Twisted Hope

by Nora Kane

  She went through the house slowly the way she was trained to do as a police officer with her gun out in front of her. Margot went through the entire house. She found a suitcase open in one of the spare bedrooms full of clothes Margot figured were probably Cassie’s. She didn’t find another body.

  Margot went back to the front of the house and called the police.

  Chapter 3

  “I’ll be honest with you, Margot, I didn’t plan to see you again today,” Ames told her as she sat in the back of their car. The crime scene tech’s had arrived and there wasn’t much for the three of them to do while the crime scene crew did their job.

  “I guess I did but not like this,” Radcliff added.

  “I’m glad to see you guys still have this one,” Margot replied.

  Ames shook his head, “Yeah, well the more you’re involved the less likely we’ll stay on it.”

  “Sorry.”

  Ames shrugged, “Yeah, well it’s not like there won’t be another murder, Hell, maybe the one we get switched to will be easy to solve. We’ve got a whole hell of a lot of nothing on this one.”

  “Yeah, well even though it makes it easier for somebody to put this on me it looks like the theory Gloria took a bullet meant for Cassie might have something to it.”

  “Trevor didn’t look like Cassie,” Ames said.

  “And someone took a shot at him not too long ago,” Radcliff added.

  “I know, I was there. Conventional wisdom says they took a shot at me instead of him.”

  “You have been known to a bullet magnet but maybe we need to re-think that one,” Ames said.

  Ames’ phone buzzed. He did a lot of listening and then said, “The house belongs to Trevor’s parents. They’re retired and spend a lot of time out of town. They have no idea what he was doing there this afternoon.”

  “Was he hiding Cassie up here?” Radcliff asked, “If she knew what happened to Gloria she might have decided to lay low.”

  “Makes some sense. Either way, we need to find her,” Ames said.

  “Finding people is kind of my thing. If they don’t arrest me do you want me to look for her?”

  “Thanks, but we don’t make enough to hire you,” Radcliff told her.

  “He's right. I’m putting out an APB right now,” Ames told her as he contacted dispatch and gave instructions for an all-points bulletin on Cassandra Cole.

  “Just as well I’m pretty busy right now anyway. Speaking of being busy, do you guys think I can go now?” Margot asked, “I could use a shower and a drink.”

  “I could help you with both of those,” Radcliff told her.

  “No, you can’t. You’re still working. I’m not doing the paperwork by myself so you two can waste some water showering together,” Ames said to Radcliff.

  “Sorry,” Radcliff said to Margot.

  “Apology accepted. Was that a yes or a no on the going home thing?”

  “You can take off but you know how it goes, don’t leave town.”

  “No problem,” Margot told him as she got out of the car.

  “Still on for dinner?” Radcliff asked.

  “Might as well since leaving town is out.”

  Ames handed her back her purse. Everything was still inside, including her gun. She thought they might take it away but there was no evidence it’d been recently fired.

  Margot was glad to have the gun and she was even happier about getting to walk away. She could easily be detained right now.

  Margot drove home wondering where Cassie would go to hide. Her first thought would have likely been the ex-boyfriend. It looked like the killer thought along those same lines.

  Chapter 4

  “I’ve got good news and bad news,” Radcliff said as he opened the door to his apartment and let Margot in.

  “Let me have the good news first.”

  “We have good reason to believe Cassandra Cole is still alive.”

  “That is good news. What’s the bad?”

  Radcliff handed her his phone, “The bad is we believe she’s still among the living because she uploaded a new Coastal Crime Video.”

  “She doesn’t mention me does she?”

  “Not exactly but Viuda Negra got a lot of play.”

  Margot cued up the video.

  “This is Cassie Cole,” instead of a voiceover narration over some pilfered crime scene photos Cassie herself appeared on the screen.

  “I am speaking to you from an undisclosed location. I fear for my life as I have been threatened by what I am sure is some of the criminal element this show has worked so diligently to expose. While I’m not sure if the threat comes from a local such as Harry Lee or someone south of the border but I have heard who they’re going to send. Her name is Viuda Negra, Spanish for black widow. What you are about to see is footage of her stalking my home.”

  The screen filled with a woman in a green hoodie, her head down so she was watching her feet walking down the sidewalk in front of a yellow stucco building with a lot of doors. Some yellow hair poked out of the hood as she walked.

  “Cassie’s place?”

  “Her complex anyway.”

  The woman stops and knocks on a door. Afterward, she steps back and puts her hand into a fanny pack that was under the hoodie.

  No one answers so she keeps moving.

  “Cassie’s place?”

  “Yeah.”

  The camera follows her as she reaches the end of the row of townhomes. A white Buick sedan is waiting with the engine running and the door open. The woman gets in and the Buick speeds away.

  Margot paused the video.

  “It looks like you could at least get a partial on the license plate.”

  “We got more than that but you’re not going to like it.”

  “Well, it’s clearly not my car.”

  “It’s a rental. A guy used a fake I.D. to rent it yesterday morning. You want to guess what name he used?”

  “Uh, no.”

