This was news. I filed it away. “Really?”
“I mean, Dunc was an idiot. Way too impulsive. But his dad is downright scary. After Anthony came down on him all high and mighty about how he’d ruined his plans and endangered the family business, I knew what was gonna happen next. The old man would send someone out to clean up the mess. And by ‘clean up the mess,’ I mean he woulda put a couple of bullets in Dunc’s head. Probably mine too.”
“So what happened?”
“Well, lemme tell you, ain’t nothin’ sexy about a man who’s sad Daddy didn’t love him enough. I told him it was time to move on. To make a name for himself. So I convinced him we needed to go into hiding. He made some calls, and we moved into that warehouse in Lawlerville and started to make a plan. We needed money and fast. Dunc figured the best way to do that was to resell a copy of the list. Lotta people between here and DC would be interested in a list of hard-ass cops and their snitches.”
“So that’s when you abducted your daughter and your sister.”
Tina Witt’s bad decisions made my own look like tiny lapses in judgment by comparison. I’d been there to see the immediate fallout. A trail of bleeding bad guys. Knox on the floor with Naomi and Way. Nash, heroically leaning against the wall, gun in hand, shoulder bleeding, looking exhausted and pissed off. My heart gave a pathetic little pitter-patter.
“That was another clusterfuck that dipwad got me into. It was never supposed to be a kidnapping thing, you know? He was just supposed to scare them a little. Get ’em to cough up the list. Then we’d send ’em on their way. But noooo, he had to do things his way. Dunc was an idiot, but he wasn’t stupid. He could be sneaky smart when he wanted to be, but he was impulsive. One second, he’d be planning some heist, and the next, he’d be zoned out playing video games until 4:00 a.m.”
“So once you two struck out on your own, who worked with him? There were men at the warehouse the night you were arrested. Were they Anthony’s? Other family members? Friends?”
That’s what friends are for. Naomi’s words from earlier that morning resurfaced in my head. No one was truly alone in this world. There was always someone a person would turn to when they needed help.
“Oh. Like his known associates, right? I’m picking up all the cop speak by watching NCIS and shit in case Chief Morgan ever comes to pay me a visit,” she said proudly.
I wondered how Nash would feel knowing that Tina Witt had a raging crush on him. I also wondered if that meant he’d never come to see her in jail.
“Yes. Known associates,” I agreed.
“Heard most of ’em were picked up by the cops,” Tina said.
“Most, but not all. Someone had to help him get away.”
“There were a couple of goons he had working for him in his chop shop. Then there was Face Tattoo Guy and Chubby Goatee Guy. That dude could eat a twelve-inch cheesesteak in under ten minutes. They were Dunc’s buddies from high school before he dropped out. They all started working for the old man around the same time, but they were Dunc’s friends first.”
Dutifully, I made notes and hoped the descriptions would be enough to lead me in a direction.
“Is there anyone else you can think of?”
She pursed her lips and stubbed out her cigarette. “He had a guy I never met. Burner Phone Guy. I don’t think they were buddies. Least, they didn’t talk like they were. But he was the one Dunc called when we needed to get the hell outta Dodge after his dumb ass shot Chief Morgan.”
“How did Burner Phone Guy help?” I asked.
Tina shrugged. “Dunno. I was too busy yelling at Dunc for bein’ a dumbass to pay attention.”
I closed my notebook and stowed it in the pocket of my jacket. “One more question. What made Duncan start with Chief Morgan?”
Tina shrugged. “Maybe it was that I mentioned how fine the chief’s ass looked one day or that I told him that the chief hadn’t done me wrong like every other fucking resident of Knockemout. He never looked at me like I was a nobody.”
She twirled a piece of straw-textured hair around her fingers. She’d cut and dyed her hair to look more like her sister for the abduction. Now, gray roots were visible at her part and she was in desperate need of a deep condition.
“Course, it coulda been the double asterisks next to his name that caught Dunc’s eye.”
I fought the urge to drum my fingers on the tabletop. “He say what the asterisks were for?”
Tina shrugged. “Dunno. You’d have to ask Dunc.”
“Well, thanks for your time, Tina,” I said, getting to my feet.
“I got nothin’ but time thanks to that asshat. You find him, tell him I sent you.”
I stepped outside into the bright autumn sun feeling like I always did after leaving the prison. Like I needed a shower.
But at least this time, I finally had a few leads to tug on.
I held my breath as I checked my phone. There were no messages or missed calls from Nash. I blew out a sigh and dialed the office as I crossed the parking lot, leaving barbed wire and high fences behind me.
My favorite researcher, Zelda, answered on the second ring. “Yello?”
“Hey, it’s me. I need you to dig up everything you can on Duncan Hugo’s known associates. Concentrate on ones he’s known the longest. Specifically anyone with a face tattoo and anyone on the heftier side.”
I heard the crinkle of a potato chip bag.
“On it,” Zelda said, crunching noisily into my ear. “How’s life in Knockemup? You ready to run screaming to the closest metropolitan area yet?”
“Knockemout,” I corrected, heading in the direction of my vehicle.
“Whatevs. Hey, you hear about Lew?”
I stopped in the middle of the parking lot. “What about him?”
“He’s back on desk duty starting tomorrow.”
“He’s doing okay?” I asked.
“He’s fine. Said it would take more than a broken ass to keep him down. Besides, Daley told him he better get his busted ass back out there if he wants to keep earning.”
I waited for the relief to come, but it was only guilt that lingered.
TWENTY
CARPOOL CONFESSIONS
Nash
Iwas still pissed off over the breakfast ambush by the time I made it to the station. I didn’t know who I was more angry with: Lucian for overstepping, Knox for being a stubborn asshole, or Lina for still holding back on me when I’d been nothing but honest with her.
She’d texted three times saying she wanted to talk.
My guess was she was worried about what Lucian told me. Right now, I was in the mood to let her worry.
Or maybe this roiling inner rage was directed at myself.
At this point, it didn’t really matter. Everyone was pissing me off.
“You’re supposed to tell me where you’re gonna be, Morgan.”
I turned around and found an equally irate-looking U.S. marshal storming up the sidewalk toward the station’s side door.
I was not in the mood. “I’m already pissed off at two assholes who dragged me out of bed this morning. I were you? I wouldn’t be in a hurry to add your name to that list.”
“Look, shithead. I’m not happy about this assignment either. You think I like camping out in Deliverance banjo territory watching your ungrateful back for some threat that probably doesn’t even exist?” Nolan snapped back.