What Doesn't Kill You

by Aimee Hix

  Seth looked like he was about to say something, but instead he took a sip of coffee, deliberately breaking eye contact with me. Screw him. Those situations were totally different.

  “We should probably get back to the possible suspect,” Boyd said.

  I avoided looking at either Seth or Boyd. I kept my gaze focused on the table then picked up a cookie and bit into it. When I finally snuck a look at her, she was holding her pen and waiting to take notes. Her face was clear of any anger or annoyance. I chewed and swallowed as quickly as I could without choking. A sip of coffee and I was ready to continue.

  “Okay, Violet said she wasn’t really allowed around Joe’s friends much. He kept her sequestered upstairs when they came over, but there was one guy. I can’t find him in any of the known associates for any of Joe’s court cases. And all Violet knows is his first name, Mark.”

  Boyd laid her pen down. “And why do you think this specific guy is someone to look at? If we can find him, that is.”

  Her voice was even but I felt my cheeks heat up. I hated having to admit that it was just instinct. I knew Boyd made decisions based on her gut, but she’d been a detective for years. I hadn’t even been eligible for the detective’s exam when I quit. I had no facts to back up my conclusion.

  “Violet said Mark was creepy. She saw him only once or twice and he made her uncomfortable. That he was mean to Joe. She said Joe was afraid of him, yet he stayed friends with the guy. That’s something a teenage girl does when her friends go mean girl on her, not a grown man.”

  Boyd had started taking notes again. “It’s a great clue, kid. I’m impressed. But without a last name we’re in the same boat as we are with finding the guy who attacked you. We could talk to Violet again, maybe get more from her, but with the Horowitzes out of town … can you contact them?”

  “Sure. But they’re probably on the road still and Violet’s calling me in the next hour, so we could just wait until then.”

  Boyd rolled her eyes and muttered something under her breath that sounded like of course she arranged for Violet to call her why wouldn’t she have done so instead of having her call me and not only that but didn’t bother to tell me but could have just been a prolonged throat clearing. A very, very prolonged throat clearing. Maybe she needed to see a doctor.

  “The scans I ran this morning pulled up nothing. We are nowhere with your attacker. We need to see what else we can get out of your call with Violet. Any other friends or if she can remember anything else about Mark,” Boyd said. “Let’s make a list you can use when you’re on the call with her.”

  “Like does Mark have a tattoo on the left side of his neck.” Then I remembered. “The guy.”

  Seth had slid down in his seat a bit, but that remark got his full attention. “The guy. What guy? You said the guy who came after you might have a tattoo on his neck. You think Mark and the attacker are the same person?”

  “No. At Killian’s. There was a guy. Give me a second.”

  I closed my eyes and tried to remember the guy with the dead eyes. That was the memory I’d kept losing grasp of. Ed’s friend. He was the same height, same build as the guy on the side of the road. And I was positive he had a neck tattoo.

  I slammed my hand on the table. “Dammit.”

  Chapter

  19

  “It’s okay, Willa,” Boyd said.

  “No, I had him. At Killian’s.”

  “You’re positive?” Seth asked.

  I nodded. “The guy at Killian’s is the same guy from the side of the road, and Violet first met Joe at Killian’s. This is all connected.”

  I was pissed off at myself. I had that piece of the puzzle stuck in my head for days. We could have been that much closer if I had just remembered him.

  “I’ll have a uniform start a search to see if any large silver pickups are registered to anyone named Mark. I’ll have him start in Fairfax County and pull photos on those hits. You can look at them and if need be we’ll expand out to Loudon, Arlington, and Prince William.” Boyd smiled. “This is good, kid. You did good.”

  I glanced at the time on my phone. It was about the time I’d asked Violet to call me. I hoped she would keep her promise now that she was off the hook. I was pretty sure her grandparents had called her the second they got into the spare room last night.

