Against The Night Part 37

"Wait till you see Ty's truck. You're gonna love it."

Jimmy tore loose and raced toward the door. When he saw Ty's snazzy red pickup, his eyes widened. "Can I drive?" he asked.

Ty laughed. "Not quite yet, buddy, but someday you'll be old enough." He swung the boy into the air, propped him against his shoulder, and they headed out the door.

At Baskin-Robbins, they placed their order, then sat at a small round table licking double-scoop ice cream cones. Ty lapped at a mint chocolate chip while Amy and Jimmy ate rocky road.

"I love ice cream," Jimmy said. "This is so good."

Ty reached over and ruffled the little boy's red hair. "It sure is, partner."

When his cell phone started ringing, Ty stood up and dragged it out of the pocket of his faded jeans. "Hey, Johnnie." He started frowning and then he was nodding. When the call ended, he didn't look pleased.

Amy grabbed his arm. "Is it Johnnie? Is he all right?"

"He's fine." Ty glanced down to make sure Jimmy was busy with his cone and spoke quietly. "Talbot's dead. Cops shot him for resisting arrest. Johnnie doesn't like the way things are coming down. He wants us to head back home."

Amy's nerves kicked up. She turned to the little boy. "We're gonna take these home with us, okay?"

Ty looked at the sloppy cones they would be taking in his nice clean truck and grimaced.

Amy laughed. "You let me drive so I owe you. I'll clean up the truck."

"Deal," Ty said.

It didn't take long to reach the Zimmer house. With the amount of napkins Amy had taken from the ice cream shop, the mess was minimal. By the time she led Jimmy up the steps and across the porch to the door, the boy was finished eating. While Ty waited on the porch, Amy took Jimmy inside and washed the chocolate off his hands and face.

"I've got to go but I'll be back," she told him. "I promise."

Mrs. Zimmer walked into the kitchen, catching Amy's attention, and Jimmy dashed away.

"Something's come up and I have to go," Amy said. "I think Jimmy enjoyed the ice cream."

Mrs. Zimmer smiled. "I'm sure he did."

"Tell him goodbye for me, will you?"

"Oh, look, here he comes."

Grinning, the little boy raced toward her, something clutched in his hand.

"I got you a present." Shyly, Jimmy held out his hand.

Amy's eyes widened when she saw it was a cell phone. She looked at Mrs. Zimmer for an explanation, but the older woman looked as surprised as she was and just shook her head.

Amy knelt in front of Jimmy. "Where did you get this, sweetheart?"

"I found it on the floor by the sofa. I think it's Rachael's."

Amy's pulse kicked up. She gently took the phone from the little boy's hand. "Thank you, Jimmy. I'll take very good care of it until Rachael gets home." She looked up at Mrs. Zimmer. "This could really be important."

"Take it. Maybe it will help them find her."

Amy leaned over and hugged the older woman, bent down and hugged little Jimmy. "Thank you for the present, sweetheart. I'll see you again soon."

So excited her heart was racing, Amy ran out onto the porch. "Ty! Jimmy found Rachael's cell phone! We need to find a Verizon store and buy a battery charger."

Ty shoved away from the railing, grinned and pulled out his iPhone to find the nearest location. "No problem."

A few minutes later, they were flying down the street, Ty behind the wheel, driving even faster than Johnnie.

Johnnie had a stop to make on his way home-the call he had wanted to make last night. Patty Wilkins, the girl Wes Henley had called the night he died, a manicurist who worked at a salon called Epiphany.

The bell above the door at Epiphany salon rang as Johnnie shoved it open, and the smell of ammonia hit him. The sound of hair dryers merged with the chatter of women. He walked over to a buxom blonde who was cutting a woman's wet black hair.

"I'm looking for Patty Wilkins. You know where I can find her?"

The woman turned, eyeballed him top to bottom, flashed him an interested grin and pointed to a redhead with pretty blue eyes. "That's her right over there."

Patty smiled at his approach.

"You're in luck. I just had a cancellation." She grabbed his hand and examined his nails, which he kept short and fortunately were clean. "You want a full manicure? Or would you rather just have a buff?"

Johnnie eased his hand away. "Thanks, but not today." He pulled his ID out of his pocket. "I'm John Riggs. I'd like to talk to you about Wes Henley."

Her gaze shot to his face. "Wes is dead. The police called me already, a detective named Vega."

"You know you were the last person Wes talked to the night he was killed."

"That's what the cop said, but at the time I didn't know. Wes called me twice that night, but the truth is we hardly knew each other. That's what I told the detective. We went out a couple of times and I broke it off. I'm not really into his type."

"What type is that?"

"I don't know...guys who shave their heads and cover themselves with tattoos to make them feel macho. A man whose favorite topic is himself."

"So what did you and Wes talk about that night?"

"Not much. That's what I told the police. But later, I got to thinking...I remember he told me he was into something big. Said he was going to make a nice chunk of money. I had a feeling it was something illegal."

"He wasn't worried about getting caught?"

"I asked him that. He said he had it covered, said the guy who was paying him had connections so he didn't have to think about that."

"What did you say?"

"I said if I'd had any doubt he wasn't my type, I didn't anymore and then I hung up."

Johnnie pressed a twenty into her hand along with a business card. "Thanks, Patty. If you think of anything else, give me a call."

