by WL Knightly
Bay’s monotone didn’t do anything to convince Darek. “I think it was Alan. Are you sure you’re not trying to cover up for him?”
“Why would I? I’d like to know who the killer is, just the same as you. In case you haven’t figured it out, we may be far down the line of targets, but we’re still there on the list. I don’t intend on leaving you to be the last man standing, and I’m not going to be the asshole left holding the bag.”
“I have thought of that, which is why if you know anything that you’re not telling me, it would be best if you did. As far as I can tell, we need to be working together.” Darek didn’t want to be his buddy, but both of their necks were on the chopping block, and he was sure that Bay had already gone rogue and taken out a few of the others. Why? He could only guess it was to make sure they didn’t talk about the past.
“What about your lady love? Your beautiful FBI agent you’ve been sticking your lying dick in?”
Darek ignored the jab. “That’s done for now.” He wouldn’t give him the time of day on that subject.
“She called me, you know? I was a little bit surprised, actually, seeing that I told you not to let the cops get too close.” Bay’s voice was still void of emotions, and Darek figured he did it, knowing how it put people on edge, but he wasn’t going to be so easily shaken up.
“You can blame Seth for that. Lizzy found your name and Alan’s on the contract you signed for the property deal. I didn’t get to the scene in time to intercept, although they would have made that connection eventually anyway.”
“She wanted me to come in and give a statement,” said Bay. “I wasn’t happy about that.”
“I’m sure you weren’t.” There were other things about to happen that he wouldn’t like. “My partner is also about to put out a bulletin for anyone who has a zodiac brand like us or has seen one. She thinks she’s going to be able to save potential victims.”
“None of my lovers will rat me out,” he said. “What about yours?”
He seemed so confident and smug that Darek wanted to punch him in the teeth. He was glad they were having this conversation on the phone. “It won’t do well to have any of us identified.”
“So, what? We have a mark. It doesn’t prove that we’ve done anything wrong. And we haven’t as long as we stick to the story.”
“I am fairly certain that Alan is the one who killed Seth. There was a witness who saw him. I’m trying to keep that under wraps, but I need to know if he reaches out to you.”
“He already did,” said Bay with a stern voice. “He called and asked me if I had a place he could stay. He claimed that he and his wife were having troubles, but I wondered by his tone of desperation if he was in some kind of trouble. But with him, you never know. All of this is on the heels of me buying a building I didn’t need to save his ass from a gambling debt.”
“Or he killed Seth and needed a place to hide. But why? Why kill Seth?”
Bay chuckled. “It’s your job to find out, not mine to tell you. It still strikes me funny that you men always think I have all the answers.”
Darek wasn’t laughing.
Chapter 13
Alan
Alan had arrived in Phoenix the evening before, and once he got settled into a hotel not too far from where Corey lived, he made his plan. The first thing he wanted to do was see what kind of security the building had, and that was best done in the middle of the day. So, he’d spent the evening thinking of alternate options and waited to hear something from the killer.
The night passed and another miserable day dawned, and he found himself waking from unexpected sleep. He must have been so exhausted that he’d fallen asleep because he didn’t remember the last thing he’d been doing.
Alan rolled over and looked out the window. It wasn’t a nightmare. He was still in Phoenix, and he still had work to do.
Since he’d fallen asleep in his clothes and had packed light, he grabbed his keys and the gun he’d brought from home and left his hotel.
Corey’s building was a few blocks away, and instead of taking the truck, he decided to walk the city streets and see if he could scope out his building.
As he approached the area, which was a lot more populated with people heading in to work and hanging out in the coffee bars, he kept his head down. He had assumed it would be easy enough, go down and look at the security set up and then go back to the hotel to plot out his next move, but he wasn’t expecting to be recognized.
“Alan Lowe?”
The voice came from his left, and when he looked up, Corey was headed inside with a cup and a bag from the local coffee shop. “Hey, man. How’s it going?”
“Dude! It’s been so long, but you still look the same. What the hell are you doing in Phoenix?” Corey was still the same too, only a tad taller and less awkward than his camp days, which was saying a lot. He had always been the most awkward kid Alan had known, but now he seemed a bit more put together. His dark hair was trimmed short in the back, and he had traded his thick glasses for a more stylish pair.
“I’m just here on business.” He tried not to look too hard at the man and kept his eyes averted to their surroundings.
Corey sipped his coffee. “How the security business, anyway?”
“It’s good, I’m thinking of expanding, actually. I thought this might be a good city.” He had to tell him something. He only wished he could afford to expand, but the truth was, his systems were not selling as well as his competitors, and profits were down.
“Awesome. You should come up and hang out if you’re not busy.” Corey gestured to the nearby building.
Since Alan had come all that way, he couldn’t very well refuse, and he wondered if an opportunity might present itself. Besides, there was no better way to check out the security of the building than to go inside. “Sure, I’ve got nowhere to be for a while.”
“Awesome.” Corey walked into the building, and while it was a nice place, Alan didn’t see a doorman or a buzzer system. There were no cameras mounted outside as well, and there was only one in the front lobby, which looked like a dummy from what he could tell.
