Island of Bones(48)
“Let’s go,” Landeta called to him.
Strickland watched Landeta walk to the car and climb in the back, slamming the door.
“How’d you get stuck with chauffeur duty?” Louis asked.
Strickland shook his head. “Chief said a guy of his reputation gets what he needs to do the job.”
Landeta’s bald head appeared out the car window. “Let’s see a little hustle there, Officer,” he said.
Strickland tossed the butt to the sand and ground it out. “I hope I’m shot dead before I get that old,” he said, heading to the car.
Louis closed the door and walked to the kitchen. He pulled out his notebook to get Diane’s phone number.
Convince her it’s for her father’s own good.
Right.
He glanced up at the clock. Almost eleven. It was too late now to call. He’d call her in the morning. When he was sure she was sober.
CHAPTER 23
The rain beat against the windshield, the pounding so loud he could not hear his radio. Louis slowed when he saw the sign SCHOOL ZONE.
He hadn’t wanted to come here. He tried calling Diane, starting at six-thirty a.m. But he kept getting the answering machine. He figured she was pissed. And she was blaming him.
Having your home searched was the ultimate humiliation for anyone, but for Diane Woods it would be devastating. Cops were never careful. He knew her Gourmet magazines had been dumped to the carpet, the perfectly arranged drawers left tossed and open, her books pulled from the shelves.
Why the hell didn’t she just give them the damn ring?
Louis passed the WINK-TV van sitting just off the school grounds. Heather Fox, wearing a yellow raincoat, was standing under a canopy. Her cameraman was soaked, his equipment wrapped in plastic.
Louis parked as far away from the van as he could and dashed toward the school entrance. Heather Fox didn’t see him until it was too late. He jerked open the school door, pausing just inside to wipe his face.
The old smells of high school flooded back to him —- fried chicken, dust, and musty gym clothes. He could hear the faint thump-thump of a basketball somewhere. There was a trophy case to his left with the usual sports paraphernalia in it. Next to it was a row of portraits of the administration -- two pictures of women assistant principals and one of the male athletic director. There was a blank spot in the middle where one picture had been taken down. Underneath was a plaque that said MISS DIANE WOODS, PRINCIPAL.
He saw a glass-enclosed office with the sign ADMINISTRATION above the door and went to it.
A couple of students glanced at him as he entered. It was a large office, dominated by a U-shaped desk and painted a cheerful blue that matched the orange and blue industrial carpeting. There was a sign over the desk that said CAPE CORAL HIGH SCHOOL, HOME OF THE SEAHAWKS. There was a big orange and blue stuffed bird in the corner. It was wearing a hat that said BREEZY.
The woman behind the desk finished with the two boys and sent them on their way. She looked up at Louis.
“Can I help you?”
Louis was looking over her shoulder, into the glass- enclosed office. He could see Diane in there, on the phone. She didn’t see him.
“Would you tell Miss Woods that Louis Kincaid is here to see her?”
“Well, I think Miss Woods is —- ”
“Just tell her, please.”
The woman must have heard the cop-edge in his voice because she began backing up toward the office, eyes on Louis. She turned and poked her head in the door. Louis saw Diane crane her neck to look his way. She looked like a trapped animal.
Diane slowly hung up the phone. Her eyes took a long time to focus on him then they moved slowly to the secretary. “It’s okay, Maggie.”
Louis went in. Maggie retreated, closing the door.
“I can’t believe you came here,” Diane said. “How could you do this to me?”
“I came to help you, even though you don’t seem to want any help.”
“You let my father become a suspect. Do you have any idea how that feels?”
“For him or you?”
She looked away, out the window. When she brought up a hand to brush her hair behind an ear, it trembled. “What do you want?” she asked.
“The ring.”
She looked him dead in the eye. “There is no ring.”
Louis came forward and leaned both hands on the desk. Diane rolled her chair back in surprise.
“Look, lady, I’m sick and tired of your shit,” he said. “You told me to find your father. But you won’t lift a hand to help me. I don’t know what’s going on between you two. I don’t want to know.” He jabbed a finger toward her face. “But I don’t like being jerked around. Now where is the damn ring?”