Treacherous Intent (8 page)

“That means either something made him lose it when he killed Joslyn’s father, or he had a compelling reason.”

“Like Mrs. Andrada said, she called the police after Joslyn left. Joslyn’s father had been tied to a chair, beaten and then stabbed to death.”

Elisabeth closed her eyes briefly at the brutal image. What would the sight of her bloody, lifeless father have made Joslyn feel? Elisabeth’s heart ached for her.

“The police found out about Joslyn’s relationship with Tomas and went to question him, but Tomas claimed he’d been at Sayawan at the time of the murder.”

Elisabeth shared a quick look with Liam. “The same club where we found the pictures of Joslyn.”

“The police didn’t find any evidence that Joslyn was involved in the actual crime, but they still want to speak to her,” Liam said. “They alerted other agencies about her, and a policeman in central California filed a report the day after Joslyn’s father’s murder. He saw Joslyn exiting a bus at a small stop just outside of Paso Robles, but she must have realized she’d been recognized and disappeared. Her ticket had been for San Francisco, but she never got back on the bus.”

“And no other sightings of her?”

“Nope.”

Elisabeth chewed her lip. “Would a gang captain really bother to find one woman who knows about a murder but doesn’t have proof?”

“There’s some reason he’s after her—maybe the reason why he attacked her father in the first place. Gang captains are powerful. They wouldn’t exert themselves unless there’s a pressing reason.”

“So we keep digging into Tomas.”

“Murder is a capital offense in California. If we can uncover proof against him, Tomas might turn on the Bagsics in order to escape the death penalty. Nathan said he saw it happen several times with other gang members when he was down south.” Liam closed his laptop. “Let’s get out of here. I feel exposed.”

Elisabeth got in the car, which was parked along the street in front of the coffee shop, and cranked the engine. “Was I right about the three shops?”

“Yup, they’re all close to each other. I found three apartment buildings in that area, but the one to check first is Hamilton Towers. It’s the most expensive, and the only one with a gated underground garage, which a Bagsic captain would appreciate.”

“Good thinking.” Elisabeth followed Liam’s directions and parked near Hamilton Towers, an imposing building with four floors, all chrome, glass and gray concrete.

As they got out, Elisabeth caught sight of the security cameras outside the front door. “There are probably security guards inside. How are we going to get past them to question Tomas’s neighbors?” Elisabeth said.

At that moment, the doors were opened by a doorman in a uniform. He must have been standing just inside the door. He nodded rather solemnly to two men who were walking out of the building.

They were dressed in purple and gray.

Elisabeth’s first reaction was to freeze, but she forced herself to relax, knowing the gang members would catch any sign of fear. She had known a predator before, and she knew if she didn’t put up a perfectly unconcerned facade, the gang members would start to circle around her.

She glanced at them idly, and realized they were the same gang members that they’d seen on Jericho Street, leaning against the BMW coupe. Her breath hitched and she tried to even it out. This was not good.

The man in the purple silk shirt was saying to the other in Tagalog, “No, I don’t want to take my car. I just got it washed and it might rain later today.”

“They’re the same—” Liam murmured.

“I know.” Her back was to the two men, but she could hear their footfalls on the sidewalk.

“You look familiar.”

Her jaw tightened at the sound of the man’s voice. She relaxed her face into an innocent mask and half turned, regarding him from over her shoulder.

The gang member in the silk shirt had stopped and was appraising her exactly the same way he’d done before.

Elisabeth answered lightly, “I saw you on Jericho Street. I was visiting a friend.”

She was about to turn her head back around when he asked, “So what are you doing here?”

She hesitated only a split second. “We’re looking at different apartment buildings.” As she turned to face him, she thrust her hips out and put her hand directly over her stomach. With her thick wool peacoat, she knew she looked like she could be a few months pregnant.

His face cooled into an almost disdainful expression, and she knew she’d read him correctly. He relished his single lifestyle, and children were a complete turnoff.

At that moment, a man and woman exited the apartment building. In contrast to how he had treated the two Bagsics, the doorman said jovially, “Have a good day, Mr. and Mrs. Alfred.”

“Thanks, Samuel,” the woman said.

