Page 57 of Erase Me
“I have my sources.Ears and eyes everywhere,” he replied, ego showing in his tone.“I probably got the call before the Sheriff’s Department.”
“How long was he in the ocean?”
“I don’t know.”
“When was the last time someone saw him alive?”
“Yesterday, as far as I know.”Vaughn shrugged.“I got the word to him to meet you in the Surf Ghetto.”
“When was that?”
“I told you, yesterday.That would be Tuesday,” he said slowly, as if he were talking to a child.
I took a deep breath and watched as the body was zipped into a body bag.Maybe there was room for Vaughn in there too.
Avalie’s warning had lingered in my mind ever since she had walked away from me this morning.Someone had locked us in that shipping container.Of course, maybe there was nous.Maybe the poison gas was only meant for me.What if they had been following me, and she would have been collateral damage?
“How did you get word to this guy to meet me?”I asked.
“I have my ways.”
“Does he...didhe have a cell phone?Do you have someone who contacted him for you?How did you do it?”
“What are you trying to do...micromanage me?You want my job?”Vaughn said, clearly annoyed.“Look, I do my part.You do yours.I don’t ask about the nuts and bolts of what you do.Don’t get into my shit.”
As I sized him up, I had to consciously force down my anger.I still needed to work with him on this assignment.
“Okay, let me ask you this.What do you think happened to him?”
On the beach, they were lifting the body onto a stretcher.
“Drowned.”
“Foul play?”
“Maybe.It happens.”Vaughn shrugged.“But they’re having a record year of homeless deaths in the county.They drown.They get hit by cars.They jump in the way of trains on the tracks...when the train is running.Then there’s the overdoses.A lot of those.And sickness.The State expects that by the end of the year, between 8-10% of the county’s homeless population will be dead.”
“Look, Vaughn.I don’t need statistics.I want information about your contact.You said he worked for you.I want to know how he died and if his death is related to the job I’m scheduled to do tomorrow.”
“Well, unlike you guys, I can’t just time-hop whenever I feel like it and fetch police reports a week or a month from now and zip right back here pronto with all the details.I’m a mere mortal, buddy.A living, breathing 2023 guy.I’m damn good at what I do, but I’m limited in how much information I can gather and how quickly I can come up with it.”
Everything about Vaughn was starting to get under my skin.The fucker had a chip on his shoulder the size of Detroit.For no reason that I was aware of, he seemed to have an uncooperative attitude.
For my entire career, I’d always been the kind of agent that my handlers appreciated.I navigated smoothly through any situation.But Vaughn had this uncanny ability to bring out the worst in me.Our interactions seemed to spark with tension, making every exchange with him more infuriating than the last.
I suppose what bothered me the most was that he didn’t care that my hackles were up.
My best course was to simply focus on the assignment and not let personalities muck up the plans.I only had one more day of working with him.Just one more day, I reminded myself.
“What did you find out about Avalie?”
“I was able to tie the number you gave me to a device.The last ping I got was along El Camino Real.But no signal now.I’m still searching.My people are keeping their eyes and ears open around San Clemente.”
I considered a caustic remark about his people turning up dead on the beach, but I held my tongue.
“Have you checked to see if anyone else from the agency was assigned to a job in this area?”
“I did.Nothing in the most recent report I received.Whoever she is, it’s possible she’s a rogue operator.She’s not in any system I can access.”
