Chapter Two #3
Sara frowned. “His credit card was used at your pharmacy last night.”
Something flickered across Garfield’s face.
Something cagey.
Elle knew that expression. He knew something and was calculating how much he should ask for the information.
“You guys get paid for bringing him in, don’t you?”
“We do,” Elle said.
“How much is the information worth to you?”
“How much do you want?” Sara asked.
Elle always left the monetary negotiations to Sara. She and Felicia had a budget set aside for bribing informants. Not that they’d be using it tonight.
“Five thousand,” Garfield stated.
Sara laughed. “No. But I can promise not to tell the cops about your little side business. Selling prescription drugs that you stole from your employer? Really bad form.”
Garfield took a step back. “You are mistaken.”
Sara’s sigh was put-upon. “We’re doing it the hard way, then?” She held up her phone where one of the stills she’d made from the camera footage filled her screen. “This is you selling drugs to this man.”
Garfield’s expression went dark. “Where did you get that?”
“Who used the credit card?” Elle asked, knowing they had him where they wanted him.
Garfield scowled. “Okay. Fine. You win. But I want you to delete those photos.”
“I promise,” Sara said sincerely.
It wouldn’t matter. She already had uploaded the photos to the cloud.
“How do I know you’re telling the truth?”
Sara shrugged. “You don’t. But if you don’t tell us, you’re going to jail.
Look, Steve. Can I call you Steve? Thank you,” she said without waiting for his reply.
“You aren’t holding any cards here. Just tell me and it won’t go any further.
I don’t like cops and they don’t like me.
I’m not in the habit of telling them jack shit. ”
“That’s true,” Elle said. “She really doesn’t like cops. They cramp her style.”
Garfield was silent for several seconds, and then he huffed out an irritated breath. “Fine. It was a woman. Her driver’s license said Wendy Miller, so she’s either the guy’s wife or sister.”
Wendy Miller was a name they knew. She was Miller’s nineteen-year-old wife who’d given birth to their daughter a year ago. They’d suspected that Wendy had run with Reece Miller. They hadn’t been able to find her, either.
She worked for the gallery her husband had robbed. She was the receptionist and cleaned after hours, so she had a key. Which was how Miller had gotten in to steal three paintings and several pieces of antique jewelry.
All but one of the items had been recovered from pawnshops, but one painting remained missing. The reward for the return of that painting was twice what they’d get for bringing Miller himself back in.
All together Miller had stolen nearly five hundred thousand dollars in artwork.
And then there was the night security guard. Sara hadn’t been exaggerating. It was unlikely that the retired cop turned night watchman would ever walk again.
Miller had shot him in the back.
The passerby he’d shot while escaping had been in the wrong place at the wrong time, but Miller hadn’t stopped to help her, leaving her bleeding on the sidewalk.
“What kind of medicine did Wendy Miller pick up?” Elle asked.
Sara waved her phone when he hesitated. “Tell us, Mr. Garfield.”
“It was sapropterin.”
Elle did a quick Google search on their sat phone because Steve’s property was a dead cell zone, as was the entire area.
“It’s for PKU. That’s a serious illness.
” Phenylketonuria caused children to be unable to break down certain proteins in their food.
Left untreated, it could cause intellectual disabilities.
Garfield nodded. “She seemed sad and desperate.”
But something was off. “That’s not a controlled substance,” Elle said. “Why did you require her to show her driver’s license?”
“Good catch, bounty hunter,” he admitted reluctantly. “She also got some Adderall for herself.”
“She’s on the run from the law with a sick baby,” Sara said. “I can understand why she was sad and desperate. No wonder she risked using Miller’s credit card.”
“She didn’t want to,” Garfield said with a small sigh. “She was counting out all the cash in her purse, but she was short about twenty dollars. She begged me for a discount, but I couldn’t do that.”
“Did she buy anything else?” Sara asked.
“A blanket, a hot water bottle, and some pediatric Tylenol. She said they were camping and she was afraid her baby had caught a cold, especially with the temps dropping below freezing.”
Ah. Jackpot.
The temps hadn’t dropped below freezing on the coast. It was far more temperate here than over the hill in Willits, which was much hotter in the summer and much colder in the winter.
Temps had been below freezing in Willits for the past two nights.
They were back to their theory of Miller hiding on his grandparents’ old farm.
Excellent.
“Thank you, Mr. Garfield,” Sara said. “Nice doing business with you.”
They didn’t say another word until they were back in the company Tahoe.
“Back to Willits?” Sara asked.
“You bet,” Elle said. “But first, let’s get some food.
I want enough energy to hike that property where the growers are hiding.
And to be able to run if they come chasing after us.
” She navigated them to the Taco Bell in Fort Bragg, one of only two fast-food places with a drive-through.
Then they’d be back on the twisty road that led to Willits.
She hoped that Miller and Wendy weren’t really roughing it in a tent. Their baby was sick. Once they caught Miller, Elle would get CPS involved. Someone needed to take care of that child.