No Immunity

Gattozzi, that’s whose custody we’re in. If you don’t hear from us in a day, call my lawyer.”
    “Hey, I’m a data service, not a servant.”
    She said the magic words, “Tchernak is in danger,” and pushed Off. Her cell phone wasn’t the best, but it was the smallest. Even so, sticking it between her breasts created a telltale bulge—another misfortune of the small—and it was damned uncomfortable. Under her left arm, inside her bra wasn’t much of an improvement, but not much was better than none. From force of habit she rechecked the entire tiny bathroom, under the sink, behind the waste can, but there was nothing likely to be useful.
    Easing the door open, she glanced out, half expecting to walk into Fox’s pounding fist. But the man was true to his word. He was not on guard inches away. She couldn’t see him at all. It was his voice she heard.
    “You expect me to believe you didn’t see anyone go into that motel room?” he was demanding of Faye in the same “Hurry up” tone.
    “Think what you like.” Faye wasn’t having any of that. “I had a bunch of teenagers in here, some I know, some I didn’t. No way was I taking my eyes off them. You blink and you haven’t got a catsup bottle left. Aliens could have landed in the parking lot and they wouldn’t have drawn me out of here.”
    “No one else came in or out of the parking lot all that time?”
    “I didn’t say that.”
    “Stop screwing with me, Faye.”
    Kiernan expected her to snap back at him, but the voice she heard held a high quiver and the answer was disconcertingly quick. “There were cars, three of them. Didn’t arrive together. I didn’t see who was in them. Just cars.” Had Fox threatened her?
    Kiernan pressed her back against the wall and inched forward.
    “Make?”
    “Barracuda. A miracle it was still running. Didn’t sound like that miracle would last. Then there was a pickup—”
    “You recognize either one?”
    There was a silent beat before Faye said no. Surely he noted the hesitation. Faye sounded just like the kids at St. Brendan’s who didn’t want to get their palms rapped with a ruler. If she could only observe their conversation... Kiernan edged to the corner, bent down to a level Fox wouldn’t be watching for, and peered around. All she could see was the counter. Two vehicles? If Adcock flew up from Las Vegas, he’d have borrowed a car. It could be either, but odds were on the pickup.
    “Third?”
    “New. Foreign-looking. I’m not up on those. Whatever, I haven’t seen it around here.”
    Had to be Louisa Larson , she thought. Tchernak said the woman doctor had a BMW.
    “Any of them go to the motel room?”
    “Behind the counter here I can’t see the door. Maybe they all went in. All I can tell you for sure is the next time I saw the new car, the foreign model, it was at the edge of the pavement and a woman was throwing her guts up. If you think vomit’s evidence, help yourself.”
    “Hey, don’t you...” Fox paused as if he heard the hysteria in his own voice. “Never mind,” he muttered.

    Kiernan glanced from Faye to Fox, hoping to spot the reason for her fear. All she got was one sturdy woman with windblown hair and a weather-lined face, and big twitchy bear of a guy.
    Kiernan stepped around the corner. “Faye, what order did those cars arrive in?”
    “I don’t know.”
    “Think!”
    “What difference does it make?” Faye demanded. “Maybe the first one killed him and one of the others threw up at the sight. Maybe the first two saw the third coming and left. Anyway, it doesn’t matter because I don’t know.”
    “The teenagers?”
    “Honey, for them the world ends at their elbows. Nothing outside this glass was going to get their attention unless it was another teenager.”
    Fox nodded toward the door.
    “What do you think happened, Sheriff?” Faye asked. “You said Hummacher had a couple of Mex kids with him. Maybe they got fed up being hauled around, or that foreign fever of theirs drove them crazy.” He shrugged. “Shot ‘im.”
    “And walked out into the desert you just warned me against?” Kiernan demanded. “And they’re not Mexican, they’re Panamanian!”
    “Whatever.”
    “They walked off, sick as they are?” Kiernan demanded. “I’ll take responsibility for them.”
    “And for Faye if she starts feeling feverish? And the maids who picked up their sheets?”
    “Enough! Come on! In the car!”
    She shot a glance at Faye as Fox shoved her