right now. Go home. Get some sleep. Tell Conklin the same.”
He had to be kidding.
Were those two women bound and gagged inside the trunk of a car? Were they going to get the night off?
Jacobi shook his finger at me, emphasizing, I mean it. Then he walked out of the room.
CHAPTER 108
Joe and I took Martha for a nice long walk at dawn, both of us fuming and swearing for a good half hour.
Back home, we cooled off with a pint of ice cream, followed by chilled California Pinot. After that, our clothes came off and we leaned on each other under a hot shower. The sun was fully up when we dove into bed, and speaking for myself, I slept like I was in a coma.
Sometime later Joe gently shook my arm until I woke up. He was holding my phone. “Jacobi,” he said.
I grunted “Hey” into the speaker holes, and Jacobi said, “I’ve got news for both of you. I’m downstairs. I brought coffee cake.”
Joe filled the coffeepot. I put on jeans and a T-shirt and was ready for Jacobi when the doorbell rang.
Back then, I’d known Jacobi for ten years. Some of that time I worked for him. Some of that time he worked for me. But most of those years we were partners and spent untold hours patrolling the Southern district in our squad car. We talked about everything, investigating crimes that were unforgettable and searing and educational. Working with Jacobi made me the cop I am today.
I know Jacobi.
And when he walked into the apartment that morning, I couldn’t read his expression at all.
We went to the kitchen island, and immediately Joe said, “I’ll be right back. I’ll just run Martha down to the corner.”
It took him longer to get back than I expected, and when he returned, Jacobi and I were well into the coffee and cake. After Joe helped himself, Jacobi gave us the reason for his visit.
He said, “After I sent you all home, Marko Vladic was picked up for that broken headlight. The patrolmen were sharp. Saw that there was a BOLO out for him, as a suspect in a kidnapping, and brought him in. First thing out of Vladic’s mouth was, ‘I want a deal.’”
I said, “Oh, really. What was the offer?”
“He said he knew where Anna and Susan were and he’d reveal that location in exchange for immunity. I told him, ‘I want the women first, and after that, we’ll talk to the DA. ASAP.’ He said he didn’t know if they’d live much longer.”
I felt my heart seize up.
Joe said, “Jesus Christ,” and put his head in his hands.
Jacobi said, “I know, I know,” and then he went on.
“I told Vladic, okay, I’d give him a deal in writing. He had to give the women to us now, and I wanted evidence and testimony that Petrović killed Myers and Saran. He agreed to giving up the women. That shit told me, ‘I’ll give you those bitches, but I’m not going to say a word against Tony.’”
I said, “Crap. And you said?”
“I said okay.”
“I don’t understand,” said Joe.
“I said okay, release the women to me, and I’ll go to work for you. I wrote it down for him,” Jacobi said. “I made it good. I swore on the authority vested in me by the state of California that I would negotiate on his behalf with the district attorney and the governor and the Federal Bureau of Investigation in exchange for his cooperation. I got Chi to type it up on my letterhead, and I signed it with a flourish. Chi witnessed it, and I had Vladic sign and date it, too.
“Then that little turd says to me, ‘This doesn’t seem airtight.’
“I say, ‘Chi. You’re a notary, right?’ He starts to fumble it, says, ‘I don’t know where my stamp is.’ As soon as he says that, he remembers. Brenda has one of those old notary public stamps she uses as a paperweight.”
“I’ve seen it,” I said. “Weighs about three pounds. You push down on the handle and it crimps the paper. Makes a seal.”
“Exactly. Chi gets it from Brenda’s desk, signs his name, crimps the deal sheet, and pronounces it as good as gold. It’s a seal for the DMV circa 1939, but never mind. I make a copy, wave the original at Vladic, and tell him he gets the waiver when the two women are in our custody.”
I said, “Jacobi. For God’s sake. Did he give them up?”
“Yes,