Joy to the Wolves (Red Wolf #1) - Terry Spear Page 0,79
job without anyone being the wiser. You two weren’t wearing masks or attempting to disguise yourselves in any way. What did you plan to do with your one and only witness?” That was what really bothered Josh. He was certain they hadn’t planned to allow Brooke to live once she had told them what they wanted to know.
“I wasn’t going to shoot her, okay? Matson bragged to me so many times about how many people he’d offed, and no one ever was the wiser, so that’s why I hired him. He was supposed to finish the job. Not me. I never killed nobody.”
That they knew of, Josh thought. Howie could have killed any number of people himself, but he’d never been charged with the crime.
“Did you meet with Daisy Fern?”
“No. She just called.”
“The area code for the phone number is Phoenix, Arizona,” Adam said.
“No shit.” Howie waved his hand at Adam. “I told you that was her number.”
Adam tried the number and frowned. “The number is no longer in service.”
“Hell, I can’t help that. You should have called the number sooner,” Howie said.
“How come no one tried to break into the shop again?” Josh figured someone would have tried before now, unless Daisy was afraid too many police were staking out Brooke’s home and shop.
Howie lifted a shoulder. “I don’t know.”
“Take a wild guess,” Josh said.
“She called me, asked me what I learned, and I told her. That the shop owner didn’t have what Daisy was looking for. That it hadn’t come in yet. So maybe Daisy, or someone she hired, is waiting for the mail carrier to show up with more boxes.”
“So she has eyes on the shop?” Josh had wondered.
“I’m just guessing. All I know is I won’t be doing the job for her.”
“You don’t think Daisy will try to order a hit on you and Matson to tie up loose ends or because you botched the job?” Josh asked.
Howie frowned. “She’s not getting me.”
“You wanna bet? You think she would have let you live, had you retrieved the thumb drive for her?” Adam asked. “I’d sure watch your back.”
Howie rubbed the back of his neck, looking down at the tabletop, then raised his head and slouched further against his chair. “I got burned the last time I did a job for someone because I didn’t know anything about who was hiring me. The guy turned out to be a liar and a thief. Almost got me killed. So I asked Pinky what they knew about the woman. He said Ackerson used to handle problem people for her. He knew her from way back, and she always paid good money to deal with the issue. I trusted them. Hell, can’t trust anyone in this business.”
“No honor among thieves,” Josh said.
Howie shook his head. “No kidding.”
“Ackerson and Pinky are from Phoenix,” Adam said. “So are you and Matson.”
“I coulda told you that.” Howie shrugged. “That’s all I know.”
“We’ll look into this and see about talking to the DA because you’ve been cooperating with us.” Josh would do anything to ensure this woman was caught so no harm would come to Brooke.
After Howie was removed from the interview room, Matson was brought in to interrogate. He had a longer face, his hair as shaggy as Howie’s but longer, and his eyes a pale-blue, just as narrowed.
“Your friend Howie said you were to be the hit man and kill the owner of the antique shop once you had the merchandise your boss hired you for,” Josh said, eager to get as much as they could out of Matson and then return to check on Brooke. He knew she was in good hands, but he still wanted to be there for her.
“That stinking, lying rat. He was going to kill her. I was just there as backup. I’ll kill him.”
“He said you’ve killed a ton of people already, and that’s why you were hired to do the job,” Josh said.
“How do I know you’re telling the truth? You could be playing me.”
They let him listen to the part of the recording where Howie had said Matson was the hit man.
“Son of a… He’s the one who offed Mike Landers last year. Bragged about it in our cell even.”
“And you didn’t tell anyone about it?” Adam asked.
“I ain’t no stoolie, but all bets are off now.”
Adam was looking up the man’s name. “Mike Landers, killed by an armed assailant. Thought to have been the job of a hired hit man.”