Long After Midnight by Iris Johansen Page B

chenille robe. “Didn’t you sleep well?”
    “No.” She crossed her arms across her chest to ward off the chill that refused to go away. “I’ve been thinking, Phyliss. Maybe it would be a good idea if we all went away on a little trip.”
             
    “Just can’t keep away from us, huh?” Charlie Dodd straightened his glasses on his nose as Kate came into the lab. “Or maybe it’s me. Have you been harboring a secret passion all these years?”
    “That’s right, Charlie.” Kate smiled as she opened her top desk drawer and rifled through papers for the test results she’d done the day before Michael’s death. She was sure she’d put them there. “I just can’t help myself.”
    “I thought as much.” He got up and strolled over to her. “What are you doing? I told you yesterday that I’d bring you anything you needed.”
    Where the hell were they? “I know but I wanted to get these right away.” They weren’t in the drawer. Maybe she’d stuffed them in her briefcase before she left that day. She’d been pretty upset. “I must be losing it. I guess I took them home.”
    “Anything else?”
    “No.” The computer disk with the formula and records was locked in the trunk of her car with her laptop. “I just wanted to study those reports.” She picked up the phone and dialed Alan’s number at the precinct. It took her a few minutes to get through to him. “Hi, I have a favor to ask.”
    “That’s what I’m here for.”
    “Could I have the black-and-white at the house again tonight?”
    “Sure. I’d already planned on it.” He paused. “Any problem?”
    “No, I’d just feel better. And could you have a car cruise by every now and then and keep an eye on the house for the next few weeks? I’ll be gone for a while.”
    “Where?”
    “I’m not sure. Tomorrow I’m just going to bundle Phyliss and Joshua into the car and take off. It may do us all some good.”
    “You’re not going because you’re afraid? There’s nothing to be afraid of, Kate. I’ll make sure you’re safe.”
    “I just want to get away.”
    A silence. “Well, keep in touch. I’ll make sure everything stays safe and sound here.”
    “Thanks, Alan.” She hesitated. “Have you ever heard of a man named Ishmaru?”
    “Don’t think so. Should I?”
    “I don’t know.” She didn’t know anything, she thought in frustration. That might not even be the man’s name. She had only Noah’s word for it. “Could you run a check on the name?”
    “What’s this about, Kate?”
    “Could you just do it?”
    “Okay. Right now?”
    “Whenever you can.”
    “It will take a little time.” He was silent and then said, “You’re keeping something from me. I don’t like it.”
    She didn’t like it either. “I have to go now, Alan. Thanks for everything.”
    She hung up.
    “I guess you won’t be at Benny’s memorial service,” Charlie said. “I thought you were staying in town.”
    She had completely forgotten the service, she realized. She would have to remember to send flowers. “I decided it would be better to have a change of scenery.”
    “That’s what I told you.”
    “And you’re always right.”
    “Mostly always.”
    “There’s something seriously wrong with that phrase.”
    “Well, I had to throw in a qualifier. I didn’t want to sound too egotistical.”
    “Perish the thought.” She turned to go. “Bye, Charlie. See you in a couple weeks.”
    “Right. Too bad about Rudy.”
    She stopped in mid motion and faced him. “What?”
    “You didn’t hear? Rudy’s dead.”
    “How?”
    He shrugged. “Don’t worry, it didn’t have anything to do with your experiments. It happened two nights ago.”
    “How can you say that? It could have been a delayed reaction.”
    He shook his head. “It was a broken neck.”
    She stared at him in bewilderment. “Broken neck? Was he out of his cage?”
    “Nope, must have been some kind of freak accident.” He raised a brow. “Hey, don’t