Baltimore 03 - Did You Miss Me?

slammed the door.
    ‘That went well,’ Alec murmured.
    Clay knocked again. And a third time. The door opened again, but this time Trooper Gargano was armed. In one hand he held a Glock, his finger on the trigger. In the other hand he held a cordless phone, his finger poised over the keypad. ‘Go the fuck away.’
    ‘I’m not a cop,’ Clay said. ‘And I’m not selling anything.’
    Gargano’s eyes were cold. ‘Then you’re a reporter and I hate them even more.’
    ‘I’m not a reporter,’ Clay shouted as the door was slammed again. ‘Dammit.’
    Alec pulled out his cell phone, did a quick search, punched in a few buttons. Then he connected the phone to his cochlear implant with a special cord and waited.
    ‘Got the answering machine,’ he said to Clay. A few seconds later he said, ‘Hello, sir. I’m standing on your doorstep. We have a dead friend with two of your X2 cartridges in him. If this is one of those seriously old-fashioned answering machines and you can hear me, please pick up. If it’s voicemail, I hope you listen in the next few minutes—’
    The door opened. Gargano was still armed, but most of his anger was gone. ‘Who the hell are you people?’
    ‘My name is Clay Maynard. I’m a PI. This is my associate, Alec Vaughn. We’re from Baltimore.’
    ‘I figured as much. You’re really late. The other guy left two hours ago.’
    ‘Would you mind telling me who was here two hours ago?’
    ‘Yes, I mind. You said your dead friend has my cartridges in him. How?’
    ‘That’s what we’re trying to find out. I run a security firm. The victim was one of my contract employees, an off-duty cop doing after hours bodyguard work.’ Clay gauged the man’s reaction and decided he needed to lay it on a little more thickly. ‘He was trying to make a little extra for his fourth kid that’s due any day.’
    Gargano looked suspicious. ‘Quite a story.’
    ‘It’s true. You’ve heard about the shooting spree at the Baltimore courthouse?’
    There was a flicker in Gargano’s eyes. ‘You were there?’
    ‘Yes. I got there just as the shooting started.’
    ‘Why were you there?’
    ‘I’ve given you some information. I want a little from you.’
    ‘Why should I?’
    ‘Because two of your cartridges ended up in my dead friend.’
    He and Gargano locked stares. Finally Gargano blinked. ‘It was a Fed.’
    Clay sighed. ‘White hair, creepy eyes?’
    Gargano grimaced. ‘Hell, yeah. What’s with him, anyway?’
    ‘Personally, I have no idea. Professionally, we have the same objective. Two kidnapped college kids. We want them back. Before they’re dead too.’
    Gargano looked upward and Clay guessed one of the upstairs lights belonged to his own kid. ‘What do you want to know?’
    Beside him Alec’s teeth were chattering. ‘It’s freezing cold. Can we come in?’
    ‘Are you carrying?’
    ‘Yes. He’s not, though.’ Clay looked at Alec doubtfully. ‘Tell me you’re not.’
    ‘Okay, I’m not,’ Alec said. ‘Really, I’m not.’
    ‘Let me see your ID,’ Gargano said, then nodded when Clay showed it to him. ‘Keep your hands where I can see them. I don’t trust anybody anymore.’
    ‘I can understand that.’ Clay sat down on a well-worn sofa and put his hands on his thighs. Alec sat beside him, looking around the room, openly curious.
    I’m going to have to teach the kid a little subtlety .
    ‘ All right,’ Clay said once Gargano had sat down. ‘I think the question of the day is how your taser cartridges ended up in an alley in Baltimore. The cop’s name was Isaac Zacharias. He was providing security for a young man named Ford Elkhart. Ford was last seen in Baltimore, walking his girlfriend to her car after a movie. They cut through an alley and the abductor was waiting. He didn’t know about Zacharias, though.’
    ‘Zacharias was tased?’
    ‘And then drugged. His killer slit his throat with a non-metal blade.’
    ‘The blade’s not mine, I can tell you that for certain. I don’t keep blades.’
    ‘Then do you know anybody named Doug?’
    ‘No.’ There wasn’t even a flicker of recognition in Gargano’s eyes.
    ‘Kimberly?’
    ‘No.’ But he frowned. ‘The Fed asked me about Kimberly, but not Doug.’
    ‘He might not have known about Doug yet. He’ll be back. What did you tell him?’
    ‘Nothing more than he could have read in the police report. Because there isn’t anything else,’ Gargano said, frustration making his tone harsh.
    ‘There