Dead Man's Hand (36 page)

“
To be honest
, there
’
s no way I can prove that. Only you can decide whether you can trust me or not. From the beginning, you
’
ve always been at the bottom of my list of suspects for Grant
’
s murder
,
even while you
’
re at the top of everyone else
’
s.
”

“
Dayton, for now, I
’
m going to take you at your word, as you
’
re going to have to take m
e on mine.
I had nothing to do with Grant
’
s murder or any of the others—especially not your dead fellow officer. There
’
s a lot I
’
ve done that I
’
m not proud of
,
but I
’
m no killer. And I
’
m
without doubt
not stupid enough to blow up my own car and commit suicide.
Everyone who knows me knows that I
’
m the only one who drives my wreck of a car.
That means the bomb was meant for me
and
whoever wants me dead is the s
ame person who killed that cop
.
”

“
Maybe so.
If you
’
re innocent, come in and prove it. You
’
ll have nothing to worry about.
”

“
I
’
m an African-American former football star who can be shown to have gone bad. Even if I had rock-solid proof of innocence, wh
ich I don
’
t, t
hings wouldn
’
t go my way in court. This isn
’
t OJ all over again.
”

Dayton laughed.
“
Okay, point taken.
But if you don
’
t want to negotiate surrender, why call?
”

“
Look,
we both want the same thing. Capturing the assassin and removing that death threat is my curre
nt number
-
one priority.
I believe that same assa
ssin killed your police officer. So the Vegas
Police
want to capture and arrest the killer as much as I do. I
’
ve done my homework on you, Dayton.
”

“
Ah, classic military principl
e—
know your enemy
,
”
Dayton said.

“
Are you my enemy?
”

“
I
’
ve already said I believe you
’
re innocent. So where do we go from here? Do you have any evidence or information about Grant
’
s real killer, or who is trying to kill you, if it
’
s a different person
?
”

“
Like you, I have suspicions but no proof about who murdered Grant, Pitt a
nd the prostitute. B
ut I do have some solid information about who
’
s trying to kill me. All I
’
ll say now is that I don
’
t think the person after me is the same person who committed the first three murders, but the two killings may still be connected. If that
’
s true, then capturing and arresting the
hit man
may lead
you
to the real Grant killer.
”

Now it was the detective
’
s turn to stop and think. Calvin was sure that his call had caught
him t
otally unprepared.

“
You
’
ve given me a lot. I
’
d appreciate it if you gave me a minute to think about where we are now.
”

“
Take your time
,
”
Calvin said.

Dale was thinking as fast as he could to catch up and think ahead.

Watters was desperate.

He
could see that
the
hit man
was a bigger threat to Watters
than the police.
That was understandable self-interest.
If Watters
did have information about the
hit man
, he
was offering someth
ing valuable. W
hat did he want in exchange?

Could he trust Watters? Only to the same point that Watters trusted him, assuming that Watters believed what Dale had said about his innocence.

While he
was thinking, one of the phone techs
confirmed that the
call was untraceable and unrecordable.
Now Dale
knew just how much trouble it was going to be to bring in Watters.

They had the same goal, even if their motives were different.

He
got back on the phone.
“
Okay
, y
ou got my attention. I
’
m ready to deal. What do you want from me, from us, in exchange for your information about the
hit man
?
”

Th
e call had now gone on for four
minutes.

“
I
’
ve been following the investigations, so I know
ho
w little you have. You
need me to help you solve this—no offense intended.
”

“
One thing at a time. What
’
s your plan?
”

Watters explained
it. Dale thought it had
a good probability of success
, but
it
risk
ed
lives, reputations and careers.
The usual.

When Watters
finished,
Dale
said,
“
I
’
m going to talk to a few members of my team, the ones
who have
balls and
who
I trust. Then I
’
ll see if the bosses will fine me if it fails.
”
Dale paused, then continued.
“
No
, scratch that. I know they
would. So screw them. Anyway, call me in an hour and I
’
ll tell you if it
’
s
a go.
”

“
Fine
.
”
Watters hung up
.

