The Sentry - By Robert Crais Page 0,60

eyes like Pike was an idiot.

“Maybe he’s crazy. If, you know, he’s real.”

Straw frowned at Kenny for a moment, thinking.

“Okay. I’m listening. What do you know?”

Pike walked them through his reasoning about the message left in Wilson’s shop and the conclusions he drew from the way in which Gomer and Mendoza were murdered. If Straw wondered how Pike knew so much about their bodies, he did not ask.

“Okay, I’m not saying I buy this, but if you’re right, and we saw the guy, how would we know?”

Kenny mumbled to himself.

“Wore a shirt, said KILLER. Don’t you remember?”

Then Kenny laughed to himself, but Pike was focused on Straw.

“You would have seen him more than once. After three or four passes, you realized you kept seeing him. A fifth pass, and maybe you wondered who he was and why he was interested in Smith’s shop.”

Kenny glanced at Straw.

“I don’t remember anyone like that. You?”

“Only the people who work in the other shops around here, but I’ll ask the guys. Maybe one of them saw something.”

Kenny crossed his arms and closed his eyes.

“Sure. You ask.”

A long-lens camera and a night vision spotting scope were on ballistic carry bags beneath the windows. A video camera hooked by a cable to a nearby laptop computer was part of the jumble. Pike had seen them when he entered, and now pointed them out.

“What about your vid?”

Straw shook his head, and was already moving to show Pike out.

“We tracked Azzara’s guys. We never turned the thing on unless we saw one of his bangers. That’s all we got.”

Pike glanced at the little rectangles cut in the fabric, backlit by the lights below. He wondered how many hours they spent seeing the world through the narrow patchwork windows.

“Check the vid. You never know.”

Kenny mumbled again, not opening his eyes.

“That’s right. You never know.”

Straw told Pike he would call if one of his people had seen something, then showed him out as if Pike had wasted enough of their time. Kenny didn’t open his eyes.

After Pike left, he drove back to the canals. It was later now, but not yet as late as when Gomer was murdered.

Pike did not return to the construction site. He parked on Venice Boulevard near Smith’s house, then approached on foot. Smith’s house. Steve Brown’s house. Pike thought of it as Dru’s house, and it was now the only dark house on the short, narrow alley. Jared’s light was on, but Jared was missing. Probably downstairs with his mother. Rocking the big screen.

Pike used the hidden key to unlock the gate, then went past the house to the fence at the edge of the canal. The smell of the water was strong. He quickly picked out the construction site where Gomer had been murdered. He was not trying to hide. He wanted to be seen.

Pike wondered if the killer used night vision gear. Pike had the equipment, but had decided not to use it. If the killer was here, Pike wanted him to feel like he had the upper hand. Pike noted the cuts and shadows along the banks and between the houses where a spotter could hide, and hoped the man was watching. His presence would mean he had not yet found Dru and Wilson, and they would still be alive. If the killer was watching, he might grow curious why Pike was in their yard, and decide to take a closer look. The killer might decide to kill him, which would be even better. The killer would need to move in close to use his knife, and Pike was fine with close. Pike wanted to learn what he knew.

Light danced on the water. Traffic noise from the surrounding streets was loud, as was the music and voices that bounced along the canals, but all of these living sounds would fade as the night grew deeper.

Pike waited alone in the dark, wondering where Dru and Wilson were, and how the man with the knife knew them, and whether or not they were living or dead. He wondered where they had come from, why they were here, and why he decided to put air in his tires on that particular morning at that particular gas station at that particular time.

None of it mattered, there in the darkness. He had told her he would take care of it. Told her they wouldn’t bother her again.

Pike whispered.

“I am here.”

Whoever and whatever she was did not matter. If she needed him, he would be there.

Pike whispered again.

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