The Crush Part 44

"I'm more interested in Lozada's whereabouts than in

Dr. Newton's hygiene. None of those undercovers spotted him?"

"Neither hide nor hair."

"How could he get close enough to watch you cooking steaks without them seeing him? Binoculars, I guess."

"Or he could be buried in sand up to his eyeb.a.l.l.s ten feet from the front door. With Lozada you can't rule out anything. He's not going to be caught by following procedure.

Peterson seems competent enough, but--"

"You're not cooperating."

"He said I'm not cooperating?"

'You're taking offense?"

"I don't like being tattled on like I'm a kid."

"Then stop acting like one. He said you rarely leave the mike on and only have the earpiece in about half the time."

"I have it in at least half the time."

'You joke? Those people down there have put their lives on the line for you," Oren said angrily. "Keep in mind that if Lozada's that close to you, he's probably marked them."

Oren heard him sigh heavily. "I know, I thought about that. And I'm not joking. Really. I appreciate what they're doing, and that's no bulls.h.i.t."

"It wouldn't hurt to tell them that."

"I'll make it a priority."

"It may be that Lozada has spotted them and they're the only reason he hasn't attempted something."

"I thought of that too," Wick said.

"One thing puzzles me."

'Just one?"

"Why the phone calls? This isn't Lozada's MO. It seems

out of character for him, almost careless. He's never warned a victim before."

Wick thought about it for a moment. "This time he isn't doing it for the money. It's not a job, it's personal."

Grace stuck her head through the door and looked at him inquisitively. He motioned her in. She sat near him on the sofa and laid her head on his shoulder. He lifted her hand to his lips and kissed it. He died a little every time he thought of what Lozada could have done to her had he chosen to.

Into the phone he said, "Well, at least we know he's in Galveston. An APB has already been issued."

"I hope they've been warned to approach with caution.

What will he be arrested for?"

"Since he made that call today and it was obscene, both you and Dr. Newton can testify to his stalking her. If we can find him, we can bring him in on that."

"It's a flimsy charge, Oren."

"But it's all we've got."

"Okay, I'm gonna go smooth Peterson's feathers now,"

Wick said. "Over and out."

After hanging up, Oren filled Grace in on the latest development.

"How's Dr. Newton handling it?"

"He says she's okay. Clean."

"He likes her."

"He likes her looks."

"More than that. I think he might have really fallen this time."

"In love?" he scoffed. "What else is new? Wick's been in love with every woman he's ever taken to bed. His love affairs begin with an erection and end with a climax."

"And that makes him unique?" she said, laughing.

"That speaks for most men."

"Not me."

"You're not most men."

He kissed her hand again. "I miss the girls."

"Me too. I talked to them this afternoon. They're having a great time. Mom's keeping them entertained, but they miss their friends and are already asking how many more days until they can come home."

"No time soon, Grace. If there's a chance in h.e.l.l that Lozada--"

"I know," she said, patting his chest. "And I agree completely.

I explained it to them."

"Did they understand?"

"Maybe not completely, but when they're parents they will. Now come to bed."

"I can't sleep now. I gotta go back to the office."

She stood up and tugged on his hand. "Since when is sleep all we do in bed?"

"Sorry, hon. I'm too tired to be any good in that department."

She leaned down and kissed him, saying s.e.xily, "Leave everything to me."

"The policewoman's in the kitchen."

"She and I had a heart-to-heart. We won't be disturbed unless it's an emergency."

He was tempted, but he checked his wrist.w.a.tch and frowned. "I promised to be back in half an hour."

Grace smiled and reached for him. "Hmm, I do love a challenge."

It was forty-five minutes before he returned to his desk at headquarters, and, although he hadn't even napped, he

felt considerably refreshed after thirty minutes in bed with Grace. G.o.d, he loved that woman.

He knew before asking that there had been no further word from Galveston. Had there been, he would have been called or paged. But he asked anyway. "Nothing," another

detective reported. "But there's a guy been waiting here to see you."

"What guy?"

"Over there."

The unkempt, bespeckled individual sitting in the chair in the corner with his shoulders hunched was gnawing on his index finger cuticle as though it were going to be his last meal.

"What's he want?" Oren asked.

"Wouldn't say."

"Why me?"

"Wouldn't say that either. Insisted on talking to you and only you."

Oren looked at the man again, but he was certain he'd never seen him before. Surely he would have remembered.

"What's his name?"

"Get this. Weenie Sawyer."

Chapter 3.

Rennie came up on one elbow. For the past half hour Wick had been standing at the bedroom window, looking out. Motionless, he stood with one arm propped just above his head on the window jamb, the other hanging loosely at his side. In that hand he held his pistol. His weight was shifted to his left foot, favoring his right side.

His shorts rode low on his hips. The bandage over his incision showed up very white in the dark room.

"Is something wrong?" she whispered.

He looked at her over his shoulder. "No. Sorry I disturbed you."

"Did you hear--"

"No, nothing." He walked back to the bed and set his pistol on the table. "Other than the periodic check-ins by the undercovers, it's been quiet."

"No word about Lozada?"

"No word. I wish the son of a b.i.t.c.h would show himself and get it over with. This waiting is driving me nuts." He

lay down beside her and stacked his hands behind his head.

"What time is it?" she asked.

"Still an hour before sunrise. Were you able to sleep?"

"I dozed."

"That was about it for me, too."

For the sake of the microphone that hung loosely on