Geek, liar, and the way I now saw it shaping up, a whole lot more. He owned a watch, all right, the flashy Omega that must have cost plenty more than a small-town mechanic and tow truck driver could afford on salary alone—a connection I should have made the first time I saw that damn chronometer on his wrist. One of several connections I might have made sooner if I’d asked the right questions of the right people as I had of Alana Farmer. Good news, bad news. I had reservations about things turning out this way, but Cheryl had hired me to get her son off the hook for the rapes and if I was right in my thinking and I could convince Sheriff Felix and the D.A., then mission accomplished. I had no control over the rest of it. You do your job the best way you can, and sometimes that means playing the cards the way others in the game have dealt them. I left Alana in Zastroy’s apartment with a stern admonition to keep quiet about what we’d discussed, and made a beeline for High Desert Auto Repair and Towing.
