The Associate (25 page)

A cemetery after dark would never have been his first choice of a place to meet, especially with a murderer running loose. The mausoleums and monuments provided excellent cover for a killer. Daniel ran between the graves to the Prescott mausoleum, then ducked behind the crypt. The rain and the biting wind were making him miserable and he pulled the strings of his hood tighter to protect his face, all the while looking around for Kaidanov. His senses were strained to the limit, but the downpour made it hard to hear and his hood limited his peripheral vision.

“Ames.”

Daniel spun around, fist cocked. He held his punch when he recognized Kaidanov. The scientist looked as miserable as Daniel felt. Water ran down his face and beaded a mustache and beard that Daniel had not noticed in the picture on the liquor cabinet in Kaidanov’s living room.

“You scared the shit out of me,” Daniel said as he sagged against the tomb.

“We don’t have much time,” the Russian answered. He was shivering and his voice trembled from the cold. “I want you to tell Geller Pharmaceuticals that I’ll testify that my study is a hoax.”

“The results aren’t real?” Daniel asked, stunned by Kaidanov’s revelation.

“Of course not.”

“And Insufort is safe?”

“I don’t have time for this,” Kaidanov said impatiently. “You tell Geller’s people that I want money and protection. I’m not meeting anyone until I’ve been paid and all of the safety precautions have been arranged to my satisfaction.”

“Why me?”

“Because I don’t know who to trust at Reed, Briggs or Geller. I want one million dollars. That’s cheap considering how much I’ll save them. I also want a safe house and bodyguards.” Kaidanov looked around nervously. “They tried to kill me at the lab. Then they tried again when they murdered Briggs.”

“Who tried to kill you?”

“I don’t know. I never met anyone. I received my instructions by phone or in the mail or at a drop. They paid me to transform that building into a lab and to phony up the study. They told me the results they wanted.”

“Why did you do it?”

Kaidanov shrugged. “Gambling debts. They promised me enough to pay them and more. I was stupid. I believed them.”

“Do you know who killed Arthur Briggs?”

“I’m sure it was the same person who tried to kill me at the lab, but I didn’t see his face. Everything happened too fast. Arthur warned me and I got away. I was lucky at the lab, too.” Kaidanov laughed. “That fucking monkey. It saved my life.”

“The monkey that was shot?”

“I was seconds away from being set on fire when the little beast came out of nowhere. It was amazing. Its coat was solid flame and it still had the strength to attack.” The Russian shook his head in awe. “The last thing I saw was its teeth sinking into the killer’s shoulder.”

Kaidanov shuddered. Blood, skin, and brains spattered Daniel’s face. He stepped back instinctively, making a strangled sound as he stared in shock at the remains of Kaidanov’s face. The scientist lurched forward and clutched Daniel’s jacket. His back absorbed the next bullet. The explosion acted like a slap. Daniel shoved the body away and jumped behind the mausoleum, barely avoiding a bullet that nicked the edge of the crypt and sprayed him with rock chips.

Daniel sprinted between the graves toward another mausoleum. Someone was running parallel to him, several rows over. The killer pulled up and assumed a shooting stance. Daniel dove behind a stone angel just as the angel’s head exploded.

Daniel scrambled forward, crablike, but he held out little hope of escape. It wouldn’t take long for the killer to figure out that he was unarmed and helpless. He took a quick look around. The mausoleum was two rows away. The killer would expect him to head for it because it provided the best shelter, so he started circling back toward Kaidanov’s body, hoping that the heavy clouds and rain would cloak his movements.

Daniel risked a look over his shoulder and saw a figure racing toward the mausoleum. As soon as it disappeared he leaped up and raced away. A gun fired and Daniel felt the wind track of a bullet speeding by his cheek. He shifted gears and ran all out, dodging behind the tallest monuments and widest headstones. Another bullet ripped the fabric of his hood and creased the side of his head, sending him sprawling headfirst into a granite slab. Fighting for consciousness, Daniel gritted his teeth and struggled to one knee, then tumbled back down. Footsteps pounded the ground, drawing closer. A shot. Daniel braced for the impact, but none came. Two more shots, but from opposite directions, then another and another. Daniel looked around. A figure was firing toward his assailant, who turned and fled.

