The television went black causing a few of her patrons to groan. Robin’s wicked stare was enough to cut them all short. They went back to their lattes, cappuccinos, mochas and let her stew. One or two of the regulars could probably make a guess as to what was going on, but they all knew better than to pry. She through herself into work cleaning like a mad woman while Susanna, one of the college students she’d hired to help, minded the counter. The phone rang and she started to snap at the girl to answer it when she realized that there were three people lined up, waiting.
“E-brew-lient, this is Robin.” She managed to put on her best customer service voice.
“Hey girlfriend!” Jose put on his best Birdcage lisp, imitating the gay houseboy Agador. It almost always cracked her up.
“Not today, Jose.” She did crack a minute smile.
He dropped it. “I’m guessing you saw the news, huh.”
“Yes. What has that boy done?” She was pacing in short circles.
“Stop, you’ll make yourself dizzy.”
Robin stopped. “How di…”
“You do that circle thing when you’re mad and nervous. Don’t worry, our boy is fine and he hasn’t done anything stupid. Don’t fret.” Jose paused. “Okay fret all you want, but use that energy to do something constructive. I need you to go to the church and get Chris and then I need you guys to go see Mama G for a few days.”
She started pacing again. “What? Why, what’s wrong?”
“Look let’s just say that I have reason to believe that the man they’re calling Matt’s accomplice is really dangerous and that eventually he is going to come after us. He wants Matt and he’ll use us to get to him. I’m worried about Chris. I’ve been calling the church, but I’m not getting anyone. I have to stay at the house right now, so I need you to do what I say for once and go. Can you do that?”
“Do you know where Matt is? Is he okay?”
“I can’t say. You just worry about your little light brown booty for now. You let me worry about the cracker. Capisce?”
She sighed, a deep sigh all the way from the tops of her toes. “Yeah, okay I capisce. I’ll go get Chris. We’ll call you on when we’re on the way out of the city. Tell my boy that I love him.”
“If he were here I would say ‘Matt you’re girlfriend says that she’s crazy in love with you, but for some damn stupid reason has never been able to say that to your face.’ But he’s not here so I can’t. Go.”
A loud click in her ear and Jose was gone. “Susanna, I need to go run some errands. Zach will be in about three. He’ll probably have to close tonight. Don’t worry, he’s done it before. If you can hang around and help him out for a bit that would be great.”
The lithe little redhead squinted. “Everything okay?”
Robin shook her head. “Not really, no.”
“I hate to ask, it’s none of my business, but is it about Matt?” She stepped up and put her hand on her boss’s shoulder. “We don’t believe he’s done anything wrong.”
She patted Susanna’s hand. “I can’t say, but you can pray for us.” She headed out the door and into the sunshine, the clouds broken wide open for now. Robin drove a light blue Volkswagen Rabbit convertible. She called it her Blue Bunny after her favorite ice cream. Even the license plate reflected the name, though she had to make it “BLU BNNY”. She put the top down since it was so nice all of the sudden.
The thought of taking the back roads crossed her mind, but Jose sounded more than a little worried. She jumped on the highway, her Rabbit taking its time. Jose had offered to have his brother juice the engine a little, but she knew that that would change the character, not to mention the fuel economy of her ride. She refused which had hurt his feelings more than a little. He loved to help people. So she let him give it a new paint job and an awesome sound system. She let the power Alpine speakers pump out Natalie Grant competing with and winning against the noise of the wind.
Before she even got to the church, the flashing lights were plainly visible. She turned the corner and saw the police barricade blocking the road. The pit of her stomach turned sour. She braked to a stop and a female police officer walked up.
“Can I help you miss?” Her voice was stern, but the offer seemed genuine.
Robin fought to control her voice before she answered. It quavered anyway, but just a little. “I was coming to see Pastor Taylor. Is everything… is everything alright?” She knew the answer to that of course.
“What’s your name miss? And your relationship to Pastor Taylor?” She stepped closer to the vehicle.
