Driven

by Rebecca Zanetti

  Chapter Five

  Angus finished off a burger from the fast-food joint as he drove his truck through an established neighborhood in the Georgetown area, with town houses lining both sides of the street. “Which one is it?”

  Jethro craned his neck to peer through the rain splattering the windshield. “It’s the blue one between the brick house with green shutters and the white one with the purple flowerpots. I’m thinking your suspect has either a decent job or family money; the small amount of info my friend was able to send didn’t specify which. With our luck, the bloke will be a lawyer who just had to call in a partner to get him sprung. Aren’t these places all around a million dollars each?”

  “Probably.” Angus found a spot at the curb and quickly parked. He looked into the back seat. “You want to come in or just stay in the truck?”

  Roscoe sprawled across the entire seat, his nose on his paws and his eyes closed. He didn’t move.

  Angus rolled his eyes. “Stop pouting. One burger was enough and probably isn’t even good for you. I’ll give you dog food when we get home.” Roscoe didn’t twitch. What a drama queen. “Fine. Stay here.” He opened his door and jumped out, letting the rain have its way with him. Once Jethro had exited the vehicle, Angus locked it up tight. Last thing he needed was his dog going to look for another burger. Or for a bar.

  “What’s your plan?” Jethro asked, shoving his hands into his jacket pockets as rain plastered his hair to his head.

  Angus jogged around the truck to the sidewalk. “I feel like the direct approach will be best. Let’s just ring the bell.”

  “Interesting.” Jethro strode along the sidewalk next to the connected townhomes, ducking his head against the rain. “Should we talk about your team being fired?”

  “No.” The cold of autumn had started killing the pots of plants and flowers in front of several of the town houses, giving the pretty neighborhood the sense of change. Of winter coming. Angus scouted the quiet neighborhood before walking up the steps to the dark-blue door and knocking.

  A shuffling could be heard inside, and then the door opened. “Yes?” Caucasian male, brown hair, blue eyes, about six-feet tall and 225 pounds with decent muscle mass. He wore expensive black sweats and a green tank top.

  Angus read him in a minute. “Are you Levi Mackelson?”

  Levi started to shut the door. “I have a lawyer, asshole. Call him, not me. You can’t be here.”

  Angus plunked his boot in the door. “I’m Angus Force and I’m the foremost expert in the world on the guy I think killed your ex-girlfriend. Do you have a minute to talk?”

  Levi paused. “I can’t talk to you without my lawyer.”

  “I’m not a cop.” When Levi just stared at him, Angus shrugged. “Any longer. I was, but now I’m not. Just don’t say anything that could incriminate you and it won’t matter anyway. You’re smart enough to do that.” Yeah, manipulation. He was good at it and didn’t give a shit.

  Levi straightened. “You know who killed her?”

  “I think I might, but I need to talk to you.” Angus put on his most disarming smile. “The sooner I catch him, the sooner the cops will stop trying to build a case against you. You do know that the boyfriend or ex, especially if there are a couple of domestic violence calls in the past, is the guy they’re going after, right? You’re smart enough to get out of it in the end, but let’s be honest. Do you have time for this crap?” Yep. More ego stroke.

  Levi turned toward Jethro. “Who are you?”

  “Professor of philosophy,” Jet said easily, his British accent all charm. “I’m just along for the ride.”

  Levi’s gaze narrowed. “You’re a cop.”

  “Ha,” Jet said. “Not even close, mate. I was in M16, but that was a long time ago, and now I teach philosophy, with emphases on ethics, moral theory, decision, game, and rational choice theories.”

  A slow and not entirely nice smile tilted Levi’s mouth. “Running from some bad shit, are you? Good luck with that.” He opened the door and gestured them inside. “Come on in.”

  This guy wasn’t a moron. Angus walked across the polished wooden floor of the threshold, which was a short hallway leading to a narrow staircase leading to the second floor. A silver bike rested against the right wall beneath a mirror, and to the left was an opening to what looked like a living room. He moved that way, with Jethro right behind him.

  A gas fire flickered in a hammered steel fireplace, and he moved past it to sit in one of two chairs facing a blue sofa. The dining area, kitchen, and a small backyard showed through another doorway by the fireplace, the rooms laid out in a narrow, shotgun formation.

