Page 159 of Sting

“Oh, Jesus. Oh no!” She slumped against the doorjamb, covered her mouth again to stifle her keening sounds, and stared at the bag. She squeezed her eyes shut, hoping against hope that when she opened them, it would be gone.

It wasn’t, of course.

She should alert Shaw.

But she owed Josh this one final penitence.

On rubbery legs she walked to the bag and knelt down beside it. Her hand shook as she took hold of the metal tab and unzipped the bag all the way down, then spread it open.

She screamed. Or would have.

Except that a hand was clamped hard over her mouth from behind and an eerie, overamplified, horribly distorted voice said, “Guess who?”

Chapter 39

As Shaw and Wiley walked from the pier back toward the house, Wiley mopped sweat off his forehead with his sleeve. “I was afraid we’d find his body or a grave in one of those buildings.”

“Crossed my mind.”

“Your side hurt?”

“Yeah.”

“There’s blood on your shirt.”

Shaw seemed not have heard that. He was distracted, his brow creased with concentration. “You called this in?”

“They’re on their way. We gotta keep them from trampling those tire tracks. If we get a cast, maybe we can type Josh’s car.”

Without breaking stride, Shaw looked toward the house. “See that it’s done quickly, then let’s get everybody out of sight. We should lay an ambush. Didn’t look like he cleared out for good, did it? He left clothes behind. His glasses.”

“Maybe he didn’t leave of his own volition,” Wiley said. “Maybe he was removed.”

“By Panella, you mean?”

“Exactly.”

“Maybe,” Shaw said thoughtfully. “But nothing indicates that a fight took place.”

“Hard to tell. The place is a shambles.”

“I know, but…”

“What?” Wiley prodded.

“I don’t know. Something keeps bothering me.”

“Heat’s bothering me,” Wiley mumbled, blotting his forehead again. “What’s bothering you?”

“I can’t quite pull it up.” He slowed. Wiley paused with him. Shaw said, “The first time I talked to Panella was on Saturday afternoon. Called him on Mickey’s phone to begin the negotiation of a new deal. That was around two o’clock.”

“Okay.”

“That same afternoon around three thirty, Josh shipped Jordie a cell phone.”

He turned to stare hard at Wiley, but Wiley got the impression that Shaw wasn’t seeing him at all, but rather a puzzle with one vital piece missing.

Suddenly Shaw said, “Those devices are easily obtainable off the Internet.”

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