Page 94 of The Liar

“Well, I thought so, but who the hell knows?”

“So, you went to her apartment, looking for her,” I prompted, eager to hear the rest.

He tilted his head toward me. “The lock was broken, and when I pushed the door open, who should I see inside but fucking Detective Sewell. He ran out the fire escape. I followed, but someone shot me before I could catch him.”

I doubted he’d have been able to catch the younger, fitter man anyway, but I kept that thought to myself.

Joanna frowned. “It wasn’t Sewell who shot you?”

“No.” He sighed. “I didn’t see who the fucker was that pulled the trigger.”

Joanna glanced up at me, a question in her eyes. Could it have been Dirk Sewell?

If Detective Sewell had been there to search Portia’s apartment for something, it made sense that he’d have taken someone for backup. His brother, Dirk, was a crack shot and should have killed Hanson.

That said, the older detective had been a moving target in the dark. Perhaps because of that, Dirk had only managed to hit his chest rather than his head. If he’d seen Hanson go down, he might not have even realized his mistake.

“What’s going on, Lee?” Hanson asked tiredly. “What’s all this about?”

This time, she did take his hand. I checked the door to make sure it was firmly shut and nodded for her to share as much information as she thought he needed to know. He’d nearly bled out on a freezing cold fire escape because of this case. He deserved the truth.

“This is confidential,” she said quietly. “You can’t even tell Deborah. Understand?”

He snorted. “Wouldn’t be the first thing I haven’t told my wife.”

Joanna’s nostrils flared, but she didn’t reprimand him for the remark. “West is an undercover federal agent workingon a task force to identify dirty cops in the employ of the Ortez crime syndicate.”

Realization dawned on Hanson’s face. “That’s why you didn’t kick him out after seeing him with the dancer. She’s an informant, isn’t she?”

“I can’t comment on the status of anyone who may or may not be a federal intelligence asset,” I said.

“Right.” He clearly saw the ass-covering statement for what it was. “So, Sewell is getting paid off by Ortez.”

“We believe so,” Joanna confirmed. “As are a number of others, most likely including Detective Ireland. The operation is massive. Not restricted to our district. Unfortunately, this whole thing has botched it a bit.”

“I’ll bet.”

“Denny…” She dragged his name out as if unsure how to go on.

He grunted. “What?”

“No one ever tried to recruit you to work for Ortez, did they?”

His expression didn’t change. “If they did, they were sneaky about it. No one ever came right out and asked me if I was willing to accept bribes to betray everything we stand for.”

She released his hand and tucked her hair behind her ear. “Detective Neal didn’t ever invite you to the Red Door?”

His forehead furrowed. “What’s that got to do with anything?”

“Humor me.”

“Yeah. Clancy invited me to a strip club, although he never said what it was called. I turned him down.” He scrunched his nose. “What do I need with barely legal strippers when I have Deborah at home?”

The tension slipped out of Joanna’s shoulders. I knew it had been weighing heavily on her, wondering whetherHanson was involved. Especially after reading Sasha’s diary. But Chicago was a big city, and there were plenty of older male detectives with wives. It could have been any of them.

Hanson turned to me. “So, what happens with your operation now?”

A throat cleared in the doorway. We all snapped around. Whoever was there had approached so silently, none of us had noticed.

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