Case # 88 by Gary Martinsky (little red riding hood read aloud TXT) 📗

a loss here. What could you possibly want with this place? All the previous owners are ordinary middle-class families. Absolutely boring. No criminal records, not even tax fraud! I think you should tell me more if you want me to….”

Finn hung up.

Max was waiting impatiently at the bar when the familiar black Supra pulled up and parked at the entrance at last. This time, Finn was accompanied by an attractive young woman with silky, chestnut hair.

“Finn!” Max waved enthusiastically, gesturing for the ex-cop to join him at the bar. “Nice to finally see you again, my friend! And…ma’am?” He tactfully nodded his head at the young woman.

“Hi, I’m Alexa! I’m Finn’s…coworker.” She extended an arm for a handshake.

“I see. A pleasure to make your acquaintance.” Max shook her hand firmly.

They were sitting in a booth, studying a thick binder of documents Max had acquired overnight. You gotta give it to him, Finn thought to himself. The guy is a hard worker, digging up all this information in such a short amount of time. If he were in a legitimate business, he could actually do some good in this world. But alas, for all the information Max had gathered, hardly any of it was helpful. Max was right. Nothing stood out. And, more importantly, there wasn’t a single mention of the Petersons.

“Hey, don’t look so disappointed!” Max reassured Finn cheerfully. “If whatever you’re looking for really exists, it’s gotta be somewhere in these files. Besides, I’ve got a highly qualified associate working on it. I’m sure he’ll be in touch with you soon. Still…a deal’s a deal! I kept my side of the bargain….”

“Okay, it’s yours.” Finn took the car keys out of his pocket, reluctantly placing them on the table in front of Max.

“This is why I love doing business with you, my friend!” Max picked up the keys, spinning the ring around his index finger. “You’re a man of your word.”

Alexa and Finn walked away from the inconspicuous restaurant with its secret underground casino.

“So you just gave him your car? For this?” Alexa held up the binder. “I mean, I understand how personal this is for you, but didn’t you have anything else to offer?”

“Hardly… The only reason he ever worked with me in the past was that, as a cop, I could turn a blind eye to his questionable activities in exchange for valuable intel. Besides, the car is probably already being tracked, so it would do us no good using it any longer. Sooner or later, we’d get pulled over by a patrol, and then—”

Finn didn’t get to finish that sentence as a sudden shockwave picked the two up into the air and threw them violently forward, slamming them into the sidewalk.

Chapter Four

Before he knew it, Finn was lying facedown on the cold, sticky sidewalk. He lifted himself up little by little. The sticky part was his own blood, but, as far as Finn could tell, he wasn’t seriously injured. Propping himself up with both arms, he looked around. Alexa was lying beside him, seemingly unconscious. After the buzzing in his ears began to diminish, he noticed the commotion in the street. Ambulances and pedestrians rushed around a spot outside his field of vision. Something had exploded. And, before he could turn around and take a look, he felt like he already knew what it was.

Finn carefully touched Alexa’s shoulder. She grunted, moved slowly, and sat up. Alexa seemed shocked, looking around wide-eyed. Judging from how fast she got up, she was in better shape than Finn. Aside from a couple of minor surface wounds on her face and hands, she seemed uninjured. They helped each other get up. Finn’s head felt like it was about to explode just like the car had. He hadn’t fully recovered from the nasty head injury he’d suffered just a few months ago, which still gave him periodic migraines, and now he might have a concussion on top of that. But there was no time to think about it now.

“Was it…?”

“Yeah.”

“Your car…?”

“Yeah, it was.”

“Oh my god….”

It didn’t look like much of a car anymore, just a ball of flames raging in the parking lot. Finn and Alexa had no time to stick around. Knowing full well the fiery surprise had been meant for them, they had to flee the scene as quickly as possible, using the commotion to blend in with the rapidly growing crowd of onlookers.

Having put enough distance between themselves and the crime scene, they cleaned themselves up as well as they could in a diner bathroom to avoid unnecessary attention. Finn examined his face in the greasy mirror. Looking into his reflection’s cold but attentive gray eyes, he carefully touched his head. He wasn’t seriously injured externally. The best-case scenario for them right now would be if their assailant assumed they were dead. The explosive had probably not been detonated remotely but triggered from within the car itself—either by a pressure-sensitive device in the seat or a rigged ignition mechanism. Otherwise, the assailant would be able to ensure that they’d gotten the right person inside the car. There was a good chance that they weren’t under surveillance at the time of the explosion. But still…

Alexa stared at the blackness inside the coffee cup she was holding in both hands. The surface of the thick beverage was shimmering, producing ominous reflections.

“I can’t believe they’d go so far to get rid of you!”

“Yeah, I expected them to use a more subtle approach. Hopefully, they think we’re out of the picture now. But we still got nothing in terms of leads. Aside from some superficial story about a secret government project from some conspiracy theory website.”

“As a matter of fact, my source is very reliable. And I’ve arranged to meet with him later today. He’s the reason I was in the house last night!” Alexa was slightly offended by Finn’s presumptuous comment. “He gave me the address, but I guess I was just too late.”

“I see.” Finn still seemed