  Seth drummed his fingers on the table. He was unusually twitchy. I wondered if it was about our fight earlier and then reminded myself that we’d agreed to deal with all that crap after the case was over.

  “Seth, how did the ATF get on to Reagan being related to the gun thefts?” I asked. Having a little more background on the case couldn’t hurt and it would keep us all occupied while we waited for Violet to call. He stopped fidgeting.

  “We got a call from a guy whose girlfriend had bought a gun from Reagan in the parking lot of a bar. Things weren’t going too well between them lately and he followed her that night. Apparently, he was a little worried about his girl having a gun handy so he called the tip in and gave us Reagan’s license plate.”

  “Yikes, tales of love and romance in the real world sure are different than you see on TV,” I said. “They fight, she buys a gun, and he snitches her out to the Feds. They’re probably married now.”

  “Hey, snitches make my job easier. Without that call and the follow-

  up visit we’d never have traced that gun to the second theft. We had the gun, we had the seller, and then we just needed to get into his life. I was so close. We set up this operation fast but it was solid. I had the bike shop and I’d hired Reagan’s cousin to get my intro. I had gained Reagan’s trust and we were getting ready to pop him for the gun sale so I could turn him.”

  “So why would a coward like Reagan take a gun from the stash and sell it on his own? That seems really risky.”

  “For him, sure, but the buyer was the sister of a high school friend, so he probably felt like he could trust her. And we figure he was tasked with selling some of the guns. If someone was going to get arrested for the crime, better it was him than one of the higher-ups.”

  “But if one of the guns gets traced to the robbery then you’ve got a lead,” I said.

  “But only a lead. If we only get one gun, it’s all still compartmentalized. That one gun and Reagan are the bait. So this group is smart enough to bait a trap but not smart enough to realize the ATF isn’t going to snap up the small-time bait when they see it.”

  I hoped I wasn’t stating the obvious but I couldn’t keep my mouth shut. “They’re amateurs. They managed to put it all together, but they’re not real criminals. Not the ones that make a career of it anyway.”

  Seth nodded. “That’s what I think too.”

  “So we’ve got a group of people who are smart enough to put together the robberies but not savvy enough to know that the ATF wouldn’t pounce at the first gun. They’re willing to take their time, so while they want the money they most likely don’t need it right away. They make a slow start and spread it out just a bit,” Boyd said.

  My phone rattled against the table, the ringer on vibrate. I looked at the display and saw a number I didn’t recognize with an out-of-state area code. I looked at Boyd and she smiled at me. Seth just nodded. With the stakes on this call riding even higher than last time, I was nervous. This wasn’t a mostly slam dunk case of finding an alternate direction to get the cops off Violet as a suspect. We were really tracking a murderer now. One that had tried to put holes in my person. I picked up the phone and accepted the call.

  “Willa Pennington.”

  “Hi, Willa. It’s um … Violet. Horowitz.”

  “Hey, listen, no one thinks you shot Joe anymore so there’s no reason to be scared.”

  I heard her let out a shuddering breath.

  “Do you remember what I asked you to do for me the last time we talked? Just think about things and see if you rememb
ered anything that was out of the ordinary or that you even think was weird. Nothing is silly, Violet.”

  “Yeah, but if the police don’t want to talk to me anymore why does it matter?”

  Her voice had taken on a whiny quality. As long as she was off the hook it didn’t matter that someone was murdered? I had to push down the annoyance I felt with her.

  “Well, Violet, listen. There’s still a killer out there. And you want us to catch him, right? For Joe. I know you cared about him even if things weren’t always perfect between you two.”

  I saw Boyd nodding her head.

  “I couldn’t really think of anything. Like I told you last time, Joe didn’t even let me downstairs when his friends were over.”

  Her voice had gotten harder and angry as she spoke. I was losing her. She had started to remember that Joe smacked her around and that she hadn’t liked it. But while her personal evolution was good for her, I still needed information.

