by Nora Kane
“Tommy wishes you hadn’t bitched out,” Stafford replied. “Odds are, he set him up.”
Margot gave him a hard stare.
“Save the intimidation tactics for someone else,” Stafford told her. “I looked up your MMA career. I wasn’t impressed.”
“How many pro fights do you have under your belt?”
“Enough I’m not worried about you.”
Margot looked him over. There was none of the excess scar tissue around the eyes fighters often get and both his ears were immaculate. His nose was straight as well. Margot supposed a fighter could end a career without ever breaking his nose or developing cauliflower ears, but it was unlikely. He had the physique of a fighter, but Margot doubted he ever was one.
That didn’t mean he couldn’t kick her ass. He was bigger by about six inches and sixty pounds.
His extra weight wasn’t fat either. There were good reasons fights were set up according to gender and weight class.
“There’s no need to be hostile,” Myers said to both of them. “While a line on Mal would be great, that’s not the reason we’re here. We were hoping you’d talk to Harry for us. Maybe offer your services.”
“Offer my services?”
“You looked into that kid's death, the one who worked for him and ended up getting shanked in lock up.”
“You mean Lucas.”
“That’s the one. Given how you actually solved that one, I’d think he’d be open to hiring you again.”
Margot looked over at Stafford. “Did he tell you who did that one?”
“He didn’t have to,” Stafford said. “It seems sniffing out dirty cops is kind of your thing.
I guess it takes one to know one.”
Margot ignored that and looked at Myers. “You want me to investigate a homicide?”
“No, not really. I want you to get close to Harry Lee.”
“You want me to be your snitch?”
“I wouldn’t phrase it that way.”
“How would you phrase it?”
“I want you to help me out. Harry takes your calls. I think he trusts you as much as he trusts anybody. Especially now.”
“So, you want me to destroy that trust?”
“Is the trust of a gangster really worth saving?”
Margot felt the answer should have been no, but in truth, she wasn’t sure.
“She’s about to ask what’s in it for her,” Stafford said to Myers. “These private eyes types are always predictable.”
“Is that so?”
“Am I wrong?”
“Yeah.”
“Then what’s holding you back?”
“I’m not on the O.C. task force, or even a cop at all. Organized crime isn’t my problem.”
“Organized crime is everybody’s problem.”
“Okay, even though that’s questionable, I’ll grant you that and rephrase my answer.
Organized Crime isn’t my job, and I don’t want to die doing your job. I’ve got myself involved more than once, and I’m done with it.”
“Maybe you should look at it as a chance to finish it all. Right now, all we know is there are bodies stacking up. We don’t know why and until we do, people are going to keep getting killed.”
“And if you drag me into this again, one of those people getting killed is probably going to be me, and I kind of like living right now.”
“What does Cassandra Cole think?” Stafford asked. “Is she happy staying stashed at some women's shelter? Are you going to keep her there the rest of her life?”
“Who says she’s at a women’s shelter?”
Stafford shrugged. “It makes sense since your boss has an agreement with one. Are you saying she isn’t?”
“I’m not saying either way.”
“I know you’ve had some bad experiences with cops lately, Margot, but you can trust us.”
“Sure I can, until I can’t.”
“Wouldn’t you like to know who killed Ames? Who almost killed Radcliff?”
Margot was quiet again.
“Okay, here’s the deal,” Margot told them after a long silence. “If Harry will talk to me, I’ll talk to him. I’m not offering to solve Tommy’s murder or anything like that. Even if he asks, I'm going to say no. Nothing good comes from working for mobsters, and I’m serious about wanting out of this game. If I was a cat, I’d be on life eleven, and like I said, I like being alive right now.”
“Would you wear a wire?” Stafford asks.
“No, but if he tells me anything useful, I’ll pass it on.”
“I feel like you're doing the minimum for us.”
“No, I’m going above and beyond.”
“When do you think you’ll talk to him?”
“I don’t know, I still have a day job. And there’s no guarantee he’ll even talk to me at all.”
“Maybe you could call him now,” Stafford suggested.
“With you here? No way. In fact, the sooner you leave, the sooner I can finish filling out insurance fraud reports and then the sooner I can try to reach Harry.”
Myers put his business card on her desk and then stood up. “Thanks for doing this, Margot. We appreciate it.”
“We’ll see about that.”
“Before I leave—you still looking for Mal?”
“No.”
“You sure?”
“I’ve got your number. If he shows up at my place, you’ll be the first person I call.”
Myers and Stafford left.
Margot looked at her phone. Harry Lee’s number was in her contacts. Even if Myers and his friend from the Feds weren't trying to strongarm her into being their informant, she wanted to talk to him anyway. Tommy was a thug who’d once hit her hard enough in the stomach to have her curled up in the fetal position on the sidewalk, but she kind of liked him. He’d helped her when she was working the Masterson Hot Tub Massacre. She felt like she should be offering her condolences.
There was, however, a ton of paperwork to do and due to Myers and Stafford showing up, she was way behind. Margot put down the phone and started typing reports.
Chapter 2
“I tried to stop her, but she became rather belligerent.”
“Stop who?” Margot asked Shaw’s long-time secretary, Ms. Collins, as she came into the office after lunch. She was feeling pretty good having caught up on her paperwork and was thinking she had time to not only call but meet Harry Lee.
“Miss Dithers.”
“It’s Miss now? It used to be Mrs.”
“And was briefly Ms., if I remember correctly, but she was very insistent I call her Miss this time around.”
“Did she say what she wanted?”
“Other than to talk to you? No. Even though I told her under no certain terms, she’s waiting in your office. Sorry.”
“There’s nothing to apologize for. It’s not your fault Miss Dithers has difficulty listening.
I’ll take care of it.”
