Odd Man Out. B.J. Daniels

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      Chapter Three

      Pete stood in the snowy shadows of the old log building at the edge of town listening to the night. Normally he loved this hour, when darkness settled in, cloaking secrets and regrets. Tonight, though, he felt vulnerable and afraid. Softly he knocked at the rear door. It opened a crack, then fell open. A hand grabbed his jacket and jerked him inside.

      “I’ve told you not to come here. It’s too risky.”

      Pete stumbled into the dimly lit room; the door slammed behind him. He followed the man to the front of the cabin. “I want to talk to the boss.” The man swaggered into the living room. Pete followed, realizing he’d been drinking. “Let me talk to him. Now. Or I’m walking.”

      The man scowled. “So walk. You’re the one who wanted in on this operation.”

      “If I walk, I walk to the feds,” Pete said.

      “That would be real smart.” The man slumped into a chair before the fire roaring in the small fireplace. He picked up a whiskey bottle from the floor and took a long swig. “But that would be one way to meet the boss. He’d kill you.”

      Pete looked into the fire. What little he knew about their boss reminded him of hell and the devil himself. “You going to call him?”

      “You’re signing your death warrant if you mess with him.” But he got to his feet and went into the kitchen to the phone. Pete listened to him dial. A long-distance number. It took a moment and Pete knew the call was being forwarded somewhere else. Then he heard the man in the kitchen talking in a hushed tone, apologizing, explaining. Finally, he called Pete in and handed him the receiver. The look on his face warned Pete he’d stepped over the line.

      “You have a problem?” the synthesized voice asked on the other end of the line.

      “Look, Midnight, I’m tired of putting up with this bozo,” Pete said of the man standing next to him. “I want a number where I can call you. And I want to know why you had someone try to run me off the road this afternoon.”

      Midnight laughed, the synthesizer turning it into a midway sideshow. “You certainly want a lot, don’t you?”

      Midnight. How perfectly the code name described a man both dark and dangerous. “I’ve proven myself in your little organization, haven’t I?”

      Silence. He could tell Midnight didn’t like the “little” part. “So you have.”

      “I don’t like being threatened. You could have killed us both!”

      Midnight’s voice turned deadly serious. “Yes, I could have. But I didn’t. Did it convince you how important it is to keep Denver from looking into Max McCallahan’s death?”

      “I was always convinced.” Pete decided honesty might be the best policy, even with a man like Midnight. “But Denver’s determined to find Max’s killer.”

      Midnight let out another carnival laugh. “Well, she doesn’t have to look too far, does she?”

      Pete glared into the fire. The flames licked at the logs with hot fury.

      “You said you could control her,” Midnight continued. “I don’t like problems.”

      “I’ll take care of Denver. That was the arrangement.”

      Midnight’s voice turned raspy with anger. “Arrangements can be changed.”

      Pete knew if anyone would renege on a bargain it was this man. Hadn’t the truck episode proved that today? Denver had no idea what she was getting herself into if she persisted in searching for Max’s murderer.

      “You’re sure the case file I’m looking for wasn’t at Max’s office?” Midnight asked.

      “Yes.”

      “Then that leaves the cabin. You haven’t said what you found out there. And don’t tell me you haven’t looked yet.”

      Pete wanted to tell him to do his own search but knew Midnight hired other men to do his dirty work while he hid on a phone line, behind a synthesizer. Why so much secrecy? All he could figure was that Midnight had to be someone he knew; it made him nervous not knowing with whom he was in business. “I tried to get Denver to stay at my place tonight so I could search the cabin, but she’s determined—”

      “She’s determined?” Midnight let out a string of oaths. “I’m determined. No more excuses. I want that cabin searched tonight.”

      “And how do you expect me to do that with Denver there?” Pete asked in frustration.

      “I’ve left a prescription in your name at the drugstore.”

      “Pills?” Pete gasped. “You don’t want me to—”

      “Kill her?” Midnight groaned. “No. A couple of tablets and she’ll sleep like the dead, though. Make sure you don’t overdo it or you could kill her.” His voice seemed to vibrate with an evil that chilled Pete even in the hot room. “Hit the cabin tonight. And you’d better find that file.”

      “I told you how Max was. He didn’t think like other people. Who knows where he’s hidden it, if it even exists?”

      “It exists.” Midnight sighed. “You realize if Denver finds the file first, we’ll have to kill her.”

      And if anyone could find the file, it would be Denver, Pete thought. She already had her suspicions; it was just a matter of time before she figured it out. “I’ll take care of it tonight.”

      “If you don’t—” Midnight paused “—I’ll find someone who can.”

      Pete started to hang up, but Midnight stopped him.

      “We have СКАЧАТЬ