

"What the h.e.l.l did she go there for?" he wondered out loud.

"Either she's meeting up with someone, or she's looking for someone. Or trying to disappear."

"Could be she knows where her brother is after all."

"Want backup?"

EJ shook his head, feeling a lethal mix of emotions that he couldn't quite sort through, but he pushed them down, becoming cool and focused. He shoved his nine-millimeter in his belt under his jacket.

"No. I'll get her."

"It could be she didn't make a mistake. Maybe she wants to be found."

"A trap?"

"Could be. You should have backup."

"No, it'll scare her off. I want to make a quiet approach, see what's going on, not go in there with sirens blaring. And it could be it was a stupid mistake."

"Dangerous a.s.sumption."

"I'll take my chances."

"HOOO-DOGGIE! Come over here, sweet thang, and sit on papa's lap for a lil' while." Come over here, sweet thang, and sit on papa's lap for a lil' while."

A chorus of laughter went up as Charlotte made her way through the bar, telling herself the comments were not aimed at her. She kept her eyes on the bar and made her way to it, sitting as quickly as she could and signaling the bartender-she thought she remembered his name was Frank, but she wasn't sure.

The smoke in the place choked her, and she counted the bottles lined up on the back of the bar, striving to look careless and unperturbed as one large, smelly man took the seat next to her. She held her breath again, and closed her eyes in relief when he ignored her and turned to the guy next to him.

She wasn't so lucky the second time. Someone swaggered up, and wasn't about to be ignored, tapping her on the shoulder. She set her jaw and turned, her eyes widening when she took in the very threatening countenance of the man who towered over her as she faced him from her position on the stool. He didn't look like a barfly, and he definitely wasn't anyone she'd seen before. He was...handsome, for one thing. He wasn't smoking, and he smiled, just a little.

"Ms. Gerard?"

He knew her name. She recoiled, looking around her, wondering what was going on. Was he a cop? Or one of the men who wrecked her apartment and shot at her? The man leaned in, planting his hands on the bar on either side of her. His breath was minty, not alcoholic. A bad guy wouldn't have clean breath, would he?

"Ms. Gerard?"

"Yes. How do you know my name?"

"We know someone in common."

She grasped his forearm with her hand, no longer afraid. "Ronny? My brother? Do you know where he is?"

The man's eyes narrowed to slits. "No. Actually, we were looking for you. Your computer didn't offer up the information we needed, so we decided to come directly to the source."

"You! You wrecked my home!"

He slanted a smile. "Not personally, no. Why don't you come with me? I have someone who'd like to talk with you."

She crossed her arms resolutely over her chest. "I'm not going anywhere with you. And I don't believe you-you must know what happened to Ronny."