  It was classy and expensive.

  Jet sat next to him, while Levi took the sofa. Pastel watercolors decorated the walls. The coffee table and end tables were antiques.

  “Who decorated your place?” Angus asked, clicking facts through his brain.

  “My mom,” Levi said easily. “My parents own the town house. I just rent from them.” He pushed a stack of outdoor magazines to the side of the table. “What do you know about Lori’s murder?”

  Guy went right for the issue, showing he wasn’t going to avoid it. Or maybe he just thought he was that much smarter than everyone else. Angus sat back in the surprisingly comfortable chair. “Not nearly as much as we want. It’d help me figure out what to ask if we started generally. How long did you two date?”

  Levi lifted his chin and looked to the right. “I think about eight months? She moved in after three and we lived together for five.”

  So far, indicators of truth. Angus nodded. “Why’d she move out? Any chance she was seeing somebody else?” Could lead to a suspect.

  “By the end we hardly saw each other.” A barely perceptible whine elevated Levi’s tone. “She was so busy with her studies that she wasn’t any fun any longer.” He picked a thread from his sweats. “I also got busy at work and started hanging out with friends from the office, and she didn’t like that.”

  In other words, he hung out with women from work. “I couldn’t care less if you cheated on her,” Angus stated quietly. “If anybody you were seeing had cause to harm Lori, I need those names.”

  Levi rolled his eyes. “Nobody. I slept with a couple of chicks, but I didn’t share feelings or anything.”

  Yeah. Douchebag. All right. “Where do you work?” Angus asked.

  “I manage a series of apartment buildings and single-story residences,” Levi said.

  Ah. So he worked for Mommy and Daddy. “Where did you and Lori meet?” Angus asked.

  “At a bar. You know The Cottonwood over on Third Street? It was karaoke night, and that girl could sing.” Levi sighed, his chest sinking. “I can’t believe somebody killed her like that. Who would do that?”

  Great question. “Tell me about the domestic violence calls,” Angus said evenly, keeping emotion at bay and trying to sound like a buddy just shooting the breeze.

  Levi shrugged. “It was nothing. Really. We got into a couple of bad fights toward the end and there was shouting. Both of us yelled. The asshole neighbor to the right called the police, and both times the cops showed up and asked me to go somewhere else for the night. There was no violence, and nobody was arrested. It was all stupid, to be honest.”

  That sounded like the truth, but sometimes sociopaths were good at sounding honest. They usually were. Angus didn’t get a bad vibe from the guy, but he was out of practice. “Where were you the other night? When Lori was slashed open and had her heart ripped out?”

  Levi turned pale. Then he coughed. Okay. Honest emotions. “I was here asleep. Stayed in, ate some casserole my mom left, and went to bed early. Didn’t think I’d need an alibi.”

  “When was the last time you saw or talked to Lori?” Jethro asked.

  Levi jumped at the Brit’s interjection. “I don’t know. Maybe a couple of weeks ago? I ran into her at the farmers market and we were nice to each other. Cordial, I guess. It was the last market of the year and the
place was packed, so we didn’t talk long.”

  “Did you see anything suspicious? Like anybody hanging around or following her?” Angus sat up.

  “No,” Levi said. “I didn’t notice anything like that.” His blue eyes softened. “I wish I had. Maybe I could’ve done something. Nobody deserves to die like that.”

  Jethro tapped his fingers on his knee. “Do you have any idea of anyone who’d want to hurt her?”

  “No. I already told the police that everyone loved Lori. Nobody would want her dead.” Levi shook his head. “It just doesn’t make sense. You said that you know who killed her. Who was it?”

  Angus scratched the whiskers on his chin. “There was a serial killer who hurt people in the same way, but this scene was a little different, so I’m not absolutely sure. You’ve been a lot of help.” Not really, but what the hell. He stood. “Thank you, and I’m sorry for your loss.”

  Jethro followed suit. “If you think of anything else, please call Angus.”

