Calculated in Death (In Death #36)(114)

“Twenty-five thousand. I said cash. He tries to make it less, tries to string it out, like always. I said cash, now. I’m not stupid.”

“That’s right.” Moron. “Like always? Had he hired you to get rid of somebody before?”

When he said nothing, she gave him a mild prod. “It goes to pattern, see? Alexander’s pattern. Getting other people to do the work, trying to go cheap, thinking he’s so much smarter than you are.”

“He just pays for me to mess them up. Give them a pounding, break an arm maybe.”

“Then Dickenson was the first time Alexander hired you to murder anyone.”

“It cost more. Twice more. I told him. I took her stuff after, took her coat. Nice coat. So it’s a mugging. You wouldn’t know different if that ass**le Milo hadn’t told you.”

“You made it look like a mugging, and that was good thinking. They were stupid, Frye, having you do it in that place, a place that connected to Alexander. That’s not your fault. Then there’s Parzarri. How was that arranged?”

“He—”

“Who?”

“Alexander, who you think? He says the accountant has to go. He screwed up, he’s a . . . a liability. He says, ‘Find out if he talked, then get rid of him.’ I say it’s more. It’s a man, and it’s not so easy as the woman, so it’s more.”

She nodded as if appreciating his business acumen. “You do the work; you set the price. How much?”

“Thirty thousand. He doesn’t want to pay, but that’s my price, so he pays. And I think how to get the ambulance, and the rest. So I tell him he has to get Milo, and that’s more money. But he pays. He just says do this, but I figure how.”

“The same with Ingersol?”

“He acts like I’m nothing, like he’s better. Calls me Bubba. My name’s not Bubba.” Angry color streaked his wide cheekbones. “I don’t work for him, but he acts like I do, like he can tell me what to do. Alexander says he’s the liability, too, and get rid of him. I charge the thirty, but I’d have done it for less. I liked doing it. He made fun of me, treated me like I’m stupid. I’m not stupid.”

“Sterling Alexander hired you, paying you twenty-five thousand dollars to kill Dickenson, thirty to kill Parzarri, and thirty to kill Ingersol.”

“I told you already. He said get rid, I said pay me this much.”

“All right. Why did you try for me and my partner?”

“Alexander doesn’t like you coming around, asking questions. He said you were a couple of nosy bitches. You especially because you married money and now you think you’re his equal. He says get rid of both of them, and do it fast. I said two cops, I get sixty thousand. He says two, you bargain the price. He says fifty. I think fifty’s pretty good. You didn’t fall down. You were supposed to fall down. But I’m fast. I’ve always been fast.”

She didn’t bring up the baby, no point in it at this time. “You missed.”

“He wants his money back, but I say I’m not finished. I don’t like how he looks at me. I think maybe he’ll send somebody after me. Or maybe somebody saw me good enough and you’ll come. I have to get another place. I liked my place, but I have to get another. And I have to finish. You start, you finish. That’s that.”

“Were you going to kill me and my partner tonight, Frye?”

“Should’ve. It’s Milo’s fault. He told you too much.”

“Not really. I figured it out. I’m smarter than you. And I’m not a coward. You ambushed an unarmed woman, smothered an injured man after you strapped him down, beat a man to death after you stunned him. You tried to stun me in the back. You’re a coward, you’re a killer, and you’re cooked.”

He surged up, tried to grab for her, but the chains held him back. “I’ll kill you. I’ll get out and I’ll kill you.”

“You won’t do either, but you can take some satisfaction in knowing Alexander’s going to live out his life in a cage right along with you, and Milo makes three. And all the people he had out there defrauding, stealing, ruining people’s lives? They’re going to do some long, hard time, too. You won’t be alone.”

She rose. “Interview end,” she said and walked to the door. “Take him back.”

Four burly uniforms came in, and she walked away, toward her office. She stopped, surprised to see Pope sitting on a bench in the corridor. He got to his feet. “Lieutenant. I . . .”

“What are you doing here?”

“Sterling. I was told . . . His lawyer said he won’t see me.”

“Why do you want to see him?”

“He’s my brother. Whatever he’s done, he’s my brother.”

“You knew, at least some of it, didn’t you?”

“I didn’t know about the killings. I swear to you. I thought, after Jake . . . I wondered, but it didn’t seem possible. I did know—think, suspect? I’m honestly not sure. About him, possibly, misappropriating funds. I would have helped him. I would’ve tried. He’s always shut me out. I always try to open the door.” Tears swam into his eyes. “But he always shuts me out.”

“You can’t help him, Mr. Pope. Your company is going to need help, and a lot of it. Your mother helped build that company. Maybe the thing you can do is look after it now, fix what’s wrong.”