The Truth of Yesterday

by Josh Aterovis

  “You almost did.”

  He looked up at me. “I wish I had.”

  I bent over him and gathered him up in a hug. “Don't say that, Jake,” I said fiercely.

  “Why not? It's true.”

  “Because...do you know what that would have done to me? To your mom? We love you Jake. I know I haven't done a very good job of showing it, but I do. I want to be a better friend for you.”

  We cried for a few minutes, him clinging to me as if I was a life preserver and he was drowning.

  “Jake,” I said at last, “I don't think you killed Fenton.”

  “You don't?”

  “No, but I don't know who did. You have to try and remember.”

  “I can't, Killian. I've been trying. Really I have.”

  “Ok, what about the case I was working? Did you ever hear Fenton mention someone named Paul Flynn?”

  He thought for a minute, “No, not that I can remember.”

  “He was an escort in Washington DC. He was murdered about a month ago. Paul knew that Fenton was involved in some illegal things and he'd been collecting evidence. I'm not sure what he intended to do with it, turn him in I guess, but he was a nice guy-if a little dumb-so he gave Fenton the chance to turn himself in first. I think Fenton killed him instead.”

  “I...maybe there was something...”

  “What?”

  “It was a little over a month ago maybe. Something had been bothering Fenton. He'd been really edgy for a couple weeks. We were in his bedroom one night when someone came to see him. I got the impression Fenton has asked him to come. Fenton always sent me out of the room when he talked business. I went to the sitting room and sat down by the fireplace. There was no fire going so the exhaust fan that pulls the smoke up the chimney wasn't on. I could hear most of what they said. It sounded like Fenton was asking this guy to kill somebody. He didn't come out and say it, but he kept saying things like, `This problem has to be eliminated' and `I want you to take care of this for me'.”

  “You think he was hiring this guy to kill Paul?”

  “He never mentioned any names. It was like the guy knew who he was talking about. And he wasn't hiring him. They never discussed money or payment. It sounded to me more like Fenton had something he was holding over him, like blackmail or something.”

  “Did you see the guy?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Can you remember what he looked like?”

  “No problem. He was kinda small and dark skinned, like he was from the Middle East or something. He had dark eyes, long black hair, and kind of sharp features. He reminded me of a hawk.”

  I knew someone who fit that description perfectly. My heart began to pound as his name formed on my lips. “Razi!”

  Chapter 31

  “You know him?” Jake asked in surprise.

  “We've met,” I said sharply, my heart hammering in my chest and my mind racing. I sat down heavily in the single chair next to the bed.

  “You think this guy may have had something to do with...what happened?”

  “If Fenton coerced Razi into killing Paul, or even hired him, and Razi found out that I was getting close to finding that out, he might have had reason to want Fenton dead.”

  “I don't understand.”

  “As far as he knows, with Fenton dead, there's nothing to tie him to the crime. He doesn't know that you overheard his conversation with Fenton, which is probably the only thing that saved your life.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I think when Razi found you passed-out he decided to try and pin the murders on you. That's why he left the gun in your hand and left you alive. If you'd died of an overdose, it would be all the better. It would look like you killed yourself after you killed everyone else.”

  “But you don't have any proof of any of that.”

  “No, but I intend to get it,” I said as I stood up.

  Jake eyes widened. “How?”

  “I'm going to see Razi.”

  “Killian, no! If he's the killer you could be in danger.”

  “It's the only way to clear you of the murders.”

  “Let the police handle it. I'll tell them everything I've told you.”

  I sighed. I knew he was right, even though part of me wanted to confront Razi, danger or no. “Ok. We'll try the police first, but if that doesn't work, then I'll have to take matters into my own hands.”

  I left to go find Ilana and a police officer. Ilana went in first for a brief conference with Jake, then she was joined by a police officer who took Jake's statement. I waited tensely in the waiting room with Novak, Micah, and Judy. I seemed to have gotten my second wind-or was on my third or fourth by now?-and my body was aching for action. I was itching to be in on whatever the police decided to do about Razi.

  Finally, Ilana came back out. I was on my feet in a flash. “What's going on?” I demanded.

  She shrugged. “You know about as much as I do. Jake gave them a statement regarding this Razi character, but I don't think they gave too much credence to it. They seem to be under the impression that he's making it up to throw suspicion from himself. They want to see you now to find out what you know about Razi.”

  As she finished speaking, Detective Rosen came into the waiting room and spotted me. He signaled me over with a sour expression.

