Page 21 of Secret Stalker

“That’s easy. It was just like the ones he gave us for holding up the grocery store.”

“An M16?” Max asked.

Lenny shrugged. “Guess so. Never saw one before that night.” He mouth curved. “Pretty badass gun.”

A chill swept through Max at the delight on the kid’s face. For the first time since the interview had begun, he believed he was seeing the real Lenny Stinsky, the gangbanger who had little to no respect for the lives of others.

“What about the car the guy drove?” Max asked. “What kind was it? Did it have a front license plate?”

The kid shrugged again. “It was one of those SUV things, dark color. Didn’t see any plates. Like I said, the—”

“Headlights were too bright, yeah, yeah. Did he make the deal with Chucky or all of you?”

“All of us.”

“How much?”

“Ten thousand.”

Max scoffed. “You risked years of prison time for a split of two thousand dollars?”

Lenny shook his head. “Not a split. Each.”

Max shot a look at the chief. “You’re saying this guy came out of nowhere and hired the five of you for fifty thousand dollars?”

“Yep.” A gloating look crossed Lenny’s face, until he tried to cross his arms and couldn’t because of the handcuffs. He yanked them against the rail and frowned.

“Did he pay up front?”

“I ain’t sayin’.”

Code words for he wasn’t going to tell the cops where his money was. Max didn’t bother going down that tangent. They’d follow the money trail later. What he needed right now was a name.

“What were the exact terms of the deal? Did you hear him? Or did Chucky relay the information?”

“You’re kidding, right?” He shook his head like he thought Max was an idiot. “No way was any of us getting near him with that wicked-looking gun. We hung back and waited for Chucky to tell us what the guy said. The guy talked to Chucky, then tossed a duffel bag on the ground and drove off.”

Max’s stomach sank. The chief was already scrubbing his face and shaking his head. If everything Lenny had just told them was hearsay, they had the legal equivalent of zero in a court of law. And they couldn’t base any potential search warrants off hearsay, either. Lenny was looking more and more like a dead end.

“Lenny, I’m going to ask you again. This is really important, so think hard before you answer. Did you personally hear anything the gunman said?”

“Oh, yeah. Of course.”

Max gripped the arms of the chair. “Good, good. What exactly did you hear him say?”

“When Chucky headed toward the guy’s car, the man said, ‘Hold it right there. I want to make you a deal.’ A couple of minutes later the guy was gone and we had the address to that store and a picture of the gal we were supposed to scare.” He grinned. “And those sweet M16 rifles.”

Max shook his head in disgust. He pushed his chair back and stood. The chief was slower, but he stood, too.

“I did good, right?” Lenny looked back and forth. “We got a deal? I don’t do no time?”

Max wrapped his fingers around the foot rail and leaned toward him. “No, Lenny. We ain’t got no deal. All you’ve told me is that you have no direct knowledge of who hired you to storm the Piggly Wiggly and that you can’t even describe the guy or give us his name. In other words, you have nothing.”

They headed toward the door.

The handcuffs rattled against the bedrail. “Wait, I told you what I know. Where are you going?”

Max let the door swing closed behind him and the chief.

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