Obviously irritated by that, she said, “Roland extended the open invitation many times. But he made the invitation for tonight more specific.”
“Emphatic?”
“Specific.”
“Why specific? Special occasion? Your birthday, maybe?”
“No special occasion.”
He propped his elbow on the steering wheel and stroked his lower lip with his thumb, not breaking their eye contact. When she began to become impatient, he said in a drawl, “Want to know why I think he made tonight specific? I think he heard about the new patient you acquired this week.”
“Who would have told him?”
He chuckled. “A career criminal like him has far-reaching tentacles. Any number of paid snitches could have alerted him to my first visit to your office.”
“A lot of law enforcement officers get therapy.”
“Yeah, but to Malone, I’m not just any cop. He doesn’t know that I keep tabs on him, but I know he keeps tabs on me. And now I’m seeing his therapist? Ooooh, trust me, that would have shaken him. So he invited you to dinner. Did he do a little fishing about your practice?”
“He asked some general questions. Nothing about you. Why would you be ‘not just any cop’ to him?”
“Number one, because of my undercover work with the DEA. That’s how he knows me. After I was out, he learned whoI was. Number two, I’ve maintained that my wife’s death was staged to look like a suicide, when in fact she was murdered in retaliation for my work.
“Number three, as of this Monday, after two years of bereavement and alcohol dependency, I began opening up my heart about Angela’s tragic death to a therapist. Who also happens to behistherapist.”
He recognized the instant it dawned on her what he was getting at. “Are you saying that Roland killed Angela?”
“Yeah. That’s what I’m saying.”
Chapter 21
Dylan sat for a while, staring through the windshield. Rain was beating on the roof of the pickup, but at least it relieved the silence between them. Mitch had laid a lot on her and respected her need to think it through.
Eventually she said, “You told me that two people were responsible for Angela’s death.”
“I can’t get to the second one until I have Malone.”
“You don’t even know that he was involved.”
“Yes, I do.”
“How do you know?”
“Iknow.”
“I, I, I. You always talk about this in first person. Whose authority are you working under?”
When he didn’t respond, she huffed a sound of disbelief. “No one’s? No agency? This is a personal crusade?” She laughed softly but without mirth. “Considering your actions tonight, why should that amaze me?”
“I’m not working in a vacuum. I have some help.”
“But this is your fight.”
“It’s mywar. These are evil men. I’m going to put them out of commission.”
She frowned with apparent concern. “What if you’re caught doing something illegal and sent to prison? What if you’re caught in a crossfire and injured more seriously than you were tonight? Or killed? Think about what that would mean to Andrew.”
“I’ve got that covered.”
