The radio talk-show host came on next.
"It's 10:06. Do you know what your license-plate number is? How do you like that? We can send guided missiles to hit targets hundreds of miles away. We can watch live pictures of Mars. But we can't find a white Saturn. And what is it with these two guys and Saturns-"
"Turn it down," Jared said and Melanie reacted without thinking, even though she wanted to hear more. Or maybe she didn't.
Jared pulled a cell phone out of the writer's briefcase. He punched in a number and waited.
"Hey, it's me. Never mind that." Jared sounded cool and calm even though Melanie could hear the person on the other end yelling. "You called in the tip, right? You're the fucking anonymous source? How the fuck did you know I wasn't in that fucking white Saturn? Huh? How did you know I didn't backtrack and get it? You setting me the fuck up, you son of a bitch? Is that it?"
Melanie wished she could hear the other person's response. Who else knew about this job? Who the hell would Jared trust with details about his backup vehicles? She hadn't even known about it until they were on the road. It had to be someone he had met in prison, she decided. She put her thumbnail between her teeth, a recently developed habit to avoid biting down on her lower lip.
"I left some unfinished business," Jared was telling his friend. "You're gonna need to take care of it for me." More yelling and this time Jared held the phone away from his ear. "Just do it," he yelled, then snapped the phone off and closed.
"Son of a bitch," he muttered to no one in particular. "Can't trust anybody these days."
Melanie saw him slump against the car door, and for a brief moment he reminded her of that twelve-year-old boy, staring out the window at the passing pastures and cornfields, looking betrayed and alone, searching for something better and never satisfied. They had both been cheated out of their childhoods, forced to grow up too soon. Sometimes Melanie couldn't help wondering if things would have been different if only their mother had cared more about her children than the array of colorful pills she washed down with vodka. How could she not see, how could she not stop her own husband-Melanie's asshole father- from beating her children? Shouldn't a mother protect her child above all else? Wasn't it instinctive or something? That was certainly the way Melanie felt about Charlie. And yet, Melanie couldn't bring herself to blame her mother. Neither could Jared. Maybe it was that blood thing, that thing Jared always said about family sticking by each other. And Jared had stuck by Melanie. She owed him.
She stared at the highway ahead, the two winding lanes with little traffic. The rain had washed everything clean, cooled things and left the sky a freshly scrubbed blue. Melanie remembered how she and Charlie talked about going for drives out in the country. This wasn't exactly what she'd had in mind.
"Take the turn for Nebraska City." Suddenly Jared was sitting forward, ready to be Andrew Kane's copilot. "We need to look for an ATM." He held up a bank card he must have taken from Kane's briefcase. "You're about to make a little cash withdrawal."
CHAPTER 39
10:46 a.m.
Platte River State Park
Tommy Pakula slowed his Ford Explorer. He could see the mobile crime lab's van and a police cruiser off to the side of the Platte River State Park entrance. His breakfast turned to lead in his stomach. Holy crap! He had no idea the crash site was this close to the park. They'd simply said Highway 6 south of Louisville.
The investigators had pulled in as close as they could behind the skid marks and broken barbed-wire fence. The car had plowed through the fence. This morning, after a night of thunderstorms and downpours, the torn path was filled with water. It looked as if it would take some serious boots just to get to the car.
Pakula waved to Ben Hertz and rolled down his window. "Anybody check the park yet?"
"One of the boys talked to the park superintendent. He lives here on the grounds. Said the park's pretty empty. Only one cabin occupied and everything looked nice and quiet."
"A buddy of mine is the lone occupant. You know Andy Kane, writes suspense-thriller novels?"
"Yeah, sure. Murderman, right?"
"Yep, that's him. He's out here writing. I'm gonna go check on him. I'll be back."
"Helicopter guys said the car was empty when they found it. These two hightailed it outta here pretty fast. It wouldn't surprise me if they did have another car stashed someplace close. Just heard that an anonymous tip was phoned in about a white Saturn. One thing for sure, they didn't stick around here long. They'd have to be stupid to do that."
"Yeah, you're probably right. Like I said, I'll be back." He rolled up the window and turned into the park.
Hertz was probably right. So why did Pakula have such a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach? He made his way up and around the winding road, climbing to get to the Owen Cabins on the far side of the lake. Before he pulled around the last curve, he knew Andrew's car was gone. He couldn't see the bright red Saab through the trees and tall grass. He pulled in to the slotted space, parked, opening the car door while shoving the emergency brake on.