Deadly Prospects (17 page)

“Why didn’t you call us?”

Grady was livid. He hadn’t found out about Ally’s night of terror until James filled him in during the morning briefing.

“It was late,” James said. “I figured you were already in bed. There was nothing you could do, and she was already safe.”

“I’m still pissed,” Grady said. “She’s my sister, too.”

“Give it a rest,” James ordered. “I had a long night.”

“I’m not going to give it a rest,” Grady replied. “You should have called me.”

“I’m sorry,” James said. “I really am. I just went straight over there last night. When I got there, Ally wasn’t speaking, and they were fixing Jake’s arm up. I had other things to focus on.”

“Ally wasn’t speaking?” Grady knit his eyebrows together. “That’s never happened before. Even if she was mad and gave us the silent treatment as a kid she could only last for five minutes.”

“She blamed herself for Jake getting shot,” James said. “Mandy talked to her for a few minutes and things seemed to be fine after that.”

“What did Mandy say to her?”

“I have no idea. Whatever it was, it worked. It was like magic.”

“Oh, jeez,” Grady moaned. “Now you think she’s magic? You two are so sickeningly sweet with each other it makes me want to puke sometimes.”

“I always thought she was magic,” James said. “If you’d seen her with Ally, you would have been impressed, too.”

“I’m sure I would have,” Grady said. “Of course, I didn’t get to see Ally because you didn’t call me and tell me what was going on.”

James scowled. “Oh, for crying out loud.”

Grady finally softened his expression. “Where is Ally now?”

“She’s at Jake’s house.”

Grady barked out a laugh. “So, let me get this straight, in the past week you’ve gone from being adamantly against Ally dating Jake to handing her over to him for a sleepover?”

“He genuinely cares about her.”

“I know that,” Grady said. “It’s written all over his face. That’s why I’m fine with it. You were the one freaking out.”

“Well, now the only thing I’m freaking out about is keeping Ally safe,” James said.

“And how are we going to do that?”

“We’re going to solve this,” James said. “And we’re going to solve it today. I’m not leaving her exposed. I’m going to the clerk’s office with Mandy. She took a personal day. We’re getting the information on Thredson and Lawson. They’re our best options. I already called Finn. He’s on his way over to Lawson’s wife’s place. I told him to question her again, and the neighbors.”

“What about me?”

“I want you to go back and rattle Archer’s cage.”

“You mean you want me to threaten the guy on the oxygen tank,” Grady surmised.

“I want you to threaten the shit out of him,” James agreed. “We’re getting answers, and we’re getting them today.”

BERNIE
Archer wasn’t what Grady was expecting. He was worn down by time – there was no doubt about that – but the frailty he hid behind was partially an act. Oh, the man physically didn’t appear far from death, but his dark eyes told another story.

“I want to know who was in on the bank heist with you,” Grady said.

“I already told your brother I wasn’t in on any heist.”

“I know you’re lying,” Grady said, his face immovable. “You have your reasons. I get that. I don’t care about putting you in prison. I don’t care where the money is, or who has it. I want to know who is trying to find the money, because right now they’re threatening my sister.”

“What makes you think I know any of that?” Archer’s eyes were tiny, glinting with a hint of madness.

“Don’t make me take that tank from you,” Grady threatened.

“You wouldn’t dare.”

“You’d be surprised what I would do to protect my sister,” Grady said. “Now talk.”

Archer inhaled deeply, leaning back in his chair. “Fine. I’m going to tell you what happened. If the cops show up at my door, though, I’m denying everything.”

“Fair enough.”

“It was Ray’s idea,” Archer said.

“Thredson? The guy from the bank? We figured he was in on it.”

“He knew the route,” Archer said. “We figured it would be an hour’s worth of work and a huge pay day. Those trucks are insured. No one was losing anything. I have no idea why those guards – guys who were making eight bucks an hour – would draw guns on us, but they did.”

“Were you one of the ones who was shot?” Grady asked.

“Yeah, me and Mike. They got me in the leg. It wasn’t a bad wound, but I couldn’t run and Ray and Donnie just left me there. I was in surgery when Mike turned on us. I woke up chained to my bed.”

“Did that make you angry?”

“Of course it made me angry,” Archer said. “I also understood it. If I’d had the chance, I would’ve done the same thing. Heck, I tried to do the same thing, but they wouldn’t give me immunity like they gave Mike.”

“Well, at least you’re honest,” Grady said. “How come no charges were ever brought?”

“It was some technicality,” Archer said. “They got Mike’s confession through illegal means, and when the money didn’t turn up, someone just let it fall through the cracks. I considered myself lucky and moved on. Karma is a bitch, though.” Archer shook his tank for emphasis. “I got mine in the end, and so did Mike.”

“Yeah, but Mike didn’t get his until a few weeks ago,” Grady said. “Someone waited a long time to go after him. Who was that?”

“I have no idea.”

“Tell me about Thredson’s death,” Grady said.

“He was in a car accident,” Archer said. “It was five years after the job. People say he drove right off the cliff at the New Baltimore point and right into Lake St. Clair. His car sank to the bottom. Since it was winter, divers couldn’t go down to get him until the spring. His body had been eaten by then.

“Do you think he killed himself?”

Archer shrugged. “I have no idea. I didn’t see him in the time after the arrest. Well, that’s not entirely true. We all saw each other twice after that. We had a brief meeting in the parking lot of the library to make a plan about six weeks after the case fell apart. We wanted to look inconspicuous, and that’s the best place we could come up with.”

“Who took the money from the scene that night?”

“Ray and Donnie took it together,” Archer replied. “They were going to hide it until we could all share it. They hid it in the field out behind that compost depot in Clinton Township. It smells so bad out there, we figured no one would ever stumble across it. No one wants to build houses – or anything else, for that matter – in that area. It seemed like a safe bet.”