“This is a nice building. Do you know who owns the security contract?”
“I’m not sure. Each house has a code, but the public parts of the building are a free for all. Any asshole off the street can wander in. I could give you the owner’s name, but be warned. He’s an asshole and a tightwad.”
This might be easier than he thought, but then he got to Corey’s door. The keypad needed a code, and Corey typed it in so fast, he didn’t catch it. When Corey opened the door, Alan’s eyes lit up.
The place was a collector’s heaven. The walls were lined with comics, each carefully framed and displayed. One wall was nothing but a bookcase full of metal lunchboxes, and across the room was a shrine to Star Wars and a life-size statue of a Storm Trooper. “Wow.”
“It’s a lot, huh? I have to spend my money somewhere. My mother was always on my ass about it.”
Alan couldn’t help but notice how Corey referred to his mother in the past tense. “I’m so sorry. Did she pass away?” He realized he didn’t know a whole lot about the guy’s parents.
“Nah, she’s off with her boyfriend now that my dad died. We don’t talk. Dad left me more money than her, and we haven’t talked much since the will reading.”
“Dang, that’s rough. My mom and I don’t talk either. I don’t even know if she’s alive.” He didn’t know why he was confiding so much in Corey. Perhaps he could tell him lots of things. It’s not like it would matter once he was dead.
Alan got a sinking feeling. He looked around the apartment and realized he liked Corey. He didn’t want to have to murder him.
Corey put down his breakfast and stood next to Alan, who had stopped to look at the wall of metal lunchboxes. “It’s my first collection, other than comics. I had this one when I was a kid.” He pointed to a dull and dented Hot Wheels lunchbox. “I thought it was the coolest thing in the world.”
“I bet that was. I still collect those cars. I’ve bought too many to count.”
“Yeah, you’d think it was cool. But apparently no one else carried lunchboxes at my school, so I got my first black eye for carrying it.”
“That’s rough. Aren’t you supposed to keep things that have good memories attached to them?” Alan collected things that reminded him of better times, and when he was still young enough to play with cars, his mother had been around to buy them for him. She would let him choose one each time they went to the store, but only if he was good.
“I had a rough childhood.” He shrugged. “I keep it to remind me to be myself and to like things because I like them.”
At that moment, he thought it odd how he had come to know Corey in the first place. The scrawny kid with thick glasses had already been a part of the Zodiacs when he had come along, and he was actually one of the first members. Alan had often wondered what the club had been like in those days. Did they have some dark ritual then too? Something that had sealed them by blood like the sacrifice of Emily Johnson?
“That’s deep, man.”
“Yeah.” Corey walked over to his desk, which was set up right beside a big window like some kind of executive’s office. The view was amazing, but he couldn’t imagine what Corey did for a living, other than play in some fantasy world all day. “Sorry, I just need to log into work, and at least I’ll get paid while sitting here.” He gave a sly smile and then got to his feet. “Can I get you anything? I have sodas, juice, water. I’ve even got some beer if you’re so inclined at this hour.”
“A soda is fine.” Alan hoped it would calm his nerves to have a little caffeine. “What do you do for a living?”
“I create software for a gaming company. It’s the same company I sold my game to.”
“You sold a game? Like you created it?”
He passed Alan a cold soda. “Yes, from scratch. Metal Monsters.” He pointed to the advertisement that hung on the wall behind him. “It was a case of the right place, right time. I took a year off after my dad died. It seemed like I deserved it, but I was really just being lazy, and at that time, guilt set in and I thought I should do something useful. I decided instead of sitting around playing games all day, I’d create one, and it got picked up. I made more money in that year than I did in my entire life and all because I took a year off. It’s funny how life is sometimes.”
“Man, it must be nice to fall ass up into money.” Alan couldn’t help but be bitter, considering his luck.
Corey shrugged. “Inheritances do that. Don’t get me wrong. I’ve worked hard too, but yes, if my father hadn’t left me set up, I’d have never done any of it and would still be living with my mom and that jackass she’s dating. He’s my age.”
“Ouch. I guess I shouldn’t be jealous. I had a small fortune left to me too. I think you made wiser decisions, though.”
“It’s never too late to make a good decision. You’re young.” Corey brought his breakfast to his desk and gestured to the chair in front of it. “Sit down and make yourself comfortable. Tell me what the hell you’ve been up to for the past–what has it been? Ten years? Eleven?”
Alan walked over and sat in one of the recliners that were unlike anything he’d ever seen in someone’s office. “Fuck, I don’t know. I got married, had a couple of kids. My oldest is eight; the youngest is four. Both are a handful, and just as precious as their mother.”
“Wow, kids! I haven’t even had more than one serious relationship in all that time.” Corey brought his pastry to his mouth and took a big bite.
“You’re not dating anyone?”
“No, the last one, she ran off with my friend. But I was engaged for a short time. Just before my father died.” He gave a sly smile.
“Just before you made all the money?” Alan laughed. “Man, I bet she’s somewhere kicking herself.”
Corey laughed. “Yeah. I wouldn’t count on it. She married some rich, old bastard. She’ll have his money once he’s dead, and she won’t need mine.”
