“You mean a gun?”
“Uh, yeah, that.”
“It took you that long just to ask if I had a gun?”
“I got distracted.”
“Obviously.”
“Why do you look so beautiful all the time?”
Nicole smiled. “You’re becoming a charmer.”
Bridge smiled back. “I’m trying.” They started walking again. “Seriously, though, are you packing?”
“What kind of question is that? Are you serious? I’m always packing. You know that.”
“Good.”
“Worried that I’m right, aren’t you?”
“No,” Bridge said.
“See, you got it in your mind that she’s involved and maybe her boyfriend’s up there with her and we’re gonna get in a shootout, aren’t ya?”
“No.”
“Just admit it. You’re following my intuition.”
“No, I’m not. And it’s still not a thing.”
“It’s still a thing and always will be. Just admit that I’m right.”
“I’m not admitting anything yet,” Bridge said. “I’m just making sure we have all our bases covered. If something happens up there, then I’ll admit you’re right.”
“Promise?”
“We don’t even know if she has a boyfriend.”
“She does.”
“How do you know?”
“The old intuition thing is kicking into high gear.”
Bridge stopped and sighed as his girlfriend kept walking. “That’s not a thing.”
10
Nicole banged loudly on Werther’s front door, drawing a look from her boyfriend.
“What?”
“You trying to wake up the neighborhood?” Bridge asked.
“It’s the middle of the day. Everyone’s awake.”
“They certainly are now.”
Nicole kept banging away. “Marianne Werther!”
“If you’re trying to scare her away before she answers the door, you’re really doing a good job of it.”
“Her car’s here. She’s in there. I just want her to answer the door.”
“Ever think that maybe she went for a walk? We do live in a city where that happens, you know.”
“She’s in there.” Nicole banged away some more.
“Ever think that she is in there and maybe now doesn’t want to answer the door because she thinks there’s a crazed lunatic banging on her door?”
Nicole slowly turned and looked at him. “Do you want to talk to her or not?”
“I do. Preferably without her already on edge and irritated with the people who almost knocked her door down.”
“Well, then maybe she should answer it.”
“Some people don’t answer the door for strangers, you know.”
Nicole was about to respond with another sarcastic comment, but they could hear someone moving around inside. Then they heard the door unlock. Then it opened. Standing there was Marianne Werther. She was fairly tall and thin, with long black hair. She appeared to be in her mid-thirties, though she had a youthful-looking face.
“Yes? Can I help you?”
“Ms. Werther?” Bridge asked.
“Yes. Who are you?”
“My name’s Luke and this is my partner, Nicole.”
“What do you want?”
“We’d like to talk to you about an incident that happened the other day.”
“Are you the police?”
“No, we’re sort of like, part of a joint task force with the FBI.”
“Where are your credentials?”
“We’re undercover. We don’t have credentials.”
Werther smiled. “Then I’m not talking to you.”
She started closing the door, but was stopped when Bridge blocked it from shutting with his foot. “I can have my Special Agent Happ down here in five minutes, if that’s what you prefer. Or you can just talk to us and we’ll be out of here. If I call him, the process might be messier… and take a lot longer.”
Werther sighed and opened the door wide again. “What is it that you want?”
“A couple of days ago your car was seen at the scene of a shooting.”
“That’s impossible.”
“It is, huh?” Nicole said. “Well, it was. And we’re the ones who saw it.”
Werther didn’t seem flustered at all. She gave a sort of shrug, seeming unconcerned. “You must’ve seen something else.”
“Oh, it was your car all right,” Bridge said.
“OK, well, if that’s all…”
Bridge took a picture out of the folder he was carrying with him, showing her the car from the camera photo that Happ had sent him. “Looks a lot like yours, doesn’t it?”
“There’s a lot of cars that look like that. That’s not proof.”
Bridge reached into the folder and removed another picture. This one had a full picture of the license plate. He showed that one to Werther too. “How ‘bout this one? That proof enough for you?”
Werther looked at the pictures and cleared her throat. She was trying to think of a good explanation.
“Mind if we come in and talk?” Nicole asked.
“No, no,” Werther said, giving a nervous smile. “Sorry, the place is a mess, and I’m in the middle of cleaning it.”
“About the car?” Bridge asked.
“I don’t know anything about it.”
“So that’s the way you wanna play this thing? Ignorance?”
Nicole tapped her boyfriend on the arm. “She’s not gonna tell us anything. Let’s just sit on her and wait for the rest of the boys to get down here. We can get a warrant, search her place, then Happ can interrogate her downtown.”
“Might be for the best.”
“OK. Wait.” Werther took a deep breath as she tried to think of a story. “OK. I don’t know exactly what happened the other night. I wasn’t driving the car.”
“Who was?”
“My brother Mark.”
“You loaned him the car?”
Werther closed her eyes and nodded. “Yes.”
“Why?”
Werther shrugged. “I don’t know. I’ve always had a soft spot for him. He’s my younger brother, but he’s constantly in trouble, always getting into something. He came to me the other night and asked if he could borrow my car for a few hours. I asked him what he needed it for, but he wouldn’t tell me.”
“So you gave it to him, anyway?” Nicole asked.
“Yes. Like I said, I have a hard time saying no to him.”
“And he gave no indication what he needed it for?”
“No.”
“How did he seem when he returned it?”
“I don’t know. I didn’t see him when he brought it back. I was already asleep. He put the keys through the mail slot on the door.”
“Well, whoever was in this car shot at us, just outside the house of a private investigator named Darren Bevell,” Bridge said. “That name ring any bells for you?”
Werther shook her head. “No.”
“What
