Page 34 of Nightcrawler

He seemed to deflate at my words. He sighed. “I’m sorry I misjudged you, Raven. I seem to do that all the time with you. It was real nice of her to care for him. I’m surprised his ungrateful children didn’t fight her for the estate, though. That was a large bequest to go uncontested especially by kids who didn’t seem to have much of a relationship with their father.”

I smiled and reached for his hand. He clung to it, threading our fingers together. “She loved him. I mean, he was her employer but there was more to it than that. She saw a good man in him. He was a widower. I can’t begin to fathom the reason his adult children didn’t take her to court. Maybe they felt guilty for neglecting him when he needed someone the most. She never got a dime from them for acting as their father’s caregiver all those years. She once told me his children had money of their own and they didn’t fight her for the house because of the size of their trust funds.

“Beyond that, his kids had no real relationship with him. He was a retired Unocal executive who had other homes and a heap of money in pension benefits, a sizeable social security from thewages he’d earned while at the oil company, and also a very healthy stock portfolio. The kids got all of that except the social security. Who really knows why he was estranged from them, but the house was probably a drop in the bucket.”

Miguel nodded. “I’m glad she got the house then.” He looked down at our clasped hands before looking up. “And like I said, I’m really sorry that I made that crack about you being wealthy and all. I shouldn’t have said that.” He let go of my hand and ran his fingers through his hair as he sighed. Eventually, he looked back at me. “I have to take that job, Raven, and as much as I appreciate your offer, I can’t possibly take you up on it. You’re in absolutely no condition to go back to work, much less face off with a dangerous addict who, from all accounts, makes everyone’s life miserable.”

“I have no intention of getting anywhere near that guy, but I don’t want you going after him alone either.”

“I just told you I—”

I smiled at him. “And, I heard you and if you’ll hear me out, I think there’s a better way of getting to this guy than having a confrontation with him. I’m going to tell you exactly how we can get him.”

Chapter Twelve

RAVEN

I slid out of the truck after parking in the towing yard, handing him the credit card to pay for the fees, and walking away, before pulling out my phone to make a call. Ten minutes later, I walked back to the window where he still stood. He turned to me, looking wary.

“What is it?”

“Meet me in an hour. My friends will be there, and I expect you to be there too. Promise me, Miguel?” I wrote down the name of a diner where I wanted us to meet and handed the Post-it Note to him.

“I promise,” he said, taking the sticky note and folding it, shoving it into the front pocket of his jeans. “But that doesn’t mean I’m taking untrained people out to help me capture a fugitive, Raven. Shit, with you helping me and now these friends you called, I feel like a sopping wet pussy.” We both glanced up at the young receptionist who was staring at us from behind glass. She’d apparently finished retrieving Miguel’s paperwork and returned in silence while he argued with me.

She blinked wide eyes at us, thinned her lips in obvious disgust, and slid the paperwork through a slot at the bottom of the window. I suspected the glass was as thick as it was because it was bulletproof. If the 284.00 dollar bill for towing and hourly storage was normal for this joint, I could imagine why they’d want bulletproof glass. I was happy to lend the money toMiguel, though. At least it was something I could do. Now that I understood his situation better, it made all the difference to be able to help this way.

“Thanks,” Miguel said, ignoring the sneer she threw our way.

She replied by aggressively flipping over a sign in the window that said,Be Back in Fifteen Minutes, before walking away without another word.

I snorted and met Miguel’s equally amused expression as we turned to leave.

“Do these—any of these guys—know how to recognize trouble when they see it?” he asked as he pulled out his keys and started walking out to his truck sitting in the lot.

I stayed by his side. “Yes, they’re all law enforcement and know how to handle themselves.” He held up his hand as I rushed to explain. “They won’t be joining us as law enforcement, though. They’re helping out as friends.”

He frowned but simply nodded as we reached his old truck. It didn’t look any the worse for wear but what did I expect? These towing companies knew how to jimmy a lock and get into vehicles. He opened the truck and got in, shutting the door, rolling down the window, and looking at me as I put my hands on the door and bent over. Only a small twinge greeted the motion, and I was glad for it. He smiled, leaning toward me, and I kissed him softly on the lips. He was smiling as I leaned back.

“I’ll see you at Mel’s Drive-In at three,” I said.

He saluted. “I’ll be there but I’m still not convinced yours is the best course of action.” He stopped me when I opened my mouth to continue the argument. “I promise to keep an open mind.” He offered me a genuine smile. “I don’t know what it is about you, Raven. It’s just so damned hard to say no to you.”

“Good.” I felt an immediate surge of triumph and gave him a little wave as I turned to walk back to my Ram, hearing his truck’s strong engine start up behind me. As soon as I got in my truck, I pulled out my phone and hit a button on my speed dial. There was one other call I needed to make. When Cassidy Ryan picked up and greeted me, I felt a wave of relief wash over me.

“Hey, Mathis. I just heard from Jarrett. I guess you told him to call me?”

“Yes, Cass.”

“Okay, what’s up? He didn’t tell me much, only that he and Thayne will be helping you and Miguel Huerta take down a fugitive. Since when did you start taking down fugitives and please tell me how the two of you started working together? The last time I saw you both in the same space, you were fighting like cats and dogs.”

I took a deep breath and confessed all about Gemma Monroe and the debacle at her lover’s house the other morning. I told him about Passantino discharging his gun but not about getting shot, just that I’d been injured and how Miguel had helped me. Cass was a respected law enforcement officer, and I didn’t want to put him in a bad position of having knowledge he’d have to report or put himself at risk. He interrupted a few times, wanting to get the details down, including Passantino’s address. He promised the fraudster and his girlfriend would be getting a visit from him and Mike when they were through meeting with us. He sounded pissed, but I’d known that would happen as soon as I told him about Passantino and the firearm.

I’d known Cassidy Ryan and Mike Williams for years. Whenever I had a job near the Brentwood LAPD substation, they were the cops I called. After learning that Cassidy was married to a man and seeing what a decent guy he and his partner were,they had been my go-to cops. I always placed a call when I went out on a recovery if I thought someone wasn’t going to give me an easy time of it. I’d learned my lesson time and time again and decided long ago—at my assistant, Judy’s insistence—that cops were important allies in my field. Their presence at my back had saved my bacon more times than I could count.

They’d introduced me to Jarrett Evans and his husband, Thayne Wolfe, a few years back when I’d run into them at my favorite diner in the Valley, Mel’s Drive-In, located in Sherman Oaks. Apparently, Jarrett and Thayne lived in the area. When I found out that they worked in Federal law enforcement for Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, I’d been very impressed. Besides the fact that they were married partners who’d known Cassidy and Mike for a long time, it was nice knowing I could call on the Feds when I needed something. Thayne was a genuinely nice man who had gorgeous blue eyes the color of an ocean and his husband, Jarrett, was a total cut-up. He told silly jokes and was the kind of man who was easy to know and like, a friend to everyone.

To top it all off, they’d become friends and had helped me out on a couple of cases in the past where having a set of Federal credentials was a bonus. One had involved recovering a small Egyptian artifact which had been secreted inside a resin pyramid which looked like a cheap souvenir being brought into the country through LAX by a notorious thief. The owner of the artifact had insured the item with GMS Insurance for a half million dollars and the recovery fees had been substantial, helping to pay for a new roof for my grandmother’s house. With the help of Jarrett and Thayne, the thief had been held in custody by friendly customs agents until I could arrive with the paperwork to release the artifact.

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