“My name is Robin Delaney and I go to church at Westridge.” Over the female officer’s shoulder she saw two paramedics wheeling a body bag out on a gurney. “What happened? Whose body is that?” As the volume of her voice increased so did the quaver.
“Calm down Miss Delaney. I’m afraid I have some bad news. It looks like Pastor Taylor has been murdered.” She put her hand on the door frame.
The edges of Robin’s vision grayed out and she felt like she was going to faint. “No. No it can’t be.” She stuck a sharp fingernail into her thigh and the pain brought her vision back into focus.
“Are you okay Miss? Do you need to speak to someone at the church? I think one of the associate pastor’s is there.”
Robin shook her head. “No thanks. I probably need to go home and lie down.”
“Do you feel capable of driving safely?”
No. My boyfriend, oh God is he my boyfriend, killed someone and as a result he’s on the run and someone killed my pastor and I think I’m going crazy. Robin sat still with her arms crossed.
“Miss?” Officer Drake touched the young woman on the shoulder.
Robin started. “What? Oh yes I’ll be fine. I don’t live far from here.” She ground the Rabbit into reverse and pulled away slowly. The car seemed to drive itself. Before she knew it she was in front of Matt’s apartment.
There was a cruiser parked in front of the complex, with one officer sitting inside reading the paper. Yellow tape criss-crossed his door. She slipped her cell from her pocketbook. Her hand trembled, not so much hat she would drop it, but it was noticeable. She pressed and held the number two key for a second and it autodialed Jose’s house.
“I hope you guys are on the road.” Was Jose’s answer.
“Chris is dead, Jose.” Her voice was firm. How she didn’t know.
“Damn. Okay well you need to come on ahead right away then.”
“’Damn’ is all you can say? Chris is dead. Matt killed someone, hell for all I know he killed Chris.” She was angry. She wasn’t clear at whom, but it came through in her voice.
“That’s crazy talk. Matt didn’t kill Chris. There’s a big blond psycho out there who’s trying to kill him and he’s the one who killed Chris.” Jose held his emotions tightly in check.
“Big blond psycho?” She looked over at the cruiser. The police officer had lowered his paper and sipped from a cup of coffee. He was a large man from what she could see of his torso and appeared to have a blond pony tail. She scanned the lot and saw Pastor Chris’s car. “Oh shit.”
“Where are you? Where are you calling from?”
Jose’s voice was hollow in her ear. “I see him. He’s here at Matt’s apartment.”
“Matt’s apart… Look girl, I don’t know what you’re doing there but you need to leave pronto. If that is him that you’re seeing you can’t let him follow you. Call me back once you’re on the road. We’ll meet at Mama’s house. Can you drive there?”
“Yes I can. It’s been a few years but I remember the way.” She hung up and pulled slowly out of the parking lot.
Sanders watched the blue Volkswagen pull into and then back out of the lot. He noted the license plate and entered it into the cruiser’s computer. While he waited for the response he thought about his next move. He had been searching the apartment, which hadn’t taken long, when the police officers surprised him. He had managed to bluff them with his fake id long enough to get the drop on them and kill them. Their bodies lay cooling in the man’s bathtub. This whole thing had gotten a little more complicated than he’d envisioned and now he had to make certain of tying up any loose ends.
The computer beeped and revealed the car to be registered to one Robin Alison Delaney. The name pinged on his mental sonar. That name was in the directory he had acquired. It was also scribbled on a sticky note that had been next to the phone in Matthew York’s apartment. By the time he looked up from the computer the small blue car was gone. Sanders smacked the steering wheel lightly. It was time for him to move on.
He got out of the cruiser and found a new car to acquire. The Reverend’s vehicle would be too hot and as much fun as the police car would be to drive he really needed something low key. A deep burgundy Mitsubishi Gallant that was parked in the complex’s lot did nicely. For know he would just drive around town while he set his information gatherers to see if anything turned up regarding the lovely Miss Delaney. Perhaps he could find a way to spend a little quality time with her once he found the trail that lead to Mr. York. Find it he would, and pay the young man back for every drop of trouble that Sanders had been through.