  “Right. I remember. So you don’t remember much about any of his friends except maybe Mark. Let me ask you something about him, Violet. Did he have a tattoo? Like maybe on his neck?”

  “Ugh. Yes. It was so gross.”

  “Do you remember what the tattoo was?”

  “Oh yeah. He was really proud of it. Showed it to me twice. It was a skull with bones behind it.”

  “Like a pirate?”

  “No, like an equals sign,” she said.

  “Where on his neck?”

  “On the right. No, it was my right so his left.”

  “Violet, what did Mark look like? Tall, short, fat, thin? Anything you can tell me will help.”

  “He’s just a regular guy. Nothing about him stands out. You’d look right through him if you saw him in a store. But his eyes can be really mean. And he’s got that gross tattoo.”

  I glanced over at Boyd, seeing her write down my side of the conversation and anything I repeated.

  “So, he’s just average looking. Average height and weight? Hair color? You said his eyes can be mean but what color are they?”

  “Yeah, he’s not really tall but not short. About Joe’s height. He looked like he was putting on weight. Like kind of doughy. He sure thought he was a stud. His eyes are blue but not a pretty blue. Like a shark. I guess that’s why they look mean. They’re cold.”

  “Okay. And do you remember if you heard his last name ever?”

  “No, I’m sorry. Listen, I gotta go now. Bubbe and Nono are here. I hope I helped.”

  I smiled. “Oh, you were very helpful.”

  I put the phone down.

  “Looks like Mark’s our guy. Violet described him as all around average running to fat. Oh, and a totally gross tattoo on his neck.”

  “So we just have to hope that the scans the police are running pull something useful. Was Violet able to describe the tattoo?” Seth asked.

  I pushed my chair back and grabbed my mug. The coffee had gone cold while I was talking and I wanted a fresh cup.

  “Yeah, she said it was a totally gross skull with some bones stacked behind it.”

  “Shit!”

  I turned to stare at Seth. His reaction about the tattoo seemed odd. Boyd’s face had taken on a funny expression too.

  “What are you guys so jammed up about? So he’s got bad taste in ink. He’s hardly the first.”

  “He’s a neo-Nazi, Willa. That’s one of their symbols. A neck tattoo’s a big commitment so he’s probably part of an official group. This could mean the small-time amateur robbers just became organized ideologues. Those guys are forming corporations and creating compounds. Some of them are planted in law enforcement and politics. Many aren’t even bothering to hide their beliefs anymore.”

  Seth took a deep breath and motioned for me to sit down. “Why do you think he came after you?”

  “I … I guess he saw me at Killian’s and followed me.” It sounded pretty stupid when I said it out loud.

  “I met you here after Killian’s, Willa. You know that no one was following you. I would have seen him.”

  Boyd looked at Seth and then back at me. “He most likely saw you here when he was watching the Horowitzes’ house. He saw you and he remembered you.”

  A sour taste flooded under my tongue. I shook my head. “And he decided I was a good target. So he followed me, sabotaged my car, and tried to knife me on the side of the road.”

  Another look flicked between Seth and Boyd.

  “Look, you two can just quit it with this whole no one is saying what they think crap. I get it. He wants me dead because he figured out that I’m half black.”

  Boyd looked thoughtful. “You’re angry. I don’t blame you, but now you’re getting the idea of how this can end up being a great deal more complicated. I don’t know if I’m going to be able to hold back on talking to the higher-ups in the department. I think to keep it with us, you’re going to need to officially take over the murder, Seth. You’ve got the justification. And because it’s an ongoing op with ATF, you’ll keep control of it. I’ll help you, of course. If you still want me involved.”

  “I agree. You’ve already got the in because of the murder so you’ll stay the public face of the investigation, Detective Boyd, and my case continues undercover.”

  “So it’s settled, the band stays together,” I said. Why was Seth shaking his head?

