Dead Man's Hand (25 page)

He found Rachel sitting on the co
t, her face buried in her hands
,
sobbing
. He
sat down next to her.

“
Just tell me the truth, Calvin.
”
She sniffled.

He wrapped his massive arms around her and pulled Ra
chel close. Calvin
, with the
gentle hands of a Swedish masseuse,
rubbed her back and shoulders.

“
I didn
’
t tell you last night because it was late when I got home
and
you had enough to think about.
”

“
Did you do it?
”

He
stared hard into her eyes
.
“
I swear I didn
’
t, Rachel.
”

“
What happened?
”

“
I
’
m not sure. I did go to
his o
ffice, just to talk to Pitt
. To get some answers, find out what was
going on. But when I got there
I found him dead. And not just him, there was a woman with him.
”

“
A woman? Who?
”

“
I don
’
t know that either. I didn
’
t stick around long enough to find out. I didn
’
t want to be caught there
and
g
et framed
for that too
.
”

“
You promise you didn
’
t do it?
”

“
Have I ever lied to you before?
”

She shook her head.

“
I promise. I had nothing to do with it.
”

“
Then who did?
”

“
I don
’
t know. B
ut
I
’
m going to find out
.
”
He got up from the cot but Rachel pulled him back down.

“
Promise
you
’
ll tell me everything.
”

He stroked her hair and kissed her forehead.
“
I promise. Let
’
s go.
”

He led her
to the computer room.

“
It
’
s cold in here,
”
Rachel said, rubbing her bare arms.

“
Has to be
. There is enough processing power here to generate heat and risk damage.
”

Calvin logged on
. New
s of the Pitt murder was widespread
, but because it had only happened last night, little was reporte
d. He
read the summaries
and thought about the details.

The murders were
linked to Grant by
MO
.
Same killer?

“
Who would do such a thing?
”
Rachel asked.

“
I don
’
t know. But you know
Pitt
. Maybe an angry husband or an unpaid client. But I can
’
t think of any clients who hadn
’
t paid up.
”

It had to connect with the Grant murder.

Three
people benefitted from Grant
’
s death
—
Ace Sanders, Linda Grant and Shawn Grant.

Calvin
c
ould see
that
Sanders
had what it took to be a killer, but not P
itt.
H
e
could have
arranged for a
hit man
, however
. And Linda
’
s affair with Sanders, if real, indirectly connected her with Pitt.

A
bing
from the news
feed
broke his thoughts.

Rachel
saw it first.
“
Oh my God!
”
She
brought her hand to her mouth.
“
It
’
s you! And that
’
s your apartment!
”

Calvin felt a lump in his stomach. His pictures, a current one and an old one from college
,
appeared on the screen.

“
Oh my God, Calvin.
That
’
s your
apartment! Is that a body bag?
What
’
s going on?
”

He
didn
’
t have an answer.
He read the caption:
C
op killed inside his apartment and
a
bomb found underneath his car.

The news
feed triggered by his name meant another frame for another murder. He had to evade the cops—and he
now
had to keep ahead of whoever was trying to kill him.

Calvin knew that going out to meet people was a risk no matter how careful he was. If he was spotted or didn
’
t detect that he was being tailed, then he was putting at risk not only himself but also the person he was visiting.

He knew he never had to worry about Mike. The man was like a ghost and had select friends who knew what he really did. No one would ever trace him
and he never left a trail to follow
.

But everyone else was exposed.

Calvin
picked up his untraceable phone and punched in the number.

“
Hello?
”
The voice was
a raspy smoker
’
s
.

“
Dixie?
”

“
Calvin, is that you?
”
s
he whispered.

“
Can you talk?
”
He
couldn
’
t take any chances.

“
For you, always.
”
Her voice regained a normal tone and volume.

“
I
’
m sorry to call, Dixie, but I couldn
’
t think of anyone else. You
’
re the one who persuaded
Pitt
to take me on when no one else would. You
’
re the only one in the office I trust.
”

“
Thanks. Back then, I could talk Donnie into anyt
hing.
”
She grunted.
“
Boy, can I pick
‘
em
.
I have a his
tory of falling for the wrong ma
n. Once Nathan was born, Donnie wanted no part of me.
”

Dixie was a single mother
and
Calvin had
added her to the long list of reasons he hated Pitt.

“
What can I do?
”
she
asked
.

“
I do need something. But I don
’
t want to put you at risk. If you don
’
t feel comfortable helping me, I understand.
”

“
Don
’
t be silly. I don
’
t believe for a second you
’
re capable of doing what they say.
”

“
Thanks. Listen, I don
’
t want to open up old wounds, but I know that when you were with
Pitt
, he trusted you with everything.
”

“
A lot
changed since then.
”

“
I know, but you might know something and don
’
t realize it.
”

“
You want to know what Don
nie
was doing at his office that late?
”

He
knew
what Pitt was do
ing at his office
.

“
That would have been me last year
.
”
Her voice caught
.
“
I can
’
t believe I thought he would leave his wife for me.
That poor girl
…
”

“
D
id you no
tice anything
peculiar or out of the ordinary at all
at the office
?
”

“
Don
nie
would never change.
”
She almost spit out the words.
“
H
e was always the same and even more so
since our breakup. I can
’
t think of anything or anyone peculiar
except
Ace
Sanders was in a lot more
than usual.
But that
’
s no surprise. He and Donnie were just right for each other.
”

Calvin
had never trusted Sanders and had told
Pitt
that many times. But
Pitt
only
saw the money at
the end of the
tunnel.

Sanders without a doubt
had
an
o
pportunity to kill Pitt
.

“
Did
Pitt
ever talk about Sanders?
”

“
Sure, lots of pillow talk. Donnie would o
pen up afterwards
.
”

“
So what was their partnership like?
”

“
Huh, I don
’
t think
you could call it a partnership. N
ot according to Donnie. He didn
’
t trust
him
. In fact,
he
was terrified of the man.
He
had
been hesitant about
any business deals with
him
, but like usual,
he
let his greed win out
. He said
Ace
was unpredictable
and Donnie
never knew what
he
was capable of.
”

Calvin
heard her
lighting a cigarette. She had quit
two years ago
when she had learned she was
pregnant, but the murder
must have
sent
her spiraling back
.
“
Are you sure you haven
’
t seen anything suspicious at all?
”

He
heard her
take a drag from the cigarette.

“
No.
”
S
he hesitated
a moment.
“
Wait, now that you mention it
and
since we
’
re talking about Ace, I did hear something one morning last week.
”

“
Go on.
”
Calvin
felt lucky
.

“
I happened to be passin
g by the office when Ace
was ins
ide and I overheard a discussion
.
He
said something about when he took over
t
he Greek, Don
nie
would be his sil
ent partner
. Whe
n Don
nie
saw me, he
raced across the room and shut the door.
”