Wild Justice (37 page)

Was he trying to communicate a message? A plea even? Warning me that something was about to happen and it wasn’t his fault, and for me to remember that he was, at heart, a decent guy, a man with a family, a man with a reputation.

Koss opened the door to the stairwell.

“No elevator, I guess,” I said with a short laugh.

“Not yet. But we’re only going to the third floor. There’s a model suite there we can talk in.”

“Got it,” Jack said through the earpiece, and I breathed a sigh of relief.

As we reached the second flight, Jack whispered that he was in the other stairwell. Koss took me down the hall and opened a door. When we walked in, I said, “Oh, this is nice,” even before I got a look around. Jack grunted a thanks, knowing my comment really meant “we’re in the room now and it’s clear.”

Light seeped in through the windows, making the flashlight unnecessary. I went over to the window and looked out . . . at the wall of the neighboring building.

“Well, I hope they aren’t charging you for the view,” I said.

I expected a laugh and a comment. But Koss said nothing. I turned to see him standing there, in a shard of light, watching me.

“Everything okay?” I asked after a moment of awkward silence.

“Oh, yes. I’m just trying to figure out what Drew saw in you.”

“Wh-what?”

“Drew Aldrich. I never understood why he wanted to fuck you so badly.”

My brain stopped. I swear it did. I couldn’t seem to process what he’d said. I stood there, gaping, certain that I’d heard him wrong. It wasn’t just what he said; it was how he said it. Completely calm, conversational even.

“Emotionally stunted,” Koss said. “That’s what I’m sure a psychiatrist would say. Drew liked little girls because he wanted them to like him back. He couldn’t face women his own age. He liked sweet little girls, and he was always hoping if he fucked them just right, they’d fall in love with him. Did you fall in love with him, Nadia?”

“Uh-uh,” he said, as soon as I made a move. “If you go for your gun, I’ll go for mine and this will not end well.”

“Not for you.”

A humorless smile. “I doubt that, but I also doubt you’re going to shoot me. Not until you have some answers. So we are going to raise our hands together, Nadia. Then we are going to sit down at that table, our hands on it where we can see them, and we’ll have a little talk.”

Jack’s curse whispered through the earpiece.

“You need me?” Jack asked.

“I’ve got it,” I said. Then I paused, so Jack would know I was really answering him, before continuing with, “My hands are going up, and I’ll walk to the table as long as you do the same.”

My heart was hammering, but there was no need for Jack to jump in. Not as long as Koss was willing to talk. I just needed a moment to get my mental footing. Get him talking. Give me time to regroup and refocus.

“I was wrong,” I said as we sat.

“Oh, I’m sure you were wrong about a lot of things. I presume you mean about who killed Amy.”

“I knew you did. I just misunderstood the circumstances. I thought you were pulled into it by Aldrich, partying with a couple of teenage girls, things went wrong, and it was all a terrible mistake.”

“I don’t make mistakes.” He leaned forward. “Who are you, Nadia? Who are you really? Not just some screw-up ex-cop hiding in the forest. That’s clear.
What
are you?”

“Is that why we’re having a conversation? Because I’m not the only one with questions?”

“I’m curious. As an expert in double lives, yours seems fascinating. Admittedly, I still haven’t confirmed what that double life is, but I have an idea. Am I correct in believing you’re armed?”

“I am.”

“With what?”

I said nothing. His eyes narrowed slightly, as if annoyed. Here he was, so clearly willing to communicate, and I was being difficult. My brain was still trying to reconcile this man with the Sebastian Koss I knew. I might lead a double life, and there might be sides of me that I hide from the world, but nothing like this.

“You came here to kill me,” he continued. “But there are so many easier ways to do it. Safer ways. You’re taking this risk because you can’t kill me until you have your answers. That’s rather pathetic, don’t you think?”

“This coming from someone who wants answers himself?”

He shrugged. “Mine is pure curiosity, and the moment I feel an honest threat, I’ll kill you, regardless of whether I have my answers. You won’t, because you need a reason. Once you have it, you’ll put a bullet in my brain.” He paused. “That’s what you do, isn’t it?

