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“Right.” He frowned. “Something always bothered me about King’s case. Most low-level drug traffickers like King have their bail posted anonymously. Usually, someone in their organization pays the bond to ensure they stay loyal and quiet. But whoever King was working for let him cool his heels in lockup.”
“And now he’s dead.”
“And now he’s dead, Natsuo’s dead, and someone’s trying to kill me. So, maybe King’s death wasn’t as random as it seemed two-and-a-half years ago.”
“Maybe not,” she agreed, giving the Subaru some gas. “We should try to get to your friend’s house before the last light is gone. Astronomical twilight is about an hour and a half after the sun sets,” she informed him.
“I didn’t know you were an astronomy buff.”
“I’m not. Race cars don’t have headlights. That makes it important to know exactly when it gets dark.”
They drove in silence for a while. Then she said, “Did Jake give you a gun?”
He eyed her for a moment before answering. “Yes.”
“Will you use it if you have to?”
“If I have to, sure. Why?”
She lifted her hands from the wheel briefly and flexed her fingers. “Because I have a bad feeling.”
12
Evidently,Leilah’s bad feeling was contagious. Ryan’s stomach was in knots when they pulled off the quiet country lane and turned into the long driveway that led to Grover’s farmhouse. As the last glimmers of light faded into a dark starless sky, Leilah parked alongside Grover’s woodpile and killed the engine. They sat in the car for a moment in silence and looked up at the house, which was illuminated by both interior and exterior lights.
Ryan didn’t know what she was thinking, but he was thinking about the brutal beating that ended King Cortez’s brief, troubled life. As was typical for a prison brawl, nobody saw nothin’. But Ryan remembered being surprised at the time by the extent of King’s injuries. In his experience, unless a homemade weapon—a shank, a shiv, or a length of pipe—was involved, most fights were brief and non-deadly. There might be some broken bones, bites, or blood loss. But King Cortez had been pulverized. Looking back now, it seemed clear that the attack had been lethal by design. Cortez hadn’t been beefing with the wrong guy. He’d been silenced.
He shook off the thoughts, raked his fingers through his hair, and unclipped his seatbelt. Then he removed Jake’s handgun from the duffel bag, loaded a magazine into the well, and checked the safety. He kept the firearm pointed down and away from his body as he and Leilah exited the car and walked up the stairs to the front porch.
“You’re going in guns blazing, huh?”
He gave a half-shrug. “I don’t have a holster and I’m not sticking this thing in my waistband. I just hope we don’t spook Grover.”
He needn’t have worried.
He rapped on the door. While they waited, he scanned his surroundings. Grover’s place was set back from the road and shielded from view by a row of budding cherry trees. In a few more weeks, they’d blossom, go to full, spectacular bloom, and then soon after, his lawn would be carpeted with pale pink and white petals. Beyond the house, a red-roofed white barn sat to the left. A floodlight mounted to the frame shone down on a wheelbarrow propped near the barn door—Ryan couldn’t tell if it was decorative or utilitarian. And behind the entire property ran the shimmering waterway, barely visible in the darkness. But the gentle lap of water against the bank was audible in the otherwise still and quiet night.
Ryan turned back to the house and frowned at the lack of movement inside. He knocked on the door again, louder this time.
“Where’s his car?” Leilah asked.
“Maybe he parks behind the house or in the barn. He has to be home. He knew we were coming.”
“Unless he got to thinking after you spoke and came to the same conclusion you did about Mr. Cortez’s death.”
Ryan clicked his tongue against his teeth. “Grover wouldn’t run.”
She walked over to the window and peered inside. “I don’t see anyone.”
“Grover? It’s Hayes,” he called as he thumped the side of his fist heavily against the door. It creaked open.
He and Leilah exchanged apprehensive looks. Then he swallowed hard and eased the door the rest of the way open with the barrel of the gun. The instant he did so, he heard Trent Mann’s voice in his head berating him for his unsafe weapon handling and recalled Jake’s warning to never point a weapon at anything he didn’t intend to kill. He lowered the gun to his side as he stepped around the open door.
“Grover, are you in here?”
He walked into the cozy living room. First, he spotted the bourbon bottle and three tulip-shaped glasses on the low table in front of the couch.
He turned to Leilah. “He’s here.”
