Redemption

Chapter 41

Decker was in the front seat of his rental car parked outside of a place called 10th and Main. That was also its literal location. It was the club Rachel Katz had referred to and of which she was a co-owner.

It seemed to be pretty popular, Decker noted. There was a bouncer out front who nearly equaled him in heft, and he had been vetting a long line of mostly younger and seemingly well-heeled men and women vying to get in.

Maybe his hometown was on the way back, he thought. Although he didn’t know if what amounted to an overpriced bar for well-off millennials was actually a good barometer of an improving economy for the average person.

He reworked his earpiece, and the noise from inside the club, communicated to him by the wire that Mars was wearing, came through loud and clear.

He settled in for a long evening.

Inside 10th and Main, Mars and Katz were seated in a roped-off section of the club, apparently reserved for VIPs. The music was loud, the bar crammed, and the dance floor full of swaying, already partially drunk people.

“So what do you think so far?” said Katz.

“Good vibe, lots of energy, and I can see your cash flow skyrocketing at the bar right now.”

“We put the bar there to maximize access to it from the tables and the dance floor.”

“Right. That way you get a continuous flow of business. And dancing makes people hungry and thirsty. And your table-to-patron ratio is good too. Pack ’em in, but without seeming to.”

“You sound like you know business.”

“Like I said, I dabble. Got some properties here and there. I like to work with low-income folks for the most part, give them a shot. Don’t make as much profit, but I don’t need the money.”

She sipped her cocktail and moved her head rhythmically to the music. “That’s very generous of you. I have a slightly different business model.”

“What’s that?”

“To get as rich as I possibly can.” She laughed and rattled the ice in her glass.

“Different strokes,” said Mars, grinning.

“How long have you worked with Decker?”

“Well, like I told you before, I don’t work with him. I’m not with the FBI or anything. But he and I are buds. We played college football against each other. I was a Texas Longhorn; he was an Ohio State Buckeye. I ran the ball and he tried to tackle me.”

“Did he?”

“He did as well as anybody did back then. Which wasn’t all that good.”

She laughed. “I respect a man who has confidence in himself.”

“I was up for the Heisman my senior year but lost out to a quarterback.”

Her eyes widened. “Wow. The Heisman? Did you play in the NFL?”

“I would have. But my career took a detour.”

“How so?”

“Death row in a Texas prison.”

Katz gaped until Mars grinned. She pointed at him. “Good one. I almost believed you for a second.”

Mars looked around. “This is an expensive buildout. Did you finance it, or do you have your own cash?”

“I have partners with their own cash. They bring the money, I bring the local know-how. I put the deals together and execute on the plan. My background as a CPA really comes in handy. This is our eighth project together in just the last three years. And we’re going to be expanding this same club concept to other cities in other states.”

“Long-range strategy. That’s a good thing. If you can streamline supply chains and consolidate your backroom and marketing operations, you can gain some economies of scale as you grow the business.”

She looked at him with a new level of respect. “Exactly. So, you’re here as Decker’s friend, but are you helping him with the investigation?”

“I guess I’m a sounding board for the guy. He’s Sherlock Holmes and I’m his Dr. Watson.”

“Is he really that good?”

“The FBI thinks so. And I’ve seen him do some incredible things. And somebody tried to kill the guy, twice. So there must be something to hide, right?”

“God, I didn’t know that.”

Mars flexed his injured arm. “Dude cut me up too before he got away.”

“Oh my God, you poor thing.”

“Nothing too bad. I’m good to go.”

“Any idea who the man is?”

“Not yet. But they’ll keep looking till they find him.”

“You want another drink? On the house.”

“You don’t have to do that.”

“Yes I do, Melvin.”

He grinned. “Okay, thanks. Same, straight up.”

She rose and walked over to the bar.

Mars sat there, his head swaying to the music, seemingly not having a care in the world. He moved his mouth as though singing the lyrics of the song being played. “You hear everything okay, Decker?”

“Loud and clear. She seems to really like you.”

“She’s a beautiful, sexy lady, but she’s not my type.”

“What’s your type?”

“She just seems a little too ruthless for my tastes. Money is her thing. But it’s not mine.”

“Easy to say since you have so much of it.”

“Okay, you got me there. She’s coming back now. Over and out.”

Katz put the fresh drinks down and sat next to him, this time closer than before.

Mars said, “You ever think about coming to the D.C. area? Maybe you and me can do some business together.”

“Now that would be wonderful,” she said, flashing him a smile.

“You can use your original partners too, I’m not looking to cut anybody out. If you want me to meet with them, you know vet me and all. I’m cool with that.”

“Yeah, let me think about that.” She cradled her drink. “You know Decker keeps coming back to ask me questions. I think he might believe I had something to do with all this. And I didn’t. I swear.”

