Tax Assassin (11 page)

“
Both of them,” Jasper
said. “Bap, bap,  . . . bap, bap. The curtains were
closed.”

“
They were falling when we
got the door open,” Kowalski’s voice dropped an octave. “We . .
.”

“
CPR – whole nine,” Jasper
said.

“
It was a hit,” Seth
said.

“
Or something,” Kowalski
said.

“
I’m telling you it was a
hit,” Seth said. “When this happened, I was with someone who
knows.”

The marshals turned their full attention to
Seth.

“
All of them,” Seth
said.

The marshals’ faces flushed. They looked
away from Seth.

“
No brass?” Jasper
asked.

“
Tire weight lead,” Seth
said.

“
Have to wait for the
coroner,” Jasper said.

“
How?” Kowalski
asked.

“
A dying friend asked me to
look into what he thought was a few cases in the nineties,” Seth
said. “Murder-for-hire; three to five hits a summer in
medium-to-small cities across the country; first one in 1913. I’m
closing in on a name.”

“
Your contact didn’t know?”
Jasper asked.

“
Didn’t say,” Seth said.
“And Bella?”

Seth’s voice cracked, and he cleared his
throat. Even though he hadn’t known her long, he’d been very fond
of the spunky girl. He looked away to control his sorrow.

“
Got her heart going again,
but they couldn’t keep it going.” Jasper shook his head.

“
She didn’t suffer,”
Kowalski said. “Neither did he, the bastard. I . . .”

The U.S. marshals looked at each other.
Jasper shook his head and Kowalski closed his mouth.

“
Hate is not really a
strong enough word when used for that man,” Seth said.

The marshals nodded in agreement.

“
What are you going to do?”
Seth asked.

“
Clean up,” Jasper said.
“We’re relieved of duty, which means we have piles of
paperwork.”

“
What are you going to do?”
Kowalski asked.

“
Catch the killer before he
. . .” Seth nodded his head toward Ava.

“
Good plan,” Jasper
said.

|-||-|||-||-|||-||-|||-||-|||-||-|||-||-|||-||-|||

THIRTEEN

“
Jeb just called,” Seth
said as he entered his bedroom. “They’ve turned onto I-70. They’ll
be here soon.”

Ava’s mother, Vivian, was packing her
suitcase with her new clothing. Ava and Éowyn sat on the bed.

“
Amelie? Éowyn?” Vivian
looked at her daughters. “I need a moment with Seth.”

“
But . . .” Éowyn
started.

“
Please,” In the silent way
of powerful women, Vivian lowered her head to look at the
floor.

“
Come on, E,” Amelie said.
“Let’s make sure you’re all packed.”

“
Thank you,” Vivian
said.

Vivian watched her daughters leave the room.
She waited for the door to close, before turning to Seth.

“
I know what you think of
me,” Vivian said.

“
What’s that?”

“
You think I was the stupid
wife,” Vivian said. “I lived in the big house, drank the wine, went
to the spa, and spent the money while Aaron was out . .
.”

Seth watched her struggle for words. As if
she was going to cry, her lip vibrated. Her eyes shot hot
embers.

“
I didn’t know,” Vivian
said. “And . . . how could I not know?”

Seth took a step further into the room.

“
I knew he was infatuated
with Yvonne, you know, Yvonne Smith,” Vivian nodded her head. “But
I had no idea he . . . or the depth of which
he . . . and . . . I’m not a stupid
woman. Sure, he wasn’t as attentive . . . to me, the
girls . . . as he was when we were first married,
but he was the Colorado Attorney General for God’s sake.
And . . ."

She looked up at him. He tracked the lines
her despair had etched lines onto her face.

“
Should I have known?” she
asked.

“
I don’t think
so.”

“
Did you know?”

“
Yes.”

“
How?”

“
Mitch and I had the perp
in custody,” Seth said. “He confessed to killing and raping the
girl, the one Rodney Smith went to prison for. Your husband, he . .
.”