  Angus grabbed a business card from his back pocket and scrawled his cell phone number on the back, considering he might not have an office any longer. “Yeah. Anything. You never know what might hit you. She could’ve said something, or maybe there’s something in the back of your head that will spark a memory. Just call me.”

  Levi stood and took the card. “Okay. Thanks.”

  Angus turned toward the open archway. “Oh. I almost forgot. Did Lori like dogs?”

  Levi nodded. “She loved dogs. She grew up north on a bunch of land and had several animals as a kid. Big dogs, especially.”

  “German shepherds?” Jethro asked.

  “Probably. I don’t know,” Levi said.

  That wasn’t much help. “Did she have a tattoo of a German shepherd on the back of her hand?” Angus asked, his skin prickling.

  “Not when we were together, but we broke up a couple of months ago, so I wouldn’t know.” Levi tossed the business card on top of the magazines, his brows drawing together. “Now that you mention it, there might’ve been something weird. I didn’t think it was strange at the time, but . . . ” He turned and hustled into the kitchen, returning with a small stack of mail.

  Angus barely kept from snatching the stack away. “What do you have?”

  “A few letters sent here for Lori.” Levi handed over three unopened envelopes. “From the Dog Society of Poseidon. Probably junk mail, but I thought maybe I could call her and take them to her. She’s pretty great, or at least she was, and I guess maybe I wanted another chance. Even if it was just as friends.” He threw the other envelopes onto the coffee table and shoved his hands in his pockets, his expression turning even more sober. “The stamps on all three are of German shepherds.”

  Angus frowned. “Didn’t she have her mail forwarded when she left?”

  “Yeah, but those came here anyway.” Levi glanced at the envelopes. “Does that mean something? Should I hand them over to the cops?”

  “We’ll hand them over,” Angus said, turning and heading for the doorway. “I doubt it means anything, Levi. It’s just junk mail.” Right. The envelopes hadn’t gone through the mail system. They’d been left here on purpose as another clue for him to find. “Thanks for your help.”

  Jethro followed him out into the rain and down the sidewalk. “What are you thinking?”

  “Nothing yet,” Angus said, his jaw so tight his head ached. “Let’s just get out of here before he calls the cops and they confiscate these. The dog angle is just the way Lassiter would play cat and mouse.”

  “If that’s really his game, the fact that he killed a Chinese woman is significant, Angus. He’ll be coming after your team, and it looks like Nari is top of the list.” Jethro reached the truck. “Is there any way she’ll let you lock her down or send her on vacation for a while?”

  Angus pressed the button, determination flowing through him. “She doesn’t have a choice. She has to go, and now.”

  Chapter Six

  Nari shook out her sopping-wet umbrella and rode down the ancient elevator, almost wishing for the first time that the darn thing would just crash to the ground. After a lonely dinner, she’d decided to return to the office and finish up whatever she’d missed. The elevator groaned, jolted, and halted at the basement offices. The doors remained closed long enough to increase her heart rate. Finally, they opened with the scratch of metal scraping against metal.

  She leapt out before the doors could close, gasping in the small vestibule. The smell of whiskey hit her first. Then surprise. She moved hesitantly into the main room of the suite.

  Wolfe, Jethro, and Angus sat to one side of the room, leaning against the wall, their long legs extended toward the empty bullpen. The very empty bullpen. Dust outlined the spot where the pod of desks had been.

  “They even took those old desks?” she asked.

  Wolfe nodded, his brown eyes more mellow than usual. “Yep. Three armed teams showed up and cleared us out. Who’d want that scarred furniture?” He gestured, and his broad hand impacted an empty Jack Daniel’s bottle that fell onto its side and clattered away.

  Nari narrowed her gaze. “You’re all drunk?”

  “We had to say goodbye. We’re touchy types of folks,” Wolfe said.

  Jethro snorted in a very un-British way and looked at Angus. “Drunk? Are we?” He slurred only a little.

  Angus lifted one powerful shoulder. “Could be.” Another bottle—this one half full—sat by his hand. There was no mellowness in his gaze, unlike Wolfe’s. No. Angus looked at her, his eyes glittering with something she couldn’t name but made her body flush with a heat that was as annoying as it was intriguing. He cocked his head. “How’d it go at headquarters?” His sarcastic drawl helped her gain her equilibrium.

