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She pushed to her feet and started to pace the length of pavement under the overpass on the Eighteenth Street side. Back and forth. Back and forth. She’d eventually tracked down the guy who’d found her and gone for help. There was no way to gauge how many others had walked right past her. Lab tests on her clothes showed that at least one person had pissed on her. Whether that was before or after she’d planted herself facedown under the overpass, no one could say.
Witnesses in the bus station had stated that she’d gotten off one of the buses. The consensus as to which bus was mixed. Possibly the one from Houston, maybe the one from New Orleans. Drivers from every imaginable direction had been interviewed, and no one had remembered her.
Ultimately the answer to how she’d ended up at the Greyhound station and then under the overpass was yet another mystery.
She wandered into the station and watched the people coming and going for a while. Watched those waiting in the lobby, heads dropping forward or back as people fell asleep in their chairs. She noted the one hoodlum who watched those dozing off, his gaze going from them to their bags.
When he got up to snatch a bag, Sadie stuck her leg out in his path. “Don’t even think about it, asshole.”
The kid gave her a nasty glare and hustled away.
A few minutes later she felt as if she’d soaked up as much of the shitty atmosphere as she could tolerate. She decided to go back to Leo’s and follow that lead.
Why not?She had nothing to lose.
If she got herself dead, her only regret would be not getting Asher’s killer first.
Leo’s Tobacconist
Oak Grove Road
Homewood, 10:35 p.m.
Sadie had backed into a slot in the rear of the parking lot at Leo’s. She could watch the stockroom exit and McGill’s car from her position. She’d made a quick detour on the way here for the gear she would need. It wasn’t much. Something for copying McGill’s house key. Decoding software in case she managed an opportunity to have a look at her computer.
At 10:39 the Vandiver guy exited, cell phone against his ear. He climbed into his vintage BMW and roared away.
Another five minutes elapsed before McGill came out. She strutted across the pavement in the direction of her car. Waiting until her target was at the halfway point between the rear exit and her Corolla, Sadie emerged and began walking toward her. Hearing the footsteps, McGill jumped and turned in Sadie’s direction.
“Whoa. You scared the hell out of me.” A hand on her bare chest, McGill said, “I thought you had other plans tonight.”
Her voice shook ever so slightly. She wasn’t completely sure of the situation or of Sadie. But she didn’t run.
“I decided I liked your offer better.” By the time Sadie reached her position, she had her hands on her hips and was looking all cocky. “Unlessyoumade other plans.”
“No other plans.” McGill moved in closer to Sadie. The heels McGill wore put the two of them nose to nose. “Your place or mine?”
Sadie looked directly into her eyes. “Yours is probably closer.”
McGill traced a finger over Sadie’s lips, then a path down to her breasts. “You riding with me or following?”
“I’ll follow. Makes the morning after less complicated.”
McGill grinned. “I’m liking you more already.”
Sadie headed back to her car and climbed in. She waited until McGill did the same and darted out of the parking lot. Sadie followed.
Her phone vibrated, and she checked the screen.
Falco.
She decided to answer since he might have an update from today’s task force meeting. She touched the speaker icon. “Yeah.”
“You got anything new on your end?”
Sadie considered holding back but decided if she wanted Falco to be on the up-and-up with her, she had to do the same to the extent possible. “I’m following Tara McGill to her town house.”
The lady lived in a damned high-end community to be a barmaid. If Sadie’d had any doubts as to whether she was involved in illegal activities, discovering her digs had alleviated that doubt.