  “I didn't think I'd be having another conversation with you this soon,” he said as I approached. “We've got Jake Davis' statement and now we need some information from you. He doesn't know what this Razi's last name is but he thought you might.”

  I pulled out my notebook, which had been returned to me along with my other personal belongings when I was released, and flipped through it until I found Razi's information. “Akiba,” I told him. “Razi Akiba.”

  “What do you know about him?”

  “Not much. I interviewed him in my investigation but he wasn't exactly cooperative. I know he used to work for Fenton Black's escort agency and was supposedly a friend of Paul Flynn, the guy who was murdered.”

  “That it?”

  “I have an address for him.”

  He copied down the address from my notebook.

  “Are you going to look into this?” I asked.

  Rosen gave me a probing stare. “Not that it's any of your business, but I'll be getting in touch with the DC detective handling the case and we'll compare notes and see where it goes from there.”

  “Don't you think you should at least have Razi taken into custody? What if he finds out you're on to him and runs?”

  “We can't just lock people up for no reason. Right now, we have no evidence that he is involved with these murders in any way. All we have is the word of some drug addled kid who'd probably say anything at this point to save his own skin. Maybe he is telling the truth, but until we have something more to go on, we're assuming that Jake is the killer here.”

  I opened my mouth to argue but he turned and walked away purposefully.

  “Killian, relax,” Micah said softly, coming up next to me. I realized that I had clenched my fists at my side and forced myself to let go.

  “I have to go back to DC,” I said in a low voice.

  “What? Now?”

  “Yes, now.”

  “Killian, you haven't had any real sleep in almost 48 hours. You can't turn around and drive back to DC now. The police will handle this.”

  “Like they handled Paul's case? I've got to do something, Micah. I can't just sit here.”

  “You're going to do this no matter what I say, aren't you?” he sighed.

  I nodded.

  “Then I'll drive you.”

  I looked over at him and he gave me a small, resigned smile. “You'll do that for me?”

  “I'll go get the car.”

  He walked out and I suddenly found Novak at my side. “We need to talk. Let's step outside.” His tone of voice implied that this would not a fun conversation.

  I followed him out without saying a word. An older man was smoking
a cigarette just outside the door, so we moved a few feet away.

  “I need to apologize to you, Killian,” he said softly. I felt my mouth drop open.

  “Apologize to me? For what?”

  “I've been very negligent in my training. You came along so quickly, and you're such a good investigator, that I keep forgetting that you're still a kid. I should have never vanished in the middle of your investigation.”

  “Novak, you don't have to apologize,” I interrupted, confused and a little shaken by this sudden turn of events. “It's your job...”

  “It's also my job to make sure you are properly trained as an investigator and to help keep you out of trouble. This business at Fenton Black's house, that was reckless and well, let's face it; it was stupid. First of all, if you had a license it probably would have been revoked, or at least it would have been a mark against you. What you did was illegal; it's called breaking and entering. It was also dangerous. If the security force had been in place, you would quite possibly be dead right now. As it was, if the killer had still been on the premises, he probably would have killed you too.”

  “I know it was stupid. I'm sorry.”

  He held up a hand. “But...if you hadn't done what you did, Jake would probably be dead right now from the drug overdose. Plus, we now have a jump on the killer that we might not have had if you hadn't gotten there when you did.”

  “So, wait...Was it a good thing that I broke into Fenton's estate or a bad thing?”

  “Both.”

  “I don't get it.”

  “It worked out for the best this time and you were given a lot of breaks. You might not be so lucky next time. I overheard you saying you're heading to DC. If you're planning on confronting Razi in some way, I would advise you not to but somehow, I have a feeling I'd be wasting my time.” He gave me a look that clearly invited a response of some sort.

  “The police could drag this out who knows how long, if they do anything at all. The longer we take the more chance that Razi could bolt. Or he could hurt Tad.”

  “Tad?”

  “The boy who lives with him.”

  “Do you have any reason to think that Razi will hurt this boy?”

  “He's killed at least four people, isn't that reason enough?”

  “You've obviously made up your mind about this. I could forbid you to go, but you're an adult and you can make your own choices. I do want you to be prepared, however.”

  Just then, Micah pulled up in his car, making me remember that I had left my car back at the end of Fenton's road.

  “Where's my car?” I asked.

  “Probably in impound,” Novak said. “You'll have to pick it up.”

  “It'll have to wait.”

  “Follow me to my car, I have something to give you,” Novak ordered and set out across the parking lot. I jumped into Micah's car.

  “Follow Novak,” I told him. “He has something for me.”

  “What?”