  “Obviously not good.” She swept her hand around the empty and rather dusty room. The HDD had even taken the painting she’d plastered on one wall for some color. Annoyance ticked right up to anger, and she let it reign. “You three are grown men, for goodness’ sake. Stop acting like college freshmen who just lost their first love. Buck up.” Drinking never helped anything.

  Roscoe padded out of Angus’s office and sat at the far end of the bullpen, his nose slightly in the air.

  Nari’s eyes widened. “Tell me you didn’t let him have any alcohol.” The dog had a problem.

  Angus rolled his eyes. “Of course not. That’s why he’s acting all pissy.”

  Wolfe’s phone dinged and he tugged it free of his back pocket before glancing at the face and quickly reading the text. He smiled. “Dana’s here. I don’t want her in that elevator, so I told her to wait in the truck. Let’s go.”

  Nari softened. Wolfe in full protective mode was kind of cute, so long as she wasn’t on the other end of it. “How’s Dana feeling?”

  “Good. Finally stopped puking all day. That boy inside her is going to be a handful.” Wolfe leaned down and hauled Jethro up. “We’ll give you a ride.”

  “Could be a girl,” Angus said, not moving.

  Wolfe shook his head. “God wouldn’t do that to me.” He glanced down. “You and Roscoe want a ride?”

  Angus hadn’t looked away from Nari, his glittering green eyes holding her captive with just a look. “No. Roscoe and I will be fine.”

  Awareness prickled over Nari’s skin in a spiral of heat. Why her body reacted that way to jerks was something she should figure out; after all, she was a psychologist.

  Wolfe looked from Angus to Nari and then back. A mental debate obviously went on in his head and then he shrugged. “If anybody needs me, call.” He clapped Jethro on the back and the Brit stumbled toward the elevator. “You think I could get a job teaching at your college? I know a lot of shit.”

  “No.” Jethro tripped into the elevator.

  Wolfe followed him, and the door closed with him arguing his case.

  Angus patted the hard concrete next to him. “Do you ever let your hair down, Zhang?”

  “My hair is down.” The temptation to sit next
to him for just a brief moment was almost more than she could resist. Plus, she felt like an idiot just standing there in an empty room, looking down at him. “I really did try, Angus,” she said softly.

  “Jesus. Just sit down.” He reached for the bottle again. “Do you ever fucking relax?”

  “Of course.” Knowing she was being manipulated didn’t stop her from playing along. Her boot heels clip-clopped as she walked toward him and sat where Wolfe had been. At least the concrete was warm there.

  Just the two of them in the office, once again. She’d become used to sharing this time with him and surprise filled her at how much she was going to miss it, even though her skin felt too tight and her body too restless. Too needy. “Do you ever feel like we’re the two grownups in this place?”

  Angus chuckled. “On occasion, definitely.” He extended the bottle. “One last drink before we close this office?”

  “I have to drive home.” After the day she’d endured, she would love to lose herself in a bottle. But somebody had to keep a clear head.

  “Raider and Brigid are coming by, and they’ll give us a ride home. Come on, Nari. This is the last night we’ll see each other; we might as well say goodbye with a drink.” Without waiting for her to answer, he raised the bottle to his mouth and took several deep drinks.

  She shook her head. “I would hate to see your liver, Angus.”

  He chuckled and set the bottle back on the ground.

  Roscoe whined across the room.

  “No,” Nari said firmly. “You are not drinking, Roscoe.”

  The dog wagged his tail, yipped, and flipped around to disappear in the office.

  She laughed. “He is so dramatic.” And adorable. The humor deserted her faster than a contact high. “I’m really going to miss him.” Her chest ached and she eyed the bottle. No. Getting tipsy with Angus was a huge mistake, and one she’d likely not recover from. At least for a while. She sighed and rested her head back on the wall, closing her eyes.

  “Rough day?” Angus rumbled.

  “You have no idea,” she muttered. “Get this. I’ve been reassigned to a team led by my ex-boss, who was also my boyfriend, and last time we worked together we almost destroyed our careers because he’s an ass.”