One Secret Night (6 page)

“What happened when she confronted him?”

“He denied it and she didn’t press him any further.”

And bottling up all that emotion had led to her death, according to Raith. “That’s so sad.”

“Yes. For Raith’s mother and for him.”

* * *

The next morning, Autumn was unusually quiet as Desi drove them to the airport. She looked out the window as if she was deep in thought. A couple of times he’d watched Desi in the rearview mirror. How much had he told her? Nothing about his work. Raith trusted him with his life in that regard, but when it came to personal matters and matchmaking, Desi couldn’t resist intervention.

When Desi drove to a stop in front of the passenger drop-off area, Raith got out and retrieved his and Autumn’s luggage, which were both carry-ons.

Wearing black-and-white leopard-print stockings that drew the eye to her slender hips and thighs, frivolous black high heels and a flowing black shirt that stopped just below her waist, she took the handle of her bag. When he’d first seen her this morning he’d had to stop himself from choking on coffee. “I hope you packed more sensible clothes.”

She looked down at herself. “What’s wrong with this?”

“Great for indoor activities, but not much help if you have to run for your life.”

Her head jerked back a fraction. “I’m going to have to run for my life?”

He didn’t answer. She knew what he was talking about. She was just being sarcastic.

“I’ll call you with the return-flight information,” he said to Desi. He and Autumn had open-ended tickets.

Desi nodded. “Have a safe trip.”

Autumn waved with a smile and walked with Raith into the terminal.

“Has your dad tried to call you again?” Autumn asked.

What was it about his dad that had her contemplating so much? “No.”

“Desi told me about your mother. I’m sorry you had to lose her that way.”

Unloved by her husband. Depressed. Unfulfilled. But loving the man who made her so unhappy. “Part of life.”

They moved forward in the security line.

“I mean, losing a mother would be hard on any kid. But not having your father’s support at a time like that? I...I just... I can’t imagine.”

He wished she’d stop. Why was she delving into this, anyway? Why were his mother’s death and his estranged relationship with his father so important to her?

“Does your brother keep in contact with your dad?” she asked.

“I don’t know. I doubt it.”

“Maybe if you talked to him it would help.”

He looked over at her. She was pretty tall compared to his six-three. Most women he ended up with were shorter. He’d never been with anyone with red hair before. Autumn’s was a soft red and shimmered in the light. Her beauty defused some of his angst that she had to bring this up.

“Why are you so concerned?” he asked.

Facing forward in the line, she shrugged. “It’s sad and...so different from the way I grew up.”

“With normal parents? Didn’t you have challenges being a famous movie producer’s daughter?”

“Well, yeah, but my parents love each other. And they were always there for us—as much as they could be having eight kids.”

“You’re lucky, but I don’t have any regrets about not being in contact with my father. It doesn’t matter why he’s trying to contact me after all these years. I don’t care why. And I don’t care about him. He is dead as far as I’m concerned.”

As they approached the security checkpoint, he saw her doubt. She didn’t believe that he didn’t care.

A small part of him did care, but he wasn’t fooled when it came to his father. Nothing he had to say would change the damage he’d done. It wouldn’t bring Raith’s mother back, and it wouldn’t make the way his father had treated her and his kids forgivable. Raith would never forgive his father.

On the way to the gate, Autumn fell into another period of consternation. Her somberness didn’t seem to match her sympathy for his years in a broken home.

“Is something wrong?” he asked.

Her head snapped up and over, and her green eyes met his briefly. “No.”

As he walked beside her and observed her profile, he grew certain her answer wasn’t an honest one.

Chapter 6

K
amira Marshall lived in an apartment building with tan-wood lap siding. Not the grandest in Houston but not the worst, either. Autumn was still uneasy over her changing perception of Raith. Compassion had offered some insight into the reasons he’d chosen such an atypical career, but was she prepared to tell him about her pregnancy? Doing so would link her to him if he intended to be part of the child’s life, whether they ended up together or not. Having a baby with him made her feel trapped. He debatably had a moral heart. He had a controversial, violent profession. He was essentially a gun-for-hire. Not the ideal father figure. And then there was the whole issue of how she felt about settling down. She had an urge to run. Get away from him and any possibility of tying her down.

