Page 17 of Devious Madness

“No. I have it from here.” I end the call, changing lanes again toward the exit from the airport.

Mira leans forward to watch a plane that’s taking off. The blinking lights on the wings are bright against the dark night sky.

“What are you doing? The parking lot is over there?”

“Who is Detective Calloway?” I ask her.

She sighs. “An annoying police officer. Why?”

“He’s put you on the no-fly list. You can’t get on a plane.”

“What? Why would he do that? Does he know where I am?” She frantically looks out the windows as though he’s right outside the car.

“I don’t know. But he doesn’t just want you not to fly, he wants them to hold you. What does he want from you, Mira?”

“Answers I won’t give him.” She puts her head back against the headrest and closes her eyes. “But if Marco finds out he’s still trying to talk to me, Marco will never leave me alone. Even after I pay him what I owe him.”

“He thinks you’re telling this detective about something? What is it?” We’re out of the airport and back on the highway, heading east toward home.

Instead of a two-hour flight, we’re going to be stuck together for fifteen hours in this car. Enough time for her to spill all her secrets.

“This Alexander guy didn’t tell you?”

“No, you’re going to tell me.”

“I don’t think that’s a good idea.” She squirms in her seat again. “Can you pull over and get this off me?”

“Not yet. What does Marco think you’re going to tell the detective? About his drug dealing? I doubt it’s a secret from the police at this point. Marco isn’t exactly very good at keeping his business hidden.”

“You know him that well?” She sighs and rolls her head like she’s trying to work out a kink in her neck.

“Don’t distract from the question. What does he think you’ll tell the detective?”

“I’m not talking to you until you take this off.” She closes her eyes, like she’s just going to ignore me.

“I can make you tell me.” I almost want her to push me harder.

No man has ever gotten away without telling me everything I wanted to know. She has no chance of being the first.

“Oh? How?” She huffs, still pretending like she’s going to sleep. “Are you going to tie me up and kidnap me some more?”

“The last time I had to ask a question more than once, I removed his fingernails until he gave me every bit of information I wanted.” I pause a moment. “And when he was finished, I cut out his tongue.”

The man facilitated the sale of a young girl to the DeAngelo pleasure houses. He deserved worse than the loss of his tongue and the few broken bones I handed him back over with, but the father of the girl wanted to finish the job.

“You’re insane.” She stares at me with wide eyes.

“Are you going to tell me, or should I pull over so we can get started on the interrogation?” I nod toward emptiness around us.

The traffic has thinned to almost none now that we’re driving through a rural area. There’s nothing but farmland on both sides of the highway. No one would hear her screaming if I pulled over.

“He killed my boyfriend,” she says softly, turning her back on me as best she can given her positioning. “Shot him right in front of me.”

I grip the steering wheel tighter, waiting for her to continue. After moments go by, I realize she’s not offering anything else.

“Why did he do that?”

“Kill Nico? Because he was stupid enough to think he could sell Marco’s garbage and keep some of the money for himself. He tried telling Marco he’d gotten robbed and dragged me with him so I could back up his claim. Nico thought he’d be safe if I was there.”

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