Page 81 of Girl, Empty
CHAPTER THIRTY SIX
The man on the floor was making a noise.Calvin Roth watched him writhe in disorientation, then nudged him with his shoe.
‘Wake up, Kevin.It’s time.’
For fifteen years, the man in front of him had been a name he’d wanted to erase.He hadn’t been flesh and blood until tonight, with emphasis on the blood.Calvin hadn’t wanted to disorient him too much, but he had to put an end to Kevin’s phone call immediately.Calvin didn’t know who he’d been talking to, because he’d thrown Kevin’s cell off the roof.
Kevin rolled a little longer, then propped himself up on one elbow.‘What the… where are we?’
‘We’re on the roof, Kevin.We’re six stories high.’
‘Who are you?’
Calvin reached into his jacket and pulled out his secret weapon, quite literally.A SIG Sauer P320.He didn’t know the first thing about shooting, but it was amazing how confident you felt with a pistol in your hands.
He pointed it at Kevin.‘You don’t who I am?’
‘No.Why are you… in my building?’
‘I’m notinyour building.I’monyour building, and I’ve been coming here for fifteen years.’
Kevin was blinking rapidly.A bruise had already appeared on the side of his temple where the lead pipe had connected.Perfect.The injury would be consist with a long fall.
‘Wha… but….’
Calvin wanted to get close to this man, but despite all his research, he didn’t know if Kevin Wolfe had any fighting discipline in him.Being too close was a risk, so he maintained his distance.‘Dennis Roth.Does that answer your questions?’
‘Dennis?I haven’t heard that name in…’ Kevin’s mouth dropped open an inch.The rest of his body froze in paralysis.‘Dennis?You… look just like him.You’re his son.’
‘Calvin Roth.IwasDennis’s son.Until you killed him.’
‘That’s not true,’ Kevin spat.He tried to climb to his feet, but Calvin stepped closer.
‘Don’t move!Now’s your chance to tell me everything.I know what you did, and I need you to confess.’
‘There’s nothing to confess, kid.I didn’t kill Dennis.’
Calvin kept his SIG pointed at Kevin while he reached into his jacket with his spare hand.He pulled out a notebook and a pencil.He tossed them and they skittered across the concrete and came to rest near Kevin’s hand.Kevin stared at the notebook like was a venomous snake.
‘What’s this?’
‘You're going to write it all down.How you killed Dennis Roth.Why you killed him.Make it detailed.Make it true.’
‘He had a heart attack!’
‘Bullshit!Why was his room locked from the outside?Why was there no key inside.Why did security footage show empty hallways?’Calvin had asked these questions so many times they'd worn grooves in his brain.
‘Because the systemglitched,you fool!It’s as simple as that!There was no one on the security cameras because no one came by.’
‘Lies.It can happen.Imadeit happen.Michael Rankin in his office.Thomas Grayson in that vault.Noah Redmond in his freezer.I've been showing the world how it's done, Kevin.Howyoudid it.’
Understanding dawned slow and horrible across Kevin’s face.‘Those murders.That was you?’
‘Demonstrations.Proofs of concept.’Calvin kept the gun trained on Kevin’s center mass.‘The police said locked room murders were impossible.I proved them wrong.Three times.Now everyone will know my father could have been murdered.Was murdered.By you.’
‘Calvin, listen-’
‘Pick up the pen.’
