Baltimore 03 - Did You Miss Me?

it,’ Joseph deadpanned. ‘I’ve never heard that one before. But let’s say I believe you. I don’t, but let’s just say I do. Where did you get the knife?’
    ‘From Doug. He sold it to me. Promised that nobody would detect it.’
    ‘Okay. And who is this Doug?’
    ‘I don’t know his last name.’
    ‘Of course you don’t. You’re just wasting my time.’
    ‘I don’t! He’s a friend of my father’s. He sold us the knife.’
    ‘And the tasers?’
    George frowned. ‘What tasers? I bought a knife. No tasers.’
    ‘What about the assault rifles?’
    George opened his mouth. Closed it again. ‘I don’t know.’
    ‘“Doug” didn’t sell them to you?’
    George sighed wearily. ‘I don’t know.’
    Joseph stretched out his legs, made himself comfortable. ‘Marina’s dead.’
    George flinched. ‘You’re lying.’ When Joseph continued to study him in silence, horrified acceptance began to fill his eyes. ‘When? How?’
    ‘She opened fire on the crowd outside the courtroom. A cop shot her, right in the head.’ He made a gun with his thumb and forefinger. ‘Pow. She dropped like a rock.’
    George closed his eyes. ‘Oh my God. Oh my God.’
    ‘You keep saying that,’ Joseph said blandly.
    George shook his head. ‘Shut up,’ he whispered. ‘Oh God. Just . . . shut up.’
    Joseph gave him a minute. Then casually threw out the name he was most interested in at the moment. ‘Richard Odum.’
    George’s eyes flew open, the flash of hatred unmistakable. And then he schooled his features to mimic mild resentment. ‘What about him?’
    Not so stupid after all . ‘You tell me. Since you’re so eager to have me believe you.’
    George’s shrug was forced. ‘Friend of my father’s. On the board. All I know.’
    ‘I got that from the Internet, so you haven’t helped me at all. You should know that the state’s attorney is on the other side of the mirror. The charges against you are already signed. It’ll be first degree murder and two counts of kidnapping. And all that’s before we even start discussing the courtroom drama – and the aftermath.’
    ‘Marina,’ George said hoarsely. There was real grief in his eyes. Like he’d lost a lover. Joseph had planned to turn Cindy by telling her that Bill had an unholy affection for Marina. He wondered if it would work with George.
    ‘Interesting. Seems like for such a young girl, Marina has attracted an awful lot of strong emotion from you Millhouse men.’
    George’s eyes narrowed, his breaths very shallow. ‘What do you mean?’
    ‘Well, Reggie was sleeping with her. You obviously carry a torch for her. And your dad . . . well, his torch got extremely intimate with her, if you know what I mean.’ Joseph was deliberately vulgar, just to see what George would say.
    ‘No, I don’t know what you mean,’ he hissed, furious now.
    ‘Oh, but I think you do. Daddy was poaching on Reggie’s territory. That baby Marina had a few days ago? Daddy’s.’
    Again George leapt to his feet. ‘No!’ he roared. ‘You’re lying.’
    ‘You’d better be sitting in the next five seconds or I’ll have you hauled off to a cell.’
    George viciously kicked his chair, sending it sliding across the room to crash against the wall. ‘That baby is not his. That baby is mine .’
    Well . That one I wasn’t expecting . Keeping his expression bland, Joseph calmly stood and slid the chair back to George. ‘Sit. Down. Now .’
    Breathing like a bull, glaring up with hate, George obeyed.
    Joseph stood close to George now. ‘You’ve got a big problem then, Daddy . Your baby-mama is gone. Pushing up the proverbial daisies. Your dear old dad is in jail, as are your mother and brother. Nobody’s taking care of your child.’
    George looked away, shaking his head numbly. ‘She’ll be okay.’
    Yes, yes, yes . Just a little more . ‘ A baby that small could die if she’s not cared for properly. Still not sure I believe the kid’s yours, though. Your father . . . he reacted very badly to the news of Marina’s death. Attacked me and everything. There was something in his expression. Made my skin crawl, George. Face it. Your daddy had an improper liaison with your baby-mama.’
    ‘Sonofabitch,’ George snarled. ‘Motherfucking sonofabitch.’
    Interesting . He’d said the same thing when he’d learned the knife killed the cop.
    ‘He’s not gonna win Father of the Year, that’s for damn sure. Then again, neither are you. An infant