“I altered the crime scene. Not a lot, but enough to make it less clear who killed who. I couldn’t leave her there like she was, knowing that she’d be thought of as a murderer. That’s why so many in the department thought I’d done it, because I was the one who found the bodies, and because the evidence was too hard to read. I didn’t care, really. I’d have taken the rap for her if it came to that. Hell, there was a part of me that would have been happy to kill the bastard myself.”
He swallowed and faced me. “I’m sorry I didn’t-”
“Stop. No apologies. I know now. That’s all that matters.”
“I’m sorry you know.”
“I’m not. I appreciate you telling me.”
“Did you ever think that I’d killed her?”
“Not once, not even for a second. I think you know there was a time when I hated you, when I blamed you for every bad thing in my life, stupid as that was. But even then I knew you hadn’t killed her.”
He nodded, even chanced a smile. Tears streaked his face again.
CHAPTER 25
Later that day I went to see Billie, who was continuing to improve. For once, I didn’t need to rush my visit. I had nowhere else I needed to be, and no fear of running into the police. I sat with her, told her about all that had happened in recent days. I even brought lunch with me-fajitas, of course. We were able to spend a few hours together.
After, I went back home, picked up my dad, and drove out to Wofford to assess the damage to his trailer. My first reaction upon seeing the wreckage was that it was far, far worse than I had remembered. But he seemed pretty upbeat and thought that if we could find a way to prop it back up, it would just be a matter of replacing the cinder blocks and windows, as well as whatever items inside had been broken when it fell. He had homeowner’s insurance, but I wasn’t convinced that it would cover this. The trailer was supposed to be sitting on a foundation, not on blocks. Still, I didn’t argue, and I tried to sound as optimistic as he did.
We got back to Chandler well before the moonrise and hunkered down for the night. Like me, Dad preferred to endure the phasing alone, so he retreated to the guest room and I retreated to my bedroom. But to be honest, as the second night of the phasing began, I found something oddly comforting in knowing that he was nearby, going through it with me.
We passed the third day and night of the phasing much the same way-I went to see Billie again, and Dad and I drove back out to Wofford with a new set of cinder blocks and the phone number of a guy who claimed that he could “tow, lift, or dig anything.” He joined us on my dad’s land and, after assessing the damage and hemming and hawing a bit, said that he could put it back in place. For a couple of thousand dollars. I thought the price was outrageous, but again Dad took it in stride and even talked him down to eighteen hundred. A handshake later we had an appointment for Friday morning.
The following day, the first after the phasing, I was awakened by a call from Jacinto Amaya, who requested that I join him at his home.
I drove to his place and went through the usual security check by his guys, though they were friendlier this time. Rolon met me at the door with a smile and a thump on the back and led me to Jacinto’s living room. Amaya greeted me there, shaking my hand and steering me toward the bar.
“I thought I’d hear from you before now,” he said. “I believe I owe you money. Drink?”
“No, thanks. And you don’t owe me a thing. You gave me a thousand up front, and I only worked for you for three days. If anything, I owe you a hundred bucks.”
He shook his head. “Nonsense.” And then he handed me a check drawn on the Chofi account. It was in the amount of ten thousand dollars.
“What’s this?” I asked.
“Consider it a bonus. You did good work, Jay. Together, we struck a hard blow against dark magic in the Phoenix area. Sure, Witcombe is still alive, but that’s hardly your fault.”
I held out the check to him. “I can’t take this. You’ve paid me what I earned. Things are settled between us.”
“You’re refusing a gift from me?” he asked, an edge to the question. I remembered what Rolon had said about refusing to accept the Glock as a gift. He’ll be insulted, and he’s not a man you want to piss off . . .
That might have been so, but he also wasn’t a man to whom I wished to be beholden to the tune of ten thousand dollars.
“I don’t work for you, Mister Amaya. I was happy to take you on as a client, and I’ll do so again, if you need me. But this . . .”
“You need the money,” he said. “I know you do, if not for you then for your father. His place was wrecked the other night. I was there, remember?”
I said nothing.
“No strings attached. I swear it.” He smiled, and it appeared genuine. “This is what I do for my friends. Now, don’t tell me that you would refuse my friendship.”
If refusing a Glock would piss him off, I guessed that refusing his friendship would be a good deal worse.
“No, sir. I wouldn’t.”
“Good. Then take the check. Fix up your father’s place. If there’s money left over, buy something nice for Miss Castle.”
He knew too much about me, and now that he had equated the check with his friendship, he knew as well that I had no choice but to take it. And regardless of what he said, I had the feeling that this money came with all sorts of strings. I couldn’t see yet where they led, but they were there, as fine and strong as spider’s silk.
I pulled out my wallet, folded the check with care, and slipped it into the billfold. “Thank you, sir.”
“My pleasure,” he said with too much enthusiasm for my taste.
“You were right,” I said, returning the wallet to my pocket.
“Of course I was. About what?”
I had to grin. “About competition from dark sorcerers. I’m pretty sure that Patty Hesslan-Fine, the woman who lit herself on fire, had every intention of building a criminal empire to rival yours. She was going to hide it within the workings of her real estate business.”
His expression had darkened. “What makes you think so?”
“Just something she said. Witcombe won’t chance it-you have nothing to fear from her-but Patty would have.”
“And now that she’s gone, someone else will step forward to take her place.”
I nodded. “Probably.”
“Then our work isn’t done. But we both knew that, didn’t we?”
I didn’t like the idea of being in a longterm alliance with Jacinto Amaya, but I found it hard to argue with his logic.
“Yes, sir, I guess we did.” I turned to go.
“You orchestrated things very well,” Amaya said, stopping me.
“I’m sorry?”
“The other night. You brought together my men, your father, the runemystes, not to mention two homicide detectives from the Phoenix Police Department. I wouldn’t have thought that was possible. And what’s more, you made it work. That was impressive.”
I shrugged. “Thank you. But you were the one who hired me in the first place, who enlisted me in a war I hadn’t known was going on and had no intention of fighting. You did as much orchestrating as I did.”
“True. Clearly we work well together.”
“I prefer to work alone.” It was probably a foolish thing for me to say, but I couldn’t help myself.
Amaya didn’t seem to take offense. “So do I. But there may come a time-another one-when we won’t have that choice.”
I considered this, and decided once more that I couldn’t argue the point. We chatted for a few moments more, until at last I managed to leave. I was glad to get away.
I drove next to 620. I parked nearby and walked to the front entrance, running into Kona just as I reached the door.
“Hey there, stranger,” she said, a brilliant smile on her face. “You here to see me?”
“Actually, no. I’m here to see Hibbard.”
Her entire bearing changed. “He call you in?” she asked, sounding concerned. “Because if he’s still trying to pin the Royce murder-”