FORTY-FOUR
Angela went back upstairs and finally took a hot shower. She shivered under the stream of water until it banished the chill. She took special care to wash her hair thoroughly. She dressed in jeans and a longer top to hide the gun she holstered in her waistband.
Worried about leaving any evidence in Babington’s car, she put on a hoodie and drew the drawstring tight around her face. She wanted to make sure she didn’t leave any of her hairs in his car. She picked up the car keys with a little finger through the key ring. Not wanting to leave any fingerprints, she retrieved a pair of disposable gloves and stuffed them in a pocket.
She left her phone at home on her nightstand for the same reason Babington didn’t bring his phone. She didn’t want anyone to be able to track its position to where she would leave his car.
After she locked her front door she pulled on the gloves, opened the car door, and started Babington’s car. She stopped at the entrance to her drive and put the cable back up to make sure no one wandered up her drive.
It was late in the evening, but not so late that people driving around would be viewed suspiciously. There was no traffic on the road leading away from her house—there rarely was—but once she got into town the traffic started getting heavier. She didn’t want to take the chance of having someone recognize John Babington’s car with her driving it, so she took side streets, rather than four-lane roads where people could pull up beside her at traffic lights.
Once she reached an upscale motel near downtown, she parked on a side street right around the corner. The parking lot of the motel was likely to have surveillance cameras. She didn’t want to be recorded driving or getting out of Babington’s car. She kept her hood up over her head in case there were any cameras pointed out at the street she intended to walk down just around the corner from the motel after leaving the car.
She hoped that when the car was eventually found the police would theorize that John Babington had been going to a late-night liaison and parked where his car wouldn’t be seen on the motel’s cameras, and that he was then robbed, taken somewhere else to be murdered, and his body dumped. With the density of the surrounding forests just outside town, that happened occasionally and the bodies were rarely found.
That was, in fact, what Owen had done. He had dumped his victim’s body like trash. If not for Angela seeing in his eyes what he had done, Carrie Stratton likely would never have been found. Angela might have been born broken—born a freak—but at least she could use that for something good.
Angela locked Babington’s car with the remote. She peeled off the disposable gloves and put them in the pocket of her jeans along with the car keys. Later, she would toss the keys and gloves down the hell hole.
She kept her head down, hood up, and started walking.
When the strip mall finally came into sight, Angela was relieved to see that the lights were still on at Drenovic Tactical. She had ditched the car where she had because that motel was only a mile and a half from Nate’s place. Nate had done a good job teaching her what she needed to know. But now she needed him for something else.
She pushed back the hood and opened the door. Nate was sitting alone at the desk doing paperwork. He stood in surprise.
“Angela! What are you doing here at this hour?”
Angela stuffed her hands in the pockets of the hoodie. “I need a favor.”
Nate shrugged. “Sure, anything. What do you need?”
“I need a ride home, if it’s not too much trouble.”
“No problem. But what are you doing here? Did your truck break down or something?”
“No, it’s not that. I had a date. The guy turned out to be a real jerk. I didn’t want to do what he had had in mind, so I dumped him. Now I find myself without a ride home. I can walk if it’s too much trouble.”
A cab would have left records, so that was out. It would be an awfully long walk, so she had been hoping Nate could drive her home. But she had also been prepared to walk if he hadn’t been at work or couldn’t give her a lift.
Nate opened a drawer and retrieved his car keys. “It’s the least I can do.”
“What do you mean?”
He gestured around the empty room. “Business has been slow. Seems like every strip mall has a martial arts school next to a nail salon. Even Malcolm stopped showing up. Teaching you kept my head above water.”
“I should hope so. You were charging me enough.”
He smiled. “I was. I hope it was worth it?”
“It was,” she hastened to add, along with a smile.
“I wish you were still taking lessons. It paid some bills.” He held a hand out toward the door. “My car is right outside.”
Nate didn’t know where she lived, so Angela had to give him directions as they drove out of town and toward her house. When they finally reached her driveway, she had him pull off the road and stop just before the cable. He was surprised to see that she lived outside Milford Falls in such a remote place.
“Thanks for the ride, Nate. You’re a lifesaver.”
“Stop seeing jerks and you won’t need rides home.”
Angela couldn’t help smiling.
“I’m glad that at least I was able to teach you how to handle trouble if you end up in a bad situation.” Nate gestured at her drive. “How about … I don’t know. How about you show me your place?”
“It’s been a long day. Maybe some other time.”
“Oh. Okay. Sure.”
He seemed deflated. She didn’t want to leave it like that.
“You know the place I tend bar?”
“Yea, Barry’s Place.”
“Well, some guys tortured him and beat him really bad.”
“My god, that’s terrible. Why would they do that?”
“I don’t know.” She waved off the question to get back on topic. “He’s in the hospital and right now we don’t know if he’s going to make it.”
“I’m so sorry to hear that. If they wanted to rob him, why didn’t they just rob him? Why would they torture him?”
She couldn’t tell him that he was tortured to find out where the driveway was where they were sitting at that moment.
She couldn’t help feeling guilty about Barry.
“I don’t know,” she lied again as she ran her finger back and forth over a piece of chrome on the center console. “Listen, Barry is in bad shape. Even if he makes it, it’s going to be quite a while until he is back on his feet. I don’t want him to lose his bar in the meantime. Me and some of the other girls are going to open the bar tomorrow and keep it up and running for him. You know, until he gets better. We’re hoping to get people to come in and support his business.”
“That sounds like a great idea.”
“So, I need to get some sleep—”
“Oh, sure. I understand. Maybe some other time.”
She nodded without committing. “We’re going in early tomorrow to see about keeping his place afloat.”
“Okay. Well, I think that’s a great idea. I guess I better let you get some sleep, then. It was great getting to see you again, Angela.”
She popped open the door, but then paused.
“Hey, listen. I just had an idea.” She hoped not to make a habit of lying to him, but it seemed the most expedient solution. “Us girls could use a guy there to kind of watch over things while we’re working.”
“You mean, you need a bouncer?”
“Yeah, I guess. Check IDs, that kind of thing. Make sure none of the guys get grabby with us since Barry isn’t there watching over things. He used to look out for the girls that work for him.” She looked up into his eyes. “It would be great if you could do that for us.”
“I don’t know…. I have my own business to run.”
“You said your business is really slow right now. If you would do this, we’d pay you. I’d share my tips with you. I’m sure the other girls would appreciate having you watch over them and they’d chip in as well. I bet you’d make more money than you do teaching martial arts. And it would only be until Barry gets better, so maybe you could put a ‘gone on vacation’ sign on your door, or something? It might make you enough money to get ahead on your bills.”
Nate tapped a thumb on the steering wheel as he considered. “Business has been pretty slow….”
“I’d feel better if it was a face I knew who was watching over the girls, rather than a stranger.”
“What about you?”
She flicked a hand, dismissing the thought. “Nah. Some guy taught me to take care of myself. I’m good.”
He chuckled at that before turning serious again. “You really want me to do it?”
She turned back to meet his gaze. “Yes. I really would like it if you would.”
He gave her a single nod. “Then I’ll do it. When do we start?”
“I’m hoping we can get the place open tomorrow evening by around five. After that, afternoons until closing. All of us will be there working to start to make sure we have things running smoothly.”
“Then I guess I’ll see you tomorrow evening.”
Angela kissed her finger and then pressed the kiss to his cheek. “Thanks, Nate. See you then.”
He stayed and watched her walk up her drive until she got to the trees. She turned and waved and he finally drove off.