Book Five
:
Collision Course

Chapter 3
6

At
exactly
3
:00
p.m.
the phone rang.
Dale and Jimmy, with the sergeant standing in the background, answered separate phones.
“
Hello?
”

“
It
’
s me
,
”
Watters said.

Dale lic
ked his lips nervously
.
“
Okay
, we
’
ll do it
.
”

“
You are sure you can do your part?
”
There was
doubt
in Watters
’
voice.

“
Watters, don
’
t fuck with me. You need this and so do I, so what choice do you really have? Is
someone else going to help you
,
or do I sit back and let them catch you?
”

Watters was silent
.

“
We
’
ve held up our end by agreeing to do it your way,
”
Dale said.
“
There
’
s still a warrant out for your arrest and I can
’
t get it overturned
just
yet. But my boss has agreed to give
us some leeway and time to execute
the plan.
Now
I need something from you.
”

“
I
’
ll help. But I want something in return.
”

Dale signaled to the sergeant to pick up another phone and listen in.
“
What do you want?
”

“
When this is over, you
’
ll owe
me. I don
’
t trust witness protection programs, but you can do a couple of things to get me started on a new life.
”

Dale
turned to
the sergeant
,
who nodded.
“
Okay.
”

“
Good,
”
Watters said.
“
Now for what you want to know
.
Earlier this year, Pitt
told me that Sanders had put a substantial bid in for
Doug Grant
’
s casino.
He
declined the offer
,
which infuriated Sanders. It
’
s my belief that Sanders
’
greed led him to commit these murders.
”

“
Lots of people can see that scenario, but what
’
s your proof?
If you don
’
t have it, there
’
s no real deal here for us.
”

“
Not yet, but I know how to get it.
”

“
How?
”

“
I
also
know who killed your officer.
”

“
What?
”
Dale looked at Jimmy.

“
His name is Derek Baxter. He
’
s an ex-
M
arine
. He had to have been
hired by Sanders.
”

“
What
’
s the proof
?
”

“
Find Baxter. He
’
ll talk.
”

Watters
told
them about the
hit man
following him
and
what he thought the sniper
’
s next move would be
.
Dale listened quietly, not liking the situation one bit.

“
Okay
,
”
Dale said.
“
This sounds possibl
e. But I
’
m not happy. A lot of it is guesswork. You think I should protect you from everyone after your hide because of a guess and an internet search?
”

“
Detective, how many assassins have you ca
ught in Vegas? How many murders-for-
hire have there been in the last ten year
s
, would you say? The newspapers suggest ten or twelve.
”

“
So,
smartass,
how can we get this guy out into the open?
”

They went over details for almost twenty minutes.

When they had
hammered out the finer points, Dale said,
“
Okay
. Send his photo and all
you ha
ve on Baxter
.
”

“
Done. One last thing.
I need Rachel out of the house.
”

“
T
he girl
’
s with you?
”
Dale wasn
’
t really surprised though.

“
Yes.
I know how we can get her out before Baxter moves in.
”

Dale agreed.

When he
hung up, Jimmy spoke.
“
I agree Watters is smart, but Baxter is a pro
fessional
killer and is going to drop him.
”

“
Probably so.
Do you have a
better
plan?
”
He was getting tired of everyone else
’
s plan—kill Watters and put all the killings on him or try Watters and do the same thing. Jimmy was his old friend
,
but no saint about justice.

The fax spit out Baxter
’
s picture and the plan of Watters
’
fortress, including the location of booby traps.

Dale looked at Jimmy.
“
Call in Parker, Duncan, Smith and Ramirez
so we can set it up.
In your spare time, try to explain why a guilty killer would give all his best secrets and defenses away? Maybe we have a super-genius here
and
it is all a crazy trap. But I
’
m
pretty smart too
and
when you
’
re not lazy or hanging out with street sleaze, so are you.
”