Page 24 of Killer Clone

Maybe he didn’t want any charity. But he certainly looked like he needed it.

“I’m going to grab some granola bars and a couple bottles of water. Let me take those bags to the SUV.” After Stella handed off the evidence bags, Stacy trotted off.

Stella refocused her attention on the man. “This where you sleep?”

He pulled his blanket toward him, gripping it with one hand, as if he thought Stella might take it. His left eye twitched. “What’s it to you? I sleep where I like.”

“Is that right? Were you sleeping here on Friday night?”

“Maybe I was, maybe I wasn’t.” He spoke fast, as if even his words were something he didn’t want to give away easily.

Stacy trotted back and crouched next to Stella, who caught the corner of her colleague’s trench coat before it touched the ground. Stacy took it from her with a grateful smile and held out the goodies. “What’s your name, sir?”

The man eyed Stacy carefully. He took a swig from a beer can. “Fett is what they call me.”

Stella frowned. “Fett? What’s your full name?

“Fett. That’s all I am now. Fett.”

His eye twitched again.

“Fett, we need to know if you were here on Friday night. If you saw anything unusual or out of the ordinary.”

“Wasn’t here. Saw nothing. Heard nothing. Know nothing. That’s me. Now, leave me alone. I got nothing.”

Stella pulled her lips into a thin line. Fett seemed like a hard nut to crack. “Do you sleep here most nights?”

Fett grunted and nodded.

Stella pushed forward. “And how about other people. Anyone else stay in this alley? Any regulars?”

This time, Fett shook his head. “I leave well enough alone. Like I said, I don’t know nothing.”

Stella attempted a smile. “Okay, I’m going to assume you were here Friday night. What time do you usually get to sleep?”

For the first time, Fett grinned. “Hell, lady, I don’t know. I’ve got no bedtime.”

“But what time did you get to sleep on Friday night?”

The grin was still on Fett’s face. “Ma’am, I can’t remember what happened yesterday. Now, if you want to know what happened five years ago or twenty years ago, I could talk your ear off. But last Friday? Hell, I got no idea.”

Stella pulled her phone out of her pocket and loaded up a photograph of Patrick Marrion from when he was still alive. “Do you recognize this man?”

Fett’s grin faded. “I don’t know. White people all look the same to me.”

She arched an eyebrow at his pale skin beyond the dirt and put her phone away. It seemed like they weren’t getting anywhere with Fett. They weren’t even getting his name. Andshe wasn’t sure if he wasn’t being cooperative because he was talking to the law or because he saw something and didn’t want to say.

Or because he’d done something.

“Sir, I need to know if you?—”

“They’re watching.” Fett lifted a finger and swiveled his eyes from side to side. “They think I can’t see, but I know they’re there.”

Stacy pulled on Stella’s elbow.

Stella stood.

Stacy led her down the alley and spoke quietly. “I don’t think we’re getting anything out of this guy. Even if he told us something, we couldn’t trust it.” She shook her head. “There are just too many people like this, left to cope alone on the streets.”

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