Instead of going straight to her office, Margot knocked on Shaw’s door. As she’d suspected, he was still at lunch. She stepped inside his office and called Harry. She wasn’t surprised he didn’t answer; he never did. She left a message and then went to deal with Miss Dithers.
Margot walked into her office and saw Miss Dithers was sitting in one of the chairs Margot kept for potential clients. Not long ago, Dithers was a client herself. At the time, she was
Mrs. Dithers and she’d told Margot her husband was cheating on her. She’d wanted Margot to catch him in the act. Instead, Margot had caught him performing duties for some local mobster.
Margot found out later that Mrs. Dithers had known all about her husband’s illegal activities and just wanted a witness to gain leverage in a divorce settlement. Margot had her own problems with organized crime even before Stafford and Myers showed up this morning and didn’t need Mrs. Dithers bringing her anymore. She’d made it clear that not only she wasn’t going to help her in the divorce, but she would no longer be working
for her in any capacity.
“I’m going to ask you nicely to leave, one time,” Margot announced as she went over and sat behind her desk.
“And if I refuse?”
“Then I’m going to do something we’re both going to regret. Me, because I’ll feel a little guilty; you, because you’ll feel a great deal of pain.”
“You’re threatening me?”
“I’m just telling you how it’s going to go. Would you please leave my office, Ms.
Dithers?”
“It’s Miss now.”
“I don’t really care. I’ve asked nicely. What’s next is up to you.”
“They killed him.”
Margot knew she should be twisting Miss Dithers’ arm behind her back and dragging her out of the office, but she couldn’t help herself. “Who killed who?”
“My husband, or rather ex-husband.”
“Okay, I take it he was the victim?”
“Yes, I believe you know his killer as well.”
“I do?”
“You saw him.”
“The man I saw is dead and has been for several months. I was there for his death.”
“Then it was one of his associates.”
“Okay, that’s certainly possible. Things like that happen when you get involved with professional criminals. Why are you telling me? This seems like a matter for the police.”
“I want you to find his killer.”
“Like I said, this seems like a matter for the police.”
“They don’t believe me.”
“Murder isn’t usually a matter of belief. There’s either a dead body or there isn’t.”
“No one’s found a body.”
“Then are you sure he’s dead? You’re going by Miss now, so the marriage is over. Did you consider he just went somewhere without telling you where? It’s what single people do.”
“He wouldn’t be gone this long, and it’s not just me. No one has seen him.”
“How long has he been missing?”
“A week. I went to the police, but they dismissed me like you just tried to.”
“Okay, but this is not my problem.”
“It could be if I hire you.”
“Let me be clear, I don’t want you as a client. If you’d like, I can make some recommendations, but that is as far as I’m going to help you.”
“That doesn't seem like a very good business model.”
“I guess that’s more my problem than yours. So, since I’ve already asked you nicely to leave…”
“It needs to be you.”
“No, it doesn’t.”
“Yes, it does. It was your fault. You should fix it.”
“How was it my fault?”
“He let you see him make the drop. That must have made them mad. Why would they kill him otherwise?”
“Lots of reasons. They wouldn’t even need a good one. It’s kind of what they do. Even if his disappearance has something to do with my surveillance, you need to ask yourself why I was there?”
Miss Dithers decided she didn’t want to answer that one since that would place the blame back on her.
“Remember what I said earlier about how you’re going to leave if asking nicely didn’t work?”
“I didn’t want to be married to him any longer, but he didn’t deserve this.”
“You should have thought about that before you had me follow him.”
“You know if they got him over that, they’ll come for you next.”
“Is that supposed to make me want to help you?”
“Maybe if you got them first. You wouldn’t be helping me, you’d be helping yourself.”
Margot stood up. “I think I’ve given you more warning than you deserve.”
“The man you saw already came after you, from what I understand.”
“How do you know about that?”
“I pay attention.”
“Apparently not as well as you think because I thought I’d made it pretty clear what’s going to happen if you don’t leave.”
Miss Dithers put her hands up. “Fine, if you don’t want to help I’ll go elsewhere.”
Margot went around the desk, and Miss Dithers stood up and started for the door.
“Apologize to Ms. Collins on your way out. She doesn’t deserve your abuse.”
“Who said I was abusive?”
“I did.”
Miss Dithers left Margot’s office.
Margot considered sitting down and checking her email but instead followed Miss Dithers out to make sure she told Ms. Collins she was sorry.
She was already out of the office by the time Margot reached Ms. Collins’s desk.
“Did she apologize?”
“She didn’t say a word.”
Margot started for the door.
“You don’t have to make her. It wouldn’t be sincere anyway.”
“I know, but I told her to.”
Margot stepped out and saw Miss Dithers on her phone. She didn’t notice Margot come out of the office and didn’t turn around. Margot was about to say something to her, but since she was on the phone, out of general courtesy, she held her tongue.
“She wouldn’t do it. She was very insistent,” Miss Dithers told the person on the other end of the line. After a bit of silence, she said, “Damn it, this isn’t fair, I did my best.”
Miss Dithers put her phone back in her purse.
Instead of admonishing her about her lack of an apology, Margot asked, “Who wouldn’t do what?”
“I think you know the answer to that.”
“What isn’t fair? Did someone ask you to hire me?”
“Have you changed your mind?”
“No.”
“Then we have nothing to talk about.”
Margot let her go. A decision she would soon regret.
Chapter 3
“Hey, you got a minute?” she asked Radcliff who was back to work after recovering from his wounds from the drive-by shooting. Though he would say he was ready to get back to being a homicide detective, they had him confined to desk duty. Since she was nearly caught up on the paperwork and Harry hadn’t returned her call, Margot had decided to give her favorite homicide detective a call instead.