Page 83 of A Week Away
“You still have my mother’s cash?” Cash asked.
“Yeah.”
“I want it. And the credit cards.”
There was no way I was giving him the cards. He’d end up in prison. And believe it or not, I’d like to end this little adventure with everyone remaining alive and free.
“And the gun. I want the gun back.”
“Later. Do you still have a key to Top Dog?”
“Why?”
“Because I’m coming up with a plan.”
“Yeah. I have a key. Come and get me.”
“I don’t want you along for this.”
“Then I’m not giving you the key.”
Extortion. Blackmail. Kidnapping. The kid had real talent. I hesitated but really I had no choice. “I’ll pick you up in a while. I hung up. I had a lot to do.
I drove back to Top Dog. Circling the parking lot, I saw that Mr. Cray’s Porsche was there and Claudia’s Prelude was not. Then I drove two office buildings down. The building was nearly identical to the one that housed Top Dog. I parked in the back in roughly the spot where Mr. Cray’s BMW would have been. I turned the car off then stared at the clock. It was digital. As soon as it turned 1:34 I jumped out of the car and quickly walked into the building I bolted up the stairs to the second floor. Part way down the hallway I decided which office matched Top Dog. It had taken me roughly thirty-seconds to get there.
Then I hurried down the hallway to the men’s room at the front of the building. I stepped inside and stood in a booth. I pretended to open a briefcase, take out a hoodie, put it on, pick up a gun and set the briefcase on the back of the toilet. I left the bathroom, hurried down the stairs to the first floor, and walked out of it building.
I went directly to the spot that corresponded with where Joanne’s car had been. I pretended to shoot her and then pick up her purse. I hurried back to the building and climbed the stairs to the first floor. Then I ‘took off’ the hoodie, imagined standing on the toilet and putting the stolen purse in the ceiling, and went back into the booth where I ‘picked up’ the briefcase and put the gun and the hoody into it. I added extra time because the hoodie barely fit.
Then I went back out to the hallway and walked to the back of the building, down the stairs and out to the Thunderbird. I got into the car and looked at the clock. It said 1:37. Three minutes. Roughly.
I tried to remember what I’d seen on the video. Joanne was killed at 4:56 and then Mr. Cray got into this BMW at around 5:02. Six minutes. I’d done it in three. He could have dawdled. He could have taken his time. Most importantly, he could have done it. He could have killed her. There was enough time.
Looking at it another way, he’d walked out of the office about three minutes after Joanne. She’d come out of the building at 4:51. Mr. Cray should have come out the back of the building at 4:54. There were eight unaccounted for minutes.
I got out of the car, walked around and opened the trunk, and took a thousand dollars out of the shoebox. Then I walked around the first building until I found Rocky mopping the upstairs hallway.
“I’m seeing a lot of you,” was the first thing he said.
“This should be it. I don’t think you’ll see me after today. I’ve got a thousand dollars for you.”
“Out of the goodness of your heart?”
“I need you to do something.”
“For a thousand dollars? Is it illegal?”
“Probably not.”
He laughed and shook his head. “Probably not. Oh, that’s a good one.”
“Look, it’s very likely no one will ever know. There’s only a small chance it might become… a thing.”
With a frown he asked, “What do you need me to do?”
“I need you to turn off all the cameras covering the Top Dog building from five-forty-five to six-fifteen. That’s all.”
“That’s all?”
