by Nora Kane
“Then you should have come in yesterday.”
“Okay, fair enough.”
“Payment is upfront.”
“Even for family?”
“Especially for family. For you, it’s two hundred a day plus expenses.”
“Will two day’s work to get started?”
“Do you think that’s enough time?”
“If it’s not, we can talk,” Marv said as he pulled a roll of bills out of his front pocket.
“I prefer PayPal or Venmo.”
Marv counted out four hundred dollars. The roll of cash didn’t seem to miss it. He held it out to Margot and said, “I prefer cash. Are you taking it or not?”
Margot took it.
Chapter 2
“You know, the last time I was here eating fish tacos with someone, it was Deputy Brantley.”
“Really?” Shaw replied, “we could have gone anywhere else.”
Margot shrugged. “I like this place. I like the taco truck that parks outside on Tuesday nights. I’m not going to let Brantley ruin it for me.”
Shaw nodded, “I like your attitude.”
“Speaking of Brantley, did you ever hear if they found a body?”
“Funny, I was about to ask you the same thing.”
“Me? You’re the beloved retired cop with all the connections.”
“I’m not dating the young hotshot homicide detective.”
“As far as Radcliff knows, they haven’t found him. He’s been busy though. That double homicide on the beach fell on him and Ames.”
“The tourists?”
“Yeah.”
“That’s a tough one.”
“Yep, it has Radcliff rethinking his previous favorable view of high profile cases.”
“You still call him Radcliff?”
“When I met him, he was Radcliff.”
“He call you Harris?”
“Nope, I get to be Margot.”
“But everybody called you Harris when you were a cop.”
“Yeah, I think that’s the reason Ames always made it a point to call me Margot. He wants to remind me I’m not a cop anymore.”
“Don’t say it like it's a bad thing. The only thing I think about my old job is I wish I’d got out sooner.”
“The steady paycheck was nice.”
“Sure, but there’s money to be made going private.”
“I’ve heard that, but…”
“Well, Margot, that’s actually why I wanted to talk to you. As you noticed, I’m down a partner.”
“I’m sorry about that.”
“Don’t be. That wasn’t your fault. Stick knew what the job was. He knew Randy was involved in all that cartel nastiness and he took the job. If it had been the other way around, you would have taken the job and you wouldn’t have blamed him if you got hurt.”
“Yeah, I get the logic of it, but I can’t help feel like shit because of it. I could have just done it myself.”
“Then you’d be dead and Brantley would have gotten away with it.”
“Maybe. Hell, they haven’t found a body. He may have gotten away with it after all.”
“No, you beat him with a shovel and shot him like seven times.”
“Five. I shot him five times.”
“Close enough. Either way, he got eaten by coyotes.”
“I hope so.”
“I hope he was still alive when they started. He killed Stick and would have killed me too if it weren’t for you.”
“That one is mutual. I was dead before you showed up.”
Shaw nodded and smiled. “I did save your ass, didn’t I?”
“Yes.”
“See, that’s why I’m here. We saved each other.”
“Obviously. If we didn’t, we wouldn’t be here.”
“Speaking of obvious, tell me you see what I’m getting at.”
Margot considered it for a minute and then asked, “Are you offering me a job?”
“No, I’m offering you to be my partner.”
“You want me to replace Stick?”
“No, I want you to be my new partner. Stick was Stick and you’re Margot. I’ll never get another Stick, but I think I could be happy working with a Margot. You’re tough and smart, otherwise neither of us would be here.”
“If I was smart, I wouldn’t have walked into Brantley’s trap.”
“Look, if you don’t want to be my partner, I’ll understand. You don’t have to talk me out of it. If I didn’t think you were up to the job I wouldn’t have ever asked.”
“I guess you caught me off guard. I figured you wanted to talk about what happened out in the desert.”
“I admit I was hoping you’d know something with your downtown connections.”
“I was thinking the same.”
