Had he taken the time to look more closely at the tablet, he would have seen that while Slate had parked in the same place as the night before, he took an opposite direction from the lot. He was six blocks west when the explosion went off at least ten blocks east. It actually made his job easier since the loud bang had caused people to come to the fronts of their houses to see what was going on; that left rear entry to be child’s play. When the woman had returned from the front lawn, Slate was waiting for her just inside the door.
Safely inside the parking garage, Dan surveyed the damage. There were dings where small pieces of the falling metal had hit the car and there was a tiny crack in his windshield, but there was nothing that stood out to indicate he had been anywhere near the explosion. Scurrying inside the building to one of the big rooms, he looked at the monitors. Slate was still driving home as indicated by the dashboard camera, but now there was a serene look in his eyes. Had the feeling to murder passed or was there something which Dan didn’t understand?
Slate finally arrived home, and that’s when Dan’s questions were answered. Andrew performed his same ritual with the bleach and the clothing as he had done when he successfully murdered his last victims. As Dan stared at the screens, he realized that everything he had done that evening was for naught.
CHAPTER 19
Dan spent a sleepless night again waiting for the early morning news, but there were no reports of any woman being murdered. He stayed on until the morning surveillance crew arrived before going upstairs to his office. He clicked on the television but all the local reporting involved the car explosion. The burning fragments had set off a garage fire which occupied the attention of most of the reporters on an otherwise slow news day. By 10:00 AM, there was still no news on the brutal murder of any woman.
Slate had gone to work and the surveillance team settled into their routine as he had settled into his. Dan, on the other hand, was a bundle of nerves. He jumped when Lisa knocked on his door almost expecting to see a police detective walk in.
“Come in,” he said in a trembling voice.
His heartbeat lowered instantly when he saw it was only his secretary with a handful of papers.
“These are ready for your signature,” she said. As she placed the papers on his desk and started to turn around to leave, she added one more line: “Oh, by the way, the maintenance man from the garage area called to say your rear license plate is missing. He says you should contact the registry for a replacement.”
As Dan watched her leave the office, his mind flashed back to the events of the previous evening. He wondered if he had lost the plate when he revved the car escaping from the explosion or if it had fallen off some distance away. In either case, it wasn’t a good sign for a day that was about to get worse in a hurry.
Louis walked in unannounced and took his usual seat, a large manila envelope in his hand which he placed on the side of the chair. This time there was no hint of a smile on his face; instead, he had the look of someone who was worried and was about to pass that worry on to you.
“Slate,” he said.
“What about Slate?” Dan answered with a question. All he could think of was that Louis had found out about the murders and was about to lower the boom.
“Yesterday we had no test commercials,” Louis replied actually speaking in full sentences. Dan also knew that Lisa was feeding him all of the daily results. “We had three new ones to go and none made it. So how come this guy is breaking his routine?”
The way Louis phrased the question meant that Dan better have the right answer.
“Just an off day,” he said hoping Louis didn’t want a further explanation but knowing he would. “Today seems like he’s back on routine and we’ll have no trouble. It’s okay, I assure you.”
“Look, when all of this began, I could have cared less if the guy had an off day or even an off week,” Louis said. “I had other business interests that sustained me. Since we’re doing so well, though, I’ve, let’s say, curtailed certain activities making some business partners of mine less than happy since they aren’t sharing in my newfound profits. I find I am no longer welcome to rejoin their circles, so all my chips are riding on a satisfactory outcome to our present endeavors. I want nothing to disturb Mr. Slate…do you understand. I don’t want him to catch cold, stub his toe, or have any problems. I just want him to continue to sail us toward that ocean of money. All of the responsibility for Slate’s happiness is on your shoulders. If I haven’t made myself clear before, let me do it now. If anything were to happen to Mr. Slate in any negative way, you will not be around to read it in the next day’s papers. Am I clear enough for you?”
This was the first time Louis had spoken so much and it had to have been when he was threatening Dan’s life. As far as Louis was concerned, Slate was untouchable…whatever he did outside of picking winners was perfectly okay. Dan, on the other hand, was very vulnerable.
“I’m going to say this only once more; don’t screw it up,” Louis said, rising and walking out of the office.
As Dan watched the man shut the door, his eyes glanced down at the manila envelope that had been left behind. He walked over and picked it up immediately noticing that something rigid was inside. Undoing the metal clasp he slid out the contents.
His missing license plate fell through his fingers to the floor.
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