Read Online Father Night by Eric Van Lustbader - Free Book Online
Authors: Eric Van Lustbader
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head. “Don’t even try to figure me out.”
Caro gestured and she turned, leading them to her car. It smelled of stale smoke and seemed charged with adrenaline. Caro sat alone in the front seat, her back against the driver’s-side window, her legs draped over the center console. Alli and Vera made themselves comfortable in the backseat. Caro shook out a cigarette and lit up. As if intuiting their objection, she cracked a window, letting in a knife blade of frigid air. She smoked slowly and languidly. She certainly didn’t act like a fugitive, Alli thought, unsurprised at her feeling of admiration. She herself was an outsider. At its deepest level, this was what had bonded her with Vera. She suspected that, whether Caro knew it or not, it would be the same with her. Outsiders had a knack of instantly recognizing one of their own and liking them. They could scarcely help it.
“So,” Caro said, picking a piece of tobacco off her lower lip, “you wanted my help?”
Vera handed her the iPad, which was already open to the screen shots she had taken of the Web site when it was still up.
Caro glanced back at them. “You’re kidding, right? This is junk, amateur stuff.”
“The Feds haven’t been able to run down the perp,” Alli said.
“‘Perp.’” Caro chuckled. “Listen to you.”
Alli pointed. “You see the chair the girls are on? It’s identical to the one I was bound to when—”
“Yeah,” Caro said, sitting up. “I heard about what happened to you.”
“That date of my supposed death, it’s when I was abducted.”
Caro frowned as she studied the screen shots more carefully. Then she took out a notebook computer and fired it up. Caro had customized it to her own specifications. From what Vera had told her, this notebook was unlike any other in the world.
Caro inputted some information from the screen shots and then did some cyber-digging. “I see what’s baffled the Feds,” she said. “This guy has sent them bouncing around the world.”
“Can you find him?” Alli said.
“No doubt.” Caro looked at her. “But not here, not now. It will take a bit of time and craftiness. Plus, I need tools I don’t normally carry with me.”
“So you’ll do it?” Vera said.
Caro looked from one to the other. “Quid pro quo. I want something in return.”
“Name it,” Alli said immediately. She had a sense that Vera would hesitate, perhaps because she knew Caro.
Vera sighed. “Out with it.”
Caro grinned. “I want something that…” Her eyes cut toward Vera. “Henry Holt Carson has something I want.”
Vera’s cheeks flushed deeply. She seemed disconcerted for a moment, before regaining her equilibrium. “You want us to steal this thing, whatever it is?”
“We’ll do it!” Alli said, and ignored the venomous look Vera shot her.
“And there you are,” Caro said with a good-natured smirk. “The Hardy Girls are born.”
* * *
J ACK DROVE the funeral home van several hundred yards farther into the industrial park until it was hidden between two buildings. Then he got out and sprinted back toward the warehouse into which both the driver and Annika had disappeared.
Finding the side door ajar, he slipped inside. Annika was retreating from a forklift that rumbled relentlessly toward her. Jack shouted, but could not make himself heard over the sound of the forklift’s engine. He lifted his Magnum, squeezed off a shot that cracked the driver’s-side windshield. Jack glimpsed Annika, making the most of the distraction, leaping up onto the side of the forklift.
* * *
A NNIKA GRABBED the operator’s door handle as she swung herself all the way up. She saw the shadow of the gun and ducked just as a bullet shattered the side window and whistled past her right ear.
Jack ran toward the forklift. Annika used the butt of her handgun to chop away the shards of remaining glass. She wanted to keep the driver alive, but he seemed determined to kill her.
The
Caro gestured and she turned, leading them to her car. It smelled of stale smoke and seemed charged with adrenaline. Caro sat alone in the front seat, her back against the driver’s-side window, her legs draped over the center console. Alli and Vera made themselves comfortable in the backseat. Caro shook out a cigarette and lit up. As if intuiting their objection, she cracked a window, letting in a knife blade of frigid air. She smoked slowly and languidly. She certainly didn’t act like a fugitive, Alli thought, unsurprised at her feeling of admiration. She herself was an outsider. At its deepest level, this was what had bonded her with Vera. She suspected that, whether Caro knew it or not, it would be the same with her. Outsiders had a knack of instantly recognizing one of their own and liking them. They could scarcely help it.
“So,” Caro said, picking a piece of tobacco off her lower lip, “you wanted my help?”
Vera handed her the iPad, which was already open to the screen shots she had taken of the Web site when it was still up.
Caro glanced back at them. “You’re kidding, right? This is junk, amateur stuff.”
“The Feds haven’t been able to run down the perp,” Alli said.
“‘Perp.’” Caro chuckled. “Listen to you.”
Alli pointed. “You see the chair the girls are on? It’s identical to the one I was bound to when—”
“Yeah,” Caro said, sitting up. “I heard about what happened to you.”
“That date of my supposed death, it’s when I was abducted.”
Caro frowned as she studied the screen shots more carefully. Then she took out a notebook computer and fired it up. Caro had customized it to her own specifications. From what Vera had told her, this notebook was unlike any other in the world.
Caro inputted some information from the screen shots and then did some cyber-digging. “I see what’s baffled the Feds,” she said. “This guy has sent them bouncing around the world.”
“Can you find him?” Alli said.
“No doubt.” Caro looked at her. “But not here, not now. It will take a bit of time and craftiness. Plus, I need tools I don’t normally carry with me.”
“So you’ll do it?” Vera said.
Caro looked from one to the other. “Quid pro quo. I want something in return.”
“Name it,” Alli said immediately. She had a sense that Vera would hesitate, perhaps because she knew Caro.
Vera sighed. “Out with it.”
Caro grinned. “I want something that…” Her eyes cut toward Vera. “Henry Holt Carson has something I want.”
Vera’s cheeks flushed deeply. She seemed disconcerted for a moment, before regaining her equilibrium. “You want us to steal this thing, whatever it is?”
“We’ll do it!” Alli said, and ignored the venomous look Vera shot her.
“And there you are,” Caro said with a good-natured smirk. “The Hardy Girls are born.”
* * *
J ACK DROVE the funeral home van several hundred yards farther into the industrial park until it was hidden between two buildings. Then he got out and sprinted back toward the warehouse into which both the driver and Annika had disappeared.
Finding the side door ajar, he slipped inside. Annika was retreating from a forklift that rumbled relentlessly toward her. Jack shouted, but could not make himself heard over the sound of the forklift’s engine. He lifted his Magnum, squeezed off a shot that cracked the driver’s-side windshield. Jack glimpsed Annika, making the most of the distraction, leaping up onto the side of the forklift.
* * *
A NNIKA GRABBED the operator’s door handle as she swung herself all the way up. She saw the shadow of the gun and ducked just as a bullet shattered the side window and whistled past her right ear.
Jack ran toward the forklift. Annika used the butt of her handgun to chop away the shards of remaining glass. She wanted to keep the driver alive, but he seemed determined to kill her.
The
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