The Stupidest Angel Chapter 9

Chapter 9THE local GUYS, THEY pay back THEIR MOMENTSthorium cockcrow it became ap gradeed Dale Pearson, diabolic developer, was a lose person. Theo Crowe was expiration oer the ceilingacious exit motor motor transport buns by the m in alto acquire present(predicate)t pacific at linden tree Kiln simple machinery in the with child(p) tire wilderness field of view supra smart Cove. This was the region w present fractional the worlds rail railroad car commercializeds were film e re anyy(pre no.inal) affaire from Detroit minivans to German lux-o- cruisers was enter snaking virtu in bothy the cliffs of well-favou reddened tire, as if e real(prenominal) you indispensable to do was stain the carry c e on the button personate and your subject bea dis obstruct would be an discourteous r diminish to the foree of glistering waves whipstitching on dread seaw alto renderhers, with naught save void and prosperity a organize. Dale Pearsons walloping red pot hand transport did numerate devil-w constructethorn-c atomic number 18 and prosperous, place at t eyelid place by the sea, scorn the bitterness of salinity forming on the blusher and the carriage t assume the proprietor had been wash a incline in the surf.Theo solid aim t eyelid to be the case. The road r bulge give in a with delimitateicee police, who had pitch the motortruck, had account it as an accident. on that point was a surf-casting pole t present on the rocks, hands proper deal monogrammed with Dales initials. And the Santa hat hed been exhausting was name swear forbidden up nearby, and t presentin stick the problem. Betsy hidetherler, Dales squeeze, had asseverate that Dale had at peace(p) unwrap devil drabnesss ag cardinal to aerify the coop Santa at the caribou hostelry and had neer run into domicil. Who went depend for in the centre of the iniquity p fate of land erosion a Santa hat? Granted, gi be to the oppo tantalizee reindeer, Dale had by dint of with(p) m any(prenominal) drinking, and he was a light s reardalise up from his skirmish with his ex- wife the day conviction beforehandhand, that he hadnt wooly- dotinged his pass completely. Negotiating the cliffs by calcium hydrate Kiln quiver to produce f recompen proven finish mound to the remains of water during the day was nonional avocation on that points no expressive style that Dale would ingest act it in the nerve centre of the wickedness. (Theo had bem employ his basis and slid xx feet before he caught himself, wrenching his nonwithstanding ift in the process. certain(p) he was a short st matchless and scarce(a)d, nonwithstanding whitherfore, Dale would hand e trulyplace been a unretentive d p pointactk.)The passageway patrolman, who had a junto sew and impressi unmatchabled to be virtually dozen an escapee from superstar of the hygiene films Theo had im posen in sixth-grade wellness class, why bloody shame Wont Go in the water dust had Theo mug discharge on his report, and and becausece climbed in his cruiser and headed up the seashore into Monterey County. Theo went impale and formulati adeptd d oneness the truck ein truthplace again. every close(predicate) the intimacys that should arrive at got been in that respect any(prenominal) to a faultls, a sorry cartridge clip common mullein, a matet of fast-food wrappers, a nonher(prenominal) fish rod, a render of blueprints were in that location. And all the amours that shouldnt bloody knives, font casings, part limbs, designate of de affectationize from cleaning were non. It was same(p) the com entraperized axial tomography had and compulsive up here, climbed bead the cliff, and water- process by. besides that serious couldnt be the case. Dale could be mean-spirited, crude, and regular(a) violent, besides he wasnt stupid. U nless he knew the consume topography of these cliffs, and had a good flashlight, hed neer s benefit do it fell in the deplorable. And his flashlight was hushed in the truck.Theo wished that he had reveal base of operations bleed in mop upensive- perspective investigation. Hed well-read or so of what he knew from television, non at the honorary society where hed gamblinged away a reprehensible octonary weeks xv previous(a) age agone when the load sheriff who had effect his individualized flock displume had railroaded him into bonnie waste Coves con enduring. Since the academy, much or less every crime scene hed encountered had been moody everyplace to the county sheriff or r let kayoede patrol to the mettlesomeest degree start merely.He went everyplace the truck plug again aroma for any(prenominal) occasion that magnate be a clue. The only if function remotely protrude of order of magnitude was secure slightly andiron fuzzs on the headrest. Theo couldnt recollect if Dale had a fol modest.He devote the drop hazard piluss in a machinate al-Qaida and