“Ants communicate primarily through chemicals called pheromones.”
He dropped the remote on the couch. “Ever wonder how they get those close-ups? I mean, how do they get right into the ant hole—right into the ants’ faces—without disturbing the little turds?”
“What is it about males and nature shows?” she asked, frowning at his selection. “It’s either that or the History Channel.”
“We like war and bugs.” He leaned forward with his elbows on his knees.
“Eureka! This hardworking forager has found a supply of food, a wedge of apple discarded by picnickers.”
She went to the cupboards to check her store of hard liquor and saw a dusty bottle of Jack Daniel’s hidden behind some ancient vodka. “Eureka! The hardworking agent has found a supply of good booze.” She took down the bottle and a shot glass. “Will you be pissed if I call in drunk the rest of the month?”
“She leaves a pheromone trail along the ground as she makes her way home. Before long, the other ants are following this very same pheromone route. Returning home, they reinforce this same path. This in turn attracts more ants.”
“What did you say?” he asked.
“Never mind,” she said, pouring a shot.
“A new obstacle—a fallen twig—blocks the established route to the food supply, so the foragers deviate from the path to find a new trail. If successful, the victorious returning explorer leaves a new trail marking the shortest detour.”
Glancing into the kitchen, he saw her down a shot while she was standing at the counter. “Are you getting lit?”
“The trail is no longer reinforced and slowly dissipates once the food supply is completely exhausted.”
“I’m drinking until the liquor supply is completely exhausted,” she said, and held the bottle up to study the level of whiskey.
He aimed the remote at the bugs and shut off the set. “What happened to you tonight, Cat?”
She poured a second shot and took the glass and the bottle over to the coffee table. She dropped down next to him on the couch. “Someone tried to drown me.”
“What? Who? How’d you end up down by the river in the first place?”
She tipped back another shot and shuddered. The heat of the whiskey sent a pleasant warmth rippling through her body. She set down the glass and rewound to the beginning of her story. “Matt and I had dinner at that fancy restaurant, the one on Wabasha Street with the tall windows and the froufrou curtains.”
“Nice place.”
“You’ll see how nice when I turn in my expense account,” she said.
Garcia sat back against the cushions. “Sounds like he was he trying to soften you up.”
“He wanted me to lay off his big brother and his big files,” she said. “He went on and on about what a great human being Luke is, how he started this suicide hotline and that clinic. While he’s giving me this sales pitch, Little Brother is getting bombed on high-end vino.”
“What about you? Did you drink with him?”
She paused, feeling insulted by the question. “I had a sip or two of wine.”
He glanced at the whiskey bottle.
“Seriously,” she said. “Two sips.”
“I believe you.” He set his St. Pauli on the coffee table. “Did he tell you if the doc knows Wakefielder?”
“Matt claimed not to know the guy. I’m not sure I believe him.”
“Did he give you anything on the dead girls?”
“He said Klein’s mother killed herself and Klein tried to kill herself before his brother took her on as a patient. He said he never heard of Zoe Cameron. Again, I don’t know if I believe that.”
“Did you get anything useful off him?”
She rubbed her hands together. “I—I got a sense that something isn’t right in that family. Something between Matt and Luke. Something … strange.”
“Where does the yacht club fit into this strangeness?”
“It’s coming,” she said. “After dinner, I was worried that he couldn’t drive and suggested he take a cab. He told me he lived in walking distance.”
“So you walked him home.”
“Followed him home, to his houseboat. He lives on a houseboat, or at least crashes there after partying.”
“He didn’t see you tailing him?”
“I’m sure he didn’t,” she said. “I was careful.”
He rubbed his face with his hand. “God, Cat. Why did you tail him? Based on a feeling?”
She ignored his questions and kept going. “I was standing on a neighbor’s boat—don’t worry, they weren’t home—and I saw him arguing with a woman who’d busted into his place. Old girlfriend or something.”
“Back up,” said Garcia. “You saw him? How did you see him? Were they arguing outside?”
“I was watching through the window. They had the shades up and the lights on inside, and it was hard not to see.”
He slapped his hand over his eyes. “Christ.”
“How was it different from any other surveillance? How was it different from the stakeout of the prof’s house? We tap people’s phones and we keep tabs on their—”
“Okay, okay,” he said, holding up his hand to halt her diatribe.
“Anyway, they both suddenly disappeared from the window,” she said. “After a while, she popped back up, but I didn’t see him. I got worried.”
“Why?”
“She—the girlfriend—practically scratched his eyes out when they were fighting. I literally saw blood. His face was bloody.”
“If you were that worried, maybe you should have intervened or called the police.”
“I thought about that.” She looked down at her hands. “But I didn’t have the chance. While I was standing there watching, someone came up behind me and whacked me on the back with a shovel or something. I went in. Went under.”
“Shit.”
She grabbed the Jack Daniel’s, poured a third shot, and laughed nervously. “I’m telling you, Tony, it was cold.”
He rubbed her shoulder through her robe. “Are you okay?”
“My back is still sore, but otherwise I’m fine.”
“I want you to go see a doctor.”
She gave the idea a dismissive wave, tipped back the third shot, and swallowed hard. “I crawled onto the neighbor’s boat. Practically crawled down the dock. Found a houseboat with the lights on. Banged on the door. I made up some story about accidentally walking off the dock. Didn’t give them my name or anything. They gave me a change of clothes and let me use their phone.” She paused. “I need a new cell, by the way.”
“Who hit you? Did you get a look?”
“I don’t know,” she said, cupping the empty whiskey glass between her hands. “They were gone by the time I came up for air. It could have been Matthew. Maybe he saw me through the window and sneaked off his houseboat. Came after me. That’s why I couldn’t see him in the windows. On the other hand, it could have just as easily been a neighbor who’d had too many break-ins already and thought I was another burglar. Or maybe it was another bum.”
“Another bum?”
Rolling the glass between her palms, she fumbled an explanation. She hadn’t intended to tell him about the basement fiasco yet. “Something happened downstairs.”
“What happened? Downstairs where?”
“The basement here.” She felt a knot in her gut as she remembered the scumbag’s body on top of her own. “These two tramps came after me. One of them jumped me.”
“Shit. When?”
“Late Thursday night, after you left. I went back down to try another round with the scarf.” She felt guilty seeing his stressed face. “But I’m okay. They were drunks. I kicked the crap out of the one who tried to grab me. The cops came and hauled them away.”
“Who were they?”
“Nobody. Bums. Drunk bums. They got in through that busted front door.”