“But?”

“We agreed to leave the money there for a year,” Archer said. “It was hard. We were all tempted, but Ray was right about the necessity of waiting. The cops watched us for a long time, and we couldn’t be spending money on stuff. It was easier to leave the money buried and go back for it later so we wouldn’t be tempted.

“The second time we all saw each other after the robbery was the day and time we agreed to meet at the burial spot,” Archer said.

“Let me guess, the money was gone,” Grady said.

“Yup.”

“Who took it?”

“Everyone denied it,” Archer said. “I know I didn’t take it. Look around. If I had money, I’d be out of here and living my last months in a tropical climate with no extradition.”

“What about the other three?”

“We all watched each other after that,” Archer said. “You can imagine the paranoia. One person took it, of that I have no doubt. Up until recently, I always assumed it was Ray. I figured he hid it and that’s why we never caught him using it. He died before he could spend it.”

“Someone else had to know about the money,” Grady pressed. “Someone killed Sawyer. Someone beat him to death to get information. Whoever it was must have thought he had the money. If Thredson is dead, that only leaves you and Lawson.”

“I never thought Mike had the money,” Archer said. “He was a hell of a nice guy, but he wasn’t very smart. He’d have bought a boat or something and tipped everyone off.”

“What about Lawson?” Grady asked. “His wife says he went out for a pack of smokes ten years ago and never came back.”

Archer snorted. “Have you met Bertha?”

“I haven’t had the pleasure,” Grady said. “My brother questioned her.”

“She’s lucky she wasn’t married to me,” Archer said. “I wouldn’t have left her. I would have killed her and buried her in the basement. That woman has an ugly soul – and a huge ass. I’m not sure how Donnie lasted as long as he did.”

“Do you think Lawson is still alive?”

Archer shrugged. “I have no idea. I certainly haven’t heard from him.”

“And you’re sure someone else wasn’t in on it?”

“I’m sure,” Archer said. “We wanted to split it four ways. It was a nice, even number.”

Grady nodded, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. “Have you ever considered that Thredson didn’t kill himself?”

“That he’s still alive? No. People saw him in the car. That water was frigid. He would have died on impact.”

“That only leaves Lawson then,” Grady said. “He has to be the one. He’s been in hiding for ten years, and now he’s decided to clean up the other loose ends so he can spend the money freely.”

“You’re the investigator. I guess you have your suspect.”

“That doesn’t explain why he beat Sawyer to death, though,” Jake said. “Someone wanted information from him.”

“I told you, Mike wasn’t smart enough.”

“Where would Lawson go?”

“I have no idea,” Archer said. “Like I said, we haven’t been close in years.”

Grady leaned forward, fixing Archer with a hard look. “I want you to be really sure. I don’t want to have to come back here.”

Archer dissolved into a coughing fit. When he recovered, he met Grady’s gaze evenly. “Son, I’m already in Hell. If I knew, I would tell you. And, no, it’s not because I’ve found religion or feel bad for what we did. I’d tell you because I’d want payback against a thief. I just don’t know.”

Grady nodded, getting to his feet. “I hope you get the relief you want.”

“I hope I die soon, too,”

EVERYONE
met back at Jake’s house later in the afternoon to compare notes.

“Do you believe Archer?” Jake asked.

They were sitting in his living room, Ally perched on the arm of Jake’s chair while he rubbed her back.

“I do,” Grady said. “The guy doesn’t have long to live. He wants payback. We’re his best shot.”

“So, it has to be Lawson,” James mused. “We checked at the clerk’s office. There’s no record of him legally changing his name, and no hint of where he might have moved. The guy just disappeared off the face of the Earth ten years ago.”

“How did you do?” Jake asked Finn.

“Well, Bertha wasn’t home,” Finn said. “I can’t say that I was sorry to miss her. The neighbors were another story. They all hate her, and they can’t say enough nasty things about her.”

“What did they say?”

“They said her story of being alone the past ten years is hogwash,” Finn said. “Supposedly, she’s got some guy who spends the night there two or three times a week. They have no idea who he is.”

“And we’re sure it’s not Lawson himself?” Mandy asked.

“They claim it’s not,” Finn said. “They say he looks different. Apparently Lawson had a noticeable limp. One of his legs was wooden – which we missed on the background. He lost it in some industrial accident before the bank heist.”

“Maybe Lawson had plastic surgery,” Mandy suggested. “Maybe he learned to walk normally on the leg.”

“You watch too many movies, baby,” James said, patting her leg. “Even Bertha needs some loving. It’s probably some loser who uses her for sex.”

“So, we’ve essentially narrowed it down to Lawson,” Jake said. “How do we find him?”

“I have an idea on that front,” Sophie said, walking back into the room. Grady had picked her up after work, and she’d taken a call in the car on the ride over, secluding herself in Jake’s kitchen for almost fifteen minutes once they’d arrived.

“Who was on the phone?” Grady asked.

“Peter.”

Grady fought the urge to make a face. “What did he want?”

“When Mandy and I were at his house, I asked him to keep his ear to the ground,” Sophie said. “He came up with a good tip.”

“What?” Jake asked, leaning forward.

“It seems Bertha Lawson, under her maiden name, owns an interesting piece of property out in Chesterfield Township,” Sophie said, her eyes sparkling.

“Are you going to tell us?” James pressed.

“She owns a boat house with an adjacent dock on Jefferson by Cotton,” Sophie said. “It’s no longer in use, but it was converted into living quarters almost eleven years ago.”

“Bingo,” James said, getting to his feet. “Lawson has been hiding out there for ten years. He’s sick of living in hiding. He wants to take out anyone who could recognize him, which includes his old partners in crime.”