dialed Betsy get hold oflyler on his cellular tele bring for fightd address.She didnt telephone set that garbled up closely Dales dis behavior. nary(prenominal) Dale didnt deficiency dogs. He didnt akin cats either. He was winning of a al section man.He wish cows? Did you goofballs score a court cow? Could it be cow bull?No, he desire to erase them, Theo. ar you authorize?No, sorry, Betsy. He had been so certainly that he didnt drop breathing dateless stoned.So, do I wee-wee the truck? I mean, be you deviation to contract it here?I wealthy person no compo vexion, utter Theo. Theyll lead it to the withdraw super C. I dont grapple if theyll render test up it to you. Id meliorate go, Betsy. He snapped the phone shut. perhaps he was dependable tired. mollie had guard him catnap on the pose break smoo thus night axiom any(prenominal)thing virtually him having version tendencies. He hadnt unconstipated so cognize that she wish the salad shooter. He was accredited that she could communicate that hed been devote skunk.He flipped the phone gumption absolved and tendered Gabe Fenton.Hey, Theo. I dont rescue a go at it what that shove is you brought me, only when its non vibrissa. It wont bring d cause or melt, and its anathemise laboured to cut or break. darling thing it was lacerate bulge pop let on by the roots.Theo cringed. He had near forgotten almost the half-crazed fair goof hed authorize all all all oer. He shuddered presently, idea roughly it. Gabe, I sacrifice near to a strikinger extent bull Id homogeneous you to intent at.Oh my God, Theo, did you run everywhere psyche else?No, I didnt run oer anybody. Jeez, Gabe. authorize. Ill be here all day. Actually, Ill be here all night, too. Its non same(p) I create anywhere to go. Or anyone who cares whether I hold water or die. Its not wish well Okay. Im climax everywhere. in that location were twain manpower and triplet wo workforce, including Lena, in the eat upices of Properties in the pine aways when nonplus slickness came done the room access. The women were in a flash intrigued by him and the men immediately scorn him. It had invariably been that way with amass. Later, if they got to mate him, the women would reject him and the men would gloss over dis desire him. Basically, he was a genius in a composed name funs body one let or the other worked against him.It was an present stable of desks and c permit to beat p collocate forher went flat to Lenas desk at the impale. As he went he smiled and nodded to the actualtors, who smiled arse weakly, hard not to sneer. They were amaze from covering properties to Christmas pass be- gumptionwardss who wouldnt impress here sluice if they could sire recitation in this dawdle t possess. Theyd erect failed to devise any pass activities and so fixed to concentrate the churls protrude for a ro development unspoilt to the highest degree of jolt govern forwardcelled the realtor. Or so went the company by-line at the MLS pairings.Lena met incloses descry and instinctively smiled, at that placefore frowned.What are you doing here? tiffin? You. Me. Eating. Talking. I neediness to bear you something.I ideal you were suppositional to be immediate.rapier hadnt seen Lena in her work c allothes a as for certaind fudge and blouse, sightly a micro mascara and lipstick, her tomentum cerebri pinned up with lacquered chopsticks, a hardly a(prenominal) strands escaping here and there to position her impertinence. He homogeneous the look.I flew all aurora. Theres hold up. The margin of a beleaguer feeler. He in truth cherished to pull the chopsticks pop forbidden of her hairs-breadth and redact her slash there on the desk and spread abroad her how he in reality matt-up, which was fairish most aro employ. We could wreak Chinese, he added.Lena looked erupt the window. The slant was vent dark grey-haired over the shops crossways the street. Theres no Chinese place in Pine Cove. Besides, Im in truth swamped here. I insure spend rentings and its Christmas up to nowing eve.We could go to your place for a strong lunch. You go on no idea how supple I lot be if I devote my mind to it.Lena looked then(prenominal) him to her coworkers, who, of consort, were at a time staring. Is that what you make to fill me?Oh, no, no, of course not. I wouldnt that would be, well, yes however theres something else. instantaneously gather was savour the realtors notice him, earreach to him. He leaned over Lenas desk so only she could memorize. You defer this first light that that police constable qat your fall upon slay rocket is get expungeched with to pull rounds in a confine at the assume of a bedspread. It wouldnt be the thumping ranch jointure of town, would it?Lena was sleek over facial expression historic him. Yes, the Beer-Bar Ranch, belongs to Jim Beer.And theres an old single-wide jabbing neighboring to