  “I don't know.”

  He pulled up behind Novak's beat-up old jalopy and I climbed out. Novak was leaning into the car on the passenger side, rummaging through the glove box.

  “Too much crap in here,” he grumbled. He pulled out a shiny black gun and laid it on the seat next to him.

  “You're giving me a gun?” I gasped.

  He carefully drew his head out of the car and gave me a withering glare. “Have you lost your mind? Do you honestly think I'd give you a gun? Do you have any idea how quickly they'd have my license if you ran off and shot somebody with my gun?” He ducked back in and emerged a few seconds later brandishing a black tube-shaped object.

  “What's that?”

  “Pepper spray.”

  “Pepper spray?” I asked disbelievingly. This was what he wanted to give me?

  “Have you ever been sprayed with it?”

  “No.”

  “I have. We had to when it was issued to the police department. Let me tell you something, it hurts. All you can think about is how much it hurts. It's some of the worst pain I've ever felt in my life. It's a very effective, relatively non-violent weapon. Don't knock it. Put out your hand.” I did and he slapped the canister into my open palm. “Stick in your pocket and don't forget it's there. If you need it, don't hesitate to use it. But for God's sake, make sure it's pointed in the right direction before you spray it. We'll talk more when you get back.”

  I stuck it in my pocket thinking it wasn't very likely I'd be using it. I left Novak returning things to the glove box and rejoined Micah in his car.

  “What did he give you?” he asked.

  “Pepper spray.”

  Micah frowned.

  “Yeah, that was pretty much my reaction too,” I said. “Let's go.”

  “Where exactly are we going?” he asked as he pulled away. “Besides DC.”

  “Razi's apartment.”

  “Do you think that's safe? Even with your trusty pepper spray?”

  “No, I don't think it's safe, but what choice do I have?”

  “Maybe you should call your detective friend that you worked with yesterday.”

  “Evans? I wouldn't exactly call him a friend.”

  “Still, he knows the history of the case. He might be willing to go out on a limb to help.”

  “I doubt that,” I said, but I pulled out my cell phone anyway, looked up Evans' number, and dialed it.

  A voice message answered. “Hi, this is Detective Owen Evans,” his recorded voice informed me. “I'm not at my desk right now, but you can leave a message at the tone and I'll get back to you as soon as possible. If this is an emergency or if you would like to speak to someone else, please press zero now.” I did so and the phone rang a few times before being answered by gruff male voice.

  “I'm trying to reach Detective Evans,” I told him.

  “Detective Evans isn't on duty right now, would you like to leave a voice mail message or speak to the detective currently on duty?”

  “No, that's alright,” I said and disconnected. “He's not on duty right now,” I told Micah.

  “What about Chris' dad?”

  “He's not even working on this case.”

  “Still, he might be able to help.”

  “I should probably tell Chris what's going on anyway,” I conceded. I glanced at my watch; between jail and the hospital, I'd spent another wakeful night. It was now almost eight in the morning. “She should be up, don't you think?” I dialed her number and her little brother Kevin answered after several rings.

  “Hey Kevin, this is Killian. Is Chris there?”

  “Yeah, hang on,” he said. I heard him bellow for Chris followed by their father yelling at Kevin to finish getting ready for school. The phone was set down with a thud and a few seconds later, Chris was on the line.

  “Hello?”

  “Chris, it's Killian.”

  “Killian! What the hell is going on? We heard on the news this morning that Fenton Black is dead along with his two bodyguards.”

  “I know, I'm the one that found them. I was there when the police arrived and I spent most of the night in jail.”

  “What?”

  I quickly gave her the whole story, including how Jake was currently under suspicion for the murders and what he'd told me about Razi. “So we're on our way there now,” I finished up. “I'm not sure what I'm going to do when we get there. I guess I'll figure it out as I go along.”

  “Killian, this is crazy. You can't go in there alone.”

  “Oh, it's ok. I'm armed with pepper spray.”

  “Huh?”

  “Chris, I have to do something. Tad could be in danger. You've met him. He's just a kid and he's already been through so much.”

  “You know what, Killian Kendall? You have a savior complex.”

  “A what?”

  “A savior complex. It's common among cops. It means you think you have to save everyone. Well guess what? You can't. You're only human. You can't be there for everyone in trouble.”

  “
I don't think I can save everybody,” I said defensively. “But what kind of person would I be if I knew someone was in danger and didn't do anything to help them? Sure, it would be easier, safer, to just let the professionals deal with it. The problem is, they don't always deal with it, and when they do, they're often too late.”