A tiny internal voice whispered,
What if he would make a good father?
What if he settled down with her and shared the responsibility of raising a child? What if it worked out for them?
A secret spot inside of her tickled with hope. But that spot had to be tamed into submission. Her sometimes-public life opposed his secret one. If he wasn’t willing to make drastic changes, letting her heart rule her head was dangerous.

Autumn had always prided herself on being open-minded. It went along with her sense of adventure and spontaneity. She’d never expected to meet a man like Raith. She couldn’t afford to be open-minded with him. He would have to turn his life upside down the way hers was going to be turned upside down as soon as the baby was born, and she didn’t see him doing that.

Kamira opened her apartment door, which had an entry to the outside. An average-size woman with light brown hair and eyes, she had blotchy skin and was dressed in jeans and a football T-shirt with an unbuttoned shirt over that.

“Kamira Marshall?” Raith asked.

“Yes?” she said warily.

“We’re here to ask you some questions about your brother, Leaman Marshall.”

“Who are you?”

“I’m Raith De Matteis and this is my girlfriend, Autumn. We’re here trying to locate an associate of Leaman’s.”

Autumn expected him to lie, but he didn’t, well, not really. While she stiffened with the shock of Raith calling her his girlfriend, Kamira eyed them both before saying, “My brother is dead.”

“We’re aware of that. We still think you may be able to help us.”

“What associate are you looking for?”

“That’s part of the problem. We don’t have a name.”

After several long seconds of contemplation, she said, “I don’t have anything to do with his trouble. I’m sorry, I can’t help you.” She was about to close the door, when Raith put his hand on it and stopped her.

“We’re aware that your brother was a contract killer,” Raith announced.

Autumn wondered how that would make her more comfortable. Would she protect him?

“Why are you looking for this associate?” Kamira asked. “Are you cops?”

“No. We’re helping the man who was almost killed. We’re looking for the person who hired him.”

Kamira blinked a few times as though the subject of her brother upset her, and not only because he was dead. What other associate could there be than someone who’d contracted for his services? Her disappointment was evident. Much of her grief must center around her brother’s poor choices.

“Please. We just have a few questions,” Raith said.

“I don’t see what good that will do if he’s dead.”

“We’re talking to everyone who knew him.”

She hesitated but seemed to consider relenting. “Did my brother shoot someone?”

“He made an attempt and missed.”

“He missed?”

“Yes, fortunately.”

Kamira contemplated them a moment more. Then, rather than invite them inside, she stepped out onto the concrete sidewalk in front of her door.

“What do you need to know?”

“When was the last time you saw him?” Raith asked.

“About two months ago.”

Fairly recent. “Were the two of you close?” Autumn asked.

Kamira shrugged. “We had each other growing up. Messed-up parents, you know?” She reached into the pocket of the button-up shirt she wore and took out a pack of cigarettes. After lighting one and taking a puff, she blew out a stream of smoke and said, “He wasn’t the type to make it home for the holidays, and I don’t think he ever saw any women long-term. He traveled a lot. Hardly ever home, but when he was, he came here for visits regularly. He spent time with his best friend, too.”

Autumn was amazed at how freely Kamira spoke. She didn’t condone her brother’s lifestyle, but she must have loved him despite all of that.

“Who is that?” Raith asked.

“Garvin Reeves. He runs a gun shop and shooting range here. They’ve been friends for years. Met in school. Leaman was always so reclusive. A loner. And he was always getting arrested when he was younger. Garvin looked up to him.”

That didn’t say much for Garvin’s character if he looked up to someone like that.

“What about when he was an adult?” Raith asked.

