was seated at a table by the window and saw him right away, but I waited until he got close before looking up.
“Detective, thanks for meeting me.”
Masters chuckled and took a seat. “Fucking Kelly. Guess this might as well happen now. You want to know how it is you got out?”
“I know how I got out, Detective. I want to know why.”
“Let’s just say I was returning a favor.”
“I think you made a mistake.”
Masters lifted a finger for the waitress. The detective ordered a Bud and a shot of Jim Beam. Then he got himself comfortable in the chair across from me. I could hear the creak of the gun on his belt and wondered how he’d take it when I told him.
“You’re a free man, Kelly. Not everyone likes it. I’ll give you that.”
Masters tipped up the long neck and let the better half of the bottle drain south.
“When did the thing start with Janet Woods?” I said.
Masters put the bottle down quietly and rubbed the back of his teeth over his lips.
“How did you know about that?”
I didn’t know anything about Masters and my client. But I could guess. “Why else would you want to help me by making the murder weapon disappear?”
“You’re a friend.”
“Cut the bullshit, Dan.”
Masters waved a hand my way. “All right. All right. So we started up a little something a few months back. Maybe more than a little something. Anyway, Janet told me you and her had some history too. So you did what you did. For my money, Johnny Woods deserved the bullet. Then I did what I did. Now we leave it. You finish up your drink and go on home.”
“I didn’t do anything for Janet,” I said. “And I didn’t kill Johnny Woods.”
A seam of flesh twitched under the detective’s left eye. “I don’t believe it.”
“What did you do with the gun?” I said.
“Why?”
“What did you do with it, Dan?”
“Left it with Janet this morning. She was going to dump it for me. For you.”
I wasn’t so sure I needed the help Janet was offering, but held my peace.
“I need the gun, Dan. And I need to see Janet and the girl.”
Masters took a sip of Beam and another slug of beer. “Last I checked, Janet Woods was your client. You need to see her, give her a call.”
“I don’t think it’s going to be that easy, Dan. Does she know I’m out yet?”
A shake of the head.
“Tell her. Then tell her I want to sit down and talk.”
“About what?”
“I’ll explain it when we all sit down. Just tell her I need to talk.”
Masters flexed his shoulders and finished his whiskey. The detective sensed deeper waters in our conversation. Like any cop, he wanted to steer clear. Until he knew exactly how deep.
“Stay on your cell. I’ll talk to her tonight and see what’s up.” Masters got up to go and stopped. Then he sat back down, pulled out an item from inside his overcoat, and put it on the table.
“Almost forgot. One more thing you might be interested in.”
The cover was faded, the corners rounded and white with wear and tear. I opened up the Sheehan’s and saw a red 4 stamped inside.
“Where’d you get this?”
“Taylor. Told me to give it to you if I saw you in jail.”
There was an envelope tucked inside the book. My name was written on it. The script was that of a young girl, a lot of rounded letters, and she used circles instead of dots for her i’s.
The note inside the envelope, like the girl herself, was anything but young.
Kelly,
I hate and I love. So much to say there and so little time to say it. I hated my stepfather and now he’s dead. Thank you for that. I loved the way you care about my mom. And tried to help us. I thought you might want to have this book as a keepsake. Not sure what it means. But it meant an awful lot to Johnny.
Till I see you,
Taylor
I read the note once, then again. Trying to see the spider inside the web. Hoping to find it before it found me. Then I closed up the Sheehan’s and drummed my fingers across the cover.
“Did Taylor tell you how she got the book?”
“Says her step-dad gave it to her. He must have taken it from the house on Hudson. Probably figured it would be safe with Taylor.”
“In case the mayor came calling?”
Masters smiled. “I’m guessing Johnny Woods liked his insurance.”
“Didn’t work too well for him last night,” I said.
“Yeah. Well, I don’t know how the book ties in, but if there’s hell to be raised, I’m sure you’ll do it. Just cut Rodriguez in for the glory if you can.”
“Sure.”
The detective threw a few dollars on the table and got up a second time.
“Masters…”
The cop rocked a bit in his heels and jingled a few coins in his pocket.
“I didn’t kill Johnny,” I said. “Still not sure who did.”
“So tread lightly?”
“Exactly.”
“Not a problem, Kelly. There’s one thing, however, you need to understand.”
“What’s that?”
The cop leaned close. Like only a cop can. “Janet loves me. They both do. And that counts for a lot these days.”
Before I could say anything more, Dan Masters turned and left. I ordered another pint and opened up the Sheehan’s Taylor had wanted me to have. It didn’t seem any different from the copy I’d looked through at the historical society. That was before I took a closer look at the binding-and found the book within the book.
CHAPTER 37
I headed home and slept in my own bed. I woke up about ten p.m. It was quiet in my apartment. Nothing but the tick of the clock and the muffled sounds of traffic from the street below. I thought about my bunkmate in Cook County, how close I had come to a permanent berth there. Not a good thing to think about, so I stopped. Then I thought about the Sheehan’s and the document I had prized out of its binding. Both were now sitting in front of me, looking up at me, asking what I planned to do next. I picked up the document and felt its weight. Read through it for the fifth or sixth time, drinking in each word, then rubbing my thumb lightly along the faded print.
After a while, I folded up the document and put it under lock and key. Then I made a pot of coffee and pulled out the prints Fred Jacobs had sent me a night earlier. Laid them on the table beside the Sheehan’s. I picked up the phone. Rodriguez answered on the first ring.
“You just sit by the phone all night?”
“Heard you were out, Kelly.”
“There was a guy I shared a cell with,” I said. “First name is Marcus.”
“He’s in Cook County hospital. Three broken ribs and a busted spleen. Nice work.”
