Mickey gently pried Roger’s fingers out of his hair, soothing, “Easy. Get yourself together.”
Roger nodded and pushed away. He seemed to be settling down, but he couldn’t keep still and paced around the kitchen.
“Tell me what happened last night,” Cold ordered, fixing Duncan with an icy stare. “In detail.”
“Right, so, uh.” Duncan sat down and wiped his hands off on his thighs. “We’re at the job, everything was going fine until it wasn’t. We see the Luchesi guys roll up, but when we’re about to start blasting, a shit ton more came outta nowhere! Shit starts gettin’ nasty, and… and…”
“And?” Cold pushed.
“I got scared, okay?” Duncan cowered in his chair. “There were so many fuckin’ guys there, and I got fuckin’ scared. So, I ran. I ran. I thought maybe if I could get out, I could call you or Jules! I could try to get some help!”
“And?” Cold pressed again.
“I made it to the fence, but I couldn’t go over. I didn’t know how to get over the fuckin’ wire, and so I crawled down in this drainage ditch pipe fuckin’ thing. I just, I just got in and hid there.”
Mickey wrinkled his nose.
A night in a ditch would certainly explain the smell.
“My phone got soaked so I couldn’t call anyone,” Duncan went on. “It was toast. I didn’t know what else to do, and I stayed there all night until this morning. There were these cops walkin’ around, searchin’ for shit, and I heard them talkin’ about the two suspects they nabbed up at the hospital!”
“Did they say it was Crybaby?” Roger demanded.
Cold gave him a warning look, but he waved his hand at Duncan for him to answer.
“Not by name, no, but they were talkin’ about one of the suspects bein’ a woman!” Duncan replied. “Said she was in real bad shape, didn’t know if she was gonna make it or not. Said she got all fucked up, but they said she’s fuckin’ alive, I swear.”
Gritting his teeth, Roger turned away to keep pacing by the back door.
“How did you get away?” Cold asked.
“I waited until those stupid cops left and took off through the gate. Plant is shut down now, and there won’t be anybody workin’ there.”
“Why didn’t you try to do that earlier?”
“Because I was still fuckin’ scared, Boss! I kept hearin’ the Luchesi bastards huntin’ around, and then the cops and fire guys all showed up. I didn’t think I could get away without someone seein’ me.”
“Until right after you happened to overhear two officers divulging priceless information about our dear Crybaby?”
Duncan’s eyes widened. “What do you mean, Boss?”
“I find it interesting you decided to flee when you knew two officers were in the immediate area. They had to have been close for you to hear them, after all.”
“Wait, Boss, what are you saying?”
“Yeah, what are you saying?” Mickey felt alarmed. He didn’t know what Cold was trying to imply, but it didn’t sound good.
“Nothing.” Cold tilted his head. “Just making observations.”
“As soon as I heard them talkin’ about Crybaby, I knew I had to get outta there! I wasn’t thinkin’ about any of that!” Duncan protested. “I just had to get back and let you guys know!”
Mickey didn’t like how Cold was looking at Duncan. He didn’t like how Jules was looking at him either.
“Duncan isn’t the enemy here,” Mickey said firmly, resting his hand on his friend’s shoulder. “He says he was scared, I believe him. He’s not tryin’ to pull anything.”
Cold regarded Mickey with a curious expression, and he glanced back to Jules, who shrugged. His icy eyes flickered back to Mickey. “You trust him?”
“With my life.” Mickey stood up straighter. “He might be a coward, but he’s no fuckin’ snitch.”
