“Is what because of who?”
“The detective you’re seeing, Radcliff, is he the reason you’re turning me down?”
“No. Sure, he’s a factor, so’s my job with Shaw, but it’s more than that. I’m not like you anymore, Mal. I don’t feel like I have nothing to lose. Even if there was no Radcliff and there was no Shaw, though, the answer would be the same. I’m not a criminal, I’m not an outlaw, and I have no desire to become one.”
“You say that like you’ve never crossed the line before.”
“I never claimed to be an angel, but I’ve never gone far enough I couldn’t get back.”
“You think I have?”
“Do you honestly believe you haven’t?”
Mal opened his mouth like he was going to say something but closed it without uttering a word.
After a long uncomfortable silence, Mal pointed to a parking lot and said, “Drop me off here.”
“Look, there’s got to be something we can do…”
Mal shook his head and pointed to the mostly empty lot. Margot pulled in.
“Drive away, Margot. Don’t look back,” Mal told her. He was out of the car before she could reply.
He stood there by the car looking at her for a second and Margot thought he might get back in, but he just pointed down the road and said, “Drive away.”
Margot did as she was told. She did look back in the mirror, though. He was already gone.
Chapter 9
Margot was back at her office, trying to figure out what to do next. While she was glad Mal was not involved in the murder of Lucas, taking him out of the equation put her back at square one in trying to decipher who killed Lucas and why. It also left her with the uncomfortable feeling that despite his apparent innocence when it came to Lucas, Mal was about to do something terrible. Margot couldn’t think of anything Mal could do besides killing somebody that would pay near the money he was implying he was going to get.
Margot picked up her phone and made a few calls. She had to go through a few people she knew before she got a hold of Conner Heller’s lawyer. It took some convincing, but he gave her permission to talk to his client. They made an appointment for the next morning.
While she was making the arrangement to talk to Heller, someone tried to call her. When she’d finished the call, she checked her voicemail.
“This is Ames. Call me back A.S.A.P.”
Ames was rarely helpful, but she thought of something she wanted to ask him and he hadn’t been a complete bastard to her after the shooting, so she called him back.
“About time,” Ames said as he answered the call.
“You say that like I’m sitting around waiting for you to call.”
“Yeah, well, I was actually waiting for yours. You said you had an idea who took a shot at you last night, but you never said who.”
“I thought that wasn’t your case.”
“It’s not but since you didn’t reveal your secret to either of the detectives in charge as promised, I thought I’d check back with you.”
“Don’t you have something better to do?”
“Not really. Radcliff is in court all day, and he gets mad if I solve crimes without him.”
“Why aren’t you there too?”
“The D.A. said I come across as ‘abrasive’ and ‘unlikable,’ which I guess is bad.”
“I wish I could disagree with him.”
“You seem to be avoiding answering the question. You knew something last night. What was it? Don’t tell me you told them already. I asked.”
“It didn’t pan out.”
“Come on…”
“Seriously, I was wrong. I looked into it, and it was a dead end. You think I wouldn’t want to tell you guys if I knew who just tried to murder me?”
“What was a dead end?”
“It doesn’t matter.”
“Are you planning to take justice into your own hands on this one, Margot?”
“No, if I have my way, I’ll never pull the trigger again unless I’m at the range.”
Ames was silent for a moment and then he said, “Have it your way, but if this is something you're doing on the shady side, do me a favor and don’t drag Radcliff into it.”
“I’m not doing anything on the shady side. I promise.”
“I’m going to hold you to that.”
“I want to ask you something about Anderson.”
“Anderson? What about him?”
“I saw him somewhere I shouldn’t have.”
Ames was quiet for a moment before he said, “Did he come on to you? Did he show up at your place?”
“Why would you ask me that?”
“Just curious. I know you and he had a thing…”
“We never had a thing. He asked me out, I said no.”
“He doesn’t exactly look at it the same, but I’m not surprised.”
“Why aren’t you surprised?”
“He has a bit of a reputation.”
“For what?”
“I’d rather not say.”
“You sounded concerned when you asked if he came to my place.”
“Concerned? Nah, that's just me being abrasive.”
“Anderson have some issues with women?”
“Issues might be a strong word.”
“Tell me.”
“You get to keep secrets, but I don’t?”
Margot thought on that for a second and then said, “I thought the shooter might have been Mal.”
“Mal? Why?”
“You’re going to have to give me something first.”
“Alright, but understand this is mostly just gossip.”
“Bullshit. If it were just gossip, you never would have brought it up.”
“He’s been inappropriate with some females who came his way on the job.”
“Inappropriate how?”
“Nothing criminal.”
“That leaves a lot of possibilities.”
“He’s had affairs with victims and possibly suspects. Nothing not consensual, but it raises questions.”
“Someone complain?”
“Just one who thought he was hitting on her. It didn’t go anywhere since it was a “he-said, she-said” kind of deal, but even
