Page 59 of Murder Notes
“Four last night and one this morning.”
“Right,” I say. “Five times. I need you to find out why Marcus Rick is on a leave of absence, no matter what it takes to find out. And I need to know everything good, bad, and ugly about Nelson Moser.”
“Seriously, Lilah?” Tic Tac demands, while Kane steps to my side, close but not quite touching me, as if he’s ready to grab me before I dart away. But I’m not going anywhere without answers.
“Seriously,” I confirm.
“You do know Rick’s data will be in sealed Human Resources files?” Tic Tac says.
“And?”
“It’s personnel files, Lilah. That’s a big deal.”
“I thought I recommended you as a point man because you had a big set on you.”
“Don’t go there. I have balls. You do not.”
“Or maybe,” I continue, “you do, but just not the skill to do this?”
“God how I hate it when you push my buttons, and I know you’re doing it, and yet still I let you get away with it. I’ll call you back.” He hangs up and the sliding glass doors part, allowing Kane and me to enter the airport, but he doesn’t speak, a theme he does well, but he might as well be screaming his energy is so damn intense. We walk a few feet, clearing the crowd, and I expect something from him but get nothing, and I’m not letting that fly.
I speed up and step in front of him. “Talk to me.”
He gives me a hooded stare, his expression hard, unreadable. “I told you,” he says. “I don’t—”
I poke his chest. “Do not tell me you know nothing. Because the man I knew back then—”
“Knew how to get rid of a body?”
“You wouldn’t have stopped looking until you found out who that man was. You saw the tattoo. You wouldn’t have ignored that as a clue. Either that or you never really loved me.”
He grabs my arm and pulls me close. “Never really loved you? Are you really even saying that to me?”
“I’m saying I know you looked into this.”
“Yes. I did.”
“And yet you found nothing? You don’t fail at anything.”
“I didn’t exactly fingerprint the guy before I got rid of him, Lilah.”
“Did he have ID?”
“You’ve asked me this before. You know the answer.”
“He didn’t.”
“He didn’t.” He surprises me by changing the subject. “And I’ll save your boy Tic Tac some trouble and tell you what I know. That is what you call your tech guy, right? Tic Tac?”
“You really are a stalker, Kane.”
“I prefer to think of myself as informed. Back to what I know.”
“Too much,” I say.
He ignores that remark and moves on. “Marcus Rick, the detective you mentioned on the phone, was in a corner store when a robbery took place and tried to help. He ended up with a bullet in his gut. Nelson is known to be low-down and dirty, as in he would shoot his partner in the back and did once. And since I remember him to be unfriendly to you, I’d say it’s interesting that he ended up on this case.”
My mind goes to Greg. “Shit.” I dig for my phone and pull it out, dialing his number only to get his voice mail. “Don’t ask about that case I told you to ask about until you talk to me.” I look at Kane. “I need to go.” I start to turn away and he grabs my arm.