“Well, either our connections aren’t as good as we thought or there’s nothing to tell. Do you want some time to think it over?”
“No, I’m in. I do have one last case of my own I need to wrap up though.”
“You can bring it in. I’ll let you bill them just like it was your own.”
“I’d rather not. This one is a little personal.”
“Too personal to tell me about?”
“Mal is missing. His brother hired me to find him.”
“His brother? You mean Marv?”
“You know Marv?”
“I worked narcotics, so I know of him or at least the crowd he runs with. His MC was the distribution arm of a considerable methamphetamine manufacturer. I’m not in the loop anymore, but I think the cartel took over that trade so they're either in another business or—”
“—they’re working for the same people who Brantley was.”
“You might want to stay away from that one.”
“I know Mal was a dirty cop. I should have known a long time ago, but I didn’t want to see it. He was my friend for a long time, though. I can’t just walk away if he’s in trouble.”
“I understand, I really do. Don’t take this the wrong way, but I think with a guy like Mal, he’s always going to be in trouble. It’s just who he is.”
“You’re not wrong, but I still have to at least give it a day or so. I feel like he’d do the same for me.”
Shaw thought about that for a minute before saying, “Yeah, he probably would. You’re still getting paid though?”
“Yeah,” Margot replied. She left out the part about a ‘family’ discount.
“Good. You want to start next week then?”
“Sounds great.”
“Excellent. Do me a favor though, okay?”
“Name it.”
“Don’t get yourself killed over Mal. Being my partner is going to be a good thing for both of us.”
“Okay, I’ll do my best.”
“Do better than that. I’m serious. You might think you and Mal are alike, but you’re not. You have something to live for.”
“Working with you?”
“Among many other things, but yeah.”
Chapter 3
Margot drove home thinking that perhaps things were looking up. She was about halfway home when her sister called. Margot and Melanie had been through some rough times lately. Margot finding her ex-boyfriend dead in the desert hadn’t helped.
They’re relationship, however, seemed to be on the upswing. They were both making efforts to talk to each other and, most of the time, they managed to do so without an argument starting. Margot found herself glad she was calling. She actually had some good news to tell.
“Hey, Melanie, what’s up?”
“I just talked to Dad.”
Margot was silent for a second. With Randy gone, their dad was the major source of disagreement these days. He was currently incarcerated for his role in the death of their mother. Like Melanie, their mom had a thing for abusive men. And their mom’s attraction to the wrong type of man had proved to be fatal.
“You know I’ve made it clear I don’t want to hear anything he has to say.”
> “I know but he’s sick, really sick. He’s not going to make it much longer.”
“Too bad. You know who didn’t even get to make it this long, thanks to him?”
“You don’t have to tell me. I’m well aware.”
“Are you?”
“He’s still my dad. I don’t think it’s fair that I lose both parents because one of them made a mistake.”
“A mistake?”
“Yes, a horrible mistake but still a mistake.”
Margot caught herself before she said something that would likely escalate the situation and instead said, “I’m guessing you called because he said he wants to see me?”
“I told him how you felt about that, but he made me promise to ask you. So, even though I know it’s probably a waste of time, I’m asking.”
“Are you just asking because you promised? Or do you still think I should go?”
“I think you should go, but I’m asking mostly because I promised.”
“He knows that, even if I go, I’ll still hate him?”
“He does, but he still wants to see you one last time. Could you at least think about it before you say no?”
“I don’t believe there’s much to think about.”
“Then don’t think that much, but don’t answer me until tomorrow.”
“You think I’m going to sleep on it and come to a different conclusion?”
“No, but that way I’d feel I’d done my best.”
“Alright, I’d tell you no tomorrow instead of tonight. I’m working on something so don’t expect me to call until late.”
“I won’t. Thanks.”
Chapter 4
Margot followed Marv in her Prius. She decided she’d keep her promise to her sister and think about visiting her dad. It took her about thirty seconds to decide she still didn’t want to see him until his funeral and maybe not then either.
