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I catch the clerk I need to see as she’s about to go to lunch. One flash of the ol’ dimples later I have what I need and I’m hiking back up State Street to get the fuck out of here.
“Mr. Frazier, you’re a difficult man to track down.”
Who the fuck? I turn to see who’s talking to me and find a guy sitting on a bench. He folds the newspaper in his hands and sets it next to him.
“Do I know you?”
He makes a subtle motion for me to join him.
I don’t really have time for this, but I’m intrigued and apparently feeling lucky. I mean, the guy could want to stab me for all I know.
He’s tall, slender, dressed all in black, including dark shades. He keeps his gaze focused straight ahead even when I take the space next to him.
I stare at him for a few minutes, trying to note anything distinguishable about him. There isn’t much. Hardly any wrinkles, he could be thirty, forty, or fifty-something.
My day just turned into something out of a spy movie I don’t remember buying a ticket for.
Guard up, I search the area for any pals he might be traveling with. I’m not in the mood to be hassled by the cops again. There’s a good chance I strangle Mr. Man-in-Black if he even attempts to arrest me for anything.
“What do you want?”
“Not interested in who I am?” he asks.
“Not really.”
“That’s fine with me.” He passes a large black envelope to me.
“What is this?”
“Don’t open it now. Maybe not ever.” He sighs and brushes something off his pants. “It’s a complaint brought by a female legislative employee a few sessions ago. Against a high-ranking senator at the time.”
Everything in me freezes up. We’d been careful. Yet someone managed to connect the Senator to Lilly to me. I knew I should’ve just gutted that motherfucker and made it look like mugging instead of going with the explosion. Stupid. My heart isn’t even beating. All I can see is Chance. The way he screamed and cried the night I was arrested.
At least this time I won’t be arrested in front of my family.
“Empire PD initially caught the case. Someone higher up the food chain took over when they got wind of the suspect.”
I remain silent. That’s what I’m supposed to do, right?
“She wasn’t the first…or last to have an encounter with the senator. Although his last few were significantly more violent.”
Anger blazes through my veins. That motherfucker didn’t die painfully enough.
“Why’d they go after him for bribery if he was a serial rapist?” I finally ask.
“Do I really need to explain to you that we have a system that is bizarrely disinclined to confront sexual assault? Especially when we’re talking about a man at Kelly’s level?” There’s a note of anger coloring his words that helps me relax. Maybe he’s not here to arrest me after all. Or maybe he just feels bad because he has to arrest me.
“She was brave to come forward at all,” he says, not waiting for me to answer.
I grunt in response.
“Why are you telling me any of this? Sounds like you have some survivors you should be talking to.”
The corners of his mouth slowly curve up. “What’s the point? He’s toast now.”
Fuck it. I really don’t care if he arrests me at this point. I’d love to let the world know what a scumbag Kelly was. “Funny how that happened.”
“Not funny at all. It’s still being investigated.”
“I thought some political activist group took the credit?”
“They did and that angle’s being researched, but doesn’t seem credible.”
Fuck.
“What do you want?” I try again.
“Not a thing, Mr. Frazier.” He reaches over and taps the envelope, still not turning to look at me. “That’s the last copy of the young lady’s report. The electronic file was sealed and later deleted when the case was moved. The other electronic file has also now been purged.”
“How’d that happen?”
He shrugs. “Happens sometimes. System isn’t as foolproof as the average citizen thinks it is.”
“Who are you?”
“The officers who interviewed her might remember the case,” he says, ignoring my question. “And there is the matter of her employment records. Not much can be done about them unless she wants to forfeit all the years she put into the retirement system. Even then, that one’s tricky. But on paper, all anyone knows is that she worked for the senate for a few years.” He flicks the envelope with his fingers. “This never happened. Do you understand me?”
This can’t be real. “I think so.”
“Good.”
“What do you want from me?”
Finally, he turns my way and even through the dark glasses I feel the heat of his gaze. “Not a damn thing. They might have had a better case with the fraud but he was never going to do time. A lot of women finally received the justice they’d been denied.”
“Who the fuck are you, The Punisher?”
His thin, pale lips quirk. “No. That’d be you.”
Maybe I shouldn’t antagonize this guy.
He pauses. “This isn’t a green light for you to eliminate any more scumbags.”
I raise an eyebrow.
“Just thought I should mention it.” He stands and stares ahead again. “Take care.”
He walks off without another word, shaking my hand, or even looking at me.
I stare after him for a while.
Part of me screams, “Get the fuck out of here!” Another part of me decides to sit still and play it cool for a minute.
My gaze strays to the envelope.
Don’t do it.
I don’t think I can handle knowing the gritty details of what happened to my wife. If I do, I’m afraid it will send me down a rage-spiral I’ll never recover from. Kelly’s dead. He won’t be hurting Lilly or anyone else ever again. I sure as fuck don’t want Lilly to see it or know anything about what just happened.
I fold the envelope and tuck it inside my inner pocket.
Chapter Fifty-One
Z
“Z, what’re you doing up here?” Rock asks, stepping out onto his front porch.
“Took care of the permit. Thought I’d visit the house site.”
“Lilly with you?”
“No.”
He waves at me to come inside.
“It’s so quiet,” I whisper.
“Hope’s napping upstairs with Grace. Want me to go over to the house with you?”
“Sure.”
He laces up his boots then follows me outside.
“Everything okay?” I ask.
“Couldn’t be better.” He glances over. “What about you?”
I’m not sure how to explain my visit with the Man-in-Black, as I’ve decided to call him. Or if I should tell anyone about the visit at all.
Although, if there’s one person in the world I can trust not to say a word or ask too many questions, it’s Rock.
“Something weird happened.”
“With the life we lead, you’re going to have to define ‘weird’.”
We walk in silence for a few more feet. “I ran into this…guy, an investigator, cop, member of the Justice League. I’m not sure what he was.”
Rock stops and puts his hand on my arm. “What guy?”
“I’m not sure.” I take the envelope out of my pocket. “He gave me this.”
Rock stares but doesn’t reach for the envelope. “What is it?”
“All he told me is that it was a report a young woman made against Senator Kelly.”
“Shit,” Rock mutters. “And?”
“That’s it. He claims all electronic copies of the report have been nuked. Says this is the last one. Said Lilly wasn’t the first or last.”
“Motherfucker.”
“Yeah, my thoughts exactly.”
“We should’ve gutted him.” He lets out a humorless la
ugh. “Or borrowed Teller’s method.”
The way Teller had taken out the Vipers MC president had been…creative, effective, and made a statement for sure. “Yeah, I wish I hadn’t acted so quickly. It should’ve been bloodier and a lot more personal. Woulda brought less heat.”
