Page 161 of Nash Falls

He got to his apartment and continued to listen. The conversation was brisk and businesslike, especially from Lynn Ryder. A couple of minutes later he heard the elevator coming up and then a few moments later going back down.

Two minutes later Rhett texted him: Be ready to go in half an hour.

Nash sent a message to Agent Morris detailing the latest with Elaine Fixx, and providing her contact info.

Then he wrote out for Morris the new information on the police investigation into Barton Temple’s murder that he had learned from listening to Detective Ramos.

Last, he compiled a comprehensive brief for the FBI agent on what had just taken place between Rhett and Victoria Steers’s agent, Ryder. He figured Morris would be especially excited about that one.

Nash had also heard the marching orders Rhett had been given by Ryder, and figured what his part would be in where he and Rhett were going.

He wants me to help him track down… me.

CHAPTER

79

EVERYTHING GOOD WITH MS. RYDER?” Nash asked as he and Rhett headed out in Rhett’s Porsche.

“Look, she’s part of what I talked about before. Where you can’t really be.”

“You’re the boss. So, where are we headed now?”

“A friend’s place. I haven’t seen her in a while and I want to check on her.”

A bit later Nash tensed as they turned down the road to his old neighborhood. He then noticed that Rhett had a security strip on his windshield that allowed him to get through the gate without the guard having to let him in.

Things definitely have changed in that regard.

The closer they drew to his old home, the more nervous Nash became. He knew that he looked nothing like his old self. He had obviously fooled Rhett, and Rosie Parker, and Elaine Fixx, Ellen Douglas the receptionist, and Detective Ramos, who, in varying degrees of familiarity, knew the old Nash. But none of them were Judith. And Nash was suddenly afraid that despite everything he had done to make Walter Nash disappear from the face of the earth, it might all be blown up in a couple of minutes. Would Judith be able to see beneath the tats and muscles and broken nose? The anticipatory dread was eating away his gut lining.

They pulled into the front of Nash’s old home and he had to disguise his surprise. The dead grass was nearly calf high and there were more weeds in the flower beds than plants.

“Who lives here?” he asked.

“My friend Judith. She’s Walter Nash’s wife.”

“Okay.”

Rhett had a key and used it to unlock the front door.

Another change, thought Nash, willing himself to remain calm.

“Judith!” Rhett called out as they went inside. He turned to Nash. “I tried phoning and texting, but she usually doesn’t answer.”

Nash was busy glancing around, and while not exactly surprised by what he was seeing given the abysmal state of the landscaping, he was still taken aback. Kept immaculate by his wife when they had all lived here, the place looked like several people were squatting in his former home. There were overflowing plastic bags of trash everywhere, along with piled-up Amazon and pizza boxes. Plates of dried food were stacked on the dining room table. More trash bags were piled up in the hall. Clothing and shoes were strewn about. The smells all around them had a fuggy, unsettling odor.

“Is she… okay?” Nash asked.

A worried-looking Rhett said, “Not really. Give me a sec.”

He jogged up the steps to the second floor while Nash went into the kitchen and found it just as foul as the rest of the rooms he’d seen. Judith clearly had fired the cleaning service they’d used. When he looked out the rear window he saw that the pool, which should have been closed by now for the season, was full of debris and the water dark.

He opened the door to the garage and spied Judith’s Mercedes. His heart fell when he looked at Maggie’s BMW.

“Hey, Dillon!”

Nash took the steps two at a time and arrived in the master bedroom following Rhett’s cries.