Read Online Grave Consequences by Aimée Thurlo - Free Book Online

Nancy.”
    â€œBut if Lola is smart, she might be in her neighborhood right now, watching to see if her apartment is clear,” Gordon surmised. “She might be keeping a low profile, disguising her looks and waiting for an opportunity to get at her stuff.”
    â€œWhat about her car—it’s a black Ford Focus, right?”
    Charlie nodded. “How about we cruise her neighborhood and see if any of the coffee shops, restaurants, or places have one of those cars in the lot? If we find one, we’ll ask Nancy to run the plates.”
    â€œLola’s place is in an apartment complex near Wyoming and Montgomery. Do you remember the name?” Gordon asked.
    â€œVillage Apartments, Village Square, something like that.” Charlie brought out his notebook and handed it to Gordon. “I took notes.”
    â€œSchoolboy.”
    â€œYou’re the one with the college degree, Gordon.”
    â€œIt was either that or start knocking over convenience stores. That was a real career path in my ’hood. What about you?”
    â€œMy dad wanted me to get a degree and become a lawyer—my mom thought I’d make a good Navajo shepherd. So I joined the Army,” Charlie replied. They’d talked about their backgrounds a lot, but never their goals. In the beginning, when they’d first met in the service, their pasts were the only thing to share besides their gripes.
    â€œGood compromise. In all three careers you’d be surrounded by coyotes and encouraged to carry a gun. And the Army has the best guns,” Gordon responded.
    Fifteen minutes later they cruised through the parking lots of the multi-unit apartment complex, searching for a black Focus. Finding a total of two, they went to a coffee shop on the corner within sight of the apartments. They had coffee while Charlie called Nancy to see if either plate was for Lola’s car.
    Gordon, sipping his Italian brew, had already checked out every customer. Lola wasn’t there.
    Charlie ended the call, shook his head, then drank some coffee. “We struck out. So much for that idea.”
    â€œWanna check the lots up and down the neighborhood, just in case?” Gordon suggested. “She could be sleeping in her car.”
    â€œOr in a motel in the area. There’s one at the west end of Montgomery, just off I-25.”
    â€œLet’s work our way west, then. And if that doesn’t play out, maybe we should call it a night,” Gordon said, yawning.
    Two hours later they gave up and headed west, back into the valley. Gordon had walked to work—he lived just a half mile from the shop—so Charlie dropped him off in front of his apartment, then reversed course and headed back east, to home.
    He was just pulling into the driveway of his two-bedroom rental home when his cell phone rang. It was Nancy Medina’s private cell.
    â€œWhat’s up, Nancy?” Charlie asked. He and Gina’s significant other had been through hell last year after Gina had been shot, but their friendship was solid now and Charlie really liked the tall, slender blonde with knockout looks. She was a good cop too.
    â€œDetective DuPree got a hit on the guy who tried to redeem the squash blossom from a tribal database. He’s Steve Martinez—the half brother of the guy Lola’s been dating, Jerry Benally. Once DuPree got the ID on Steve, he tracked down photos of his siblings and came up with Jerry. The neighbors confirmed that Jerry had been seeing Lola.”
    â€œYou figure Jerry may have been the one who got shot?” Charlie asked.
    â€œFifty-fifty chance. DuPree’s got an ATL on those brothers underway. The photos are already going out to area clinics and other medical facilities, on and off the Rez,” Nancy said. “You two have any luck tracking down Lola Tso?”
    Charlie described the incident with Mike Schultz and his goons, then his follow-up.
    â€œYou guys better take care of