Twisted Interest by Nora Kane (best mystery novels of all time txt) 📗

If I was you, I’d want to have a few drinks.”

“I’m over it already,” Margot said as she took another sip. She left thinking not finishing the whole glass was something of a victory.

Margot was debating whether to call the maid or call Ames and tell him about Mal. While she was trying to decide, she checked her email and saw Mal had replied to her messages.

His message was simple: It’s not what you think.

Margot replied: Then what is it?

He didn’t reply.

Margot got in her car and Mal sat up in her backseat.

Chapter 8

“Have you come to finish the job you messed up last night?” Margot asked Mal, keeping her eyes on him in the mirror and shifting her hand toward her purse.

“What job last night?”

He sounded sincere, but even though he’d always been honest with her, Margot knew he was a very capable liar.

“You didn’t shoot at me last night by the 7-11?”

“No, why would you think that?”

“Car looked like yours.”

“A drive-by?”

“Yeah.”

“If I wanted to shoot you, Margot, I wouldn’t do some dumb gang-banger bullshit. I’d walk up and shoot you.”

“Or wait in the back of my car and put one in the back of my head?”

“Yeah, though I’d probably put two just to be sure. I wouldn’t talk about it first though, I’d just do it, if you’re worried. Are you worried?”

“No.”

“Good. I wouldn’t mind if you drove though. I’m kind of a wanted man and every cop in town knows my face.”

Margot started her car and pulled into traffic.

“Anywhere you want to go?”

“Just drive for now. I know you and I are kind of on the outs, Margot, but why would I want to kill you?”

“I figured out what you did at the county jail. You did a good job hiding your face but using Dennis Thorn was kind of a giveaway.”

“Honestly, Margot, I have no idea what the hell you’re talking about.”

“Someone who looked a lot like you using the alias Dennis Thorn visited the main suspect in the death of Lucas Lau just before Lucas got shanked to death in the infirmary.”

“The suspect a man named Heller?”

“Yeah.”

“If he killed someone, that’s news to me. I sure as Hell didn’t tell him to. Even if I was contracting a murder, which I’m not, I wouldn’t use Heller. He’s dumb as a rock.”

“But you met him as Dennis Thorn?”

“Yeah, but not to tell him to kill Lucas Lau. Who is Lucas Lau, anyway?”

“Until someone shanked him, he was the main suspect in a case I’m involved in. You might have heard about it, the media called it the Masterson Hot Tub Massacre.”

“That was that Lucas? You were working that?”

“I was, or I am, working for Phoebe Masterson’s legal counsel.”

“Big case, who got it?”

“Browers and Associates.”

“Congratulations, those guys are big time. Working for Shaw must really be paying off.”

“Why were you there talking to Heller?”

“I can tell you it had nothing to do with Lucas Lau or the Masterson Hot Tub Massacre.”

“Okay, if that’s what it wasn’t, what was it?”

“I can’t tell you that yet.”

“Yet?”

“Yeah, it’s going to depend on how the rest of this conversation goes.”

“Can you tell me why you used your old alias?”

“I couldn’t use my own name and I needed a name Heller would recognize.”

“He knew Dennis Thorn?”

“I was using that name when I busted him for possession with intent to distribute.”

“He agreed to meet the guy who busted him?”

“For a dude like Heller, that was like four of five charges ago. Heller isn’t really a details guy. He knew he knew me from somewhere, but he never realized Dennis Thorn was the narc who busted him back in the day. Like I said, he’s dumb as a rock.”

“I guess I should be glad you didn’t order the hit on Lucas, but I’m guessing you’re still up to no good.”

“That depends on the definition of no good.”

Margot figured that was about as much as he was going to tell her and didn’t reply. The silence between them lasted a couple of blocks before Mal said, “It’s good to see you, Margot. I’m sorry things ended the way they did between us.”

“Me too.”

“We could fix it and leave all this behind, you know.”

“No, I don’t know. What are you talking about?”

“You and I getting out of town, living somewhere nice, and not having anyone shoot at us for the rest of our lives.”

“How do you think we would do that?”

“I’ve got a job, it’s a one-time thing, but once it’s done, I’ll have enough to get out and stay out. I’m asking you to come with me when that happens.”

“Is this why you were sneaking into the county jail to talk to Conner Heller?”

“This is that ‘yet’ part, Margot. If you’re in, I tell you everything, but if you’re out? I can’t risk telling you anything. Are you in?”

“No.”

“That was a quick answer. You should think about it.”

“There’s nothing to think about.”

“Would it make a difference if I said I needed your help?”

Margot gave that one some thought before she said, “No.”

“You sure? We were good together.”

“Yeah, I’m sure. We’re not going to be a couple again and I’m not leaving town. Neither should you. Turn yourself in, you’re only wanted as a witness at this point.”

“We both know that’s not how it’s going to go down. I killed people.”

“In self-defense.”

“Even if that was entirely true, I’m somebody people have been looking to bust for a while. They won’t let me off the hook and you know it.”

Margot wanted to tell him he was wrong, but she couldn’t.

“Is it because of the