Page 138 of I'm Watching You

Ayden didn’t look amused. ‘What do you have?’

‘TheDMVran the stats Kier supplied them. They had fifty-two possible matches. They’d printed out five copies of the list by the time I arrived. I haven’t had a chance to look at them.’

Ayden shoved out a sigh. ‘Great work.’

Warwick handed copies of the list to the detectives. They each scanned it.

‘This could take days to track all these down,’ Zack said.

C.C. sighed. ‘I can get the guys from robbery to help.’

Warwick frowned as he glared down at the list. The deep tan of his face paled. He blinked and reread the list. ‘That’s odd.’

‘What do you mean?’ Ayden said.

‘I recognize one of the names.’ He swallowed as if he were struggling now. ‘Pete Myers. He runs the gym where I work out.’ He shook his head. ‘This has to be a coincidence. Pete’s a great guy.’

Ayden frowned. ‘I just got a report back from Sara. Remember that white powder found at the Turner murder scene embedded in the footprint? She’s identified the powder as talc.’

Warwick shook his head. ‘It’s not Pete. I know this guy. He’d give you the shirt off his back.’

Zack understood Warwick’s worry. He’d lived with it when Lindsay had appeared to be the killer. ‘Let’s check him out first. We clear him and you’ll concentrate better.’

Warwick nodded, grateful. ‘Thanks. I’d appreciate that.’

‘C.C., divide the list between you and Vega and robbery. When Kier and Warwick return from Myers’s gym give them some of the names,’ Ayden ordered. ‘I want this guy found.’

The team disbanded. Within ten minutes Zack and Warwick were in Zack’s car headed east. ‘So how long have you known Pete?’

Warwick’s trademark confidence had vanished. He looked worried. ‘Since I was a kid. I still work out at his gym, but it’s more than that. He raised me. I was a handful. He kept me in line, gave me direction.’

‘Do you know anything about him?’

Warwick tapped long fingers on his thigh. ‘Pete isn’t the Guardian. This is just one of those damn coincidences.’

No point in arguing. Evidence, not words, would sway Warwick. ‘I get it. But I still need to ask. What can you tell me about him?’

Warwick understood questions had to be asked even if he didn’t like them. ‘He opened his boxing gym in town twenty years ago. I know because I slathered his grand-opening sign with eggs. He could’ve called the cops. Instead he gave me a job.’

Zack merged onto I-95 south and headed downtown. ‘Do you have any background on him?’

‘He did some time in the military police. Retired in his late forties and came back here to open his gym.’

‘So he’s from Richmond.’

Warwick frowned. ‘I don’t know. I do know he has supported dozens of children’s charities over the years. Last year he hosted a party at the gym for a bunch of kidswhose folks were in prison. He even dressed up as Santa and handed out gifts.’

‘What do you know about his past?’

‘Not much. I do know his name isn’t Henry. He never talked about a sister named Debra or a niece named Lindsay.’

‘Names can be changed. And he plays his cards close to his vest.’

Warwick looked troubled but seemed to shake the dark thoughts away. ‘Maybe.’

‘Anything else you can tell me about him?’

‘He never talks about himself much. He talks about his fighters. He talks about the gym. He talks a little bit about when he boxed in the military.’ Warwick frowned. ‘This is bullshit. Let’s get to the gym and clear this shit up so we can catch the real killer.’

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