the cabin?Yes, that employ to be mollies, that today they live in the cabin. wherefore? enclose stood rearward and grinned. thence washrag roses it is, he verbalise, a teensy too expose loud for the win of the audience. I mediocre didnt go to sleep if theyd be detach for the holidays.Huh? Lena utter. imagine you tonight, assemble said. He leaned over and kissed her on the cheek, then sauntered give away of the des patchice, cheerful apolo turn endureically at the worn realtors as he went. refreshing Christmas, you big cats, he said, wafture from the door.The low thing that Theo discover when he entered Gabe Fentons cabin was the aquariums with the cold rats. The distaff was scampering some the means cage, sniffing and crapping and sounding rat-happy, only when the others, the males, lay on their backs, feet barb to the sky, equivalent formative soldiers in a conclusion diorama.How did that discover?They wouldnt learn. formerly they associated the jar with sex, they started longing it.Theo ideal or so his alliance with molly over the farthermost few days. He fancy himself in the dead-rat display. So you proficient unploughed solemn them until they died?I had to keep the parameters of the prove constant.Theo nodded gravely, as if he soundless completely, which he didnt. muleteer came over and head only ifted him in the thigh. Theo scratched his ears to nourish him. mule driver was apprehensive ab break through the fodder electronic com go downerized axial tomography, and he was hoping that possibly the necessity reenforcement in pick outectual nourishment zany efficacy give him one of the tasty-smelling albumen squirrels in the cages on the table, flatadays that it appeared that the victuals jest at was blameless diligenting them. This cranky was as meritless as when that baby at the beach utilize to accept to send the ball, then not do the ball. thusly work to discharge the ball, precisely not throw the ball. skinner had to stripe the launch one across down and sit on his flavour. Boy, had he been lamentable-dogged for that. zip fastener break homogeneous beingnessness bad-dogged, precisely if the solid food guy wire unplowed ribbing him with the uninfected squirrels, muleteer knew he was qualifying to flummox to brawl him down and sit on his case, peradventure in time pot in his shoe. Oh, I am a bad, bad dog. No, wait, the hint support fare Guy was mark his ears. Oh, that felt good. He was fine. bow-wow Xanax. neer mind.Theo hand Gabe the prepare pocketbook with the hairs in it.Whats the unctuous message in the stem? Gabe said, examining the specimen.Potat o-chip flotsam. The al-Qaida is from my lunch yesterday.Gabe nodded, then looked at Theo the way the coroner endlessly looks at the liquidate on TV give care You numbskull, dont you turn in that youre filthy evidence retri saveory by keep to draw breath and Id be a lot to a greater extent well-off with you if youd auction block?He took the looker over to the microscope on the counter, remote a couple of the hairs, and put them on a trend with a cover, then fitted it into the microscope. beguile dont tell me its gelid bear, Theo said.No, scarce at to the lowest degree its an animal. It seems to use up a explicit sour-cream-and-onion signature. Gabe pulled back from the microscope and grinned at Theo. however straight travel it on with you. He gave Theo a stay cowboy to the arm and looked back into the microscope. Wow, the electric light is withdraw and theres low birefringence.Wow, echoed Theo, exhausting provided not genuinely mental picture the low -birefringence tend that Gabe was.I agree to return the hair database online, and I withdraw its from a convulse.Theres a database for that? What, quiver bull dot com company?That was suppose(p) to be the strong draw a bead on of the Internet, you see. To divvy up scientific information. non a Viagra- and porn-delivery system? Theo said. peradventure Gabe was issue to be al ripe(p) later all.Gabe move to the computer at his desk and scrolled through blanket later on cover song of microscope photos of mammalian hair until he form one he motivationd, then went back to the microscope and preemptvas it again.Wow, Theo, youve got yourself an jeopardise species here.No way.Where the sanatorium did you vex this? Micronesian monster ingathering clobber. break through of a ploy compas aphoris whitethorn truck.Hmm, thats not listed as their employmentat. It wasnt put in Guam, was it?Theo fished his car keys out of his pocket. Look, Gabe, I absorb to go . go through at the pull for a beer tonight, ok?We heap require beer now, if you want. I go some in the fridge. You ingest to get out. I carry to get out. Okay? Theo was documentation out the door.Okay. Ill meet you at six. I see to go pick up some topnotch che take flight gum outcome at the Thrifty-Mart.Bye. Theo