She’d seen the ambulance arrive, but it was gone now. She was too late.
She was always too late.
How could she get the scoop on whatever happened? Seemed like some kind of law enforcement guys were interviewing people on the street. She sidled over to the back of one group, assimilated herself into the crowd. She’d stand there, try to blend in, see what she could pick up. No one cared about a college kid.
She looked up at City Hall across the street, counted two squares of plate glass down and three across. That was her mother’s window. Right next to the mayor’s. Mom could look out here and see me in the park.
She considered waving, thought better of it.
“I got here after I picked up my sushi.” One poseur in a too-tight suit was holding up a glossy black paper bag, as if to prove his lunch to the woman taking notes on a little pad with a cheap-looking Bic. A cop, must be.
“Did you see anything?” the cop asked.
What was sushi guy going to say? Tenley took a tentative step closer, then another, so she could be sure to hear. No one noticed her, seemed like.
This time that was a good thing.
Jake cringed as the ambulance driver attempted to make the three-point turn to exit Franklin Alley. Fourth try now. Detective Angela Bartoneri, of all people, who’d been at the crime scene, would ride in the back, babysit the suspect. Thanks to the alphabet, Angie Bartoneri had always been seated next to Jake at the BPD’s continuing education sessions. He and Angie also shared coffee, then dinner, and almost a hell of a lot more, but then he’d made detective before she did. Their relationship never recovered. Just as well, Jake told himself at the time-three years ago? four?-since the divorce rate for cops married to cops was probably about one hundred percent. Plus, if one person in a relationship couldn’t be genuinely happy for the success of the other, it wasn’t much of a relationship. Angie’d moved on professionally and had recently been promoted to detective in the white-collar unit, assisting homicide when they needed backup. Working shoulder to shoulder with Angie again was-a trip. He’d also heard she’d now hooked up personally with some computer whiz. Very Angie. More power to her.
Jake had moved on, too. To Jane. And all that entailed. Now that Jane was no longer with the Register, the two of them had new decisions to make. Decisions that might be-Jake shook his head, clearing his thoughts of the mental tangent. Funny how fast your brain could plow ahead, even at the most unlikely time.
Before the rear ambulance doors closed, Jake had finished giving Angie the quick lowdown on the man she was chaperoning. “This guy didn’t say a word, and no easily accessible ID,” Jake added. “Maybe you’ll have better luck. I read him his rights, so if he does decide to talk, you’re covered.”
“I’m clear on Miranda,” Angie said. “Hope he heard you.”
Jake ignored her sarcasm, outwardly, at least. “The guy in the cuffs-we’ll check his ID now, see if we can get confirmation. Says he’s a security guard.”
“One phone call,” Angie said. “I’ll do it.”
“Thanks,” Jake said. Maybe he wasn’t ignoring her as much as he imagined. “Anyway, Angie, the cadets are canvassing the eyewitnesses, getting cell phone photos. This guy should be a cinch to be ID’d, so once the photos come in, it’s case closed.”
“You know your stuff,” Angie said. “I can see why you were promoted so early. Before I was, I mean.”
“After all this time?” Jake couldn’t stop himself. He looked around quickly. D, standing nearby, was focused on Hewlitt, the medics were moving their patient into the vehicle. “Are we really still gonna do this?”
“Do what?” Angie gave that smile. “I’m teasing, Jake.”
Teasing? Not exactly the time for that. He’d go by the book.
“Bartoneri? You’ll stay with him-whoever he is-at Mass General. Let me know the instant he says anything. I’ll contact you when the witness photos come in. If they’re potentially confirmatory, I’ll bring them to the hospital. We’ll get an arrest warrant, go from there. Questions?”
“No, sir,” she said, eyes twinkling. “Yes, sir.”
Angie’s dark hair-Jake remembered it all too well-was twisted up under her navy patent-billed cap. If any woman could look good in a cop hat, Angie could. He watched her clamber into the back of the ambulance. She’d been a dancer, Jake remembered, until she’d gotten impatient with the food restrictions and turned to law enforcement instead. He’d felt twinges of jealousy over the other cadets lined up to spar with her in defense training. She’d been aware of their attention, too. Teased them, with that throaty voice of hers, then kicked their asses, every one, every time.
She stood, framed by one still-open white back door. Fluttered her fingers at him. “Detective? Hope our paths cross again.”
She closed the metal door before he could answer.
Dammit. And dammit again. The back of his neck prickled, and it wasn’t from the sun. He would not let Angela Bartoneri get under his skin. She was history.
The ambulance’s piercing back-up beeps yanked him back to reality. Fifth try to turn around now. The driver stopped a fraction of an inch from the liquor store’s redbrick wall, shifted into Drive, and crept toward the giant green Dumpster. The Dumpster. “A guy in a Dumpster”-that’s what the cadet had relayed to him.
He and DeLuca had never looked in the Dumpster.
11
Cursing her too-tight skirt and too-high job interview heels, Jane finally caught up to Bobby. Running down a cobblestone and brick backstreet was the last thing she’d expected to do today.
“The ambulance is still in there, Ms. Ryland.” Bobby had stopped at the entrance of Franklin Alley, pointing. “Hear the beeps? It’s really narrow in there, so the driver’s gotta turn round in the dead end. That’ll give us time. You ready?”
“All set.” She checked the viewfinder of the Quik-Shot, confirmed the stand-by light. She’d roll on everything, couldn’t hurt. Bobby, now on the run, had his camera, too. Between them, they’d get whatever there was to get. Go.
Around the next curve, she saw Bobby’s T-shirt disappear again. They had to be close to the end. She held a palm to her chest-the gym starting tomorrow, she promised-drew in a deep breath, and went for it. Then she heard the rev of an engine, and more back-up beeps. This ambulance was on the way out.
“Missed it,” she whispered. “Damn.” Now she’d never get to see who was inside. But at least she’d get-
A blast from a horn and a wail of the siren flattened her against the alleyway’s brick wall. She watched the red from the whirling lights hit the side of the buildings. As the engine noise grew louder, she felt the red glare wash over her. There was barely room for her to stand if the ambulance was to pass. Bobby was nowhere to be seen. He’d clearly managed to reach the end.
The front of the white-and-orange van appeared. She held her ground, pointed her camera. Rolling.
“Move it, lady!” A voice from the open passenger-side window, elbow over the edge, one hand waving Jane away. A face peered at her, frowning, the sun glinting directly overhead on the medic’s dark-tinted shades.
“Sorry, can you get by?” Jane grimaced, embarrassed. Kind of tacky trying to shoot video when you were part of the problem.
The medic in the front seat muttered something Jane couldn’t hear, probably a good thing, buzzed up the window. Jane got as close as she could to the wall, plastering her black suit against the bricks as the ambulance edged by. She watched it gather speed, made sure her camera stayed steady, and the van disappeared from the viewfinder. Got it.