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“The photo! The writing on the back.” She waved her shaky hand at the photo of the tattoo on his phone screen. “And…that.”
He sat back and studied her.
She dabbed at her eyes again with her sleeve. Finally, she looked up at him. “What exactly do you want from me?”
“The truth would be fine.”
“I’ve told you everything.”
“No you haven’t.”
“This happened a long time ago. What the hell does it matter? Everyone has moved on with their lives. I know I have.”
“Tell that to Susan Richards and Rachel Katz…And your father.”
She shook her head and looked down.
“I’m not here to send you on a guilt trip, Ms. Gardiner.”
She barked, “Oh, just call me Mitzi. That’s all I’ll ever be. Ditzy Mitzi. An addict who was always a disappointment to her father.” She looked up at him and said coldly, “You put lipstick on a pig, it’s still a fucking pig.”
“Turning your life around could not have been easy.”
She waved this off. “Doesn’t matter now.”
“I’m also here to make something as clear as possible.”
“What?”
“People connected to this case are dying or in the hospital fighting for their life. By my count, you’re the only one left.”
“I told you before I could take care of myself.”
“I’m sure the others thought the same. But the guy who shot Katz was a real pro. Ex-Army turned bad guy white supremacist type. Trained sniper. Hired to do the hit. He’s dead, but who’s to say another one won’t replace him? And maybe you go out armed, but a pistol isn’t going to save you from a long-range rifle shot you won’t ever hear or see coming before it kills you.”
“You’re just trying to scare me,” she said offhandedly, though her voice shook.
“Iamtrying to scare you. For your own good.”
“I don’t see how I can possibly help you.”
“Can’t or won’t?”
“As far as I know, my father killed those people.”
“How did your father feel about your drug use?”
“He hated it. Why?”
“I understand he was trying to get you into rehab.”
“He’d done it before, but I could never make it stick. He kept trying.”
“So he never did drugs himself?”
“Are you crazy? He was as straight as they came on that. He attacked a guy who came to our house trying to sell me some stupid weed.”
“Okay. Your dad was picked up in a bad area of town. At his trial the defense laid out the possibility that he was there trying to get drugs for your mother’s pain.”
