Double Take
Page 115
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Dix said nothing.
“Ah, you finally figured it out, huh?” The butt of a gun came down hard behind Dix’s right temple. Dix didn’t hit the ground; he wasn’t completely out. He felt the man lift him in a firefighter’s carry, and he wanted to puke with his head dangling down. “Now, I’ll take us back to Mr. Pallack’s little house in the clouds.”
The cops, Dix thought, his brain nearly gone, surely the cops would see him.
But they didn’t.
He passed out cold when Makepeace started climbing up the stairs to the sixth floor.
CHAPTER 59
Dix heard distant voices, then a woman’s voice closer—it sounded a bit like Christie, but it was Charlotte Pallack’s voice. He felt bile rise in his throat and wanted to gag, but he didn’t. He swallowed and kept swallowing until it eased. No way was he going to vomit. He didn’t move.
He heard Thomas Pallack’s angry voice, then Makepeace’s, but he couldn’t make out the words. Slowly, his mind cleared. But it wasn’t the time to raise his head and say hi to everyone. He didn’t move, he just listened.
“Why the hell did you bring him here? Are you insane?”
“The cops had already been in here, I saw them leave. They were out front, not in back anymore. So I got the sheriff in through the service entrance to the stairs. I thought it was a good way to make a point, don’t you think, Pallack? I thought you might want to pay me to take him away.”
“Do you have any idea who this is?”
“He said he was Dixon Noble, a sheriff from Virginia. Why did he break in here?”
“It doesn’t concern you. Jesus, the damned man was carrying an arsenal,” Pallack said, and looked down at his desk, where Makepeace had piled the sheriff’s weapons.
“He was ready for business. A cell phone, one big Beretta, one little derringer in an ankle holster, and a tough little five-inch Fallkniven, a fine knife.”
“It’s a knife, so what?”
Dix wondered if Makepeace was going to take the knife his father had given him when he’d turned sixteen. “One should enjoy fine tools, Pallack.”
Dix could hear Pallack prowling, back and forth, in front of him. “This is all we need, this fool sheriff playing vigilante. At least he didn’t get into the safe.”
Charlotte asked, “But why did he break in? What could he have hoped to find?”
“Don’t be stupid, Charlotte. The sheriff wanted to find the bracelet. If you hadn’t worn the damned thing—”
“Then why did you give me that bracelet for a wedding present? Of course I’d wear it, for God’s sake.”
“The sheriff broke in here to find a bracelet?” Makepeace said in a bemused voice. “What bracelet? Why should he want this bracelet so much?”
Charlotte ignored him. “Thomas, you didn’t even bother to tell me it belonged to another woman until after the sheriff saw it on my wrist and recognized it. Why didn’t you tell me that when you gave it to me?”
“Like you would have appreciated wearing another woman’s jewelry. Look, it doesn’t matter, Charlotte. I wasn’t really the one who wanted you to have that bracelet, it was—never mind. What’s done is done.”
But Charlotte wasn’t buying it. “It was your little joke on me, wasn’t it? Yours or that bitch mother of yours.”
“Don’t call her that! She isn’t—wasn’t a bitch. Damnation, I should have known you’d never have my mother’s heart, or her intelligence. You were supposed to find out what the damned sheriff knew, pretend you were interested in him, but did you manage it? Of course you didn’t. And look what you’ve brought us now—the sheriff breaking into my home.”
“Again, why is the sheriff so interested in this bracelet?” Makepeace asked.
Charlotte said in a flat voice, “It belonged to the sheriff’s wife.”
“Shut up, Charlotte.”
“Why? It doesn’t matter if Makepeace knows.”
“Did the sheriff find the bracelet?” Makepeace asked.
“No, of course he didn’t find it,” Pallack said. “I threw it in the bay an hour after Charlotte told me he’d recognized it.”
“So the reason this guy came to San Francisco was because of this bracelet? But how did he even know about the bracelet?”
“It was a piece of bad luck,” Pallack said.
“What’d you do, Pallack? Kill his bloody wife, decide you liked her bracelet, and take it off her?”