  “If by band, you mean the three of us then the answer is no. You’re out, right now, Willa. No more arguments.”

  I looked at Boyd and she wouldn’t meet my eyes. I shifted my gaze to Seth. He had the stubborn look I knew too well, hated a great deal, and had spent a ton of time trying to break. He had on his hero face. The one that accompanied every cliché in the hero book. It’s better this way. This hurts me more than it hurts you. I’m doing this for your own good. One day you’ll thank me.

  “Oh, hell no. I’m not having this argument again, Seth. I’m in and I’m staying in.”

  The stubborn look only intensified. “Are you kidding me? You’re kidding me, right? You’re being funny now?”

  He got louder with each disbelieving sentence. I saw Boyd slide out of her chair and beat it for the dining room. If he thought I was going to back down because he got a little loud, he was deluded.

  “Kidding? No, I am not kidding, Seth. I am so far from kidding you could even call me deadly serious.”

  “I’m so glad you termed it like that, Sunshine, because now I can remind you again that you were almost killed last night.”

  I opened my mouth, but he cut me off. “A man who we think has already killed at least one person came at you with a knife. If you hadn’t had the baton, he could have murdered you on that shoulder and no one would have been able to help you.”

  I had no defense against his logic. He was right. I had gotten lucky. My instinct to take the baton with me out of the car had saved me.

  “I told you last night that I’m not scared.”

  “You’re not? Well, I am. I’m sick just thinking about it. I was minutes away from you and I wouldn’t have known. You asked who’d know me, who I’d drink with, and the answer is no one.”

  He’d lost all pretense of polite conversation. He was frantic and desperate. I knew then that he hadn’t lied when he said it wasn’t anyone but me. And I felt awful. But not awful enough to let it go. I needed to see this case through. I didn’t know how to do anything else.

  “I’m sorry, but I just can’t walk away.”

  He threw his hands up in the air. “Of course you can. Violet’s off the hook now and, as I have reminded you before, you’re not a cop anymore.”

  “Just because I’m not wearing a badge anymore doesn’t mean that I’m not responsible for seeing this through. This is about me now too. Not just the Horowitzes or Joe Reagan. I’m a target too.”

  “Yes, actually, that’s exactly wh
at it means. It means that in the most basic and simple way. Cops solve crimes and catch bad guys. You are a private citizen now. Private citizens let cops solve crimes and catch bad guys. See how that lines up so nicely?”

  The angrier he got, the calmer I felt.

  “I need this, Seth. I need to see it through.”

  “Willa, you could get killed.”

  “It’s who I am. This is who I am,” I said.

  He looked at me like I was asking him to cut off his own leg. “Please don’t ask me to do this, Willa.”

  “I’m trusting that you’ll keep me safe, Seth. The original deal. I don’t make a move without you.”

  The defeated look on his face told me I’d won. I wished I felt better about winning, so I did the only thing I could to show him that I knew how much it was costing him. I put my hand over his and squeezed.

  “We can do this, Seth. Together. And when it’s over, I’ll be safe. The faster we bust them, the faster I’ll be safe.”

  He nodded but didn’t look at me. I would be safe when it was all over, but I had the feeling that maybe I would be alone.

  “Is it okay to come back now?” Boyd wandered back into the kitchen with a little smirk. I wondered if Seth had given her lessons the previous night. “If you two are done kissing and making up, I had a thought maybe you’d like to explore while I’m pulling those scans.”

  I let that one slide. It was a cheap shot but it was fair. She had no idea what was really going on between the two of us. I pulled my hand off Seth’s, hating to break the connection.

  “We’ve actually got a really good clue with that tattoo. You two should track down the local guy that does the ink for them.”

  Of course they’d need their own guy. It wasn’t as if they could traipse into the local tattoo parlor like a frat all wanting the same shamrock on their asses. They’d need someone sympathetic to their cause. One of them. Which meant he wasn’t likely to talk without some incentive. Or some fear.