No Ordinary Killer (13 page)

Cooper laughed. “Hey, more information than a brother
needs to hear.”

“If you fellas are done with the brotherly drama,
let’s check for that receipt.”

“The eyes and glasses were on this stand,” Cooper
said, crouching down on his haunches and snapping on a pair of gloves. “I’d say
they were looking straight across….” Sparks dropped three shelves and opened
several books. “Look for a hollowed-out space or paper between the pages.”

“Nothing.”

“Try a shelf above or below,” Dallas pulled on a pair
of latex gloves.

“Okay … nothing … wait….” Sparks pulled the ribbon
that tied a book shut. He opened it and retrieved a yellow paper. “Now we’re
talking. It’s a receipt for a woman’s watch. Special instructions—inscribed on
the back:
till death do us part ~ your
lover always
.”

 
“Who is the
customer?” Dallas asked.

“Paul Weaver.”

“No possible way.” Dallas snapped her second glove in
place.

Cooper grabbed the receipt from Sparks. “Damn, that’s
what it says. In the first case, it was the receipt that led us to the arrest
and conviction of Michael Powers. He always said that it was a setup and he
never confessed to the murder.”

“Another conviction you didn’t think was right?”
Dallas asked.

“That’s right,” Sparks added. “You never believed
either of those cases were solved and that the wrong men went to prison. You
fought the team at every turn. Arnott and Weaver were all gung-ho … and no one
was listening to me … like usual. That’s the way it went. You and Arnott got
promoted and Weaver and I sat in the shadows. Pissed us both off … for sure.”

“You realize that wasn’t our doing. We asked Captain
why that happened and he told us not to disrespect a promotion. We stopped asking.”

“Most likely it was because you were the lead
detective,” Dallas suggested.

“What about Arnott?”

“He’s Cooper’s partner. The others were part of the
investigating team. I’m just guessing.” Dallas reached for the paper.

Cooper shook his head. “You know we have to log this
in as evidence. We’ll notify the team in the morning what we found.”

“I wonder why Weaver didn’t mention he knew the girl.
It would have been less incriminating if he had,” Sparks slipped the receipt
into an evidence bag.

“True, but did it occur to you that maybe he didn’t
know the girl? That once again this is a setup?” Cooper grabbed the bag from
Sparks.

“I’m outta here guys, see you in the morning.”

Absently, Cooper muttered, “See ya.” He watched Dallas
inspect the receipt.

“Yes, as a matter-of-fact, I have considered that. All
my instincts say that you’re no more a killer than Michael Powers. How many
years has Powers been in prison?”

“He was sent to the Montana State Prison in Deer Lodge
in 2005, a year after the murder. But two years later he was stabbed by an
inmate. He died on the three-year anniversary of the killing of Steven Okree.
I’m not inclined to think that was a coincidence.” Cooper pulled his gloves off
and shoved them into his pocket.

“I remember that, the whole case was awakened by the
press and on the news. I don’t exactly believe in coincidences myself. I’d
better get home before I end up sleeping on the couch.”

“I’m dead on my feet, too. Come on Dallas, we’ve done
enough work for one day.”

“Feels more like a week than a day. Like you, I’m
ready to drop. I can’t think straight.”

“Check the back door, then we’ll go out—“

“Cooper, was the front door locked when you got here?”

“No, but then I figured Sparks must have unlocked it.”

“The back door was also open. I might have thought the
same thing, except we have the house key. If both doors were left unlocked,
anyone could have compromised the crime scene. That receipt could have been
planted by anyone. We’ll check it for fingerprints, but we’ll have to indicate
it was found in an uncontrolled environment.”

“I agree. We’ll see what the team thinks tomorrow.”
Cooper slid behind the wheel. “When are you going to realize you don’t have any
clothes or a place to stay?”

“I’ve been so busy, I forgot. I’d better place an insurance
claim tomorrow. Maybe I’ll check with the agency first, they might cover my
loss. Is there a WalMart close by?”

“You would wear WalMart?” Cooper looked over at her
with a raised eyebrow.

“Just because I wear brand-named clothes doesn’t mean
I’m too good for regular wear. Just get me there, okay?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Don’t you yes ma’am me. I’m too damn tired to fight
this battle.” Dallas leaned her head back against the leather head rest.

By the time they reached the parking lot, Cooper
didn’t doubt Dallas had fallen asleep. He hated like hell to wake her. He could
barely keep awake himself. “Dallas, we’re here.” He gently shook her shoulder.
She tilted her head toward him and nearly took his breath away. What a
beautiful woman. He wanted to do nothing more than kiss her full lips. No
matter how tired, this woman woke him where it counted. He reached over and
slid a block of shiny red hair behind her right ear.

“Dallas, you’ve got to get your shopping done and get
some sleep,” he said, raising his voice. He got out of the Jeep and gave the
lot a quick glance. He pretended not to notice the white van hovering near the
back of the lot.

“I’m coming. If I didn’t need a toothbrush or a change
of clothes, I’d say forget it.” She wearily got out of the rig and walked
toward the building. “White van … back lot,” Dallas said.

“Not bad for being half asleep. You go shopping and
I’m going to work my way around the neighborhood and see if I can get in
closer. A license plate would be helpful.”

“You be careful and don’t do anything stupid. You want
backup?”

“No, I’m on a snooping expedition. We both try and
we’re twice likely to get spotted. I can handle this one solo.”

“If you haven’t found me inside within half an hour,
I’m coming to look for you.”

“That’s a deal.” Cooper ran to the back of the
building the minute they were inside. He flashed his badge and the night
janitor let him out the back door. The early morning air chilled him to the
bone. There was a line of trees that bordered the parking lot. Keeping low, Cooper
made his way through the shadows, working his way closer and closer to the van.

