Gregg Hurwitz - You're Next

‘Listen,’ Mike said, ‘I know this is about the last thing you need right now-’

But Hank showed little interest in taking that detour. ‘There’s more,’ he said, cutting Mike off. ‘William’s got a robust record, as you can imagine, a good list of known associates. One is Roger Drake, a six-foot-six piece of work, like a Mack truck with no one behind the windshield.’

‘Dodge.’

‘That’s right. Now, when the cops searched the blocks surrounding your house, they didn’t find a vehicle registered to Hanley. So someone dropped him off.’

‘Or he rode with Rick Graham. The cop I-’

‘Shep mentioned that.’ Hank drew in a breath, mouth corkscrewing to the side. ‘When the ambulance and first responders arrived, they said there was no one at the house but Annabel. And there’s no Rick Graham working for any law-enforcement agency in this county.’

‘Can you check other ones?’

‘There are a lot of counties from sea to shining sea. Could the badge have been a fake?’

‘He had an exempt government vehicle. Plus, I got a read on him. The guy was a cop. A lifer, too – he had the swagger, the demeanor, the whole thing.’

Hank pulled his gaze to the ceiling, as close to an eye roll as he’d allow. He wobbled on his feet a bit, and Mike realized that he needed to sit but was too proud to ask, and Mike had been too dense to offer.

Mike sat on the bed and gestured, and Hank, grimacing, eased himself down into a chair. The effort left him short of breath again, his eyelids sluggish when he blinked. What kind of meds was he battling just to be here, just to be upright? A wave of gratitude washed over Mike. He wanted to express it somehow, but, as if reading his thoughts, Hank spun his hand for Mike to proceed, a curt, irritated gesture.

Mike continued. ‘I’m thinking Graham was the backstop in case things got sticky and the authorities got involved. That’s why once he caught wind of the 911 call, he went in instead of Dodge and William.’

‘If he’s really a cop, then why did he take off?’ Hank said. ‘Why wouldn’t he have just shot you and filed a false report?’

‘Maybe he was planning to after he finished sweeping the house. I think he figured he’d see if he could handle it quick and easy. If he gets spotted, he explains his way out of it. If he can sneak away, even better.’

Hank frowned skeptically. ‘A cop executioner? In bed with a lowlife like Hanley Burrell?’

‘I figure Graham for the guy who put out that alert on me.’

‘So the original plan was to send in Hanley alone to do the dirty work?’

‘I think so. Hanley kicks in the door, overpowers Annabel, has time to set up and wait for me. When I get home with’ – Mike’s fingers nervously tapped the monitor clipped to his belt – ‘Kat, he’s got privacy and my wife and daughter there to make me cooperate with whatever the hell they want. Then he cleans up afterward. Kills me.’ He pictured the drop cloth, wadded on the living-room floor. ‘At that point Annabel and Kat would be witnesses-’ He severed the thought. ‘But Hanley couldn’t keep it under control until I got there.’

A cry wavered through the thin wall. Kat. Mike tensed.

‘Go,’ Hank said.

Mike hurried next door, patted Kat back to sleep, and returned, now with Shep at his heels. Shep crossed his arms, leaned against the bureau.

Hank said, ‘Shep, I presume?’

Shep nodded.

Hank turned to Mike. ‘Look, I’m a second-rate investigator with a foot in the grave. But I know a little.’ With thumb and forefinger, he pinched off an inch of air to show how thin his expertise was. ‘And what little I do know, I know about crap like this. The longer you leave things the way they are, the harder it’s gonna be to get back.’

‘Get back where?’ Mike said.

‘You left a corpse and your wife’s body behind, went on the lam with your daughter, and pulled half a mil out of the bank.’

‘Three hundred thousand.’

‘Oh. Well then.’

‘It’s not what you think,’ Mike said.

‘I haven’t told you what I think.’

Mike said nothing.

‘Every hour that passes, you look more suspicious,’ Hank said.

‘You’re acting like a seasoned criminal.’ He shot a glance at Shep. ‘No offense.’

Shep shrugged. ‘None taken.’

‘If you stay in hiding, you will be vilified,’ Hank continued. ‘You will lose control of what story gets told and which leads get investigated.’

‘Spoken like a cop,’ Shep said.

‘I can’t walk from my bed to the toilet without wheezing anymore, son. I’m too tired to play sides.’ Hank’s focus shifted back to Mike. ‘I want to help you. Maybe I need a distraction. Maybe it’s more than a distraction. Hell, if I can do one right thing before…’ He made a noise, amusement at his folly, and Mike couldn’t help but wonder if Hank’s steadfastness was tied, somehow, to the worn school picture of the young boy thumbtacked to his office wall. Hank continued, ‘I spend my days staring down the barrel. I see things with a certain clarity now. Perspective, I think they call it.’

Mike started to interrupt, but Hank held up a hand, cutting him off. ‘At the moment, you’re merely a person of interest in this case. You have not been formally charged. You’ve got a very limited window to step back from the edge. Now, the situation is drastic, and you’ve never struck me as someone who wanted only convenient facts, so I’m gonna lay out the picture, and let’s skip the part where you’re outraged and emotional, because, Mike, you don’t have the time. There are whispers of infidelity, you walked in on your wife…’ His hand churned the air. ‘You can guess how that script’ll play. Ninety percent of the game right now is how you look, and you look guilty. Even your name: Michael Wingate. You created a fake identity-’

‘No,’ Mike said sharply. ‘I was never Mike Doe. I left behind a fake identity.’

‘If they charge you with assaulting your wife-’

‘Charge me for that?’

‘They can take away your health-care-proxy rights. Then who makes the choices for Annabel? And what are you gonna do with Katherine? Raise her on the run? Bonnie and Clyde, eating beans and franks under the open western sky? There’s no play like that, not in this day and age. Especially not for a parent. We’ve gotta find someone we trust and get you with the authorities.’

Shep said, ‘Bad idea.’

Hank swung his head over to take in Shep. ‘Don’t get stuck on stupid, son. This ain’t you against the world.’

‘It might be,’ Shep said. ‘He killed the man’s brother. These guys weren’t exactly agreeable before that.’

‘You’re right. They’re bad news, it’s hunting season, and they don’t have a little girl slowing them down.’

‘Hunting season,’ Shep said. ‘I like that.’

Hank kept his stare on Mike, as if Mike had made the last remark instead of Shep. ‘So that’s it? You gonna track them yourself? With an eight-year-old girl?’

Mike looked away, fidgeting.

‘She’s precocious,’ Shep answered.

‘So are William Burrell and Roger Drake. And you know what else? They’ve got more practice at this.’ Hank heaved a sigh. ‘The authorities will be able to protect you and your daughter better than you can out here on your own.’

‘Unless the authorities I land with are in with Graham,’ Mike said. ‘In which case I’d be walking myself – and Kat – into the lion’s den. I can’t protect her in custody.’

‘All cops are not corrupt,’ Hank said wearily. The dappled skin over his temple twitched. He looked suddenly brittle, as though he might shatter if you threw the wrong words at him. ‘I gotta see my doctor at eight. If you give me a few hours after that, I will find you a department with honest cops who can protect you, alert or no alert.’