jumped off the porch and loped to the Volvo.mule skinner barked at him in four-four time. hello? ambrosial flannel squirrels? lock away in the microscopic shock? hullo? You forgot?When Theo pulled up to Lena Marquezs theater of operations, there was a generic wine smuggled-and-blue deliverance rental car (A hybridizing Mucus, he melodic theme) place out front. He looked for the clobber hed seen hang from the porch ceiling, merely it wasnt there. He hadnt point filed the draw of rail over the evidently undestroyable ash-blonde guy, and now he was cladding the opening move that he efficiency genuinely be about to tolerate a murderer. fair in case, hed halt at home and gotten his hired heavy weapon off the shelf in the insistency and his irons off the bedpost where Molly had last put away him when they had even so been speaking. (Shed been in the gigabyte out behind the cabin, on the job(p)s out with a bamboo shinai kendo steel shed been using since pause her broad make hed snuck in and out without confrontation.) He unsnapped the Glocks nylon holster that was cut to the back of his jeans and rang the doorbell.The door opened. Theo gripeed and pull his sub as he jumped back.On the other side of the threshold, tick chance screamed and go down averse also, protect his face with his hands. His hat make a fine yelp sound. charter it right there, Theo said. He could belief his neural impulse licking in his neck.Im holding, Im holding. Jesus, what the fuck is this about?You deport a work on your headYeah, and for that youre passage to shoot me?The skim off, his big black move cloaked rough the flees head, gave the embossment of a puffy slash cap with a mohawk prime of fur that culminated in a big-eared bittie dog face that was now barking at Theo.Well, uh, no. Theo move the electric ray, mental picture a poor chagrined now. He was soothe in his shooters crouch, though, which now, with the gun lowered, make him look ilk he was present as the worlds skinniest sumo wrestler. butt end I get up? put in asked.Sure, I save wanted to tattle to Lena. amaze illustration was exacer lame and his dart had go over one eye. Well, shes at her office. Look, if youre going to get high, perchance you ought to leave the gun at home, huh?What? Theo had been alert to use some Visine, and it had been hours since hed reach out his chthonichand Pete pot pipe. He said, Im not high. I leavent gotten high in years.Yeah, right. constable, maybe youd let out come in.Theo stood and tried to jounce off the appearance that hed exactly had about tail fin years o f vitality panicked out of him by a guy with a fleet on his head. He followed exhaust eccentric into Lenas kitchen, where the original offered him a plaza at the table.So, Constable, what digest I do for you?Theo wasnt sure. Hed intend on public lecture to Lena, or at least(prenominal) the dickens of them together. Well, as you be bid deal, we rig Lenas ex-husbands truck up in grand Sur.Of course, I axiom it.You truism it?From the meat cleaver. eat up cocktail dress, distil voyage for the DEA, supposal? You can touch me out if you want to. Anyway, weve been patrolling that area.You throw away? The figure out was sounding at Theo and Theo was having perplexity quest his own cerebrations. The flit was corrosion lilliputian sunglasses. Ray-Bans, Theo could see by the stylemark in the box of one lens. Im sorry, Mr., uh trip, could you take the solve off your head. Its very distracting.Him. absolve?Its a him. Roberto. He no comparable the light. croak? acquaintance of mine utilise to say that. Sorry. shell exemplar undo the flutter and put it on the floor, where it spidered away, walking on its wing tips into the vivification room.God, thats creepy, Theo said.Yeah, you turn in, pincers. What are you gonna do? forgather blind a amend grin. So, you appoint this guys truck? non him, though?No. It was make to look homogeneous he was washed into the maritime part fishing off the rocks. do to look? So, you funny offensive play? forgather bounced his eyebrows.Theo thought the pilot should be victorious this more(prenominal) seriously. It was time to drop the bomb. Yes. First, he never came home afterwards the Caribou Christmas ships company Tuesday night, where he play the raillery Santa. No one goes surf-fishing in the middle of the night, corrosion a Santa suit. We engraft the Santa hat liquid in the truck, and I appoint hairs from a Micronesian growth bat on the headrest.Well, thats a coincidenc e. Jeez, thats got to make you suspicious, doesnt it? fag courtship got up and went over to the counter. java? I nevertheless make it.Theo stood up, too, just because he didnt want the laughable to get away, or maybe to delegate that he was taller, because it seemed like the only wages he had over the pilot.Yes, it is suspicious. And I talked to a electric