Page 121 of Hard Evidence
“Hey, is this Sophy’s apartment?”
“Uh…”
“She’s selling a Pilates reformer.”Jez checked her watch and nodded toward the door.“We’re a little early.”
Ari took the hint and knocked.“Hey, Sophy?”
A chain rattled, and the door swung open.Jez waited for the cowboy-biker to seize the opportunity and step forward, then zapped him with eighty thousand volts and shoved him into the apartment.Sophy leapt sideways with a panicked squeak as his head hit the tile floor with acrack.
“What the…?”
It took ten seconds to zip-tie the guy’s wrists and ankles—Jez had practised plenty—and another five seconds to trap him under a chair.
“Why don’t you sit down?”Ari suggested to Sophy.
“What’s happening?Who is this crazy woman?Why is she here?”
“Shh, we just want to ask him a few questions.”Ari’s phone buzzed, and she checked the screen.“His name is Tucker Levins.”
“Sh-sh-should you be doing that?”
“Yes, absolutely.”
Jez took a seat and waited for the asshole to rejoin the land of the living.His eyelids finally flickered open, and he coughed a couple of times.
“Hey, Tucker.Did no one ever tell you it’s rude to hang around in hallways?”
“What the fuck?”
“You wanted to speak with Sophy, yes?Well, here she is.”
“Not Sophy.Amie.”
“Amie’s dead.”
Tucker’s eyes widened.“No way.I just saw her.”
Jez glanced to Ari, who shrugged.
“When did you see her?”
“Like, a week ago?Two weeks?”
“Don’t you watch the news?”
“Not much.Too depressing, man.”
“Man?”
“Uh, lady?And I just got back from a wellness retreat—no TV, no internet, no video games.Say, are you definitely gonna buy that reformer?”
“There is no reformer, you imbecile.When and where did you last see Amie?”
“Driving out of that place she works at.I didn’t kill her, ma— lady.She was with some dude.”
Huh.Did this just get a whole lot more interesting than anyone expected?
“What dude?”
