“Pretty hard for Mr. Sklar’s bodyguard to shoot him at the station.” Renfrew gave me a sidelong glance and smiled. “He’ll be flattered you care.” She cut her eyes back to the road. Now that we were in Queens, I was lost, and the visibility in the rain was low.

“Did Martin say anything about the fire at that church?”

“Stop right there.” Renfrew put her right hand up. “My hearing’s cutting in and out this morning, you know that? Otherwise, I could be compelled to tell the brass certain things, or get suspended when I failed to talk.” She put her hand back on the steering wheel. “You know what’s bad about police work these days? With computers, they can tell exactly who runs a name through the system without authorization. If your cell phone is on, they know exactly where you are. No privacy.” She squinted at the road and made a right-hand turn into a parking lot, drove into a spot and put the brake on. “I hate to say it, but you’re on your own, kiddo.”

“You’re dumping me in a parking lot?” I stared out the window at the big red bull’s-eye on the concrete building. “What are you doing—shopping at Target?”

“There’s an idea. They’re supposed to have a new Ella compilation I want.” She drummed her fingers on the steering wheel. “But I should probably get back to the city. My kids will be crawling the walls, and I haven’t seen my husband all week.”

I didn’t try to hide my incredulity. Why had she driven me miles away from Tariq’s building, to Queens, of all places? She’d been obviously upset when she mentioned being taken off the case, but everything else seemed out of character. “Thanks for the ride,” I said, slowly inching out of the car, hoping she’d reel me back in and admit what was really going on.

“Remember, if anyone has occasion to ask—anyone—you never saw me,” she said.

I closed the door and she drove off, peeling out of the parking lot. I watched her tail lights before she turned, feeling strangely bereft. If anyone had been following me, she’d done me the favor of getting me out of their clutches. But nothing else made sense.

A black sportscar pulled up beside me. “You need a lift, miss?”

“Jesse? What are you doing…” I dropped the question and got into the car. “Where’s Ginger?”

“Norah reckoned it would be a bad idea to take her to the Berkshires. Too easy to trace. Next stop, Idylhaven. Unless you wanna hit Target first.”

“Why would I do that?”

“Well, I wasn’t able to pack clothes. All I could smuggle out was in my camera bag.” Jesse gestured at the back seat. “But I remembered your chocolates.”

CHAPTER 32