The Orange Cat and Other Cainsville Tales (Cainsville 3.5)

"To what? Steal it?"

She snorted. "That would be stupid. I'm not stupid."

I bit my tongue.

"I was dealing with other shit at the time," she said. "I'd conned a guy who blew it all out of proportion. Put a bounty on my head. A bounty." She sounded genuinely insulted. "I cut a deal with this sergeant. I keep my mouth shut about the dope if he'd help me disappear--stage my death so no one would come after me."

"No one even realized Seanna Walsh was dead until this spring. Fifteen years after she disappeared."

"He screwed me over. The cops were supposed to find this Jane Doe who'd OD'd--I knew where her body was. My guy would wait six months and then swap her photos with mine and have someone ID me as the dead woman."

"That is the stupidest scheme I've ever heard."

"It was--"

"One, someone could have ID'd the real body, which would have ruined everything. Two, six months isn't enough time for those who actually worked on the dead woman to forget what she looked like."

"Do you really think anyone gives a shit about some addict who offs herself in an empty building? She was a white chick with dark hair and blue eyes. Close enough. The problem was that six months later, I was long gone, so this guy figured he could just swap the photos and leave it at that. Skip the positive ID. I spent years--years--on the run because the asshole who put out the bounty on me figured I bolted. All because that bastard cop couldn't hold up his end of the deal."

"And Gabriel?"

Her face screwed up. "What?"

"His mother left him. At fifteen. Walked away without a word. Without leaving him one red cent."

A dismissive wave. "He could look after himself. Been doing it for years. Not that he ever contributed anything. Just made enough for himself."

"He was a child," I snarled. "He shouldn't have had to take care of himself."

"Why not? Everyone does, eventually. Better to learn that lesson early. And look where it got him." She waved around the office. "A big-shot lawyer. Drives a fancy car. Lives in a fancy apartment. He wouldn't have all this if I'd coddled him."

"Get out."

"Oh, so now you want me to leave? Make up your mind, girl."

I pulled out the gun and pointed it at her head again. "Get out now."

She started to make some sarcastic comment. Then she met my gaze, shut her mouth and limped out to the door.

#

When Lydia returned, I was in the bathroom, plucking hairs from Gabriel's brush and putting them into a plastic bag. When I emerged, her gaze traveled from the bag in my hand to one on her desk, containing the bloodied tissues.

"You really think it could be her?" she said.

"I think I need that answer as fast as I can get it," I said. "I'll pay whatever it takes for the quickest possible turnaround."

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