I picked up his wallet again and went through it slower this time, checking behind every card before pulling out anold foldedreceipt. Nothing. I tossed it back onto the desk and looked at the phone.
There had to be a way into it.
My own phone started ringing before I could try again, and Mace’s name appeared across the screen. I answered and leaned back in my chair.
“What?” I answered.
“You good?”
“I’m straight.”
“You need anything?”
“Nah...”
There was a brief pause before he said, “A’ight. I’m ‘bout to head home.”
I glanced at the time and saw it was damn near midnight. I hadn’t even realized it was that late. “You need to get some sleep.”
“So do you.”
“I’ll sleep when I find out who killed my cousin.”
Mace got quiet for a second before saying, “Yeah… me too.”
Something in his voice made me look away from Sam’s phone.
“You sure you good?” I asked him.
He let out a tired breath. “Vice, I just buried my nigga today. What you think?”
“I think you look worse than I do.”
“I’m good, man.”
There was that answer again.
I could’ve pushed, but I didn’t. Mace had been working for me long enough that if there was something he wanted me to know, he’d tell me when he was ready.
“A’ight. I’ll holla at you tomorrow.”
“Bet.”
The call ended, and I set my phone down before reaching for Sam’s again.
I stared at Sam’s phone for another few seconds before setting it back on the desk. I could sit thereall night guessing numbers and probably lock the damn thing for good, or I could give it to somebody who knew what they were doing.
That decision was easy.
I leaned back in my chair and rubbed a hand over my face. The house was too quiet, giving my mind too much room to go places I didn’t want it to go. Less than a week ago, Sam had been alive. Now his shit was spread across mydesk while I tried to figure out what he’d been doing before somebody put bullets in him.
My eyes moved back to his keys.
There were five on the ring. His house key, the key to his car, one for my office building and another I recognized from one of the restaurants. The last one was smaller than the others and didn’t look like it belonged to a regular door.
I picked it up and turned it between my fingers.
Could’ve been anything.
