“Yet, you’re still alive and I don’t see you hiding.”
Margot nodded and drank some more whiskey before she told him, “Maybe I shouldn’t be the first and should be doing the second. From what I understand, a deal was made and Mal and I are in the clear.”
“He wasn’t acting like someone in the clear.”
“Yeah, he told me we might not have been as much in the clear as we thought and I think there was something to it. They sent someone who made a deal with Mal to kill a man. That was supposed to make things square, but I didn’t let him do it. If you’re wondering why we had a falling out, that was it. After all that, the deal to get them off our backs was still made, but according to Mal, the guy they sent didn’t see our business with him as being completed.”
“You said him, not them.”
“You don’t miss much do you?”
“I miss plenty, but I didn’t miss that one.”
“You’re right. The deal was with the cartel. Mal thought this guy was operating independently.”
“Why? I’m assuming he’s a pro, so if no one’s paying, why bother?”
“I don’t know, pride? Maybe he sees having a loss on his record as bad for business.”
“That makes some sense. This guy have a name?”
“Mal called him ‘the cowboy’ because he dressed like a cowboy. Other than that, I’ve got nothing.”
Marv leaned back and sighed.
“Sorry. I know that probably wasn’t much help.”
“I know more now than I did when I came in and knowing shit is never a bad thing. I heard one of the things you do now that you’ve gone private is find people.”
“That is one of the services I offer.”
“I heard you were good at it.”
“You heard that?”
“I did. Like I said, knowing shit is a good thing. Is my information accurate?”
“I’d like to think so.”
“Well, I’ve got a person I’d like to find.”
“You want to hire me?”
“No, I want you to do this free because it’s Mal, but I’d understand why you might not want to. Following him hasn’t exactly been good for you.”
“I’m doing fine, but I still have bills to pay.”
“Family discount?”
“We’re not family.”
“You’re more family to Mal than I ever was. We may not be blood, but I’m no stranger walking in off the street.”
“Fine, twenty percent off the normal rate.”
“I figured the family rate was closer to fifty.”
“Are you negotiating with your brother’s life on the line?”
“I’m just asking.”
“Well, don’t. Take the twenty percent or hit the bricks.”
“You’ve got a deal. Where do we start?”
“The last place you saw him.”
“The clubhouse. Do we start tonight?”
“Tomorrow morning. I’m meeting a friend for dinner.”
“You know, I wanted to get started today.”
“Then you should have come in yesterday.”
“Okay, fair enough.”
“Payment is upfront.”
“Even for family?”
“Especially for family. For you, it’s two hundred a day plus expenses.”
“Will two day’s work to get started?”
“Do you think that’s enough time?”
“If it’s not, we can talk,” Marv said as he pulled a roll of bills out of his front pocket.
“I prefer PayPal or Venmo.”
Marv counted out four hundred dollars. The roll of cash didn’t seem to miss it. He held it out to Margot and said, “I prefer cash. Are you taking it or not?”
Margot took it.
Chapter 2
“You know, the last time I was here eating fish tacos with someone, it was Deputy Brantley.”
“Really?” Shaw replied, “we could have gone anywhere else.”
Margot shrugged. “I like this place. I like the taco truck that parks outside on Tuesday nights. I’m not going to let Brantley ruin it for me.”
Shaw nodded, “I like your attitude.”
“Speaking of Brantley, did you ever hear if they found a body?”
“Funny, I was about to ask you the same thing.”
“Me? You’re the beloved retired cop with all the connections.”
“I’m not dating the young hotshot homicide detective.”
“As far as Radcliff knows, they haven’t found him. He’s been busy though. That double homicide on the beach fell on him and Ames.”
“The tourists?”
“Yeah.”
“That’s a tough one.”
“Yep, it has Radcliff rethinking his previous favorable view of high profile cases.”
“You still call him Radcliff?”
“When I met him, he was Radcliff.”
“He call you Harris?”
“Nope, I get to be Margot.”
“But everybody called you Harris when you were a cop.”
“Yeah, I think that’s the reason Ames always made it a point to call me Margot. He wants to remind me I’m not a cop anymore.”
“Don’t say it like it's a bad thing. The only thing I think about my old job is I wish I’d got out sooner.”
“The steady paycheck was nice.”
“Sure, but there’s money to be made going private.”
“I’ve heard that, but…”
“Well, Margot, that’s actually why I wanted to talk to you. As you noticed, I’m down a partner.”
“I’m sorry about that.”
“Don’t be. That wasn’t your fault. Stick knew what the job was. He knew Randy was involved in all that cartel nastiness and he took the job. If it had been the other way around, you would have taken the job and you wouldn’t have blamed him if you got hurt.”
“Yeah, I get the logic of it, but I can’t help feel like shit because of it. I could have just done it myself.”
“Then you’d be dead and Brantley would have gotten away with it.”
“Maybe. Hell, they haven’t found a body. He may have gotten away with it after all.”
“No, you beat him with a shovel and shot him like seven times.”
“Five. I shot him five times.”
“Close enough. Either way, he got eaten by coyotes.”
“I hope so.”
“I hope he was
