Hot Stuff by Don Bruns Page A

wrap.”
    â€œAnd?”
    â€œI saw a knife.”
    â€œYou mean the one from your locker? The one the cop wanted to test for fingerprints?”
    â€œIdentical. Identical to mine and the one that was stabbed through the apron. The same one that my first boss, Michael Trump, gave me. The Wüsthof. I showed it to you at the News Café.”
    â€œYour knife was in the Dumpster?”
    â€œI’ll know in a minute. Mine was stashed in my locker. That top metal shelf. Along with the plastic holster.”
    He stayed on the crate for a moment, looking into the empty shell and shaking his head.
    At that very moment Em’s black Jag pulled up and she stepped out, pushing her Ray-Bans back on her head.
    â€œThat trash hauler almost hit me back there.” She glanced back over her shoulder. “Just as I turned into the drive, here he comes.”
    â€œTrash hauler?” James looked at me. “Damn, Skip, that’s where it went. Em, can we follow that garbage truck?” James pointed down the road.
    â€œWhat?”
    â€œJames thinks he saw his knife in the Dumpster, but now it’s probably inside that truck that almost hit you.”
    â€œWhat was your knife doing in there anyway?”
    â€œWe’re not sure,” James said.
    Em frowned. “You want me to chase a garbage hauler so James can get his knife back?”
    â€œAlong with the apron and maybe the knife with fingerprints on it. The one that
Ted
was so interested in.”
    She took a deep breath. “Some things you just don’t sign on for.”
    â€œEm—”
    â€œWell, get in.” The disgust was thick in her voice. “If we don’t leave now we’ll lose him.”
    Obviously chasing a trash hauler was low on her list of priorities, but if it was one more step in finding Amanda’s killer, she was willing to take the ride.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

    The driver was a she, Maggie Juniper. About forty-five years old, a wide smile with laugh lines around her eyes. She and a quiet, young male sidekick ran the truck and the route, and we caught up with them about three restaurants down the road. I’ll have to admit she was fast. They were in and out of those places in less than two minutes.
    â€œIt’s not in my job description, but let’s see what we can do.”
    Flipping a switch, she climbed out of the big blue refuse hauler, complete in her Carhartt jeans, Pendleton work shirt, and black rubber boots.
    â€œNormally you have to engage the lifter and it just picks up the Dumpster, opens in the rear, dumps the load, and closes back up. Pretty slick. But I’ve got a manual override so I can open her up this way.”
    She studied James for a moment.
    â€œYou’re sure you know what you’re looking for? You’re sure it’s in here? We’ve got a pretty tight schedule.”
    Walking to the back of the truck, she and the boy leaned inwith gloved hands and started sorting through the garbage and trash.
    â€œWe loaded another establishment, plus this one before you ran us down. Quite a bit of stuff back here.”
    â€œI can’t tell you how much we appreciate this. I mean, if we had gloves—” James trailed off.
    Maggie spun around, smiling. “Oh, gloves are something we’re not short on. Brian, get the man a pair of gloves.”
    James grimaced.
    â€œDon’t worry about it, James.” I smiled at him. “I scraped it all off the plates just last night so not too much of it should be spoiled.”
    He muttered something under his breath and started spreading the garbage. Fifteen minutes later Maggie called a halt to the process.
    â€œKids, as I pointed out, I’ve got a schedule, and I’m already behind. I’m sorry. Obviously, I want to help but—”
    â€œHere it is,” James yelled, pulling the Wüsthof out by the blade with a gloved hand.
    â€œI can’t believe it. I knew it was in that