“His ass is on fire,” Dante muses. “He’s scared, Carter. I don’t think this is about trust. He’s worried you’re piecing the puzzle together and figuring out some things he doesn’t want you to know.”
I massage my temples. “Jackson, move the folder for Hailey’s phone bug onto this one.” I toss one of the burners his way. “I’ll only load new recordings onto my phone once I’ve checked there’s nothing there that Rhett can use.”
Dante’s right. Bugging my phone proves I don’t know everything. Rhett’s scared and trying to stay one step ahead.
“While you’re here,” Nate starts. “The more we dig, the less sense this case makes. Nothing adds up. We have three different versions of the accident.” He lifts a hand, bending his fingers in turn. “Rhett’s, Vaughn’s to Hailey, and what I found in the police files. Do you know where the accident happened?”
“According to Rhett—”
“Then you don’t.” He tosses a thick file across the table. “We got our hands on the black box from the silver sedan and traced the entire ride.”
I open a map with redXs drawn here and there.
“Those mark the houses. Hailey’s...” He points at oneX, then drags his finger lower. “Rhett’s... and Alex’s. Now this—”
“Rhett’s warehouse,” I finish for him.
It serves as my father’s dirty business spot, the place where he tortures and murders those who step out of line.
“The blue line marks Alex’s journey from his house. He stops about a mile from the warehouse, then travels across the city, all the way here.” He taps a blackX. “Where they crashed.”
“Rhett said they crashed not far from this bridge,” I point to it. “That’s the other side of the city.”
“It is,” Dante agrees. “He leans over the table, pointing out a spot not far from the crash. “This happens to be the police station where Vaughn works.”
“You think Alex was taking Hailey there?”
“It’s possible. What interests me more is why he was here.” He taps a street near Rhett’s warehouse. “The car was stationary for three minutes. He must have picked something up.”
“Or dropped something off.” I scrutinize the map, visualizing the streets and buildings. “There’s a private, high rollers’ bank one street over,” I say, my mind whirring. “The evidence.”
Shit. Alex dropped it off moments before he died, and Hailey was with him...
The missing puzzle pieces fall into place as I fill in the blanks. When Alex realized they were being tailed, he probably told Hailey how to access the deposit box.
Sheknows. She just can’t remember. The information is there, lost in the labyrinth of her healing mind.
“Don’t get excited,” Dante warns, leaning back in his seat.
The handle of his gun, tucked into a shoulder holster, glistens in the dimmed lighting. Since the day he brought his wife home from Moscow, he’s worn two guns.
I wonder how many he’ll wear if he ever has kids.
“If that’s where the evidence is you won’t get anything out without a password,” he continues, sloshing the whiskey in his glass. “You might need Alex’s eye or finger, too. Places like this deal with all kinds of people; they’re used to threats. Their security would make you blush. Guns blazing is not the way to go.”
“I know, but I also know this whole fucking endeavor isn’t pointless. Hailey knows where the evidence is. She probably knows how to access it. It might beherfingerprint we need.”
“It better be,” Rookie pipes in. “It’s been weeks since Alex died. Eyeballs disintegrate fast. It’s cold outside, which might have slowed it up, but I doubt any part of him is usable.”
“I guess we’ll find out,” I say, glancing at Broadway. “You’re going to Ohio. Dig the fucker up, cut his hands, gouge his eyes then get it all on ice.”
He pulls a disgusted face at me. “Rookie just said he’s probably rotted.”
“Probablyisn’tdefinitely. The sooner you grab the parts, the more chance we can use them. We might not need to, but I’d rather have the option if Hailey remembers and confirms the evidence is in the bank.”
“So you want to go in guns blazing?”
“If we have no other choice... yeah. Rhett bugging my phone proves he’s desperate and desperate men—”