A man lit a cigarette and tossed the match out the
open window. Cooper had expected to see Art Bicsak, but that wasn’t the case.
The man held night vision binoculars toward the WalMart front doors, obscuring
his face but not his head of black hair.
Is
he watching Dallas or me?
Cooper asked himself.

He remained still, watching the watcher. The man
flipped up the night lens and jotted in a notebook. Just as quickly, he flipped
the lens back down and searched his target. A quick jerk right, then left,
warned his mark wasn’t where he expected. Within seconds the cock of a gun
broke the night silence.

“You better have some answers for me or my finger just
might slip,” Dallas said.

She once again surprised him. Cooper laid low and
waited, gun in hand.

“Listen little lady, you’d better put that gun down.”

“Give me one good reason and I’ll consider it.”

“I’m unarmed.”

“That doesn’t make
you any less dangerous. Why you following Cooper Reynolds?”

“I’m not, Lady. I’m following you.”

“You’d better have a good reason for that.”

“I was hired to follow you and keep a twenty-four
seven log.”

“Who hired you?
Don’t lie because I’ll know it and you can be sure it’ll piss me off. You won’t
want to see me pissed off.”

“I don’t know who
… honest. I got a phone call, asked if I had any spare time to take a case
immediately.”

“A case? You a
private dick?”

“Yeah, guess you could call me that. I usually get
pictures for spousal cheating. Once in a while I get a good job, like this
one.”

“You’re not telling me much, private dick.”

“That’s it, there isn’t much to tell. I’m supposed to
take pictures if they are of interest, mark down your coming and going. That’s
it.”

“So how come you
don’t know who hired you?

“The first day he
left an envelope with a thousand in cash on my desk. Every day since, there’s
been an envelope with five hundred dollars in it. I leave my notes and any
pictures on my desk and so it continues.”

“Have you watched
your office to see who it might be? Or do you already know and don’t’ want to
ruin a good thing. Don’t lie.”

 
“Honest lady, I don’t have a clue. I haven’t
tried to find out cause I don’t want to screw up the good pay.”

“Fair enough. So tell me, private dick, who cut the
brake line on Reynolds’ car?”

“Happened before I was hired.”

“Who torched the B&B I was staying at?”

“I read about it in the paper and it was the next day
I started following you.”

“You report
anything interesting on me so far? Oh, don’t look so nervous, my finger isn’t
pressing the trigger right now.”

“You spent the
night with Reynolds.”

“Get any juicy pictures of us?”

“No. But his ex-wife sure had something planned for
Reynolds.”

“What makes you say that?”

“Saw her get out of her car and the wind blew her
jacket open. Damn, that woman was bare ass naked under that coat and she has
one good looking body.”

“What about when she left?”

“She was a woman scorned. She kicked a tire and
squealed out of the parking lot. That was one very pissed-off woman.”

“Here’s what we’re going to do, Mr. Private Dick,”
Dallas reached into her coat pocket and withdrew a card. “You’re going to take
my number and when anything happens between you and your contact, you will give
me a call. I find out you didn’t call me after learning something interesting,
I’ll send the IRS so far down your throat you’ll be coughing up your balls. You
understand me?”

“Yes. But what about this gig?”

“Oh, you will continue to watch me as you have. Keep
your log and good pay. Know one thing, if anything happens to me … like I get
shot at or killed, you’d better watch your back. Cooper Reynolds won’t be far
away. Isn’t that right, Mr. Reynolds,” Dallas called out.

He stepped out from the shadows and moved alongside
Dallas. “You can count on it.”

“What if I can’t get ahold of you … what if I try and
fail?”

“Then you’d better
call Detective Reynolds at 911, don’t you think?”

“Uh … yeah … I
guess so.”

Cooper holstered his gun. “Did the guy who hired you
have white hair?”

“Don’t know. First time he called me and when I tried
to find out the number, it was a pay phone.”

“Where was the location of the pay phone?” Dallas
asked.

“That’s the strange thing—“

“What do you mean strange?” Cooper scanned the area.

“It was a pay phone right across from the police
station.”

“You’re right, private dick, that is strange.”

“My name is Burton Oliver.”

“You have a card, Burton Oliver?”

He handed one over with shaky fingers. Cooper grabbed
it and stuffed it in his pocket. “You need to work on your surveillance skills,
Burton. An unsuspecting cheater might not notice you, but anyone with
experience would spot you within minutes. Just a suggestion.”

Dallas tipped her Smith and Wesson to the sky, then
back inside her jacket. “Don’t cross me, Burton.”

Cooper followed as she led the way back to his rig.
“You came down on him pretty hard. You think he’ll mention it in his notes?”

“Not if he knows what’s good for him. I wasn’t joking.
I need some sleep. We have about six hours before our morning briefing. Can I
crash another night on your couch?”

“Anytime. If you want the bed, I’ll take the couch.”

“Did I ask for the bed? Get it straight, I’m here
investigating you, Cooper. Don’t fuck with me and we’ll get along just fine.
Right now I need to recharge. Let’s get the hell out of here.”

Her sudden change toward him could have meant one of
two things; she was starting to believe him guilty or she was in some deep
shit, having nothing to do with the case. He slid behind the wheel and waited
for her to settle in.

“You going to tell me what the hell is going on?”
Cooper started the Jeep and pulled onto the one-way.

“I’m tired, Cooper. Can we have this conversation in
the morning?”

“Well, we could. What if you die before we can talk?
Then I won’t have a clue who the hell to go after. Why has someone paid a PI, a
piss poor one at that, to follow you?”