Out of Sight

Buddy said, "She'll see the elevator's going up to seven-that ought to give us some time."

They were leaving the building now, turning out into traffic.

"She saw us," Foley said, "so she'll know we got off."

Buddy said, "Well, if they know where I live, I guess they know what I drive. Should we pick up another car? This one's still got California plates on it. Or take 'em off and pick us up a Florida plate. I got a screwdriver in the glove box. They only use one license plate in Florida. I guess other states too. Stop off and lift one before we get on 95. There's a Wal-Mart over on Hallandale Beach Boulevard, has a big lot always full of cars. What do you think?"

"She looked right at me," Foley said.

"She didn't yell or get excited. She didn't move."

They were on A1A in northbound traffic, a two-lane street full of headlights.

"We got one thing going for us," Buddy said, keeping an eye on his rearview mirror, "it's dark out."

"She just sat there," Foley said, "looking right at me."

FIFTEEN

Her dad said, "He waved to you?"

"I won't swear to it," Karen said, "but I'm pretty sure he did. He raised his hand about as high as his head and it looked like, just as the elevator door closed, he waved."

It was Saturday now, seven in the evening. They had both been away from the house all day and were in the kitchen now, having a drink before going out to di

"Maybe he was scratching his head."

"He was looking right at me the whole time."

"He knew you recognized him?"

"I'm sure he did. That's why I think he waved, he had nothing to lose.

You know what I mean? He couldn't pretend to be someone else, I'd already seen him in that dumb beach outfit."

Karen smiled just a little.

"He's a pretty cool guy. You know it?"

Her dad had to be cool, too, when he was with her.

"You wave back?"

"I didn't have time. The door closed."

"I imagine you would've though." Saying it in a matter-of fact way, going along straight-faced, not sure if he was serious or if Karen was, his darling little girl who tracked fugitives and took them to federal court.

"So what did you do next?"

"I used the radio to call Burdon. I told him Foley saw me, so he and Buddy were sure to get off the elevator. Burdon left one guy in the apartment and came down the stairs with the rest of his people to check the floors."

"What did you do?"

"Burdon told me to stay where I was. I radioed his guys outside and told them to get to the garage entrance. At that time, though, we didn't know if Buddy had a car, or if he did, what land and where it was registered."

"They might've still been in the building."

"It's possible, but they did get out and the chances are they made it before the two outside guys got to the garage. Burdon called the Broward sheriff's office and they contacted I think Autotrak and they made Buddy's car, an eight-nine Olds registered in California to Orren Bragg. It was too late by then to lay out a grid and have local police cover it. Burdon did send out an all-points, but was sure they'd already switched plates or picked up another car."

"Burdon leave surveillance on the building?"

"Yeah, but took it off this afternoon. I stopped by DEA to look at Gle

They were picked up and sent to USP Lompoc, the max prison, where Gle

"You'll have to tell me."

"

"What's this have to do with our bank robbers?" He says they're on their way to California because 'they always run to familiar ground to hide out."

" Her dad said, "They do, huh?"

"Buddy's phone bill was in the apartment. It shows he called a number in Los Angeles at least once a week. Guess whose it is."

"His sister."

"How did you know?"

"You said guess, I guessed."

"His sister Regina Mary Bragg, the ex-nun who turned him in. Burdon called her this morning, five a.m. in Los Angeles.

She said her brother was in Florida visiting a friend, but didn't know his name or have a phone number for Buddy. What I want to know," Karen said, "is why he calls his sister every week after she turned him in."

Her dad said, "Well, he doesn't seem to hold a grudge."

"I think he's basically a nice guy, does it out of kindness."

"Or maybe," her dad said, "she has some kind of nervous disorder from years of celibacy and his phone calls keep her stable."

"Foley said she drinks."

Her dad thought about it and said, "But not at five o'clock in the morning, when you say Burdon called her. If she's any kind of alcoholic she'd have been hung over and trying to think straight, careful about what she's saying."

"I guess the time to talk to her," Karen said, nodding, "is when she's into the sauce."

Now her dad was nodding.

"Sometime in the evening, but not too late."

They went to Joe's Stone Crab for di

When they got back Karen stayed in the kitchen to call Regina Mary Bragg. Eight p.m. in Los Angeles.

Her dad went to his chair in the screened-in room to watch television, a cognac next to him on the lamp table. He moved through cha