“Stay down,” Kate Ross yelled. Daniel crawled behind a large headstone. His head was throbbing. When he touched the skin above his left ear, blood dampened his palm and pain flared in his temple.

Kate crouched beside him, a gun in her hand.

“Get up. We’ve got to go,
now
!”

Daniel braced himself on the headstone and levered himself to his feet, before doubling over from nausea. Kate gripped his arm.

“Suck it up and move.”

Daniel stumbled forward like a drunk with Kate following, gun in hand. Gradually, his head cleared enough for him to get his bearings.

“Where’s your car?”

“Over there,” Daniel said, pointing toward the ravine where he’d come in. Kate worried that the shooter was waiting in the woods, but she angled toward the trees. Daniel had all he could do to keep his feet moving. At some point Kate took his arm, steadying him. Kate breathed a sigh of relief when they entered the woods without incident.

When they found Daniel’s car, Kate took his keys and helped him into the passenger’s seat, then went around to the driver’s side. The dome light went on. Kate got a good look at Daniel’s face and gasped. Daniel stared in the rearview mirror. His blood drenched the left side of his head and Kaidanov’s blood and brains speckled his face and the front of his windbreaker.

“Oh, Jesus,” he said as a wave of nausea rolled through his stomach. He pushed open the door and threw up on the macadam. Kate put a hand on his back.

“How badly are you hurt?” she asked.

Daniel ran the back of his hand across his mouth and squeezed his eyes tight.

“It’s not all my blood,” he managed. “Kaidanov . . .”

Another wave of nausea hit him and he gritted his teeth.

“The scientist you came to meet?” Kate asked.

Daniel nodded. “His body is back there by the mausoleum.”

Kate made a decision. She punched in a number on her cell phone and Daniel looked at her.

“I’m getting you an ambulance.”

“No,” Daniel gasped. “They’ll send me back to jail.”

Kate gave their location to 911, then dialed another number.

“You’re hurt and there’s been a murder,” she answered as she waited for the party on the other end to pick up.

Daniel was too weak to talk and almost too dizzy to think, but he shook his head. Kate grabbed his shoulder and squeezed.

“Do you trust me?” she asked.

Daniel used most of his energy to muster a nod.

“Then stick with me.” A voice on the other end of the phone distracted her.

“Hello,” she said. “It’s Kate Ross, Amanda. I’m with Daniel Ames. We need you.”

When Billie Brewster and Zeke Forbus drove up, the medics were treating Daniel’s head wound in the back of an ambulance. An officer was stationed at the rear of the ambulance, guarding Daniel. The detectives conferred with him for a few minutes. Then the officer pointed to Kate’s car, where Kate Ross and Amanda Jaffe had taken shelter from the rain. Billie ran over and knocked on Kate’s window. Kate got out of the car just as Forbus joined his partner.

“Why couldn’t your boyfriend commit murder on a sunny afternoon?” he grumbled.

“Daniel didn’t kill anyone,” Kate snapped, too exhausted to be polite.

Forbus barked out a sour laugh and threw a thumb over his shoulder toward the uniform. “Harris told me the bullshit story you gave him about a mysterious stranger and your heroic rescue. Sounds a little like
Lethal Weapon Nine
.”

“Listen, you fat—”

“Hey!” Billie shouted, stepping between them. “We’re all tired and we’re all wet. Let’s try to act civilized, okay? I do not want to play referee to you two.”

Forbus smirked as Amanda Jaffe joined the trio. Kate glared at Forbus.

“Tell us what happened!” Billie said.

“I already gave a statement,” Kate answered belligerently, still pissed.

“Then repeat it to me,” Billie asked calmly. “Please.”

Kate looked at Amanda and the lawyer nodded.

“I was out of town on business. When I got home there was a message from Daniel on my answering machine. He said that Sergey Kaidanov had called him.”

“The missing scientist?” Billie interjected.

Kate nodded. “Kaidanov wanted Daniel to meet him at Rest of Angels. He was going to testify that his study was a hoax, but he wanted to be paid. He wanted Daniel to negotiate with Geller Pharmaceuticals.”

“Why Ames?” Forbus asked.

“Kaidanov was at the cottage when Arthur Briggs was killed. He knew Daniel didn’t kill Briggs, so he trusted him.”

“This is what Ames told you?” Forbus asked skeptically.

Kate nodded.

