Perilous by E. H. Reinhard Page A

going to have to expand on this hit-squad stuff, Carl,” Cooper said.
    I let out a breath. “It’s a long story, Coop. Blowback from a case is the easiest way to describe it.”
    “You have to give us more than that.”
    Over the course of the next twenty minutes, I laid out the highlights of the story for him.
    The door of the conference room opened, and a woman in uniform stood in the doorway.
    “Yeah, Deb? What’s up?” Cooper asked.
    “Cooke and Frain just reported back. There are no bodies at the scene. There is blood and drag marks however.”
    “The third one must have taken them,” I said. “No signs of a black sedan? I think it was a newer Malibu.”
    “They said there was no one there.”
    “Thanks, Deb,” Cooper said.
    She closed the door.
    “Um.” McIntyre tapped a pen on a sheet of paper. “How am I supposed to write this up?”
    “I’ll get it taken care of,” Cooper said. “Let me go have a talk with my captain. I’ll be right back with you guys.”
    Cooper and McIntyre left the conference room.
    “Mel, let me see your phone again,” I said.
    She handed it to me. I tried my father’s house again, then the cell phones for my father and Sandy—still no answer at any number. I handed it back to Melissa.
    “What are we going to do?” Callie asked.
    “We need to go back to the house while the police are still there and get our stuff.” I looked to my sister. “Mel, I want you to call Jeff. Have him get Tommy and meet us. Do you have anywhere you guys can lay low at for a few days? I don’t want you going back to the house until I figure this out.”
    Melissa looked down and shook her head. “Well, I guess we could stay at Jeff’s parents’ house.”
    “No. I’m not sure what’s going on here, but they had your address. Wherever you go needs to be somewhere not connected to our family in any way.”
    “I got nothing, Carl.”
    “I’ll make a call to a couple friends. We’ll figure something out. Just have Jeff get Tommy and meet us here.”
    Melissa made the call.
    Cooper walked back in a couple minutes later. “Cap just wants you three to give us a written statement of what happened.”
    He handed us our sheets to fill out. We were done within minutes.
    “Coop, can we get back out there and get a few things while the officers are still there?” I asked.
    “Yeah, McIntyre and I were just going to head out. I’ll grab a couple of jackets for the girls.”
    We left the station. I drove the 4Runner back to the property. Callie and Melissa rode along with the officers in the squad car ahead of me. As we neared Melissa’s house, a wrecker was towing the sedan from the ditch. Cooper made a left into the driveway. I stopped on the side of the street behind the tow truck and got out. I walked to the man operating the winch. He stopped what he was doing when he saw me heading toward him. He wore a thick winter jacket with a stocking cap on his head. Stained work gloves covered his hands.
    “Is the owner of the car around?” I asked.
    “He got picked up about ten minutes ago.”
    “Is there a way you could get my information to him? I was the reason that car is where it is now.”
    “So you’re the guy who ran him off of the road and fled the scene?”
    “I was getting shot at.”
    He scrunched his face, cocked his head, and stared at me.
    “Just give him my information.” I pulled a business card from my wallet and handed it to him.
    He looked at the card. “Sorry, officer. I’ll make sure the guy gets it.”
    “Thanks.” I walked back to the 4Runner, fired it up, and drove across the street into Melissa’s driveway.
    Four squad cars parked, single file, next to the house. A group of three officers stood next to the garage, looking down at the blood in the snow. Steam came from their mouths as they talked. I pulled close to the front door, shut off the truck, and stepped out.

Chapter 18 - Ramon
    Ramon drove the black rental Chevy toward the freeway. The bodies of