  “Dennis Thorn.”

  “Mal’s alias?”

  “Same one he used when he visited that punk Heller in county jail.”

  “Anything ever come of that?”

  Radcliff shook his head.

  “You think Mal is the driver?”

  “Certainly looks that way.”

  “I don’t see him using an alias that’s already burned. He might as well have put his name on it. He’s not that stupid.”

  “I wouldn’t think so either, but ‘I’m not that stupid’ had never been a viable legal defense. Maybe he didn’t have another fake driver’s license or maybe he figured no one would connect this with his visit to county jail. I have to admit it’s my case and I never would have made the connection if you hadn’t figured out the county jail bit. I’m also sure he wasn’t figuring the intended victim filming the first attempt.”

  “Or the second. Someone shot at her before. Remember they dragged me in to talk about it?”

  “I do. I was there.”

  “So, either Mal is in the middle of this or someone wants us to think so.”

  “I’d bet on the former.”

  “Yeah, me too. Though I’m not sure how being the getaway driver on a hit on an internet journalist qualifies as a ‘big thing’.”

  Radcliff shrugged, “Maybe this is just a warm-up. It wouldn’t be the first time the cartel had someone do something to prove their loyalty.”

  Margot nodded, Radcliff had a point. She continued the video.

  The picture went back to Cassie who explained the door the woman knocked on was hers. She said she filmed the woman because after someone took a shot at her a while back she’d made a habit of filming people acting suspiciously around her house. She ended by saying because of this incident she would be staying at an undisclosed location for the near future before signing off.

  “I’m guessing that undisclosed location was Trevor’s parents' place.”

  “Makes sense.”

  “Only they figured it out. So, the qu
estion is where would she go next?”

  “She doesn’t have any family in town or even in the state, though considering how this Viuda Negra person feels about collateral damage that’s the last place she should be running.”

  “You really calling her that?”

  “Makes sense. When she was saying you were Viuda Negra we kind of assumed she was just making it up but maybe it wasn’t entirely a product of her imagination. She has legit sources for information and connections to crime scene footage she shouldn’t have so perhaps she got a name, or at least a nickname that hadn’t come across our radar.”

  Margot played the video again.

  “Damn, am I wrong or could that be me? Right height, about the right weight, the hair you see could be mine.”

  “Enough I feel obligated to ask what you were doing two days ago around eleven o’clock.”

  “Seriously?”

  “If not me, someone a lot less friendly.”

  “I was checking on a guy with a limp for the insurance company.”

  “In the field?”

  “Nah, online. If his Facebook profile showed him climbing mountains or running marathons there might be a problem. I was at the office. Shaw and Ms. Collins can attest I was there all day. I think I even ate lunch at my desk.”

  Radcliff nodded, “Did you find anything?”

  “A lot of pictures of his grandkids and questionable political posts but no evidence of insurance fraud. If I didn’t get paid either way and if it didn’t provide me an alibi I’d say it was a waste of time.”

  “It’s good you have one, though having a rock-solid alibi for the dry run isn’t the same as having one for the actual murder. It doesn’t help the window for Trevor’s murder still puts you at the scene either right after or during.”

  “Odd thing to do calling you guys if I did the shooting.”

  “Yeah, but criminals doing odd things isn’t all that odd.”

  “I’m not a criminal.”

  “I’m not the one you need to convince. Having Mal be involved doesn’t help you since you two have history.”

  “How long before I need to call my lawyer?”

  “As long as Ames and I are working it no one’s arresting you. Unless you did it.”

  “Really?”

  Radcliff smiled, “It never hurts to ask.”

  “It might if I broke your nose. For the record, I didn’t.”

  “Good to hear.”

  “What now?”

  “We try to find Cassie and Mal and hope they lead us to Viuda Negra before someone else gets shot. Unfortunately, all we’ve got on them over Viuda Negra is their real names.”

  “Why Cassie?”

  “She knows a lot she shouldn’t maybe she stumbled on something they didn’t want to her putting out on the internet. We’ve been reviewing old shows to see if she dropped something on the Cartel that would put her in danger.”

  “Find anything?”

  “Not yet, she’s thrown some things out about Harry Lee that might make him a little sore but no cartel stuff of any consequence.”

  “Great, that Harry Lee stuff gets back to me too.”

  “I wish I could tell it didn’t but it does. The Mal connection doesn’t help.”

  “It’s not Harry Lee’s style. He’s more a make people disappear type of guy.”

  “The ‘I normally kill people this way’ defense has worked about as often as the ‘I’m not that stupid’ defense. Maybe less.”

  Margot couldn’t deny the logic.

  “Have you tried to find her source for the crime scene photos?”

  “Since I’ve been working homicides I haven’t had time to look into leaked photos but I suppose the two have intersected haven’t they?”

  “I’d say so.”

  “I’ll get on that tomorrow. Do me a favor though, okay?”

  “Name it.”

  “Stick with looking for insurance fraud and cheating husbands while I sort this out. You should have never gone to Trevor’s house. Next time you get a lead could you let me in on it?”

