James Grippando - Beyond Suspicion

He nodded, then gave a little tug that rattled the chains of his handcuffs. “Funny.”

“What?”

“When I was fifteen, I used to have this fantasy about being kidnapped by a Latina babe.”

“Not exactly living up to the dream, is it?”

“Nope.”

“Hate to break this to you, pal. Life never does.” She stuffed the gag back in his mouth and cinched up the knot behind his head.

•

Jack went from Theo’s to Sparky’s. It was getting late, but the crowd had found its collective second wind. Loud country music was cranking on the sound system, and a group of Garth Brooks wannabes were twirling their women across the dance floor.

Theo’s gone one night, and the place is already swarming with rednecks.

Like most dives, Sparky’s was the kind of place where liquor flowed freely but everything else came at a price. All day long, theories about Theo’s disappearance had been bouncing off the walls. For twenty bucks the barmaid steered Jack in the most promising direction.

“Buy you a drink?” said Jack as he sidled up to the bar.

A skinny guy with weathered skin looked up from his glass and said, “You queer?”

“No, sorry. But I have a couple friends who are, if you’re interested.”

He popped up from his barstool. “Watch your mouth, jackass.”

“Easy, friend. Just a little joke.”

“I don’t think you’re so funny.”

Jack took a moment. Usually he tried to befriend people before bullying them into divulging information, but this guy was too much of a jerk to waste time schmoozing.

“You’re a truck driver, aren’t you?”

“That’s right.”

“That’s your rig parked out back?”

“What’s it to you?”

“I hear you sell drugs out of it.”

“That’s bullshit.”

“Don’t worry. I’m not a cop.”

“I don’t sell nothin’ to nobody. Just drive my truck, that’s all.”

“Well, I hear differently. So let me spell this out for you. Theo Knight left this joint around two o’clock this morning. Nobody’s seen him since. His partner tells me the cops have been here asking questions. I hear you’re the only one around here who seems to have any idea what might have happened to him.”

“I didn’t tell the cops nothin’.”

“I’m sure you didn’t. That’s because you were out cutting a deal in your truck when you saw what you saw.”

He smiled nervously. “You heard that, huh?”

“From a good source. So, you want to tell me what caught your eye? Or should I call my old boss at the U.S. attorney’s office and tell him to get a search warrant for your rig?”

The trucker swirled the ice cubes around in his glass, sipped the last few drops of bourbon. “Tough guy, are you?”

“Just a man with a mission.”

He checked the door, as if it were some big secret, then glanced back and said, “Your friend Theo left with some chick.”

“Who?”

“A brunette. Black clothes, nice body. Could have been Latina. She was hanging around his car out back in the parking lot, then she got in. He came out about twenty minutes later, and they drove off together. That’s all I saw.”

“Did they seem friendly together, were they arguing, or what?”

“I didn’t see them together. His Jetta has dark tinted windows, so I couldn’t see inside. Like I say, I saw her get in, then a little later he gets in. I don’t know if she was smoking a joint in there or what. She waited for him, then they left. That’s it.”

“Anything else you remember?”

“Yeah. The bumper sticker. It said, i brake for porn stars. It just kind of stuck in my brain.”

Definitely Theo’s car, thought Jack. “That’s all I need to know. Thanks.”

Jack climbed off the barstool and headed out the door to the parking lot, leaving the loud music and stale odors behind him. The moon was almost full, bright enough to cast his shadow across the parking lot. He leaned against his car, thinking, but he didn’t have to think long. Brunette, good-looking, nice body. It was just as he’d suspected, and the trucker’s story was all the ammunition he needed.

He pulled his phone from his pocket, then stopped, not sure whom to call first. If he notified the cops, Katrina would probably hire herself a lawyer and never talk. He gave it another moment’s thought, then went with his gut and dialed the cell-phone number Katrina had given him outside the mobile blood unit.

“What did you do to Theo Knight?” he said when she answered.

There was silence. Jack said, “Don’t hang up, Katrina. I’m onto you. Theo’s missing, and you left Sparky’s with him last night.”

“Says who?”

“I have a witness who saw you waiting in the car.”

She didn’t answer. Jack said, “I’m giving you one chance to tell me what happened to Theo. If you don’t, I’m going to the police.”

She paused, a long, tense silence that bespoke her angst.

Jack said, “What’s it going to be?”

“Don’t go to the police.”

“Why shouldn’t I?”

“Because if you do, there’s a good chance Theo could end up dead.”

“Is that a threat?”

“No.”

“Is he alive?”

“Yes.”

“Do you know that for a fact?”

“Yes.”

“Let me be clear about this. Are you saying you kidnapped him?”

“No. I mean, not really. It’s not like I’m asking for a ransom or anything. It’s more like he’s in hiding, for his own safety.”

“Say what?”

“All I can tell you is that I’ll do everything I can to keep him safe. But if you butt in, there’s a good chance he’ll end up dead. And it won’t be my fault.”

“What’s going on?”

“I can’t explain now. Just give me twenty-four hours to sort some things out.”

“Are you out of your mind?”

“You just have to trust me on this. I’m a confidential informant, I’m not a criminal, remember?”

“I’m not trusting you anymore. I’m going to the police.”

“Fine. Go. But after keeping your friend alive on death row for all those years, it seems pretty stupid of you to sign his death warrant now. And that’s exactly what you’d be doing if you run to the cops.”

Jack gripped the phone, thinking. “I don’t like this. After that meeting at the blood unit, I thought we had a working relationship. But I haven’t heard a thing from you about that Georgia case, or anything else, for that matter.”

There was silence, but finally she answered. “You were right about Georgia.”

His heart sank a bit. “They’re killing viatical settlors?”

“I checked the computers. That woman in Georgia was one of our clients.”

“So if they got Jessie, too, that means Viatical Solutions, Inc., murdered two clients in less than a month.”

“It’s not for sure. And it’s not just Viatical Solutions, Inc., either. We created dozens of viatical corporations, most of them just shells that we activate whenever we need one. When I first started this job, I thought all these companies were just a lot of needless paperwork, but now it makes sense. Every client does business with a different company. The one in Georgia was called Financial Health, Inc.”

“Smart,” said Jack. “It would look pretty suspicious if any single company showed too good a rate of return.”

“I am so close to blowing the lid off this.”

“You have to come forward.”

“I need more time.”

“You can’t have it. What if they go out and murder another client next week?”

“I’m not talking a week. Twenty-four hours is all I need. Then Theo will be back safe, and this whole operation will be blown wide open. I promise.”