Page 53 of The Accomplice
‘My best friend’s life is on the line. Why should I trust you after you lied to us ?’
The dust motes whirled through a sunbeam, contrasting how perfectly still Lake had become. No twitching, scratching, nervous movement. His engine, which was always going, had suddenly stalled. Bloch knew he was debating his next move. He would either double-down on the lie, in which case Bloch would dump his ass on the floor and get her own tech, or he could come clean.
His gaze never wavered from her, as if he were calculating her likely response.
He held up his hands, palms facing her, fingers spread. ‘Okay, you got me. I’m not working for the feds.’
‘So why did you lie ?’
‘Because I don’t want to arrest Daniel Miller. I want to kill him. And that doesn’t help your case with Carrie one bit. I needed an incentive so I could get another investigator to help me, and so I could have access to the FBI file on the murders. Your files. I’m sorry I lied. If I had told you the truth you wouldn’t have let me in, and like I said, I have a problem trusting people.’
‘So why shouldn’t I cut you out of this investigation right now ?’
He licked his dry lips, stared at the floor for a second, and when he spoke, his voice crackled. His tone went high, then low – splintered with a grief that he couldn’t hide.
‘Because my friend is already dead. And I can’t let that go. I can help you catch him and get your friend out alive. There’s another life on the line now. That’s more important than revenge. I give you my word I won’t kill him.’
Bloch paused for a second, taking it all in. Then she nodded.
‘Is that okay ? Is that it ? We’re good ? Seriously ?’ he asked.
‘You want a parade ? Let’s go check on the neighbor.’
Kate’s neighbor was unlikely to open the door for Bloch after their altercation last night. She decided it would be better to go straight in.
She put her back to the wall opposite, took two big steps forward, at speed, and the third put her right foot through the hinges of the door. Kate’s neighbor sat on his couch, beer in one hand. The other hand didn’t look usable. His pinkie finger was in a splint. A large Band-Aid covered his nose. Deep violet bruising surrounded his fearful eyes.
He started whimpering as Bloch grabbed him by the shirt, hauled him to his feet then planted him into the nearby wall.
‘Did you see or hear anyone in the hallway late last night, after I left ?’
‘I already said I wasn’t going to the cops,’ he said.
Bloch pulled him away from the wall, then slammed him back into it.
‘I’m not talking about this. This isn’t about you. I don’t have much time and I need to know if you saw or heard anyone, or anything, last night after I left.
‘Go on, hit me,’ he said, then held up his broken pinkie finger. ‘What else could youpossiblydo to me ?’
Lake took hold of the man’s broken finger, said, ‘I could think of at least nine other things.’
‘Please …’ said the man. ‘I was in the emergency room. I didn’t see nothing.’
‘You didn’t see a stranger in the hallways, a strange car parked outside, or—’
‘Music,’ he said.
‘What music ?’
‘I got home from the ER around one a.m., couldn’t sleep. Then I heard your friend playing some old-timey music. And then I went to sleep. That’s it. That’s all.’
Kate was not into classic songs. She liked Beyonce and Taylor Swift.
‘What kind of old-timey music ?’
‘It was kinda like that song they play inBack to The Future.You know, the movie. After Michael J. Fox goes back in time.’
‘Let him go,’ said Lake.
