Part 14 (1/2)

More silence.

He grunted. ”Hnnh. See you tomorrow at ten. I'll bring donuts if you make the coffee.”

”Done.”

By ten on Sunday morning, I was up and dressed in jeans, a T-s.h.i.+rt, and my freshly laundered white athletic shoes-again. A large pot of coffee steamed on the counter. Cars and motorcycles began filling my street: Lucy and Birdie, Sonia, Crusher, Carl, and six other bikers. Fifty-plus large bags of toiletries took up all the s.p.a.ce in my living room, so everyone crowded into my kitchen for coffee and donuts. Carl seemed quite taken with Birdie. He said she reminded him of his grandma.

Sonia clipped her hair at the nape of her neck again and the green eye shadow was back. Crusher flicked his eyes in her direction a couple of times. He definitely seemed curious. If only she'd let her hair hang loose, he'd see what I saw.

Ed walked in at about ten-twenty, face taut. He kept rubbing his hands together. ”Hey, Martha. Can I talk to you for a sec?”

I led him down the hall toward my sewing room for privacy. ”You don't look so good, Ed. What's going on?”

”I just heard from Simon. I'm not going with you this morning, and Simon and Dana won't be here either. His contact in the US Attorney's Office tipped him off. They're pus.h.i.+ng the DA to arrest me and close this case.”

”How can that be? The Feds don't have jurisdiction in Martin's murder.”

”No, but they represent the Army Corps of Engineers. The corps may have something to hide and they're afraid of exposure if the investigation continues. Since the police don't have any other suspects, the Feds want me arrested and the case closed.”

I reached out and took Ed's hand. ”What are you going to do?”

”Simon told me to wait at home. He and Dana are trying to get hold of the DA today, even though it's Sunday. He's going to try to delay any arrest warrant to give us time to find those witnesses. We've got to find them, Martha.”

”I'll do my best, Ed. You know I will.” I prayed we'd find a lead to Javier and Graciela today in the wildlife reserve. I gave Ed a hug before we returned to where the others were, and he fist-b.u.mped his buddies on the way out the door.

Then I got everyone's attention. ”Thank you all for your hard work in making this thing happen. We'll load the truck and caravan over to the reserve.”

I shuddered a little as I thought of what happened there with Switch just four nights earlier. I morbidly wondered if there'd be bloodstains on the asphalt.

”My friend Hilda will meet us there and take us down to where the people are camping. They're expecting us. I'd like you guys to keep order down there, but make it friendly. We'll hand out one package of toiletries and one blanket or quilt to each person for as long as the supplies last. When we're through, we'll leave. Hilda has asked us to respect their privacy.”

”What about your witnesses?” Lucy piped up.

Darn! I forgot to tell Lucy and Birdie not to let on they knew anything.

Sonia zeroed in like a smart bomb on a hideout. ”What witnesses? Are you talking about the murder of that coach? Was there a homeless witness? Do you think they're down in the wildlife reserve?”

I cleared my throat and tried to finesse. ”The police believe, and so do we, there may have been a homeless witness to Dax Martin's murder. While we're down there, we'll ask around.”

I was deliberately vague. I didn't want to give her any information that needed to be kept secret.

I should have known Sonia would never accept such a fuzzy answer.

”If the police know about a witness, what makes you think they haven't already gone in there and found them? Why are you doing this? Do you know something they don't?” she grilled.

Our country could use someone like Sonia in Homeland Security.

Crusher stepped forward. ”We just want to help prove that Ed is innocent. If we can find someone who witnessed the murder, that person could identify the real killer and get Ed off the hook.”

Sonia smiled and bounced a little on the b.a.l.l.s of her feet. ”Well, this is exciting.”

Crusher raised his eyebrows.

Lucy looked at her watch. ”We'd better get started, if we're going to be there by eleven.”

Outside, Crusher laid a tarp on the truck bed. The blankets and quilts were carefully stacked down the left-hand side. The zippered plastic bags filled with toiletries were carefully stacked on the right side. Then he covered everything with another tarp and tied it down, finis.h.i.+ng by ten minutes to eleven.

Crusher walked over to me. ”Wanna ride with me?”

”I think I'd better take Lucy and Birdie in my car. Maybe Sonia could ride over with you.”

He gave me a cynical look.

”This whole giveaway started with her idea. She worked really hard to get the donations. It'd be nice if she could ride in the lead car. That's all I'm saying.”

Crusher grunted, caught Sonia's eye, and waved toward the cab of the truck. ”Time to roll.” She didn't need to be asked twice.

The truck led the motorcade east on Burbank Boulevard, followed by my Corolla with Lucy and Birdie inside, and a string of seven bikers with a purple VE on each of their backs.

If we slowed traffic with our convoy, gawkers in other cars slowed the flow even further. While a group of Harleys riding together in formation wasn't an unusual sight in Southern California, it was highly unusual to see bikers escorting a car full of women of a certain age.

CHAPTER 24.

Crusher's truck took an unexpected turn to the right, about one hundred yards before the freeway and far away from the spot where Switch grabbed me. I followed him, wondering what he was doing. Then I saw Hilda standing at the side of Burbank Boulevard, pointing us toward an access road not visible from the street. The truck slowly bounced ahead of us over the poorly maintained path, down toward an overgrown wild area at the bottom.

The access way was too rough for my car, so I parked on the shoulder of Burbank Boulevard and walked over to Hilda. She still wore Quincy's gray corduroy pants with the same embroidered blouse from Guatemala. She gestured toward the bikers.

”I didn't know you were gonna show up with so many reinforcements.”

”Do you think they'll scare the people down there?”

”After having to put up with Switch for so long? I don't think so. Everyone knows these are the guys who got rid of him.”

”About how many people are there today?”

”I'd say at least a hundred. Word got out.”

”Oh my G.o.d. We only brought enough toiletries and blankets for fifty.”

”Face it, Wonder Woman. Whatever you can do for them is more than anyone else is doing. Be careful on the path and watch where you step down there. I'm right behind you.”

Lucy and I tried to help Birdie negotiate the path downward, but she was having a tough time with her arthritic knees. Carl caught up with us and put one strong arm around Birdie's tiny waist, lifted her slight body in his arms, and carried her to the bottom at a moderate jog. Birdie hung on for dear life and shrieked with laughter as her white braid swung from side to side.

I looked at Lucy. ”Are you thinking what I'm thinking?”

”Yeah. I haven't heard Birdie laugh like that in a long time.”