‘Molina left us an escort,’ Rafe said. ‘Damien doesn’t need to come.’ Although he’d feel more comfortable with his brother in the house with them. One more trained cop could only be a good thing.
‘As I said,’ Irina said with a raised brow, ‘Damien will be escorting you home. He just texted that he’s here. Call me when you’re safely inside your house.’ She aimed looks at Daisy, Mercy, and Farrah. ‘All of you. The boys always forget.’
Damien came into the kitchen and gave Irina a hug. ‘Got your text, Mom. I’m good to follow them home.’
Rafe got up, leaning heavily on his cane. He didn’t want to admit it, but he was exhausted. He couldn’t imagine how tired Mercy must be. This day had been a goddamn roller coaster. ‘Thanks, brother. I’ll owe you one.’
Farrah hesitated, then kissed Irina on the cheek. ‘I’m going to have to say goodbye to you all for now. My parents texted earlier. The ME released my aunt’s body this afternoon. We’re going to have her funeral day after tomorrow and I need to be home for my folks.’
Mercy looked torn. ‘I need to be there with you, but if I go, I’ll put everyone in your family at risk.’
‘They know that,’ Farrah said, cupping Mercy’s cheek. ‘And we all know that you’d be there if you could. André and I will fly out first thing tomorrow morning. If you still need me, I can be back by the weekend.’
Mercy’s smile was sad. ‘You’ll video Quill’s second line? She always said that she’d haunt us if she didn’t get a jazz funeral procession.’
Farrah hugged her hard. ‘Absolutely. I’ll even carry a parasol just for you. Let’s go, now. I need to pack and André and I need to sleep. We have an early morning.’
Santa Rosa, California
Tuesday, 18 April, 10.00 P.M.
‘Harry, come in, come in.’ Dr Burkett held his front door open, ushering Ephraim inside. He’d aged in the ten years since doing the surgery on Ephraim’s eye. The man had already been retired back then, so he had to be in his late seventies by now. And more frail than Ephraim remembered. If physical force was required, he could take the old man down, regardless of the throbbing in his pectoral where that bastard detective had shot him.
Burkett gestured at the sofa. ‘Please make yourself comfortable.’
Right. That wasn’t happening. Every muscle in his body was tense. Looking around cautiously, he set his duffel bag at his feet as he sank to the sofa. There was no way he was leaving his weapons in the stolen vehicle he’d driven from Sacramento. All he needed was for someone to take his bag, leaving him defenseless.
He was relieved to find that nothing seemed out of place inside the house, and he’d already checked the outside. No cops. Not a trap.
‘I made some coffee,’ Burkett offered cordially, as if he hadn’t threatened Ephraim into coming. ‘Would you like a cup?’
Ephraim considered just killing him and being done with it, but found he was curious as to what the older man wanted. ‘That would be nice. I’ve got a long drive ahead of me.’
Burkett started for the kitchen, then turned to glare at Ephraim. ‘I thought you’d see your mother before you left. She misses you.’
Ephraim rolled his eyes. ‘Have you seen the news, Doctor?’
Burkett grimaced. ‘Yes. But I could sign her out for a day visit. You could visit her right here.’
‘I’ll think about it,’ Ephraim promised, but there was no way he meant it. If the Feds were watching his mother, he couldn’t take the chance that she wouldn’t be followed wherever the doctor wanted them to meet.
Burkett looked pleased. ‘All right, then.’ He disappeared for a moment, returning with a silver coffee service on a silver tray.
That was a lot of silver. Ephraim found himself mentally calculating its worth as Burkett poured the coffee. ‘Thank you.’ The caffeine would help wake him up.
Except . . . Burkett wasn’t drinking it and that had alarm bells clanging in Ephraim’s mind. He pretended to take a sip, using the napkin the doctor had provided to wipe his lips afterward.
‘You mentioned printouts of Mercy and the woman she was with today. Can I see them?’
‘Of course.’ Burkett looked away to pick up a folder from the coffee table, and Ephraim took the opportunity to quickly splash some of the coffee from the cup to the carpet. He reached for the folder when Burkett handed it to him. ‘The photos the nurse’s aide took are inside.’
Ephraim opened the folder and . . . there she was. Mercy Callahan. He’d expected her companion to be the black woman he’d seen with her at the airport, but this person was Caucasian and, to his knowledge, wasn’t a Sokolov. This was what he’d been afraid of. He’d bet money that the woman was a cop. Which meant that the cops had the key to Ephraim’s safe-deposit box. And if they didn’t, she’d likely handed it over to her Fed brother. Fucking hell. ‘You say you just missed them?’
‘Yes. What was the key for? The one your mother gave this woman?’
‘I don’t know,’ Ephraim lied.
Burkett’s brows lifted. ‘I think you do. I think it opens a safe-deposit box in a bank. And I think you’re going to tell me which one.’
‘You do, do you? Why would I do that, even if I did know?’
‘Because if you don’t, I’ll call the police and tell them that I have the man they’ve been looking for since Saturday evening.’
‘You think I’ll just wait here for them to come?’
‘Yes, because in about two minutes, you’re going to be out like a light. If you tell me, I’ll make sure the police don’t find you. If you don’t, I’ll be placing a call to 911.’
What an asshole. Ephraim feigned fear. ‘If you call the cops, you’ll just implicate yourself. You harbored a fugitive when you operated on my eye.’
Burkett shrugged. ‘No records of that exist, and do you really think they’d believe anything you say?’
‘Do you really believe you can get into my safe-deposit box even if I tell you where it is?’ Rolling his eyes, Ephraim started to rise, but sank back into the sofa cushion when the doctor drew a pistol outfitted with a silencer.
‘Where is the damn box, Harry?’ Burkett snapped.
Ephraim stared at the barrel of Burkett’s gun. I should have shot him when I first walked in the door. That’ll teach me to be curious. ‘It won’t matter if I tell you or not. You can’t get into it without me.’
‘But I bet your mother still can.’ Burkett smiled. ‘You took her keys, but did you remove her as an authorized co-renter?’