“Ah, you finally figured it out, huh?” The butt of a gun came down hard behind Dix’s right temple. Dix didn’t hit the ground; he wasn’t completely out. He felt the man lift him in a firefighter’s carry, and he wanted to puke with his head dangling down. “Now, I’ll take us back to Mr. Pallack’s little house in the clouds.”
The cops, Dix thought, his brain nearly gone, surely the cops would see him.
But they didn’t.
He passed out cold when Makepeace started climbing up the stairs to the sixth floor.
CHAPTER 59
Dix heard distant voices, then a woman’s voice closer—it sounded a bit like Christie, but it was Charlotte Pallack’s voice. He felt bile rise in his throat and wanted to gag, but he didn’t. He swallowed and kept swallowing until it eased. No way was he going to vomit. He didn’t move.
He heard Thomas Pallack’s angry voice, then Makepeace’s, but he couldn’t make out the words. Slowly, his mind cleared. But it wasn’t the time to raise his head and say hi to everyone. He didn’t move, he just listened.
“Why the hell did you bring him here? Are you insane?”
“The cops had already been in here, I saw them leave. They were out front, not in back anymore. So I got the sheriff in through the service entrance to the stairs. I thought it was a good way to make a point, don’t you think, Pallack? I thought you might want to pay me to take him away.”
“Do you have any idea who this is?”
“He said he was Dixon Noble, a sheriff from Virginia. Why did he break in here?”
“It doesn’t concern you. Jesus, the damned man was carrying an arsenal,” Pallack said, and looked down at his desk, where Makepeace had piled the sheriff’s weapons.
“He was ready for business. A cell phone, one big Beretta, one little derringer in an ankle holster, and a tough little five-inch Fallkniven, a fine knife.”
“It’s a knife, so what?”
Dix wondered if Makepeace was going to take the knife his father had given him when he’d turned sixteen. “One should enjoy fine tools, Pallack.”
Dix could hear Pallack prowling, back and forth, in front of him. “This is all we need, this fool sheriff playing vigilante. At least he didn’t get into the safe.”
Charlotte asked, “But why did he break in? What could he have hoped to find?”
“Don’t be stupid, Charlotte. The sheriff wanted to find the bracelet. If you hadn’t worn the damned thing—”
“Then why did you give me that bracelet for a wedding present? Of course I’d wear it, for God’s sake.”
“The sheriff broke in here to find a bracelet?” Makepeace said in a bemused voice. “What bracelet? Why should he want this bracelet so much?”
Charlotte ignored him. “Thomas, you didn’t even bother to tell me it belonged to another woman until after the sheriff saw it on my wrist and recognized it. Why didn’t you tell me that when you gave it to me?”
“Like you would have appreciated wearing another woman’s jewelry. Look, it doesn’t matter, Charlotte. I wasn’t really the one who wanted you to have that bracelet, it was—never mind. What’s done is done.”
But Charlotte wasn’t buying it. “It was your little joke on me, wasn’t it? Yours or that bitch mother of yours.”
“Don’t call her that! She isn’t—wasn’t a bitch. Damnation, I should have known you’d never have my mother’s heart, or her intelligence. You were supposed to find out what the damned sheriff knew, pretend you were interested in him, but did you manage it? Of course you didn’t. And look what you’ve brought us now—the sheriff breaking into my home.”
“Again, why is the sheriff so interested in this bracelet?” Makepeace asked.
Charlotte said in a flat voice, “It belonged to the sheriff’s wife.”
“Shut up, Charlotte.”
“Why? It doesn’t matter if Makepeace knows.”
“Did the sheriff find the bracelet?” Makepeace asked.
“No, of course he didn’t find it,” Pallack said. “I threw it in the bay an hour after Charlotte told me he’d recognized it.”
“So the reason this guy came to San Francisco was because of this bracelet? But how did he even know about the bracelet?”
“It was a piece of bad luck,” Pallack said.
“What’d you do, Pallack? Kill his bloody wife, decide you liked her bracelet, and take it off her?”