  “Of course. You’re right I should have called you but I didn’t think I was going to walk in a homicide. I just thought I might got to talk to Cassie.”

  “From here on out when it comes to this mess, assume you’re walking in a homicide.”

  “Will do.”

  “Excellent, can we now pretend none of this happened until tomorrow and hang out like normal people?”

  “Sounds good to me.”

  Chapter 5

  Margot kept her promise until about ten o’clock the next morning.

  Margot meant to stay out of Radcliff’s and Ames investigation but she was having trouble maintaining her concentration as she scrolled through the social media accounts of potential insurance fraudsters.

  It was hard not to think about Mal and thinking about Mal made her think about his brother Marv. Marv employed Margot not long ago to help him find his brother, who he correctly surmised was in trouble. That trouble both his brother and Margot were in had Marv catching bullets from a dirty cop turned cartel hitman by the name of Brantley.

  While it might be a long shot it wasn’t impossible he could give her a lead on Mal. If she sent Radcliff and Ames his way all she’d do was waste all their time. Marv was a lifetime criminal, formally high up in the ranks of the outlaw biker gang known as The Devil’s Racers. He would still be rising in the ranks if he hadn’t sided with his brother over the gang.

  Even if he was still a Devil’s Racer member in good standing some of his injuries at the hands of Deputy Brantley were permanent and he certainly was not in good enough health to continue his outlaw biker ways.

  He now lived in a track house out east. Margot decided she could snoop on potential insurance scammers later and drove out to Marv’s place. She stopped on the way and picked up a six-pack of Dos XX and a pack of Marlboro reds because she knew if she was just bringing questions Marv wouldn’t let her in the door let alone speak to her.

  Marv’s old lady, Doris, who had the appearance of someone who smoked and drank away her good looks prematurely, answered the door. She looked skeptically at Margot.

  “You going to make him mad?” she asked.

  “I wasn’t planning to.”

  “No one does but it seems to happen anyway.”

  “I come bearing gifts,” Margot told her as she held up the six-pack and the cigarettes.

  “That’ll help,” Doris said as she stepped aside, “Don’t let him smoke inside though. I quit about a year ago and now I can’t stand the smell.”

  “No problem.”

  Doris yelled back in the house, “Marv, you got a visitor,” even though with the size of their place Margot couldn’t imagine he didn’t hear her ring the doorbell.

  Margot found Marv sitting in an aging easy chair watching the weather channel on the big flat-screen mounted on his wall. He muted the television as Margot walked in.

  He held out a hand and Margot gave him a beer.

  “Grab yourself one and put the rest in the fridge if you don’t mind.”

  Margot considered telling him she was working but Marv probably wouldn’t like it if she refused to drink with him so she did as she was told.

  “I put a pack of reds in the fridge with your beer,” she told him.

  He nodded as he opened his bottle with an opener on his keychain. She sat down and he tossed her the opener.

  “Doris tell you not to let me smoke inside?”

  “Yeah.”

  Marv shook his head and then pointed at his cane, “If she knew what a pain in the ass it is to move around these days she’d let me smoke inside. I think she enjoys my pain.”

  “I don’t know about that. She stuck around after you got shot.”

  “True, I doubt she could do better than me though, even a broken down me.”

  “Be nice.”

  “Sorry. I don’t suppose you just brought me beer and cigarettes as a thank you for me saving you
r ass.”

  “No, I brought them just for that reason. Since I’m here though I’m going to ask you a few questions.”

  “Do I have a choice?”

  “I can’t make you answer but I am going to ask.”

  “This about my brother?”

  “Unfortunately, yes.”

  “What did he do this time.”

  “Someone used one of his known aliases to rent a car used to possibly commit a crime.”

  “Possibly?”

  “The car is caught on video during what looks like a hit that didn’t go down.”

  “Is that a crime?”

  “A day later it went down.”

  “Mal the shooter?”

  “Driver, maybe.”

  “Lot of maybes.”

  “I was hoping he could clear them up for me.”

  “You think I know where he is?”

  “Are you saying you don’t?”

  “I am. I’m not lying to you. Whatever he’s up to I’m out of the loop.”

  “You know he’s up to something though.”

  “Do I?”

  Margot drank her beer.

  “I guess I do,” Marv continued, “He called me once and one time he just showed up.”

  “What did he want?”

  “You don’t think he would just come by to say hello to his brother?”

  “No, I don’t.”

  Marv laughed, “I guess you know him about as well as anybody.”

  Margot waited for Marv to fill in the details.

  “He was trotting out some pipe dream about one big job that was going to set him up for the rest of his life.”

  Margot nodded.

  “He tell you the same thing?”

  “He did. He wanted me to join him.”

  “Then you two would run off together to live the good life on some island?”

  “Something like that.”

  “I take it you turned him down.”

  “I take it you did too.”

  Marv laughed again, “He didn’t offer to take me to an island. If he had I might have taken him up on it. He wanted someplace to lie low but Doris wouldn’t tolerate me hiding out some fugitive at the house even if it was my brother.”