Redemption (Amos Decker #5)(80)
“That’s also where Rachel Katz lives.”
Lancaster snapped her fingers. “That’s right.”
“So according to Melvin, Katz was freaked out by the news of Stevens’s murder. And now she might want to talk to him. And he’s having dinner with her tonight.”
“Hawkins wanted to talk to you too, and he’s dead now. And who knows, maybe the same for Susan Richards.”
They looked at each other.
“Maybe we need to keep an eye on your buddy tonight.”
“That’s exactly what I was thinking.”
Chapter 51
WHEN RACHEL KATZ OPENED THE DOOR, Mars filled the doorway of her condo.
He was dressed in light gray slacks and an open-collared white shirt with a dark blue jacket over it. He had a bottle of red in one hand and a bouquet of flowers in the other.
Katz was dressed casually in jeans and a long-sleeved shirt, and she was barefoot.
“I feel overdressed,” commented a smiling Mars as he walked in.
“You look great. I just felt like a jeans-and-no-shoes night.”
She thanked him for the flowers and wine and gave him a kiss on the cheek. “You didn’t have to do that,” she said as she got out a vase and filled it with water, then set the flowers in it after snipping off the ends of the stalks.
“My mom taught me it was always polite and respectful to bring something.”
“Well, your mother taught you right. Do you see her much?”
“No, she and my father both passed away.”
“Oh, I’m sorry.”
He shrugged. “It happens. You want me to get this wine going?”
“Yes, please. My Dewar’s seems ages ago. The opener’s in that drawer.”
He poured out two glasses and handed one to her as he sniffed the air. “Something smells good. What’s for dinner?”
“Caprese to start, chicken parm with my own secret sauce for the main, and cannoli to finish. Call it my Italian extravaganza.”
“You did that after working all day?”
“I like to cook. But I admit the cannoli is store-bought.”
“Still, damn impressive. You need any help?”
“You did your job by opening the wine and bringing the flowers.”
“Guys always get cut slack.”
“You are a wise man, Mr. Mars.”
*
They ate about a half hour later. After they were finished, Mars insisted on clearing and cleaning. “You cooked and now it’s my turn,” he said firmly.
As she watched him collect the dishes, she stroked the stem of her wineglass and said, “I hope the woman you’re seeing appreciates what she has.”
“I think she does. But in a relationship, you gotta keep working it, from both sides.”
“David used to say the same thing.”
Mars rinsed the plates, glasses, and utensils and put them in the dishwasher. “Sounds like you two had a great relationship.”
“We did. Only it was cut short.”
Mars finished up and joined her in the living area, sitting next to her on the couch. She drew her legs up under her, holding out her glass as he refreshed her wine.
“Right. That was beyond tragic.”
“But at least I thought it was over. And now Decker is back opening the whole thing up because he’s convinced Meryl Hawkins didn’t do it. But if he didn’t, who did?”
“Did your husband have any enemies?”
“No, nothing like that. I told Decker the same thing.”
“Maybe Don Richards had enemies. Or your husband was in the wrong place at the wrong time.”
“That’s what I thought had happened, but I also thought that Hawkins had committed the murders. And it was a robbery or a burglary. Things were taken.”
“That could have just been a cover.”
She nodded slowly but hardly seemed convinced of this.
Mars said, “When you invited me here tonight, it seemed that you had something on your mind. You said you wanted to talk.”
Katz set her glass down and looked over at him. “I’m afraid.”
“Of what?”
“Like you said at lunch, people are dying, Melvin. Hawkins. Susan Richards. That woman from the police department.”
“I know, Rachel. It is scary.”
“And someone murdered my husband. And…everything from the past just seems to be coming back. It’s like I’m being haunted by ghosts I thought were long buried.” She put a hand to her face and wiped at her suddenly teary eyes.
He put an arm around her shoulders. “Let me tell you something. Not that long ago, I was in a world of trouble. I mean bad, bad stuff. Then Decker came along. And he got to the truth and the man changed my life. After twenty years of people believing that a lie was the truth. But not him. Not Decker. He just keeps digging. Dude never stops.”
Katz shivered a bit. “He sounds like a man to be reckoned with.”
“Oh, he is. And people have tried. And he just keeps rolling.”
“Does…does he understand that there can be different shades of truth?”
He drew a bit away from her, watching the woman closely. “Such as?”