The couple headed toward them, but as soon as they saw the two Bagsics, their steps quickened and they hurried by, heads down and shoulders hunched. They apparently knew their gang-affiliated neighbors and wanted nothing to do with them.

“Do you and your friend live here?” Elisabeth asked, playing her part.

“I do, he doesn’t.” The man in the silk shirt seemed almost reluctant to answer, now that he had no interest in her. “They only give you one parking space in the garage. One of you will have to park on the street.”

“Oh.” She gave a moue of distaste. “Thanks.”

The two men walked away and soon drove off.

Liam blew out his breath. “I can’t believe you talked to them.”

“It would have looked odd if I hadn’t.”

“Did you see those people who walked past? The gang has them running scared.”

Elisabeth sighed. If that couple was any indication, the other residents were clearly afraid of their gang neighbors and would probably be reluctant to talk to Elisabeth and Liam.

“I have an idea.” She marched up to the front door. The doorman had disappeared and the front door was locked, so she pushed a doorbell button. A small door to the side of the elevators marked Security opened and the doorman, Samuel, hurried toward them. “Yes?” he asked through the closed glass door.

Elisabeth studied his face. She had noticed his different reactions to the Bagsics and to the couple, and she trusted her instincts about people. “My name is Elisabeth Aday, and this is Liam O’Neill. We’re not police, we’re investigators. We’re trying to protect Joslyn Dimalanta from her ex-boyfriend, Tomas Bantoc.”

Samuel’s face tightened, and his eyes shifted to the street behind them, looking left and right.

“Please, will you let us in? We only want to talk to you. We’re not here to get anyone in trouble with the gang.”

The doorman hesitated, then pushed open the door to let them into the foyer.

“Thanks.” Elisabeth and Liam slipped inside.

“This way.” Samuel glanced out to the street once again, then headed to the security room.

There was only one chair, but Samuel pulled out a folding chair for Elisabeth, and Liam stood and leaned against the closed door.

Samuel sat, resting his hands on his thighs. “Tell me what you want with Joslyn.”

“A few weeks ago, I helped her to disappear,” Elisabeth said. “All I knew at the time was that she was scared and running from her ex-boyfriend, who beat her. But then Tomas came looking for her, and now he’s after me to get me to tell him where she is.”

Samuel leaned forward. “Is she all right?”

“As far as I know.”

“We think she ran because she saw Tomas murder her father,” Liam said. “If we can find proof Tomas killed him, we can send him to jail and he won’t be a threat to her anymore.”

Samuel nodded slowly, his eyes downcast. “I read about the murder in the paper, and I’ve been worried about that girl ever since.”

“Is there anything you can tell us about what happened?” Liam asked.

“Or anything about Joslyn and Tomas?” Elisabeth added. There may be things he didn’t think were significant that might help them find the proof they needed.

“Well, the day of the murder, one of Tomas’s neighbors called to complain that Tomas and Joslyn were having a huge fight and something hit the wall, causing a crack on their side of the wall.”

“Did they fight a lot?” Liam asked.

“All the time, but this was the first time they’d caused damage. I went up to Tomas’s apartment, but I must have missed Joslyn because she wasn’t there anymore. Tomas still looked angry.”

“When was this?” Liam asked.

“Let’s see...I have to record any disturbances in the log.” Samuel pulled out a three-ring binder. He flipped through the pages and found the entry, which listed the time as three hours before the murder.

“The next day, the papers mentioned Joslyn’s father had been killed. As soon as I saw that, I went back to look at the security video feed. Joslyn came back to Tomas’s apartment five hours after she left, and when she left the apartment, it looked like she was stuffing cash into her purse.”

“Cash?” But Joslyn had arrived in Sonoma only two days later with no money and no purse.

Samuel sighed. “I know it makes her look bad, stealing money from her boyfriend, but I saw her bruises, day in and day out. I’m just glad she finally got away from him.”

“Can we see the video?” Liam asked.

Samuel shook his head. “The police took it when they came around to talk to Tomas. They didn’t arrest him.”

Elisabeth asked, “Do you think we could talk to Tomas’s neighbors?”