Vivian nodded.

“
I remember that time,”
Vivian said. “He was very agitated, excited almost, couldn’t sleep,
didn’t eat, paced around. I was pregnant with . . .
Amelie, I guess. My mother said to just ignore him. ‘Men get like
that when their wives are pregnant.’”

“
And they’re stealing
another man’s wife,” Seth said.

“
Yes, that’s what he was
doing,” Vivian nodded. “Makes you wonder about Helen.”

“
Of Troy?” Seth’s quick
smile was lost to Vivian.

“
Is
she . . . ? I mean, is Yvonne . . .?”

“
She’s good,” Seth said.
“Happy.”

“
Does she hate
me?”

“
No. Yvonne feels horribly
for you and the girls,” Seth said. “Like the rest of us, she can’t
believe what he’s done. She called him the spider. He really
was . . . a terrible person.”

“
When I come back,”
Vivian’s eyes scanned Seth’s face. “Will you set up a meeting with
her? For me? Maybe Éowyn, too?”

“
I think she’d like that,”
Seth nodded. “She called Amelie when she heard that you would lose
the house and . . . everything.”

“
She did?”

Seth nodded.

“
Leave him alone,” Vivian
said. “That’s what my mother said. ‘He’s an important man with
important things on his mind. Focus on the girls, your house, and
leave him alone.’ But . . . now I look at it, and
somewhere, in the middle of it all, I knew. I knew what he was up
to. I did know.”

“
Of course you did,” Seth
said.

“
And all of this,” Vivian
said. “Throwing me and the girls to the sharks. Giving the Feds
every penny we had, our home, our whole life, the life we built, I
built . . . They took my wedding ring, my twentieth
anniversary ring, and . . . He tossed us away. And
now . . . my Bella.”

Vivian broke down. Seth stepped to her. He
opened his arms to offer her a shoulder to cry on. She held on and
soundlessly weep.

“
Did she suffer?” Vivian
whispered.

“
No.”

“
Did he?”

“
No.”

“
That’s too bad,” Vivian
stepped back. She thanked him with a nod and turned her back. He
waited while she collected herself. She looked calm and steady when
she turned around. “Sorry about that . . .”

“
I’ve lost two children,”
Seth said. “There’s nothing that describes the pain. And knowing
that their other parent was responsible for their death, makes a
horrible thing just that much more awful.”

“
Unbearable,” Vivian
nodded. “And if Éowyn or Amelie . . . I know she’s
been distant, and she insists on being called Ava and . .
.”

“
I think Jeb can keep you
safe,” Seth said. “But if he doesn’t . . .”

“
What do you mean?” Vivian
asked.

Seth plastered on a smile. Her eyes asked
the question again. He shook his head.

“
Please,” Vivian said.
“I’ve lived with enough secrets to last a life time. Please just
tell me the truth.”

“
We don’t know who’s behind
all of this,” Seth said. “We may never know. Aaron betrayed
everyone.”

“
Why?” Vivian asked.
“That’s what I don’t get. Why would he do this?”

Seth watched her for a moment.

“
Oh my God,” Vivian said.
“He traded it all for Yvonne.”

“
And witness protection,”
Seth said.

Vivian collapsed onto the bed and stared off
into space.

“
I know you need time to
grieve,” Seth said. “I know you need space. But this is not the
time.”

She looked up at him.

“
Jeb Elliot,” Seth said.
“Why was he here? He’s the sheriff. He was with his dying wife
while these cases were investigated. He knows nothing about them.
Did he say why he was here?”

Vivian gave a slight shake of her head.

“
Nothing?” Seth
asked.

Vivian shook her head.

“
Are
you . . . he . . . uh . .
.”

“
He’s someone I knew in
high school,” Vivian said. “He married my best friend from those
days. I’ve seen him maybe twice since my wedding. Christmas cards
every year – that kind of thing.”

“
And when he was
here?”

