Free Reilly 11 - Case of Lies by Perri O'Shaughnessy Page A

your purse or something.” The girl, no more than seventeen, held a steaming platter with at least four plates full of food in one hand.
    “What did he look like?”
    “About forty. Denim jacket, work boots. Dripping.”
    “Was he wearing a ski mask?”
    “A floppy hat. Uncool people wear them to golf in, you know? I chased him off.” She eyed the plates she was holding. The food was getting cold.
    “Thanks,” Nina said. She pulled a bill out of her wallet and put it in the girl’s free hand.
    “Oh, one other thing,” the girl said, tucking the money into a pocket. “He walked funny.”
    “How funny? How did he walk?”
    “Crooked, like the old guy on the old The Real McCoys show. Remember? Well, that was pretty exaggerated, the way he walked. This guy was bowlegged. Or maybe he just has a bad foot?”
     
    Out in the lot the wind whipped through the trees. She spent some time with the cops. She told them about the ski mask in the Hanna case, and the floppy hat, and the bad leg. The officer did not seem impressed. “Ski mask on the road, no information as to his walk. Then floppy hat, bad leg. Different individual, probably,” he said. “Too bad you didn’t see the guy in the road take a few steps.”
    “Look. This was an attempted murder.”
    “More likely, ma’am, an attempt to frighten you. There wasn’t enough explosive to kill you inside the passenger compartment. On the other hand, any explosive at all is terrifically dangerous around a gas tank. You were lucky.”
    “Please give your reports to Sergeant Cheney. It may be a link to the Hanna case.”
    “I will.”
    “Who else would try to blow us up? I don’t have any enemies like that.”
    “How would this man even know you were in the case? And if he knew, why would he want to kill you?”
    “Because-I don’t know why.”
    “I’ll talk to Cheney.” They talked about her security system.
    Bob waited for her in the truck, petting Hitchcock.
    “Did you walk him?” she asked through the window.
    “Yeah. He took a good long whiz. Must’ve smelled the explosive. He was heading for the beach.”
    “Tell me you didn’t go there!”
    “I stayed by the truck. The beach was roped off. They’re still cleaning up.”
    She slammed the door and got in. “Whew! It’s evil out there!” She unclipped her keys and they dropped onto the floor.
    While she felt around for them, Bob said, “You don’t have to worry anymore, Mom. This car’s safer today than most days.”
    Finding them, she reached toward the back seat to give Hitchcock the opportunity to lick her wrist and hand.
    “You were right about the bad karma,” Bob said. “He followed us here. It’s like, if you accidentally spill your soda on some kid, of course he turns out to be the meanest psycho kid in school, and waits for you after school, gets you back much worse. Know what I mean?”
    “What did the police say to you?”
    “‘What’s he look like?’ I told them.”
    “Bob, do you remember? Was the man in the parking lot wearing a ski mask? Or a floppy hat?”
    Bob shrugged. “He was a ways away.”
    “Maybe. Bob-” Bob had his arms around Hitchcock’s damp, furry neck, his eyes closed, his cheek pressed against the dog’s ear. Hair pressed flat to his head, ears standing out, Bob looked a bit like a dog himself as he communed with Hitchcock. Nina caught herself thinking, If anything ever happens to that dog-and she knew she was really thinking about Bob. A sharp pain lanced through her right eye.
    “Yeah, Mom?”
    “How sure are you that the man by the Bronco was the same as the man in the ski mask on the road?”
    “I just thought it must be him. I’m sorry, Mom. I just figured, you know. I couldn’t see the man by the Bronco through the rain.”
    “It’s okay, honey. I think you saved our lives.”
    “Yeah, Hitchie, we saved you.” Bob hugged the dog some more. He did not seem particularly upset by the whole incident.
    Nina said, “The world has-it’s