Chapter 18 #2
She forked the fingers of one hand through her long, straight hair, pushing it back off her face. “I ran and ran. And then I asked the way to the university. And I went there.”
“On foot?”
She nodded. “I walked all night. I had no money for the bus or a cab, and I was afraid to...” She stuck her thumb out in the universal gesture for hitchhiking.
I choked. “Yes, that was probably a good idea.” God knows what could have happened to a girl like that, hitchhiking through Nashville at night. “Did you see who shot Mrs. Grimshaw? It must have been the shot that woke you, right?”
Anastasia shook her head. “I didn’t see anything. I ran.”
“What about a car? Did you see that?”
But she hadn’t.
“So you didn’t shoot Mrs. Grimshaw?”
She looked sincerely shocked that I’d ask. “No! She was nice to me. A nosy old woman, but she gave me tea. And she told me she’d keep watch for anyone bad. I wouldn’t want to hurt her.”
Another Oscar-worthy performance.
“That’s your gun, right?” I asked Steven, gesturing to it. “Diana said you had one, and that it was gone from the bedside table.”
He nodded. “I usually keep it in the drawer. Nobody bothers a university professor. Diana keeps hers in her purse.”
“Mendoza will probably want a look at it. If it wasn’t used on Mrs. Grimshaw, it’ll be a formality.”
“Of course,” Steven said, with a glance at Anastasia. “Are you going to call him?”
I guessed I would, eventually. However— “I think you should probably do that yourself. I’ll give you the number. And then you’ll have to explain everything to Diana.”
He swallowed.
“But it’s safe to leave. Konstantin and Yuri are in prison. They can’t hurt you. Her. Either of you.”
It was a not so subtle hint that I’d like them to vacate my house.
“By the way,” I added, as they started to do just that, “how did you end up here?”
“Oh.” Steven stopped halfway down the hall to the room where he’d been staying. “Did you get that message I left on your machine the other night?”
I nodded.
“So you know I recognized you. And I remembered that Diana had told me what happened with you and your husband. And that you’d had a fire here, and you’d moved into your husband’s penthouse downtown. I figured, if you weren’t here, maybe we could use the house to lie low for a couple of days.”
“Smart,” I said. Steven inclined his head. “I don’t suppose you’ve seen my contractors in the time you’ve been here?”
But he hadn’t. I let him disappear into his room—or the room he’d claimed for himself while he was here—to get ready to go.
When he came back out two minutes later, he was properly dressed and groomed. “Sorry for the trouble,” he told me.
“It’s no trouble. The house was just sitting here. I’m glad you could make use of it. But you might have told me you were coming.”
“When I made the phone call, I didn’t know,” Steven said. “We’d gone next door to use the phone, and then the black sedan drove up…”
Konstantin and Yuri acting on the information they’d beaten out of Zachary, I guessed. “What happened?”
“They busted the back door into Anastasia’s house,” Steven said. “And spent some time looking through it. They didn’t realize we were next door. But we were afraid they’d come back, so we left. And that’s when I remembered about your house.”
Made sense. “One more thing before you go. The ransom note.”
“What ransom note?” Steven said.
Since he sounded sincere, and not like he was pulling my leg, I explained about the ransom note. “It arrived at your house yesterday morning. Early. A demand for a hundred thousand dollars in exchange for you.”
“That’s crazy,” Steven said. “I wasn’t kidnapped. And if I wanted a hundred thousand dollars, I’d go to the bank. I have a hundred thousand dollars in my account.” His face changed, and he added, “At least I used to.”
“You still do. I don’t suppose she…?” I glanced at the door to the other room, where Anastasia was still getting ready, and let the question trail off suggestively.
Steven shook his head. “We were together yesterday morning. If someone dropped off a ransom note then, it wasn’t either of us.”
Someone had definitely dropped off a ransom note then. Unless Diana had been lying, but I couldn’t think of any reason why she would.
“I appreciate it,” I said. “Do you want me to call Diana and let her know you’re coming?”
He shook his head. “I’ll take care of it. Thanks, Gina.”
“No problem,” I said. “Good luck.”
They went on their way, down to the garage and into Steven’s brown sedan, which was parked there. If I’d only decided to put my own car into the garage when we arrived, I’d have had some warning that they were here.
But it had all turned out as well as it could have, I guessed.
Nobody’d gotten shot. I’d gotten rid of them.
They knew they didn’t have to worry about Konstantin and Yuri anymore.
If Anastasia really was Steven’s daughter, the ICE couldn’t send her back to Russia, no matter how much they might want to—and that was assuming they wanted to, which I didn’t know.
The only thing left to do was get Rachel situated.
I went back upstairs and plucked Edwina from her lap before hauling Rachel to her feet. “Come on. Just a few more steps.”
I took her into the bedroom across the hall, where the sheets were fresh and where nobody had been sleeping. “Is this OK?”
“Anywhere’s OK,” Rachel said, and made a beeline for the bed. “I’m just going to lie down for a bit.”
She was slurring her words, and was practically cross-eyed.
“Good idea.” I got in front of her and yanked the comforter down just before she tumbled onto the mattress. “Get some rest. You’ll feel better.”
She was already out cold. I closed the door behind me and got busy stripping and washing the sheets and towels my uninvited guests had used. If I had to stay here, and Zachary was coming, we’d need clean sheets on every bed.