“So it didn’t have anything to do with the poker game?”
“What poker game?”
“They all played poker together. Except for Juki.”
“I didn’t know that,” Dave said.
This is why we didn’t connect the dots to Dave, I thought. We were in the right neighborhood, but we were on the wrong road.
“What about the cars?” I asked him.
“When I kill someone I like to leave my car out of it to cut back on the DNA potential. After I burned Francie’s car I realized burning a car produces a lot of smoke that could attract attention, so I stopped burning cars. And after I drove the car into the woods and burned it I had no way to get home. So I started using one of Harry’s moving vans to drive the car to the car graveyard. I’d just drive the victim’s car in, close the van doors, and drive the car out when I got to the barrens. The more you know, the more impressed you are, right? Morelli’s no match for me. I’ve been making him look like an idiot.”
“Why did you leave Sam Grip in the trunk?”
“I was in a rush. I killed him in the afternoon, and I was making pot roast for dinner.”
I popped two more Tums. I’d been saving the big question for last. “So are you done killing now?”
“That depends on you,” Dave said. He took a white envelope from his jacket pocket. FOR STEPHANIE was written on the outside of the envelope. “This will get us to Thailand. The plane leaves at six o’clock tomorrow morning. We can stay at an airport hotel tonight, have some fun, I’ll snap a couple intimate pictures of you for Morelli, and we’ll start a new life together. Or I can kill you now, have some fun with you after you’re dead, and go to Thailand by myself.”
“That’s gross.”
Dave shrugged. “Life is gross.”
He’d been calm through all of this, showing some animation when he talked about the killings, showing some checked anger when he mentioned Morelli. I’d been working hard to contain my fear and revulsion, and I think I was successful. My plan was to do whatever I could to buy time, and look for an opportunity to make an escape. I suspected he had only one ticket to Thailand. He’d kill me on the road or at the airport hotel. He knew it was only a matter of time before forensics discovered it was Francie in the trashed car. And Francie was the clue to his undoing. So Dave was anxious to get out of town. He wanted to complete his revenge on Morelli, but he was feeling pressured.
“I’ve never seen Thailand,” I said, taking the envelope.
“Smart girl.”
“Let me throw some things in a suitcase, and I’ll be ready to go.”
“Not necessary. I have a bag already packed for you. The rest you can buy when we land.”
“I need my makeup.”
“You need nothing. Get your purse. And just so you know, I’m capable of shooting you if it becomes necessary.” He wrapped his hand around my neck and moved me to the door. “Behave yourself,” he said, guiding me out the door and down the hall to the elevator.
His hand never left my neck, and I could feel his fingers gripping hard. The elevator doors opened, and he walked me through the empty lobby.
“We’ll take my car,” he said. “Third row, toward the back of the lot.”
“Does your mother know you’re going to Thailand?”
“No. No one knows.”
He pushed me forward, out the lobby door, onto the short sidewalk that led to the parking area.
“Why Thailand?” I asked him.
“Why not?”
We were halfway across the lot when a stocky guy stepped from behind a parked car. He came into the light, and I saw it was Nick Alpha.
“I don’t know who you are,” he said to Dave, “but you need to step away. I have business with Ms. Plum.”
“Your business will have to wait,” Dave said.
Alpha drew a gun. “My business won’t wait.”
Dave took my gun out of his pocket and aimed it at Alpha. “I don’t give a crap about your business. I got here first.”
I could feel Dave’s fingers tighten around my neck. I could barely breathe. I had two guys fighting over who was going to kill me. Could my life possibly get any worse?
“Put the gun down,” Alpha said.
Dave narrowed his eyes. “You put your gun down.”
I heard a car engine catch from the back of the lot, and I caught a glimpse of the black Lexus as it crept forward, out of its parking space. And here comes the rhinoceros, I thought. Now three people were trying to kill me. This had to be some sort of record.
The tires on the Lexus chirped when the accelerator went down to the floorboard, and the car jumped into motion. Dave turned toward the sound, loosening his grip enough for me to jump clear. A fraction of a second later there was a round of gunfire and the sickening thud of a car slamming into a body. The Lexus careened around a row of cars and roared away. I peeked out from behind Mr. Molnar’s Chrysler and saw both men lying motionless on the pavement.