Alan glanced down at the stack of papers on the messy desk, and something caught his eye. “Emily Johnson?”
Corey froze and slowly looked up from his sandwich. “What’s that?”
“I’m sorry. I noticed her name on that paper. Sorry, it kind of sticks out.”
Corey looked over at the paper. “Oh, that. No, it’s no problem. That’s the list of people who bought the irons from Logan. He sold them, and it’s my job to figure out who the other buyers were. As you can see, the top buyer had a similar name, and then that iron was found with one of the victims.”
Alan didn’t know what to say. He stared blankly at the list.
“You did know about the killer, right? The one who’s been carving up Zodiacs and their loved ones in New York?”
“Yeah, I heard,” said Alan. “And Tad? How crazy was all that? I’d have never guessed he was sexually abused.”
“Yeah, that whole thing with his uncle gave me the willies. I heard his sister was killed too. Thank god we don’t live in New York.”
“Do you really think they’re targeting Zodiacs, though? I mean, some of them were wrapped up in that pedophile shit with Tad, right? It could have been about that.”
“How do you explain Seth?”
“You heard about that?”
“Yeah, I keep an eye on the news. I can’t believe he went to New York and got himself killed. I tell you, this asshole has some nerve, whoever it is.”
“I went to New York, and I didn’t get killed. But who is to say this killer won’t try to come for us all eventually? There are just as many of us, if not more, who don’t live there. I’d be a little more cautious if I were you.” He didn’t know what he was doing talking so much, but he couldn’t believe Corey really thought he was untouchable.
Then again, he’d felt the same way. Las Vegas seemed too far away for the killer until they’d taken his wife.
Corey put the paper down. “Anyway, I’m supposed to be figuring out if there’s some code when it comes to the other names. Like anagrams or some shit, like I’ve got time for that.” When he put the paper back down with the others, another note shifted in the pile, a sticky note that had come loose. Corey stuck it back on the list. “This too. It’s a number Darek wanted to be traced.”
Some of the numbers looked familiar. “Can I see that?”
“Sure, does it look familiar?”
“Darek gave you this?” He narrowed his eyes at the killer’s phone number. Why would Darek give it to Corey? Probably because he knew who it belonged to and couldn’t let his friends on the force know about it. Had he been getting calls too?
“Yeah, imagine that.” Corey chuckled. “He must not have any fucking connections on the force. I guess being an NYPD pig doesn’t have any perks.”
A cold tingle went down Allen’s spine. What if he knew the killer? What if it was Bay or Darek, and what if Corey was in on it all? He was feeling too paranoid to say another word.
After a moment, Corey leaned forward in his chair. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine. I just realized I need to go to that appointment. I wish I didn’t have to run off, but it’s been good catching up.”
“Hey, if you’re not doing anything later, you should stop by my friend’s club. I know you’re a married man and all, but it doesn’t hurt to look, right?”
“You hoping to score?”
“Shit, scoring isn’t a problem here, my friend. Especially in the VIP section.” He flashed a bright smile and got up to see Alan to the door.
“I might have to stop in. Thanks.” He took Corey’s had as he offered it and then left, still not knowing if he could do what he’d come all the way for.
Chapter 14
Darek
Being at his desk without Lizzy’s sweet ass perched on the corner was something that would take Darek some getting used to. She had him spoiled to her presence, and now she was nowhere in sight and hadn’t been all mornin
g.
On the plus side, he didn’t have to make awkward conversation to fill the time she would spend poring over reports, and he didn’t have to come up with any excuses to divert attention away from Bay or the others.
“Shouldn’t you be with your new partner?” asked Max as he passed by and sat at his desk.
Darek looked up and turned his chair to face his friend. “Maybe if I knew where she was. She didn’t come in today. She’s probably working for Sam and kissing his ass.”
“Or she’s talking to a witness and having a composite made of a possible suspect?” Max looked at him like he didn’t know what to think.
“She’s what? Seriously?” Darek got to his feet. “Please tell me you’re kidding?”
“No, sorry, man. I can’t tell you that.” Max let out a long breath. “What did you do to her? She’s treating you like shit, man. I mean, I know the two of you were close, hot and heavy and all that, but now, you’re hardly together, and she looks at you like she could stick a knife in you.”
He wasn’t about to tell Max that she had lied to him and that he didn’t think he could ever trust her again. “It’s complicated.” Just the very thing he was trying to avoid in life, and the reason he’d found himself in Raven’s bed a bit too often.
“Man, I really thought you had something.”
“So did I. So let’s stop talking about it.”
“Broke your heart, did she? Damn, man. I had no idea. Sorry.”
“Think what you want, but don’t pity me too much. I’m not sleeping alone.” He wouldn’t tell his friend who she was, but he didn’t mind bragging a bit. Besides, he hoped that the admission would get him to drop the whole Lizzy thing.
“Damn, you move fast, boy.” Max gave him a smile and held out his fist, stretching his arm as far as he could until Darek gave him a fist back.
“Yeah, well, it’s not relationship material or anything, just a fine piece of ass.”