“
He wanted to know about
Aaron,” Vivian nodded. “I thought he was being supportive, kind,
but I see what you mean. It’s possible he just wanted information
from the stupid wife.”

“
Did you know
anything?”

“
No,” Vivian said. “One
morning, Aaron and I woke up together in our bedroom in the middle
of our old life. I got breakfast together and he got dressed. He
told me he had a meeting downtown that might screw up the rest of
his day. He said he’d call if he was going to be late. He kissed me
on the cheek and . . . I never saw or heard from him
again. Nothing.”

Vivian’s eyes glazed over, and she stared at
the wall.

“
Amelie told me, you know,
about Yvonne and witness protection, but I didn’t believe her,”
Vivian said. “How could he do this to me? That’s all I thought. I
didn’t realize . . . and Bella . . .
He loved her, more than the others, more than
me . . . ‘Baby Bell’, that’s what he called her
until she made him stop when she was in high school.”

Her head bobbed in a nod and then jerked up
to look at him.

“
He’s going to kill us
all,” Vivian said.

“
He might,” Seth said. “He
didn’t get Yvonne. He doesn’t have to kill you.”

“
What do I do?” Vivian
asked.

Seth took a small revolver from his pocket
and held it out to her.

“
Can you shoot?” he
asked.

“
I was born and raised in
Colorado, Seth. Of course I can shoot,” Vivian said. “Amelie made
me get a concealed weapon permit when she was at the police
academy. Éowyn has been competitive shooting since junior high.
She’s won a number of awards. Amelie made sure she had a concealed
weapon permit as well. Bella too.”

Vivian’s voice cracked with emotion. She
nodded when she felt under control. He gave her the weapon.

“
And Éowyn?”

“
That’s where they went,”
Seth said.

“
Good,” Vivian
said.

“
This guy,” Seth said. “He
kills from a distance. You may not have a chance
to . . .”

“
Then why?” Vivian looked
up at him and then nodded. “This is for Jeb.”

“
I’m afraid so,” Seth
said.

Vivian checked that the weapon was loaded
and the safety was on. She stuck the handgun in her pocket.

“
Do you have any idea why
Bella went to see my husband?” Vivian asked.

“
To confront him,” Seth
said. “That’s what she told Ava.”

“
And did she?”

“
Probably,” Seth said what
he thought Vivian wanted to hear. “But I don’t know.”

Vivian nodded. He gave her a box of
ammunition. She went to set the box in her suitcase.

“
What else can I do?”
Vivian asked. “I feel . . .
hopeless . . .
helpless . . .”

“
You can keep your wits
about you,” Seth said.

“
That didn’t help
Bella.”

“
No,” Seth said. “But she
didn’t have the luxury of knowing her life was in
danger.”

“
You’re sure?”

“
If your husband knew his
life was in danger, would he have been in that room?”

“
Never,” Vivian shook her
head.

“
Keep your wits about you,”
Seth said. “Keep in touch. I have a friend who lives in Rapid City.
A woman. Janet Sales.”

He held out a piece of paper with a phone
number on it.

“
She retired there after
twenty years at the Denver PD,” Seth said. “Play it off as an old
friend, someone you know from here. Call her on the way into
town.”

“
He’ll know.”

“
I doubt it,” Seth said.
“Everyone counts on you being the clueless wife. It’s up to you to
decide if you’re going to be what everyone expects you to
be.”

Vivian nodded.

“
You have
money?”

“
Amelie took care of that,”
Vivian said. “Thank you. Jeb wants me to stay with him, but I
convinced him I’d be happier in a hotel.”

“
I’ve made your
reservations,” Seth said. “The address is on the piece of paper.
Janet is planning on having dinner with you tonight. If she doesn’t
hear from you, she’ll sound the alarm.”

“
Good,” Vivian
said.

“
Éowyn will see you to
Rapid City,” Seth said. “Then she’s off. You won’t know where Ava
or Éowyn are located. That’s for your protection.”