She cringed as they headed east all the way out of town and headed into the desert. The last time she had been in the desert, she had nearly got murdered. Then, as a reward for surviving, she’d got thrown in jail.
She wasn’t a big fan of the sheriff and he didn’t hold her in very high regard either. It didn’t help the man trying to kill her was a sheriff’s deputy. There was no doubt that Deputy Brantley was in the pocket of the cartel, but apparently despite being on the take, he was one of the best deputy’s the sheriff had, at least when he wasn’t murdering people. If he wasn’t still at large, the drive would be a lot less stressful. Shaw’s belief he was coyote food was still the most credible scenario to explain his disappearance.
Marv took a turn on an unmarked dirt road and soon enough they were pulling up to what looked like a warehouse whose builder had long abandoned it. There were no signs to indicate it was anything but a leftover from a long-dead business.
“Doesn’t look like much, does it?” Marv said with a smile.
“No, it doesn’t.”
Marv took out a key from his vest pocket. The building looked old, but the deadbolt on the front door was brand new. Marv opened the door and then motioned for Margot to go inside. She stepped into the windowless warehouse and could see nothing but darkness. She had a hand on the gun in her purse when Marv stepped in and flipped on the lights.
“I bet you didn’t see that coming?”
Margot couldn’t argue with him. She had expected it to be better inside than out, but what she didn’t expect was for it to look this good. They’d partitioned off a big section to be the barroom. Margot had expected some tables and a few coolers, maybe some kind of makeshift bar. It had all that, but the high tables and barstools looked practically new and the bar was anything but makeshift. It was some kind of dark-stained oak and it ran the length of the room. Behind were mirrors and an impressive liquor collection. There were coolers full of bottles and cans of beer, but there were also taps, eight of them. If the taps were representative of what was in the kegs, the Racers had some beer snobs in the mix.
Besides the impressive bar, there was a good-sized stage in the far corner and a dance floor. Margot could see they had a P.A. and a soundboard only a little smaller than the ones she’d seen at theatre concerts.
“Some of our members are contractors,” Marv told her.
“Impressive. I suppose you pay a lot in member dues?”
“We had a few good years of fundraising.”
“Fundraising? Is that the new name for meth distribution?”
“We’re just motorcycle enthusiasts, Margot,” Marv said in a way that made it clear he didn’t believe it either.
Marv pointed to a door on the opposite wall from the stage. “We’ve got rooms through there. I can show you where Mal was.”
“He leave anything behind?”
“Nope.”
“Let’s look anyway.”
They walked through the door and again Margot was impressed. She expected some partitions and some cots but instead, there were walls and the room Mal had stayed in looked more like a unit from a nice hotel. It even had its own bathroom. Unlike a nice hotel, it didn’t have maid service. The bed was still unmade.
“Sometimes guys drink too much and we don’t want to send them on the road,” Marv said, replying to a question Margot hadn’t asked.
Margot lifted up the blankets strewn across the lower half of the bed and set them on the floor. There was nothing underneath but sheets. She looked under the bed and saw nothing but collected dust. A check of the bathroom revealed just as much.
“Mal was the only person staying here?”
“Yeah, I checked. Mal was more than a little paranoid. One of the prospects came by to be sure the last guest cleared out and I double-checked the room he was staying in to be sure.”
“Who was the last guest?”
“Does it matter?”
“It might.”
“I honestly don’t know. A guest of Manny’s I would bet since anyone else might clear it through me first. He was staying in that room down the hall.”
“Can I look?”
“I don’t see why not.”
Marv opened that room and she looked inside. Unlike Mal’s room, the bed was made. Probably by the occupant, since there were still a few empty beer cans strewn about. Margot walked through. She noticed the trash can in the bathroom was filled with gauze. The previously white gauze was covered in dried blood.