She smiled, stuffed the twenty and the card into the pocket of the smock she wore over her jeans. "Call me when you're ready for that mani."

He smiled back. "Yeah, I'll do that."

Johnnie was halfway home when his cell phone started ringing. He recognized Amy's number and pressed the phone against his ear.

"We've got Rachael's cell!" Excitement rang in her voice. "Little Jimmy found it on the floor at Mrs. Zimmer's. We're charging it in the truck on the way back to the house."

"Oh, baby, that's good news. I'll meet you there." Johnnie closed the phone and stepped on the gas.

They all poured into the house together. They went straight to the kitchen, pulled out the chairs and sat down around the table.

"It should be charged enough to use. Where do we start?" Amy handed Johnnie the phone.

"We could look at the calls Rachael made the night she was abducted," Ty suggested. "Vega should be able to track down who they went to."

Johnnie flipped open Rachael's phone. "First, let's take a look at her address book. Most call lists go by first names. Let's see if we can find a Dan listed in there."

"Great idea!" Amy said excitedly. "Maybe he's right there in her phone book." Jumping up from her chair, she came around to lean over Johnnie's shoulder as he brought up Rachael's address book and started looking through it.

All of a sudden the name appeared. Danny Turner.

"Oh, my G.o.d, there he is!"

"Only one number listed," Johnnie said. "Probably his cell."

"Jesus," Ty said. "You think this is the Danny we've been looking for? Can't be that easy."

"Call him, Johnnie! If Rachael's number is in his cell, he'll think she's the one who's calling."

"I guess we'll find out." Johnnie pressed the send b.u.t.ton and the phone started ringing. When a man answered, he handed the phone to Amy, then leaned close so that both of them could hear.

Amy took a deep breath. "h.e.l.lo...Danny?"

A long pause, the tension on the other end of the line seemed almost tangible. "Who...who is this? Who's calling?"

"This is Rachael. I've missed you, Danny."

"Rachael?" The man's voice rose a notch. "You don't...don't sound like yourself. Is this...is this really you?"

Amy looked up at Johnnie. He nodded for her to continue.

"Why did you do it, Danny? You knew the way I felt, how much I cared about you."

"I...I can explain everything...sweetheart." His voice firmed. "Why don't we meet someplace and talk things over? We'll straighten everything out."

When Amy paused, Johnnie reached over and took the phone from her hand, broke the connection.

"He's our guy. He didn't come forward when Rachael disappeared, now he figures she's got her memory back and he's screwed."

Johnnie pulled out his phone and called Rick Vega at the safe house. "We found Rachael's cell. The name of the guy she was seeing is Danny Turner. We need a GPS location for the call he just received." Johnnie rattled off the number.

"I'm on it," Vega said. "I'll call you right back." The line went dead.

"It may be a disposable," Ty warned.

Johnnie shook his head. "She was just a girl he was dating. At the time, she wasn't a threat. Until he got that call, he probably didn't even remember he was in her address book."

"He knows we're on to him now," Amy said. "What if he tries to run?"

"He might," Johnnie said. "But if he's the link to Ortega, he's high enough on the food chain he's got a lot to lose. I think he'll make a last-ditch effort to get rid of the problem."

The minutes ticked past. When everyone began to fidget waiting for Rick's call, Amy got up and grabbed some soft drinks out of the refrigerator. Pop tops cracked open all around.

Then Johnnie's phone rang.

"The call went to 210 North Figueroa," Rick said. "That's the D.A.'s office, my friend. Organized Crimes Division. Daniel Turner's a deputy D.A."

"You don't f.u.c.king say?" Johnnie blew out a breath. "That's it then. Turner was in Ortega's pocket. Rachael found out something she wasn't supposed to know and Turner handed her over to Ortega.

"We've got to be careful with this," Vega warned. Ortega's dead but his reach may go a whole lot deeper than Turner. If that's the case, anyone involved will be trying to save his a.s.s."

"I don't know if you've heard, but your partner just blew away the one guy who might have been able to lead us to Turner."

"Lansky? d.a.m.n. It's possible he's involved, I guess. We've only been working together a couple of months. I know his wife left him for another guy. He was always talking about winning her back. Maybe he figured the money he made from Ortega would do the trick."

Johnnie's jaw hardened. "I want Turner." He flicked a glance at Amy, thought of all she and Rachael had suffered. "I want him bad."

Vega's voice roughened. "We both do. But the evidence just isn't there. Let me talk to Rachael. Her memory's been coming back in bits and pieces. Let's see if Turner's name rings any bells."

Johnnie's fingers tightened around the phone. "Do it."

Thirty-Four.

Rachael sat on the sofa, staring at a game show on TV. Rick didn't think she was actually watching. Hannah was in the kitchen, busy chopping onions and tomatoes-some of the groceries she had convinced one of the agents to get for the lasagna she wanted to make.

Rick had called Johnnie from the bedroom so Rachael wouldn't hear. Afterward, he had used his iPad to dig up as much information as he could on Daniel Turner. He wasn't looking forward to the task ahead. He just prayed it would work.

"Rachael?"

Her gaze swung to his and for the first time seemed to actually focus. "Yes?"

"I need to talk to you a minute. It'd be better if we could speak in private."