Margot watched the video and saw she was right. Something about the man did seem familiar, however.
“They figure he made some sort of deal with Heller to off Lucas. If Heller had a personal reason to want Lucas dead, no one’s found it. Of course, that goes for everybody else.”
“Lucas was the kind of guy who could make quick enemies.”
“I heard the same thing, though if he was telling the truth about the Hottub Massacre though, it was in someone’s best interest he shut up.”
“Did you name some of these “someones” on your show?”
“I named a couple of them, you included. If you’re wondering, the death threats came soon after.”
Margot took one last look at the video and then handed it back.
“Thanks, that was helpful.”
“Helpful enough I can do another Viuda Negra story?”
“No.”
Cassie shrugged, “It was worth a try.”
This time, when she went out the door, Margot let her. Even though the video never came close to showing what Dennis Thorn really looked like, Margot thought his walk looked familiar. As far as she knew, a person had never been identified by their gait, at least not in court, but the way this guy walked reminded her a lot of Mal. He looked the same height and weight as well.
As she sat there thinking about Mal, Margot remembered where she’d heard the name, Dennis Thorn.
She knew Mal’s phone number was long dead, but his email address was probably still good. If he had a burner phone, he might even check it once in a while. He might not, but Margot figured it would be worth a try.
She sent him a message saying: We need to talk.
After thinking about it for a few minutes, she left another that just read: Dennis Thorn.
She finished up some paperwork until it was time to meet Radcliff. She checked her phone before she left. Mal hadn’t responded.
Chapter 4
Cassie thought it was odd when Margot asked her if Trevor smoked. Especially when she was in the middle of telling her about Trevor’s job on the night shift over at 7-11. What his nicotine habit told Margot was Trevor would be outside sometime around two hours after his shift started. This meant she wouldn’t have to go inside and if things did get a little dicey, none of it would be recorded by a security camera.
Radcliff was disappointed when she left after dinner and didn’t stay over at his place. Margot was disappointed too; being with Radcliff would have been much more fun than staking out a convenience store in a questionable neighborhood in the middle of the night.
Just as she figured, two hours after his shift was supposed to start, Trevor was standing by the trash can firing up a Marlboro Red.
“Hey Trevor, how’s it going?” Margot asked as she walked up.
“It’s going,” he said with a smile. As Margot stepped into the light, he asked, “Do I know you? You don’t have the kind of face I’d forget.”
“No, but I’m a friend of Cassie’s.”
“Whoa, I take that back, I do know you. You’re that Viuda Negra chick. I’ve got to say her video doesn’t do you justice.”
“Is that so?”
“I don’t normally go for older chicks, but I think I’d make an exception for Viuda Negra.”
“You know calling a woman old is never a good idea.”
“I said older and I meant it as a compliment.”
Margot nodded. “That sounds like you’re over Cassie.”
Trevor had to think about that for a second before he said, “What she don’t know won’t hurt her.”
“How about bullets? Would they hurt her?”
“That’s kind of a weird question.”
“Somebody shot at her last week.”
“No shit?”
“No shit. Fired a .40 at her.”
“Are you implying something?”
“Why would you say that?”
“I’ve got a forty, under the counter inside.”
“It’s not that uncommon, plenty of people have them. Of course, you’re the only one of those people who Cassie broke up with.”
“It’s less a breakup and more just a break. We aren’t even seeing other people, just not exactly seeing each other.”
“Sounded like you wanted to see me.”
“I was just flirting.”
“What if I said yes?”
“Are you saying yes?”
“No.”
“You come out here to talk about Cassie?”
“I came here to tell you something for her.”
“She couldn’t tell me herself?”
“After you shot at her, she didn’t want to get too close.”
“Wait, when did this happen?”
Margot told him.
“You say it happened around eight? At night?”
“Yeah.”
“Well, it wasn’t me. I was here.”
“You work midnight to nine.”
“I was filling in for somebody and took an evening shift. Made for a long ass day since I worked graveyard the night before, but I was here.”
Margot looked at him.
“I can prove it. It’s a high traffic time so it’s not a solo shift like graveyard. Not counting customers, I’ve got two people that can tell you I was here all night.”
Margot planned to check, but right now, she had no reason not to believe him.
“Shooting or not, she wants you to leave her alone.”
“I thought I was doing that?”
Margot was about to tell him to continue when she heard the squeal of tires and the roar of an engine. She turned back to see a big American muscle car, most likely a Dodge Charger, come screaming into the parking lot. She saw the arm coming out the window and immediately recognized what the long metal finger pointing her way was.
She pulled Trevor down as the passenger opened fire. The shots went above their heads, shattering the big glass window that took up the entire front side of the store and showering the two of them with glass
