Page 102 of Never Flinch

He leaves the alley and walks back to where he left his car. Only then, too late to do any good, does he think about security cameras overlooking the honor lot. There’s only one, and it’s dangling at the end of its cord, clearly broken. He’s in luck again, but his luck will run out eventually. He thinks again that part of him wants to be caught. It’s probably true. No,certainlytrue.

Give me a little longer, he thinks as he drives away.Just a little.

7

Holly got some sleep after all, and while she doesn’t feel tip-top on her Tuesday drive to the Windy City, she doesn’t feel bad, either. Music helps to keep her perky. She’s got her phone mated with the Chrysler’sBluetooth and is singing along, a thing she only does when she’s alone. Abba’s greatest hits give way to Marvin Gaye’s. She’s matching Marvelous Marvin note for note on “I Heard It Through the Grapevine” (a little off-key, but who’s listening) when the music is interrupted by a call. She sees it’s from Izzy and breaks her ironclad rule about never talking on the phone while she’s driving. Not without some guilt.

“Did you catch him? Tell me you caught him!”

“No,” Izzy says, sounding harried. “And he got another one.”

Holly is confused. “You told me. The farmer. Carville.”

“Not him, you’re a murder behind. This one was a barfly named Aubrey Dill. Killed behind the Hoosier Bar. It’s a place downtown, near the bus station.”

“I know where it is,” Holly says. She once collared a runaway at the Hoosier. “Saloon Row.”

“A friend of his came out looking for him, didn’t see him, then found him later when the bar closed. The friend said he smelled, I quote, ‘something shooty’ the first time he came out. Said he thought someone had been lighting off firecrackers or something. I think the guy was still there. If so, the friend is lucky to be alive.”

“Did he leave a juror’s name?”

“He did. Andrew Groves. That’s eight of them. Five or six still on his kill-list. And do you know what?” Izzy’s voice cracks with outrage.“I’m still supposed to be practicing for that fucking charity softball game!”

“I’m sorry, Iz.”

“Even though this is another one killed in the city, Lew Warwick says it’s still a state case. And the County Mounties are supposed to be covering the city the night of the Guns and Hoses game. Well, fuck that. I need to know who your source is in the Program, Holly. Can you give it to me?”

“I think so. I’ll have to call you back.”

“If this Trig goes to meetings, we have to ID him fast.”

“You said you have some cops who are in recovery.”

“We do, and they’ve started asking questions. That in itself is a problem. You see why, right?”

Holly does, and when she talks to John Ackerly (once again breaking her rule about talking on the phone while driving), he does, too.“Bad enough I talked to Telescope and Cathy 2-Tone, having cops ask questions in meetings is even worse. News travels fast in AA and NA. Once this guy hears, he’ll stop going. If he hasn’t already.”

“Someonemustknow him.”

“Not necessarily. Lots of meetings, lots of addicts. And there’s another possibility. He may have gone out.”

“What do you mean?”

“Out. Drinking again. When alcoholics relapse, they avoid meetings like the plague.”

Holly thinks a drunk would already have been caught but doesn’t say so.

“Continue to ask questions, John, but be careful. This guy is dangerous.”

“Don’t I know it.”

“Will you talk to Detective Jaynes?”

“Yes.”

“Thank you. I have to hang up now. I’m coming into Chicago and the traffic is quite gnarly.”

She ends the call and concentrates on her driving, reminding herself again that it’s not her case. She has women to look after, and one of them seems to think she’s so famous she’s indestructible.

---