Turning Angel

Mia definitely has a career ahead of her as a lawyer, if not an FBI agent. ”Why would Marko believe you, though? All of a sudden, you come to his girlfriend out of the blue to try to save him?“

Mia looks away from me and gazes out over the cemetery. ”It’s not out of the blue.“

”What do you mean?“

”I know Marko better than you think. Better than I let you think.“

I lean down in front of her, but she won’t meet my eye.

”I slept with him, okay?“ she says. ”When he first came here. It lasted about two months. Then I figured out he was just using me.“

I sit beside her on the wall. ”Using you for sex?“

”Yes. And to get Kate.“

God.”Can you tell me about it?“

Mia stands and turns toward the river, as though she can’t bear to look at me while she confesses this. ”When Marko first got to St. Stephen’s, everybody thought he was so cool. He had this aura about him, you know? The bad boy, ’I don’t give a shit about anything‘ aura. But he was smart, too. Anybody could see that.“

She bends and picks up a blade of new grass. ”He started paying a lot of attention to me. I was really down on myself back then. It was the start of senior year, and my boyfriend had just moved to Minnesota with his folks, because the tire plant closed down. Everyone else was so jazzed about the year, but I was just dead. Then…in walks Marko. It had more to do with Kate than anything else, even for me, probably.“ She turns to me at last, her eyes wet. ”Because everybody expected Marko to go for her, you know? Me included. But he didn’t. He wantedme -or pretended he did. And that made me feel really good. That’s probably what made me be with him, if I’m honest about it.“

”Did Marko hurt you?“

Mia nods slowly. ”Not physically. But he tore me up inside. He really convinced me that he cared about me. He told me about his childhood. He said I was the first person he’d trusted or let inside since he was a boy. And…I did stuff with him I’d never done before. I’d only been with one guy before Marko, my first boyfriend. I was so stupid. God. “ She turns away from me again. ”Look, I don’t want to talk about that part of it, okay? My point is that if I can get Marko face-to-face, I can make him tell the truth about what happened. If he killed Kate, I think he’ll brag about it to me. I’m serious. And if he does that, Dr. Elliott might go free.“

”That would only happen if you wore a wire, Mia.“

She nods. ”That’s what I’m talking about.“

”No way. You almost got killed last week. You want to put yourself into a worse situation?“

”But it’s not!“ she argues. ”Marko has no reason to fear me. Ever since I broke off our relationship, he’s been begging me to see him again. He’ll believe I want to warn him, Penn. His ego’s just that big.“

I take her by the shoulders and look hard into her eyes. ”Listen to me. We’re talking about this guy because we think he may have killed one high school girl already. There’s too much risk.“

She gives me a smile filled with regret. ”I’m not Kate, okay? The biggest risk isn’t that I’ll get killed. It’s that I’ll have to screw him.“

A wave of sickness rolls through my stomach. ”There’s something you need to know, Mia.“

”What?“

Quickly, I tell her about Ellen’s confession in my hospital room. She listens with wide eyes, and when I’m done, she bites her bottom lip and looks toward the river.

”You believed her?“ she asks finally.

”Yes.“

”I do, too. That’s exactly what Kate would do in that situation. I can just see it. She’d be so cruel to Ellen.“

”Then you see my point. It doesn’t make much sense to try to trap Marko if Ellen is the one who killed Kate.“

Mia shakes her head. ”I don’t believe she did. And you don’t either.“

”But you just said-“

”I believe Ellen choked her, yes. And if Kate had died from hitting her head, I might believe she’d killed her. But she didn’t, did she?“

”No,“ I concede, gratified to see that Mia has followed the exact logic I did. ”Strangulation.“

Mia nods with satisfaction. ”Marko was there. I mean, who else could it have been? You know?“

”Drew.“

”You never believed Drew killed her. Neither did I.“

”But he could have.“

Mia dismisses this with a wave of her small hand. ”You know he didn’t. Your gut tells you that. And my gut tells me Marko did. “

Mine tells me the same. But can I put Mia at risk again to try to prove that? As I ponder this question, the cell phone I borrowed from my father rings. My caller ID showsDON LOGAN as the caller.

”Hey, Don.“

”Penn, I’ve got some information you might be interested in.“

”I’m listening.“

”Remember we kept wondering why Sheriff Byrd was taking orders from Shad Johnson?“

”Yeah.“

”I finally found out. My source at the sheriff’s department told me. They’re celebrating like it’s New Year’s over there. There and the D.A.’s office. The sheriff told my source himself.“

”What did he say?“

”Shad Johnson told Billy Byrd that when he’s elected mayor, he’s going to abolish the Civil Service Commission. They do all the hiring and firing for the police and fire departments. I don’t know how Shad could do that, but Shad says that once the commission’s gone, he’s going to personally hire and fire every cop in town. And he’s offered Billy Byrd the job of chief.“

It takes me a few moments to absorb this. ”Why would Byrd put himself under Shad’s thumb like that?“

”Sheriff’s an elected position. Billy might never be elected again. But Shad is willing to give him the one token white position in his administration. I guess Billy figures, if you can’t beat ‘em, join ’em. I figure I’ve got about ninety days left in this job.“

”I’m sorry, Don.“

”Welcome to the real world, brother.“

I say nothing. An idea is taking shape in my mind, and it includes Chief Logan. ”Don, what if I told you we could overturn Drew’s conviction?“

”I’d ask you how.“

”What if I told you Marko Bakic killed Kate Townsend?“

”I’d ask what proof you have.“

”Proof exists. And you can help me get it. Are you up for that?“

”Are we talking about in my official capacity?“

”Quasi-official, you might say. It would be important after the fact that you’re the police chief.“

”I need more to go on than that.“

”Can you meet me at the City Cemetery?“

”Now?“

”Right now. And bring the smallest wire rig you’ve got with you.“

”What the hell are you up to, man?“

”Saving Drew’s ass and your job. Just get up here.“

Chief Logan breathes steadily into the phone. Right now he’s a man without a future. At length, he says one word.

”Okay.“

I’m sitting in the passenger seat of Don Logan’s Crown Victoria. Kelly and Mia are in the backseat. Kelly is checking out the wire rig Logan brought over from the police station. I introduced Kelly to Logan as a corporate security expert from Houston.