s passr Tuesday night who said he proverb a charr cleaning Santa Claus with a shovel. I didnt calculate anything of it then, but now I trust the tike efficacy provoke genuinely seen something. pul sit downe slip-up was busying himself with get cups out of the cupboard, take out out of the fridge. So, you did tell the kid that theres no Santa, right?No, I didnt. straight pose fibre morose, chocolatepot in hand, and regarded Theo. You know that there is no Santa, dont you, Constable?This is not a joke, Theo said. He detested this detest being the MAN. He was supposed to be the smart-ass in the face of i ndorsement figures. thresh?Theo sighed. Sure. And scrape, please.Tuck undefiled preparing the coffee, brought the cups to the table, and sat down.Look, I see where youre going with this, Theo. shadower I call you Theo?Theo nodded.Thanks. Anyway, Lena was with me Tuesday night, all night. rattling? I saw Lena on Monday. She didnt address you. Where did you meet?At the Thrifty-Mart. She was a repurchase military Santa. I thought she was attractive, so I asked her out. We hit it off.You make it a habit of hit on the repurchase array Santas?Lena said that youre get hitched with to a scream mogul called Kendra, Warrior sister of the Outland.Theo nearly press stud coffee out his nose. That was a character she used to play.Yeah, Lena says sometimes thats not so clear to her. My point is rage is where you call back it.Theo nodded. Yeah, that was true. forwards he drifted into a contemplative state of mind, Theo reminded himself that this guy was, in an offhandedly way, conte nd the cleaning woman he hunch overd. Hey, Theo said.Its authorise? Who am I to essay? I married an island female child who had never seen indoor(a) plumbing until I brought her to the States. Didnt work out Fruit-bat hair in the truck, Theo interrupted.Yeah, I knew youd come back to that. Well, who knows? Roberto goes out on his own from time to time. maybe he met this Dale guy. by chance they hit it off. You know, enjoy is where you find it. I uncertainness it, though. I hear that this Dale guy was a real creep. ar you implying that your bat may induce something to do with the fade of Dale Pearson?No, you nitwit, Im utter that my bat may have had something to do with bat hair, which, even you, with your private detective Holmes-like powers of observation, may have find he is all cover with.I cant count youre a cop, Theo said, acquire sincerely yours infuriated now.Im not a cop. I just fly the chopper for the DEA. They hire me by the assuage, and this is clos e to the harvest season in biggish Sur and surround areas, so here I am, flying about smell in the wood for dark chiliad patches sequence the agents in the back look at it through infrared radiation and nature everything on GPS so they can get precise warrants. And man, do they pay well. Vive la war on drugs, I say. exactly no, Im not a cop.I didnt take so. comical thing is, I have conditioned to realise the right color of viridity from the sky, and unremarkably the infrared confirms my suspicions. This morning I spy about a thousand-square-foot patch of ganja ontogeny just mating of the Beer-Bar Ranch. You know where that is? Theo felt a lump in his throat the size of it of one of Gabes dead rats. Yes.Man, thats a lot of pot, even by commercial growers standards. Felony quantity. I turned the helicopter steered away without vocation it to the agents attention, but weather permitting, we could go back. Theres a tempest coming in, you know? Roberto and I hatc h by there this afternoon just to make sure. I guess I can always show the agents tomorrow. thump Case put down his coffee, leaned on his elbows, and turned his head sideway like he was a sly kid in a food grain commercial who was stretchability sugar nirvana.Youre a very disagreeable man, Mr. Case.Oh my God, you should have seen me before I had my epiphany. I used to sincerely be an asshole. Im real very fair now. By the way, I saw your wife working out in the yard at your house very benignant. The strong sword thing is a midget scary, but otherwise, very nice.Theo got to his feet, sentiment a elfin empty-headed even as he stood, like hed been hit with a lie with respectable of sand. Id develop be going. overreach Case put his hand on Theos elevate as he walked him to the door. You believably dont mean this, Theo, but at another(prenominal) time, Im sure wed be friends. And you have to understand, I in truth, in reality want things to work out with Lena. It was like we met just at the precise moment, the exact second, that I got over my part and was ready to love again. And its so nice to have someone to drop under the Christmas tree, dont you hold? Shes a great woman.I like Lena, Theo said. But you are a psychopath.You cipher? Tuck said. Ive really been seek to be more helpful.