“I don’t suppose he has a witness to back him up?”

“Let her tell the story,” Billie told her partner.

“By the time I got here Kaidanov was dead. I saw Daniel go down. The killer was trying to finish him off. I started shooting and scared him away.”

“Where’s your gun?” Forbus asked.

“I turned it over to the first cop who showed up. It’s already bagged.”

“What were you using?” Billie asked.

“A nine-millimeter Glock. You should find a lot of spent shells out there. I was spraying shots.”

“Sounds familiar,” Forbus muttered.

Billie’s head snapped around and she glared at Forbus. He shrugged and held up his hands, but Kate caught his cruel smile.

“Where’s the body?” Billie asked Kate.

“In the cemetery. There should be someone out there already. They called for forensics.”

Billie was about to ask another question when a car pulled up. Mike Greene opened an umbrella and ran over.

“I should have stayed in L.A.,” he swore. “Hi, Amanda, ladies and gentlemen. What have I missed?”

Billie quickly repeated what Kate had told her.

“Where’s Ames?” Greene asked when she was finished.

“In the back of the ambulance,” Amanda answered.

Greene thought for a moment. Then he looked at Daniel’s lawyer.

“Let’s get out of this rain and talk. There’s a Denny’s down the road.”

“We’ve got to get over to the cemetery to scope out the crime scene,” Billie said. Greene nodded and Amanda followed him to his car.

Kate turned to Billie. “What are you going to do about Daniel?”

“He’s a suspect, Kate.”

“Damn it, Billie, I told you what I saw. Daniel was supposed to die, too. He’s been shot. Take a look at his wound. He’d be dead if I got here a few minutes later.”

“This is the second crime scene Ames has been caught at.”

“You didn’t catch him. I called 911 with his consent. We could have been long gone if he gave the word. You’d never have connected him to the killing if he didn’t wait here.”

“You’ve got a point.”

“The person who killed Briggs and Kaidanov is a cold-blooded psychopath. Daniel’s nothing like that.”

“Is this your heart or your head talking?” Billie asked, watching her friend carefully.

“How many times do I have to say it? I saw someone shoot Daniel.”

“Who?”

“It was dark. Everything happened very fast.”

Billie was quiet for a moment. When she spoke she looked uneasy.

“I’m gonna be blunt, Kate. Right now I’ve got a murder victim and a guy who’s charged with another, connected murder. What Ames has is a witness who came on the scene after the victim was killed, and that witness is a friend of the suspect—maybe a very good friend.”

“You think I’m lying?” Kate asked, aghast at the accusation.

Billie broke eye contact for a moment. When she reestablished it she looked embarrassed.

“What happens to Ames isn’t my call. Mike Greene and Amanda Jaffe will work out the details. Right now all I want to do is get my work done and go home to a hot drink and a very hot bath. You should get out of the rain.”

When Mike Greene and Amanda Jaffe returned, the ambulance was gone and Daniel was under guard in the back of a patrol car. In view of Kate’s account of the shoot-out and Daniel’s wound, Greene decided that there was too much uncertainty to arrest Daniel.

The shock of being seconds from death, the discomfort from his wound, and the discovery that Kaidanov’s study was a hoax gave Daniel a lot to think about during the ride to Kate’s house. As soon as they were in the door Kate led him into the bathroom. His clothes were still covered with gore.

“Give me those,” Kate said while she filled up the bathtub. “I’ll put them in the wash to get this . . . stuff off.”

Daniel stripped and settled into the scalding water. The painkillers he’d been given by the EMTs had kicked in. He closed his eyes and drifted off, but a recurring vision of Kaidanov’s head exploding kept him from falling asleep, as did the sudden understanding that the only person who could tell the police that he did not murder Arthur Briggs was dead.

The water cooled off and Daniel hoisted himself out of the tub. Every movement hurt. After he dressed in clothes that Kate had left for him, he limped into the living room. She was sitting on the couch clutching a glass of Scotch. The bottle stood in front of her on the coffee table. Kate’s eyes were closed and her head was back. She looked exhausted. Daniel felt guilty that he had only been thinking about himself.

“Are you okay?” he asked anxiously. “Can I do anything?”

Kate opened her eyes and shook her head.

“What’s wrong?”

“I was in a shoot-out once before. I never thought I’d have to go through that again.”