“I’ve never denied I killed Wayne Franco.”

“That’s not what I mean. What happened to the man you met last weekend, Nadia?”

“I met a few men last weekend. I was at my lodge.”

“This wasn’t a guest. It was a man sent to kill you. I don’t know exactly when you met him. Or under what conditions. Or the outcome. I only know that he went to see you and was never heard from again.”

“It’s beautiful country up there. Maybe he decided to stay.”

“I’m sure he did. I’m sure he’ll stay until he rots and becomes part of that beautiful country. And then there’s the matter of the man who hired him. A fellow named Roland. He’s missing, too. Do you know anything about that?”

“Nope.”

“Do you see the pages beside you, Nadia?”

I looked over. There were sheets on the table.

“Turn the top one over.”

I did. It was a blown-up photograph of one of the shots from the park. Jack and me, making out. My heart started to thump, but I told myself not to panic. I should have known there was a chance the hitman passed these along to his client before his death. And it was just a blurry shot of me kissing someone with his back to the camera.

“It’s a photo of me kissing a guy,” I said, so Jack would know what was happening.

“Do you recognize him?” Koss asked.

“Vaguely. I had a few drinks the other night. I picked him up in a bar. He was hot.”

I expected a reaction from Jack, maybe a chuckle. The earpiece was silent. Not really the time for jokes, I guess.

Koss flipped over the next picture. It was Jack and me walking into the park. A close up. Of Jack’s face. Without any disguise.

I tried not to react. Oh, God, I tried not to. I know I did. I could tell by Koss’s satisfied smirk.

It was all right. Sebastian Koss wasn’t walking out of this room alive, so it didn’t matter if he knew who Jack was, no more than it mattered if he knew what I was. He’d killed Amy. I was ready to put a bullet in him at the first chance I got.

Except I couldn’t. Not now. Because I had to make damned sure he was the only one who knew about Jack and me.

“Jack,” Koss mused. “A boring name, don’t you think? Particularly for a hitman.” He turned to the next shot, the one of me straddling Jack. “You don’t seem to find him boring, though, do you, Nadia?”

I treat it like an interrogation. I exercise my right to remain silent.

He shoved the picture in front of me. “Seeing this, I have to think maybe Drew’s dream wasn’t as crazy as I thought. It seems he did leave a lasting impression. You’ve developed a taste for . . . I would say ‘bad boys,’ but that sounds like punks who screw around and toke up a little on the weekend. This is a whole other class of bad, isn’t it, Nadia?”

I swore I could feel him tensed there, watching me hungrily, waiting for a reaction, for any flinch. I didn’t give it. If anything, I had to fight the impulse to laugh at the very thought that I’d see a link between Jack and Drew Aldrich.

“So how did it happen, Nadia?” he continued. “Did he come to take a break at your lodge? Needed a little R&R after blowing up innocent people? It’s a stressful job. But you know that, don’t you?”

He paused only a split second now, as if he wouldn’t wait long enough to give me any satisfaction.

“It wasn’t easy finding out who your friend was,” he said. “When you managed to outwit two hitmen and disappear a middleman, I started suspecting you had some experience in the field. It was a long shot, but it paid off . . . after employing all of my extensive resources and a good deal of money. I tracked down a rumor about a hitman and a woman he’d taken under his wing.” Koss glanced down at the photos. “Or maybe that’s not the right phrase.”

He looked over at me. “Is that what happened, Nadia? Your new boyfriend shows you a way to make some extra cash? You’re an ex-cop. You’re a champion distance shooter. You already had the skills. And you already had the experience, with Wayne Franco.”

I just sat there, letting him talk.

“I caught a lucky break the other night.” He paused. “Well, not so lucky, given that you’re still alive. And, I’m sure, not so lucky for that poor sap you killed. But before he disappeared, he sent me those photos. And after he disappeared, I passed them to my contact to confirm that this did seem to be the Jack he’d heard the rumor about. He also very helpfully told me where I could go for more information. Another middleman. The same one, it turned out, that I’d hired here in Chicago.”

