sp; “Okay, but that doesn’t mean Sally is El Tigre.”
“She’s familiar with all the body dump sites—The Bistro, the city park, and I imagine she’s been to The Harbor House too.”
“So has everyone else in Whispering Bay.”
“She was at The Bistro today and… Will, she lied to me. I found her wandering near the panty. She pretended she was lost like she didn’t know where the bathroom was, but that’s not true. The hallway near the pantry leads to a back door to the parking lot. It was her opportunity to leave the button out by the dumpster.”
“Maybe she just forgot where the bathroom was.” Will frowns. “Except…yeah, I admit, that doesn’t sound like Sally.”
“She lied to you too.”
“When?”
“When she told you that she’s the only family her father has left. That’s not true. She has a brother.”
“How do you know?”
“Because she told me.”
“Maybe she was lying when she told you that.”
“No, no she wasn’t. I know one hundred percent she didn’t lie about that. Her brother suffers from sciurophobia, just like me… and, oh my God. She knows where the safe house is! She was on her way there to kill Joey last night but she ran into me. Will, we have to warn Joey.”
“Lucy,” he says gravely, “are you sure about this?”
“Will, you have to trust me. I know I’m right this time.”
“Do you have the FBI’s number?”
“Even if I did have it, I’m not sure who to trust.”
“Let’s call Travis.”
“You call him. He won’t believe me, not after the mess I made today, but he might believe you.”
Will pulls out his cell phone and punches in the number. After a few seconds, his face falls. “It went to voice mail.” He hesitates. “Should I leave a message?”
I nod. “Tell him we know who El Tigre is, and we’re on our way to the safe house.”
I get Will to park his car a block away from the safe house. “In case someone’s looking out the window,” I explain. “That way we have the element of surprise on our side.”
“I don’t like the sound of that.”
“You left Travis the message. He’s probably already on his way here with reinforcements.”
“Let’s hope so.” Will looks both ways down the street. There’s not much activity, but all the houses are lit up, and most either have the front door or porch light on. “You’re sure there’s just one entrance into the neighborhood?”
“Yep. I checked it out when I was here last night. There’s a service road entrance for big truck deliveries, but there’s a gate that’s locked unless it’s being used.”
We quietly walk along the sides of the houses until we get to the safe house. The front door light is on, but all the blinds are drawn and just like before, there’s no car parked in the driveway. The garage door is closed. Luckily there’s no fence, so we continue to creep along to the backyard until we find some hibiscus bushes to hide behind.
“You think Joey and the feds are still in there?” Will asks, careful to keep his voice low.
“Not sure. They might have been able to get out, but…” I shrug. “The only way to know for certain is to try to get a peek inside.”
“Absolutely no,” Will says. “We stay right here till Travis and the cops come.”
“I agree.” I might be rash, but I’m not stupid.