Kamira shrugged again, taking another drag off her cigarette. “He stopped getting arrested. I think he got good at skirting the law. He never talked about what he did and I didn’t ask about it. I never liked his obsession with guns. He got that from Garvin. I suspected he was into some pretty serious crime and always thought it would be only a matter of time before the law caught up to him.” She eyed them both as she took another drag. “Sorry, I’m afraid I can’t help you much.”

“Why didn’t you talk about what he did for a living?” Autumn asked.

“It disturbed me. I worried about him. I didn’t need to worry more with more details. He was a criminal. I guess I expected to lose him eventually. Having some distance from him helped his death be a little more bearable.” She looked across the parking lot again. “I often wonder if he hadn’t been bullied as a kid if he’d have ended up where he did. If he hadn’t been bullied, I doubt he’d have gone into the military. He was always into science and math. Maybe he’d have gone to college to be an engineer or something. Something different.”

“We’re very sorry for your loss,” Autumn said.

Turning to her, Kamira continued with her ruminating. “Leaman was a good person. Few people had the privilege of seeing that. He just had bad parents and a hard time in school socially. Some people can’t overcome. He was one of them. His way of coping was rebelling.”

Kamira knew him the way no one else had. She knew the boy. But perhaps she only thought she knew the man. A killer.

“What happened to your parents?” Raith asked.

Waving her hand, Kamira fanned out the trail of smoke from her cigarette. “Who the hell knows. My dad was a drunk and left when I was five and my mom was a crackhead. She’s probably dead by now. They both probably are. Who cares?”

“Do you have any kids?”

She shook her head. “I’m not married.”

“Were you ever married?”

“No. Are you investigating me, too?” She sucked on her cigarette.

Raith smiled and Autumn wondered if that was strategic to make her relax. “No.”

He was only trying to find out if there was anyone else he could talk to.

“You said Leaman got into guns because of Garvin,” Raith said.

She raised her eyes in annoyance. “Yeah. He and Garvin got into trouble together when they were kids. Then Garvin started making a living selling guns.”

“Illegally?”

She nodded. “Not one hundred percent. More on the side and through his gun shop. Garvin’s not a guy to piss off.”

“He’s got some impressive clientele?” Raith continued with his line of questioning.

“I never ask. Like I said before, Leaman and I didn’t discuss his business. But he did once say he got a lot of his business through Garvin.” Kamira didn’t seem happy about that. “At least in the beginning.”

“And then Leaman earned a reputation,” Raith said.

She nodded again. “He started to make a lot of money. I mean,
a lot.
As in hundreds of thousands per job. He sent me money every month. Things are going to get harder for me now. He never came out and said he killed people. But once he did say that rich people hired him to take care of their problems.”

And she’d translated that correctly by guessing that meant he was hired to kill.

“Do you know who killed him?” Kamira asked.

“No,” Raith said. “He was good at hiding. He knew someone was after him. He said something went wrong during his last job.” She got that faraway look again. “Whoever killed him must be somebody as dangerous as him.”

Autumn glanced over at Raith. That someone was him. Assassin. Killer. Was that really what Raith was all about? She sensed not and that didn’t settle well with her.

“I would imagine.” Raith put his hand on Autumn’s arm, indicating it was time for them to go. “Thanks for talking to us.”

“Just as dangerous, huh?” Autumn said when they reached the parking lot.

He said nothing, only seemed to try to determine the source of her disgruntlement. Or maybe he already knew and couldn’t reassure her.

* * *

Raith drove with Autumn to Garvin Reeves’s gun shop and shooting range. Inside the flat-roofed, single-story warehouse, the front was partitioned off and filled with glass gun cases that ran along three sides and one down the middle. A double door in the back must lead to the shooting range. Posters advertising ammunition and the latest rifles on the market hung on the walls. Two windows in front and one on the side had old, cheap white blinds that were kept shut but allowed light in through broken panels.

A clerk helped a customer to their right. Another saw them from where he stood in the back near the doors.

“Can I help you?” that clerk asked, putting his hands on the edge of the counter. A skinny man and not very tall, he had dark circles under his brown eyes and chapped lips.