He continued, “I tracked the old boy down, but he really wasn’t feeling chatty. Fled to his cabin. I followed. We had a talk. He didn’t give quite as much as I’d hoped for. A tough old bastard. Loyal to his friends. You don’t see a lot of that with these criminal types. Admirable, even if it didn’t help him, in the end.”

He fingered the photos again. “So I know who your friend is, Nadia. And I’m pretty sure I know who you are. Dee, that’s your professional name, isn’t it? Nadia—Dee—not terribly imaginative.”

A rap at the door made me jump. Koss only smiled.

“It seems we have guests. Should we invite them in?”

The door opened as he was talking. The first thing I saw was Jack and my brain stuttered. There were people I could imagine sauntering into a standoff. Evelyn, for sure. She’d stroll into the room and throw her opponent for a loop and shoot him before he recovered.

But Jack didn’t have the ego to take such an unnecessary risk.

That’s when I saw the man behind him, with a gun pointed at the back of his head, and my brain didn’t just stutter—it seemed to shut down altogether.

Not possible. Not fucking possible.

Yes. It was.

Koss laughed and I glanced over to see him watching me. Watching me react to Jack being brought in. Watching
Jack
react, his gaze down, ashamed.

“That’s what happens when you’re fucking your partner, Nadia,” Koss said. “He’s not a world-class hitman anymore. He’s just a guy worried about his girlfriend.”

The man holding a gun on Jack smiled. I looked at him. He was in his late thirties. Former military. The short dark hair didn’t give that away—his bearing did, and the way he moved from the door as quickly as possible, getting his back from it.

“This is Henry,” Koss said. “Henry, you’ve already met Jack. This is Dee, the hitwoman who’s been the cause of my current dilemma.”

Henry turned his cool gaze on me in a contemptuous once-over.

“Jack? Go stand by your girlfriend,” Koss said. Then to Henry, “He’s been disarmed, I presume?”

“Yes,” Henry said. “I found two guns and a knife.”

As Jack came over to me, I shifted, letting my jacket fall open. His gaze caught mine and he nodded, almost imperceptibly. I had a gun, but couldn’t get to it, not without taking my hands off the table. He’d been disarmed, so they weren’t paying attention to
his
hands. As he passed, though, he murmured, “Wait.”

Jack took up position behind my chair. I glanced back at him, but he kept his gaze up, over my head, fixed on Koss.

I looked at Henry, standing beside Koss, hands behind his back, feet apart.

“So, Henry,” I said. “You work for Contrapasso, too. It seems their screening process isn’t quite up to snuff.”

Henry’s chin lifted, just a fraction, enough to know I’d surprised him with my guess . . . and enough to tell me I’d guessed right. Behind me, Jack grunted. Confirming it?

Damn it, I really needed more information here. Time for me to get chatty. If nothing else, it might distract them enough for Jack to do . . . whatever Jack planned to do, because I was certain he planned something.

“Your mistake was renting that car under their name,” I said to Koss. “Oh, I’m sure you rent them all the time. The group wouldn’t have thought twice when it came up on the monthly billing, and if someone else tried to trace it, it would lead to a dead end. Unless the person tracing it knows what the Contrapasso Fellowship is and has a way to get in touch with them.”

“True, it was an oversight. But we weren’t the only ones who didn’t consider all the possibilities.”

I nodded. “Like the one where you aren’t the only scumbag hiding in Contrapasso.”

Henry stiffened. Koss only smiled, bemused.

I continued. “Henry heard that you’d been made. That Contrapasso was coming for your ass. He tipped you off, so you were ready for them. And ready for me to make a hasty play to get to you before they did.”

“Not bad for someone who barely got her high school diploma,” Koss said.

He smiled at me, as if he’d repaid me for the scumbag comment with the worst insult he could imagine. And there I saw his weakness. Sebastian Koss was a twisted, sadistic son of a bitch. And he was damn pleased with himself for pulling off his double life—for having the intelligence to pull it off. That’s what put him above mere thugs like me and Jack.

And Henry? Ah, poor Henry. He might consider himself an equal partner, but Koss had no equals. No partners.