“Don’t worry about that. He’s just dotting his i’s and crossing his t’s.”

“Does he suspect anybody yet?”

“Well, he thought Susan Richards might be good for the Hawkins murder, but now I don’t know.”

“He doesn’t confide in you?”

“Not everything. You know Holmes kept stuff back from Watson too,” he added with a grin.

She didn’t return the look. “It was awful losing my husband like that.”

Mars touched her arm and his features grew solemn. “Hey, sure it was. Nobody should have to go through that. Nobody.”

She squeezed his arm. “Thanks.”

Mars looked around. “So you got this place and you got the American Grill. Decker told me about the place. Now that’s some broad bandwidth.” He chuckled.

She smiled. “It was David’s first project. I’ve kept the place to, I don’t know, honor his memory, I guess. It’s not like the restaurant makes a lot of money. In fact, based on tonight, I’ll probably make more in one month here than that place does in six months.”

Mars held up his cocktail. “Just start selling some of these fifteen-dollar highballs at the American Grill and you’ll see your profit margins soar.”

“I’m not sure how big that would go over with the Grill’s clientele. They’re more into pitchers of beer for five bucks.”

“Not to change the subject, but did your husband have any business associates?”

She crossed her arms and her cheery disposition faded. “Why?”

“I’m back to playing Watson, see?”

“I guess I see. To answer your question, no, he was a solo operation. He got his financing from traditional sources.”

“Like the local bank? Don Richards?”

“That’s right.”

“Anybody else in his past who might have had something against him?”

“Why are you asking these questions? Meryl Hawkins killed him.”

“But if he didn’t?”

“Why, because he said he was innocent?” she said skeptically. “His prints and DNA were found at the crime scene.”

“You can fabricate that stuff.”

Katz looked taken aback by this. “I didn’t know that. Is that what Decker thinks?”

“Maybe. So, did your husband have enemies?”

“No, nobody I could think of. He was a nice guy,” she added quietly. “He treated people well. He treated me well. He wasn’t the type to screw people over and make them hate him or hold a grudge.”

“So maybe they were targeting Don Richards.”

“They?”

“In the event Hawkins is not the guy, there’s a murderer out there.”

“Do you have evidence that the fingerprints and such were fabricated?”

“This is where I pull out my official handbook and tell you that it’s an ongoing police investigation.”

“But you said you weren’t with the FBI.”

“Doesn’t matter, still can’t divulge anything, but you’re smart enough to read between the lines, right?”

She nervously drank her cocktail and didn’t answer right away. “If Hawkins didn’t do it, the real killer might still be out there? Any idea who he is?”

“He, or she?”

She gave him a withering look. “I have an alibi for when it happened.”

“Not my meaning. Lots of other ‘shes’ out there.”

“Wait a minute, what about Mitzi, what was her last name?”

“Mitzi Gardiner.”

“Did she have alibis for the murders?”

“Not sure.”

“Well, don’t you think you should check that?”

“I’m sure Decker is all over that.”

“I remember from some of the testimony at the trial that she was an addict back then.”

“I think she had problems in that area, yeah.”

“So maybe she needed money for drugs and tried to rob them.”

“And Susan Richards?”

“Seems obvious. She killed herself because she killed Meryl Hawkins.”

He looked at her doubtfully.

“You don’t think so?” she said.

“From how Decker described her to me, Mitzi was a skinny drug addict mostly stoned out of her mind. No way she killed four people, including two grown men. Besides, her DNA and prints weren’t found at the scene.”

“But you said that could be fabricated.”

“It’s easier to add stuff to a crime scene than it is to take stuff away, especially prints and DNA. Taking stuff away, you miss one little thing, you’re screwed. Trust me, I speak from experience.”

“So where does that leave us?”

“Investigating a series of murders.”

“Do you think you’ll find out who did it, after all this time?”

“I bet once against Amos Decker. And I lost that bet.”

“Bad for you, then.”

“No, actually he saved my life.”

“Seriously?”

“As serious as it gets.” He rose. “Thanks for showing me the place. You got a real winner here.”

“Wait, do you have time for a nightcap? We could go back to my place.”

“Thanks, but it’s been a long day. Take a rain check?”

“Sure, okay,” Katz said, the disappointment clear on her features. “And it was great meeting you.”

“Same here. You gave me a lot to think about, and maybe I did the same for you.”

Her expression changed, becoming somber and detached. She recovered from this a moment later, stood, and held out her hand with a forced smile. “Until next time, Melvin.”

They shook hands and Mars said, “Look forward to it, Rachel.”

He left her there gazing at all the partiers, but perhaps not really seeing a single one.