Part 15 (1/2)
”How much longer before you're done here?”
”Couple of hours. You in some kind of hurry?”
”Lips...o...b..and Pinzon should be at the jail by noon, right? I plan to be waiting for them.”
Chapter Twenty-Eight.
I gave my statement to Rudy Lane about finding the bodies in the driveway, after which I hung around for another half-hour or so and watched as Bates and his people finished their forensic examination of the crime scene. I went back inside before the EMTs loaded Zack and Hector into the ambulances and took them off to the medical examiner's office.
Caroline was waiting for me in the kitchen. She was leaning back with the heels of her hands resting on the corner of the counter. She didn't look as though she'd cooled off.
”I want to know exactly what's going on,” she said as soon as I closed the door. ”I want to know why those two people were killed. I want to know who killed them. I want to know why they were put in our driveway. And the most important thing I want to know is what you're planning to do about it.”
”I'm not going to talk to you if you can't keep your voice down.”
”I'm upset! What do you expect?”
”Where are Sarah and Gracie?”
”Upstairs. Why?”
”I don't want them to hear this.”
”Never mind about them. Explain it to me!”
”We told you, they were both witnesses against John Lips...o...b.. That's why they're dead. As far as who killed them goes, I don't know. Lips...o...b..or Pinzon or both probably hired someone to do it, but there's no way of proving it, at least not yet. They put them in the driveway as a message to me. They want me to back off, to let them go. As far as what I'm going to do about it goes, I just don't know yet.”
I walked over to her and put my hands on her shoulders.
”I'm sorry, Caroline. I guess I should have done things differently.”
”Stop it. Don't patronize me. You said one of those men saw Lips...o...b..get on the boat and the other one saw him drop a body into the lake, which means they were extremely important, if not indispensable, to your case, right?”
”Right.”
”So now they're dead. Do you even have a case?”
”Not much of one. But we-”
”Then why don't you back off? You can put a stop to this right now. Just back off.”
”Not a chance,” I said. ”What kind of message would that send? Kill a couple of witnesses and the state will give up?”
She started pacing around the kitchen.
”I don't care about messages,” she said. ”I've had all the messages I can handle. What I care about is you not winding up like those men in the driveway.”
”You're overreacting.”
”And you've got your head in the sand. What will it take, Joe? Don't you see these people are different? They're not going to let you win.”
”This isn't about winning and losing. It's about right and wrong.”
”Spare me the sanctimony. This is about your ego. This is about you showing the bad guys they can't mess with Joe Dillard.”
”Maybe it is,” I said, ”but if you think I'm going to let some sc.u.mbag drop a couple of dead bodies on my doorstep and then tuck my tail between my legs and run, you don't know me like I thought you did.”
I turned my back on her and walked off toward the bathroom to take a shower. She gave me a parting shot as I cleared the door.
”You're going to wind up dead in a gutter somewhere. And where will that leave us?”
I was seething when the transport van that contained John Lips...o...b..and Andres Pinzon showed up at the jail at ten minutes before noon. Caroline's words rang in my ears, and the look of terror on her face as she stood gazing at Zack Woods and Hector Mejia sitting in my driveway with their throats cut was branded into my brain.
Bates and I were standing in the booking area waiting for Lips...o...b..and Pinzon to walk in. A large gathering of media was in the parking lot. Bates was talking about Nelson Lips...o...b.. who had apparently left town.
”With his brother's money and contacts, he could be anywhere,” Bates said. I barely heard him. ”I reckon not picking him up right off the bat wasn't such a good idea.”
I didn't respond.
”You okay, brother Dillard?”
I nodded.
”They'll make bond,” Bates said. ”If any one of them is determined to run, there isn't much we can do about it. But we'll find Nelson. Don't you worry, we'll find him.”
The steel door buzzed, and Lips...o...b..and Pinzon walked through. Both of them were wearing uniforms issued by the Davidson County jail, and both were handcuffed and shackled. Pinzon looked like a mannequin, but Lips...o...b..had a narrow-eyed look of defiance on his fat face.
”I want to talk to Lips...o...b..alone,” I said to Bates.
”Bad idea. You seem a little upset.”
”I want to talk to Lips...o...b.. Alone. Now. Put him someplace where there aren't any cameras and where n.o.body can see or hear us.”
”You're about to do something you'll regret,” Bates said.
”Take his cuffs and shackles off.”
Bates walked over and whispered something to Rudy Lane, who took Lips...o...b..by the elbow and led him to a cell in the far corner of the booking area. I followed closely behind. I'd dressed in a pair of dark-gray dress slacks and a white, b.u.t.ton-down s.h.i.+rt for the arraignment, which was scheduled to start at one o'clock. I'd left my tie and my jacket in Bates' office.
Lips...o...b..hesitated at the cell door, but Rudy shoved him inside. The door was steel, painted gray like everything else around me, with a small window at eye level. I stood outside the cell while Rudy removed Lips...o...b..s cuffs and shackles. My peripheral vision began to close in, and within seconds, I could only see what was directly in front of me. As soon as Rudy was finished, I walked in.
”Close the door behind you,” I said to Rudy without taking my eyes off of Lips...o...b.. who was standing in the middle of the cell three or four feet in front of me.
”You sure about this?” Rudy asked.