“No,” Samuel said quickly. “It’ll cost me my job if I let you upstairs to knock on people’s doors. Plus, no one will talk to you about Tomas. They’re all too afraid of the gang. There’s at least two other Bagsics living here.”

Elisabeth chewed on her lip. “You can’t think of anyone who might speak to us?”

“I guarantee that none of his neighbors or friends will say anything.”

Samuel was so emphatic, Elisabeth didn’t doubt him. As they thanked him and got up to leave, she reflected that while
Tomas’s
friends certainly wouldn’t say anything,
Joslyn’s
friends might.

Mrs. Andrada had told them about Joslyn’s friend, Mariella Gable. Would she know something about Joslyn or Tomas that would unlock some form of proof about the murder?

* * *

Liam initially thought Mariella Gable’s apartment building was outside of Bagsic territory—until he spotted two young men in purple and gray loitering outside the nearby urgent care clinic. Liam turned his head away as they drove past the men.

“I’ll try to find parking farther from them.” Liam turned the car down a side street.

Easier said than done. However, he finally managed to find a spot in a tiny city-owned public parking lot several blocks from the clinic and Mariella’s home.

“If we weren’t trying to avoid them, I probably wouldn’t notice the number of Bagsics on the street.” Liam took a quick look around the full parking lot as he got out of the car.

“I’m still not convinced you’re fully disguised.” Elisabeth studied Liam, her eyes roving over his face and neck. “I might need to reapply your makeup later.”

Liam shrugged. “My guess is that only captains or higher know about me and my connection to you and Joslyn. And the captain we’ve seen so far today didn’t look twice at me.”

That could have been because the man had been too busy flirting with Elisabeth. A muscle in Liam’s jaw spasmed briefly.

As they headed down the sidewalk, Liam noticed how the wind had picked up and the sky had clouded over. There was the smell of cold ozone, although it hadn’t yet started to rain.

They turned the corner and headed toward Mariella’s building. Liam glanced briefly to where they’d last seen the two Bagsics, but they had disappeared.

The building was older but well cared for. They pressed the buzzer for Mariella’s apartment and waited, then pressed it again. After the third time, he said, “Sounds like she’s not home.”

“She might still be on campus.”

As they walked back down the sidewalk toward the car, a gust of wind tugged at the brim of his baseball cap. His hand was tangled in his jacket pocket, and before he could reach up to grab it, his cap flew off his head.

He whipped around and snatched it up off the sidewalk. As he straightened and turned around, however, he looked up.

Several yards ahead of them, on the sidewalk, were three Bagsics who had just come out of the urgent care clinic. One of them had his arm in a sling. His face also showed signs of bruising. At that moment, he looked directly into Liam’s face.

It was the hotheaded gang member. The one Liam had struggled with at Wings shelter in Sonoma.

And he recognized Liam at the same time. “Hey!”

The men were in between Liam and Elisabeth and the car. “Come on!” He pulled her back and they ran down the sidewalk.

He must have driven back to L.A. from Sonoma after the fight at the shelter. It made sense that he’d go to this urgent care clinic, since it was relatively near Bagsic territory.

“Let’s cut through here.” Liam took a sharp right down an alley that looked as if it would lead them back to the car. He looked over his shoulder and slowed when he saw Elisabeth had fallen behind, but she waved him on.

“Go! Start the car!” she shouted.

He sprinted ahead along the twisting alley. He turned another corner and could see the street up ahead.

A body barreled into him, slamming him onto the ground. His cheek scraped against gravel, and he could taste dirt and motor oil. He kicked out at the weight against his lower limbs, and his foot connected with something soft. He heard a low “Oof!”

Liam had been going to the gym since returning stateside, at first for his physical therapy, but then to train in mixed martial arts. He recalled the drills he’d learned from his coach and whipped out again with his foot, catching his attacker sharply on the side of one knee. The man cried out in pain and fell hard, clutching his knee, while Liam sprang to his feet.

He brought his hands up in time to block a punch from a second gang member. The man’s technique was precise—he’d been trained in fighting.

Liam delivered a few jabs that didn’t connect, then faked a left fist and shot out with a right punch. It connected with the man’s jaw, and he staggered backward but didn’t fall. Liam pursued him, but the man brought his arms up to block him.