Unseen (Will Trent / Atlanta Series)

out.”
    Tony had always been contrary. He lowered the knife. “I guess you pissed somebody off real good.” He indicated Will’s face. “Got two black eyes, broke nose. I know Junior didn’t do that to you.”
    Will swallowed. His throat was still hurting. He thought about the whiskey Sara had forced him to drink. She was right. It had made him feel better. Everything she did made him feel so much better.
    Tony asked, “Who tore into you, Bud?”
    Will knew Tony wanted an answer. This wasn’t part of the killing game. “The cop. He caught up with me last night. Sucker punched me.” He looked at Paul Vickery. “Guess he won’t do it again.”
    Tony laughed. “Thass a good’un, Bud. I guess he won’t.” He used the knife to clean under his fingernails. The blade dug into the skin under his thumb. Instead of flinching, Tony watched the blood bead up. “Where’d you get that fancy car?”
    Sara’s BMW. Her registration was in the glove compartment. “Stole it off a woman in the cafeteria.”
    “That right?”
    “She left her keys on the table. I went out into the parking lot and pressed the button until I found it.”
    “That’s a good trick. I’ll have to keep that in mind.” Tony hefted the knife in his hand, then started flipping it end over end. “I was wonderin’ about somethin’, Bud.” He glanced over his shoulder as if he wanted to make sure they were alone. “I ain’t queer or nothin’, but I seen you done some grooming.” He explained, “Back at the club, when Denny made you pull your shorts down?”
    Will shook his head. “What?”
    “Seems to me, a man don’t groom hisself like that unless he’s doin’ it for a woman. Am I right?”
    Will swallowed again. He couldn’t accept that he was going to die talking about his genitals.
    Tony kept flipping the knife. “Cayla talked me into shavin’ my balls once. They itched so bad I near ’bout scratched ’em off.” He shrugged. “I guess it’s better what you did?”
    Will couldn’t tell if he was asking a question or making an observation.
    Tony caught the knife by the handle. He smiled, like he’d just figured something out. “You’re still sweet on that lady up in Tennessee, ain’t ya?”
    Will tried to summon up a Bill Black answer, but then he remembered that this was exactly the kind of death a man like Bill Black would face. “Yes,” Will said. “I’m in love with her. That’s where I was heading—up to Tennessee. I don’t want my kid growing up without his daddy.”
    “That’s what I thought,” Tony said. “You was just trying to make her jealous, wasn’t you? Going out with Cayla like that.”
    Will nodded. “Yes.”
    “You came here to tell Cayla that, right? That nothin’ was gonna happen?”
    “I know she’s your girl, Tony.” Will grasped for an excuse to explain why he was here. “I heard at the hospital they were looking for her. I came here to tell her that she might wanna lay low for a while. I was looking out for her in case you couldn’t.”
    Tony’s jaw twisted to the side as he considered the excuse. Finally, he decided, “You’re a real gentleman, Bud, lookin’ out for her like that. I always knew you was good.” He paused. “What’s this about you leaving town?”
    Will tried not to flinch as he swallowed. “I was heading up to Tennessee right after I checked on Cayla for you. There’s nothing in Macon for me.”
    “That right?” Tony asked. “You was gonna skip out on your parole?”
    “Heat’s too much around here. Too many dead cops. Just a matter of time before the pigs try to pin it all on me.”
    “You could always turn.”
    “I don’t snitch on my friends. And I won’t—” Will cut himself off before he started begging. Tony liked to hear people beg. “I wanna see my kid grow up. No reason for me to ever come back here again.”
    “That’s real sweet, Bud. I bet you woulda made a good daddy.”
    “It’s all I ever wanted,” Will lied. There were too many bad things that could happen to children for Will to ever want one of his own. Still, he told Tony, “My daddy ran out on me when I was a kid. I don’t want to do that to mine.”
    Tony studied him carefully. He finally said, “My daddy ran out on me, too.”
    Every muscle in Will’s throat strained to keep the conversation going, to create some fictional fairy tale about the woman in Tennessee, their wonderful lives together.
    But Will knew it was too late. Tony was done listening. He