Page 25 of One Step After Another

This man could possibly give them to him. Given the murder of Elijah Smithenson was the first thing Luca had been able to definitively tie back to Penny in a real way that wasn’t some bread crumb he found online in the dark web ... well, he wasn’t about to back down. Even if that meant having a conversation with a drunk.

“Who the fuck are you?” William asked.

Why was that always someone’s first question?

Luca shook his head, watching the bartender, and keeping quiet until the man had dropped his glass of beer off and headed back down the bar to tend to someone else. “Don’t ask about me. I’m not important here. Not to you or what I want to know, anyway.”

William sniffed, reaching for the pill bottle, his hand trembling so much that the pills rattled as he pulled them closer to his chest like it would give him some sense of comfort. That wasn’t a good sign. He also didn’t answer Luca’s question.

So, Luca talked instead.

“It’s interesting how much effort the media is going through to not talk about the fact it was a murder. Instead, Elijah is being painted as a hero for his family—a bright political career cut short since everyone knew he was going to follow in his father’s footsteps. Charitable. Honorable. Kind. Most stories this week have barely even mentioned the fact he was murdered. Except you, right? You were going to—”

“Boss made me pull down the posts.”

“Are they hiding something?” Luca asked. “The Smithenson family, I mean. I ask about them because if the police knew why he was murdered by now, I’m almost certain I would have been able to pull that information with a few hundred bucks in the right hand. I’ve got nothing.”

“And you won’t,” William slurred, reaching for his glass after he burped a putrid smell. He downed what remained of his whiskey before his hand went for the bottle to pour some more. “You won’t find anything because that’s the point. They don’t want you to.”

“They don’t know about me.”

“Anyone.” William waved a wild, trembling hand over his head. “The whole, wide world. Can’t stain the image—might cost a donor or two.”

“So, they are controlling the media.”

“Who are you?” the drunk reporter asked again. “Why do you care?”

Luca considered how he wanted to answer that, and if doing so might help his case here. He just needed ... something. Anything that could lead to another hole for him to dig into where Penny was concerned. A lot of the time, they were pointless rabbit holes. Considering how close he had come to her at the hotel, he wasn’t sure this would be the same.

“I’m just a guy looking for a girl,” Luca muttered under his breath.

William blinked, smacking his lips as he replied, “Yeah, I bet. Listen, I got nothing to say. Couldn’t confirm anything on Elijah ... just anonymous sources with information that got me in a lot of shit. The Smithensons, they’re everywhere. They watch everything. You start finding their secrets, and they start coming for you.”

He surveyed the man at his left again, the liquor and pills ... all of it.

“They came after you?”

William laughed dryly. “Can’t stain the image.”

And what exactly would do that?

The reporter proceeded to pop open the top of the pill bottle before dropping three little pills into his palm. He tossed them back before Luca could attempt to stop him and then reached for the glass he had just poured to wash them down. He wouldn’t get more from the man.

That much was clear.

Not having touched his beer, Luca stood from the stool and gestured at the bartender again to gain the man’s attention. He slapped down a five-dollar bill, knowing the drink couldn’t possibly be worth more than that in a place like this. He pointed at William, tipping his head in the guy’s direction as he said to the bartender, “Call an ambulance before he kills himself, huh? There’s a reason he’s drinking alone in the dark.”

He just didn’t care about those reasons. Why should he? He had secrets to search for now.