Raith walked toward the man, Autumn following. “We’re looking for Garvin Reeves. Is he here?”

“Who’s asking?” The clerk pushed off the counter.

Raith caught the clerk’s guardedness. Garvin’s workers were trained to be on the lookout for cops.

“Raith De Matteis. This is my girlfriend, Autumn.”

Autumn turned to look at him. This was the second time he’d introduced her as his girlfriend. Did she like playing the role of his girlfriend or did it offend her?

“Wait here.” The clerk disappeared through a door. The sound of gunshots grew louder until the door swung shut again.

Autumn leaned closer to Raith and whispered, “Why aren’t we using false names?”

“We don’t need to,” he whispered back.

“Why not?”

“It doesn’t matter if these people know who we are.”

Before she could ask why, a man emerged from the back. Close to six feet tall, Garvin was more muscular than the clerk and had almond-shaped blue eyes that leveled on him, hard and shrewd.

“Mr. De Matteis.” Garvin said his name as though he were a long-lost acquaintance.

“Garvin Reeves?”

“Yes.”

“We’re here to talk to you about Leaman Marshall. His sister, Kamira, said you were good friends.”

“You talked to Kamira?”

“We just came from her apartment.”

He looked from him to Autumn and back again. “Are you some kind of investigator or something?”

“I’m a private investigator,” Raith answered. He didn’t see much to gain by lying.

“A private investigator, huh?” He looked at Autumn again. “And this is your girlfriend?”

“Yes.” Did he wonder why he’d brought her?

He turned to Autumn. “You look familiar.”

“We’re here to talk to you about Leaman,” Raith said. “He was hired by someone to kill Kai Whittaker.”

Garvin turned to Raith, still pondering whether he’d seen Autumn before. “Who?”

“Kai Whittaker. CEO of DT Corporation.”

“Leaman never mentioned anyone by that name,” Garvin said, and it may or may not be the truth.

“Did you sell Leaman any guns?” No professional killer would own a registered gun.

Garvin shook his head, but in a cynical way, almost mocking. He folded his arms. He was definitely lying.

“I wonder how much inventory is missing from your records,” Raith said.

“Is that a threat?”

A man like him wouldn’t respond well to threats. “No. I just find it hard to believe that you wouldn’t help out a friend.” He insinuated that the kind of help offered would be illegal.

“Leaman never talked to me about any of his jobs.” He grinned. “Real sorry about that.”

Raith hadn’t expected Garvin to talk.

“He did tell me about you, though,” Garvin said. He lowered his arms and leaned on the counter, bringing himself closer to Raith in a menacing way. “He said you wouldn’t leave him alone and that you were the reason he went to Reykjavik.”

“I’ve been looking for him for quite some time.” Raith didn’t have to explain to Garvin his history with Leaman. Even with the horrible things his friend had done, Garvin would victimize him.

“You should have kept your nose out of his business.”

“He should have kept his out of mine.”

Beside him, Autumn looked from Garvin to him. Not much ruffled Raith, and this man certainly didn’t. He must sound that way to Autumn right now.

“Did you kill him?” Garvin asked.

“I thought Leaman never talked to you about his jobs.”

“He talked to me about you. But you probably already knew that, right? Otherwise, why come in here and show yourself, much less use your real name?” He let a few beats pass. “Did you kill him?”

Raith didn’t justify that with an answer. He wasn’t going to lie, and he wasn’t going to volunteer the information. But Garvin drew his own conclusion.

Anger pinched the bridge of Garvin’s nose and darkened his eyes. “I should kill you right now.”

“You could try.”

“You think you’re invincible, but you’re not. Your day will come. When your guard is down, your day will come.”

“Judging from everything I’ve heard about Leaman, I’d say he got what he deserved. If I were you, I’d be careful not to follow the same path.”

Garvin looked past them and gave a single nod.

Two big men approached, flanking Raith and Autumn.