Beyond Suspicion

“Where’d you get those tattoos?”

He looked confused, then seemed to understand. “You served time?”

“I think of it that way.”

“What for?”

“What’s it to you?”

“Just curious.”

The creaking noise resumed overhead, the steady squeak of the bed in the room above them. Katrina glanced at the ceiling, then shot Theo a look that required no elaboration.

“You were a hooker?” he said.

“No. I refused to be one.”

“They put you in jail because you wouldn’t ho’? I don’t get it.” The squeaking stopped. Theo lay still for a moment, still staring at the ceiling. “To be honest, I don’t get any of this. You’re a government informant. If someone is making you do something you don’t want to do, just go to the police.”

“It’s not that simple.”

“Just explain to them that things have gotten out of hand. Someone wants you to hit me or they’re go

“I can’t do that.”

“Why not?”

“Because if I go to the police and tell them the fix I’m in, they’ll pull me from the assignment.”

“Exactly. Problem solved.”

“You just don’t understand.” Her gaze drifted across the room, then settled on the brownish-red spot of dried blood on the carpet. “There’s an old Russian proverb,” she said vaguely. “’Revenge is the sweetest form of passion.’”

“What does that have to do with calling the police?”

“If they pull me off the job now, I stifle my own passion.”

He looked straight at her, seeming to understand that somewhere behind those troubled brown eyes was an old score to settle.

“I’m good at revenge. Maybe I could help.”

“This is something I have to do myself.”

He nodded, then gave a little tug that rattled the chains of his handcuffs. “Fu

“What?”

“When I was fifteen, I used to have this fantasy about being kidnapped by a Latina babe.”

“Not exactly living up to the dream, is it?”

“Nope.”

“Hate to break this to you, pal. Life never does.” She stuffed the gag back in his mouth and cinched up the knot behind his head.

60

•

Jack went from Theo’s to Sparky’s. It was getting late, but the crowd had found its collective second wind. Loud country music was cranking on the sound system, and a group of Garth Brooks wa

Theo’s gone one night, and the place is already swarming with rednecks.

Like most dives, Sparky’s was the kind of place where liquor flowed freely but everything else came at a price. All day long, theories about Theo’s disappearance had been bouncing off the walls. For twenty bucks the barmaid steered Jack in the most promising direction.

“Buy you a drink?” said Jack as he sidled up to the bar.

A ski

“No, sorry. But I have a couple friends who are, if you’re interested.”

He popped up from his barstool. “Watch your mouth, jackass.”

“Easy, friend. Just a little joke.”

“I don’t think you’re so fu

Jack took a moment. Usually he tried to befriend people before bullying them into divulging information, but this guy was too much of a jerk to waste time schmoozing.

“You’re a truck driver, aren’t you?”

“That’s right.”

“That’s your rig parked out back?”

“What’s it to you?”

“I hear you sell drugs out of it.”

“That’s bullshit.”

“Don’t worry. I’m not a cop.”

“I don’t sell nothin’ to nobody. Just drive my truck, that’s all.”

“Well, I hear differently. So let me spell this out for you. Theo Knight left this joint around two o’clock this morning. Nobody’s seen him since. His partner tells me the cops have been here asking questions. I hear you’re the only one around here who seems to have any idea what might have happened to him.”

“I didn’t tell the cops nothin’.”

“I’m sure you didn’t. That’s because you were out cutting a deal in your truck when you saw what you saw.”

He smiled nervously. “You heard that, huh?”

“From a good source. So, you want to tell me what caught your eye? Or should I call my old boss at the U.S. attorney’s office and tell him to get a search warrant for your rig?”

The trucker swirled the ice cubes around in his glass, sipped the last few drops of bourbon. “Tough guy, are you?”

“Just a man with a mission.”

He checked the door, as if it were some big secret, then glanced back and said, “Your friend Theo left with some chick.”

“Who?”

“A brunette. Black clothes, nice body. Could have been Latina. She was hanging around his car out back in the parking lot, then she got in. He came out about twenty minutes later, and they drove off together. That’s all I saw.”

“Did they seem friendly together, were they arguing, or what?”

“I didn’t see them together. His Jetta has dark tinted windows, so I couldn’t see inside. Like I say, I saw her get in, then a little later he gets in. I don’t know if she was smoking a joint in there or what. She waited for him, then they left. That’s it.”

“Anything else you remember?”

“Yeah. The bumper sticker. It said, i brake for porn stars. It just kind of stuck in my brain.”

Definitely Theo’s car, thought Jack. “That’s all I need to know. Thanks.”

Jack climbed off the barstool and headed out the door to the parking lot, leaving the loud music and stale odors behind him. The moon was almost full, bright enough to cast his shadow across the parking lot. He leaned against his car, thinking, but he didn’t have to think long. Brunette, good-looking, nice body. It was just as he’d suspected, and the trucker’s story was all the ammunition he needed.

He pulled his phone from his pocket, then stopped, not sure whom to call first. If he notified the cops, Katrina would probably hire herself a lawyer and never talk. He gave it another moment’s thought, then went with his gut and dialed the cell-phone number Katrina had given him outside the mobile blood unit.

“What did you do to Theo Knight?” he said when she answered.

There was silence. Jack said, “Don’t hang up, Katrina. I’m onto you. Theo’s missing, and you left Sparky’s with him last night.”

“Says who?”

“I have a witness who saw you waiting in the car.”

She didn’t answer. Jack said, “I’m giving you one chance to tell me what happened to Theo. If you don’t, I’m going to the police.”

She paused, a long, tense silence that bespoke her angst.

Jack said, “What’s it going to be?”

“Don’t go to the police.”

“Why shouldn’t I?”

“Because if you do, there’s a good chance Theo could end up dead.”

“Is that a threat?”

“No.”

“Is he alive?”

“Yes.”

“Do you know that for a fact?”

“Yes.”

“Let me be clear about this. Are you saying you kidnapped him?”

“No. I mean, not really. It’s not like I’m asking for a ransom or anything. It’s more like he’s in hiding, for his own safety.”

“Say what?”

“All I can tell you is that I’ll do everything I can to keep him safe. But if you butt in, there’s a good chance he’ll end up dead. And it won’t be my fault.”

“What’s going on?”

“I can’t explain now. Just give me twenty-four hours to sort some things out.”

“Are you out of your mind?”

“You just have to trust me on this. I’m a confidential informant, I’m not a criminal, remember?”

“I’m not trusting you anymore. I’m going to the police.”

“Fine. Go. But after keeping your friend alive on death row for all those years, it seems pretty stupid of you to sign his death warrant now. And that’s exactly what you’d be doing if you run to the cops.”

Jack gripped the phone, thinking. “I don’t like this. After that meeting at the blood unit, I thought we had a working relationship. But I haven’t heard a thing from you about that Georgia case, or anything else, for that matter.”