Page 38 of Junior Has a Secret
He brought the body in through the window and there was no dragging involved.There would be marks and mess so yes, this is a “he.”Maybe even two men.It’s simply a fact that a body this big and dead doesn’t get carried in by a woman, even a very big, strong woman.Some men could not pull it off.I can stab and kill big men, but I leave the heavy lifting of dead things to Kane.I suddenly sense another presence and I push to my feet to find Pocher standing in the doorway looking pale and sick, as if a dead body actually bothers him.
I’m not buying it.
“Why are you here, and not locked down upstairs?”I demand, thinking the fuckery that is the FBI now is a joke.Maybe I do need to join Homeland.Or go on my own.
“We have a problem.”
“I get that, Pocher.Again, why are you not locked down?”
“No one has locked us down, but focus, agent.I’m excessively aware that I can’t leave, thus why I say, we have a problem.”
“What, Pocher?What is the problem?”
“Enrique called me because you aren’t answering your phone.”
“What the hell?No, I do not answer my phone while surveying dead bodies.What could be that important?”
“He arrived to your father’s place to rejoin his security detail.He found the governor and your father in a heated argument with Kane trying to mediate.”
Mother Mary and Jesus, and while I’m not religious I believe in God and the devil, but feel me and Kane are probably doomed to hell.Kane’s Catholic so I make a cross on my chest for the obvious reason.He’s officially beat me to hell.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Jack appears in the archway with two members of the forensics team.
Pocher reacts and backs up, but not in time to escape the wrath of Jack, who scowls at him, waggles a finger, and then points toward the lobby.Jack might not know where Pocher is supposed to be, but he clearly knows it’s not here.And that’s on Leonard who obviously did not take control of the potential witnesses upstairs.
Any one of them could be the killer.
The forensics team is now setting up a secure entry and exit point, including an area to dump our boots and clothes.I need to get to my father’s place, but the next time I come here the body will be with the coroner.With this in mind, I don’t allow myself to rush out of here.I allow myself one last inspection of the victim, and I’m glad I do.The stiffness of his face is easing.In other words, he’s past maximum rigor.He’s been dead more than twelve hours.The question for me is how long has he been here and I hope like hell there’s camera footage that tells me.
I slosh my way across the carpet, where I talk with the team, shed my gear and meet Jack on the other side.“I have to leave,” I inform him.“You want a chance to work for me, don’t let anything get fucked up, hidden, lost, or otherwise screwed.Understand?”
“Yes.”His eyes are headlights, he’s so bright eyed.“Yes.You won’t regret this.You will not—”
“I better not, Jack.I have thoughts on what happened I don’t have time to share.Text me notes when the team finishes.”
“Will I get the FBI’s final reports?”
“We’ll see.”I step around him and Pocher is just inside the archway, which pisses me off.What the fuck is happening that he could even get to me?Me and Leonard are about to throwdown.“Go back upstairs,” I order.“I’ll handle my father and the governor.”
“They’re going to get into a pissing match about what goes public,” he says, as if that’s not a given.They were always going to do it, if I let them.I was never going to let them.I’m still not going to let them, because Kane is never going to let the governor leave until I get there.
I’ve never known Enrique to be irrational, but the why of his decision to go to Pocher over every other member of our team is a mystery he probably does not want me to solve.“Make my day,” I say to Pocher yet again “and keep standing here.Truly, I have been begging you to give me an excuse to hurt you or jail you, and coward that you are,you tuck tail and run.”
He starts to open his mouth.I hold up a hand.“One more word, and I will place you under arrest which would be highly anticlimactic for me considering I’ve fantasized how our final showdown will play out.”
He draws in a breath and the look in his eyes is the devil incarnate, and I know why.Here, in the center of a law enforcement operation, is not the place to confront me, threaten me, or try to manipulate an outcome.He walks away.I follow in his wake and watch him climb the expansive stairwell, and I keep him in my sights until he’s out of my view.Only then do I turn and hurry outside.
I find Adams halfway down the stairs, in deep conversation with Leonard, who’s probably bitching about how much he doesn’t approve of a life in general where Kane and I breathe instead of doing his job.I march toward them, and when I halt in front of them, it’s Leonard I’m focused on.“Just humor me, all high and mighty, perfect FBI agent, that you’d like us to believe you to be.”I don’t give him time to answer as I add, “Do we agree that it would be logical that one of the people on lockdown could be the actual killer?They would have been inside the house, therefore they had access.They would have had knowledge outsiders would not.They would have had opportunity.”
“Of course,” he says.“Which is why I was about to go and start interviews.”
“Because I put you in charge of securing those people and doing the interviews.Correct?”
He starts to pale, as if he’s realizing something happened while he left them without boundaries.“Yes.Correct.”
“Did you do anything to assure the upstairs was locked down?Don’t even bother to answer that question.The more important one is why thefuckdid Pocher, who is one of those people, just show up to bring me a message, while I inspected the body?Do you need candy or donuts as incentives to do your job?Do you need written instructions?Do you need—”