Page 47 of Special Agent Murphy

“I only know that she worked at the hairdressing place on Atlantic Street. Maybe someone there can help you. We never spent any time with them.”

“What about Alex? Do you know where he worked?”

“Seriously, I don’t think the bum had a job. He’d come and go at all times during the day. But I never saw him with anyone else.” Maggie’s eyes kept shifting to the kitchen. She finally broke and asked, “What about my man? Are you going to charge him?”

“Agent Murphy’s called for backup. The officers will arrest him for domestic disturbance. He’ll be released by tomorrow. Just get him to stop being so jumpy when he sees law enforcement. This could have all gone differently if he hadn’t of shoved you and ran.”

“He didn’t mean to hurt anyone. He’s not a bad guy. He just uses pot sometimes, and it makes him jumpy.”

The knock at the door signaled the arrival of the squad car, and in a few minutes, Murphy and Kayti were driving away.

***

“Domestic disturbance? Look sport, the guy would’ve decked you if you hadn’t of shoved that gun in his fuc… face. Why’d you tell the officers you weren’t going to have him charged for resisting arrest and assaulting an officer?” He sounded grumpy as hell.

Kayti shrugged. “Because he never actually assaulted me. I didn’t call out, and I had him on the floor before he could try anything.”

“Doesn’t mean he wouldn’t have if you hadn’t been smart enough to pull your weapon.”

“Who knows. I wasn’t about to take a chance. Besides, Maggie didn’t deserve more hard luck. From the look of things, they’re barely getting by. Yet she kept a clean house, and there were even homemade cookies on the counter. It doesn’t hurt to give people a break when it’s possible.” She closed off the discussion right there by changing the subject, but a tremor ran through her body. She’d seen the look in that wild asshole’s eyes – the second of indecision before Murphy arrived. And she had to ask herself one question. Would she have pulled the trigger?

They spent the rest of the day on wild goose chases, going from one lead to another, asking questions and having to deal with cranky fools who either clammed up because they had nothing to say or other’s who never shut up and added zero value.

Kayti sat quietly most of the time they drove from place to place. From Murphy’s terse answers, she sensed her earlier chattering had annoyed him, but she had an idea. “I’m thinking we should ask some follow-up questions at Coopers.”

“The bar?”

“Yes. On Fourteenth.”

“I know where it is.” He flashed her a glare meant to put her in her place. Instead, it earned him a huge innocent smile that made him shake his head and groan.

He gave in and asked, “Why? We had agents checking them over, and I visited the owner the day after the kidnapping. He’s the one who gave me the poolhall.”

“I know. But I’ve been thinking. We have Draper’s picture with Viktor Baranov. What if we flash it around? That’s the kind of place where regulars tend to hang out. Maybe some of those customers, or even the bartender, remember seeing him.”

“Okay. You’re thinking Draper maybe hung out with the other kidnapper, and he’ll be recognized.”

“It’s worth a try, right?”

“Yeah, it’s a good idea, doll.” He swung the vehicle around and headed in the other direction.

“You call me doll. I’ve never heard anyone use that term before. I like it.”

He turned her way and smiled. The unexpected gentleness made her weak.

He hesitated, but she waited until he finally spoke. “My dad called my mom Doll until the day he died from cancer.”

“They were happy together?”

“Very happy. Mom adored the old guy right up till the very end. He told me he felt like the luckiest guy in the world. After he passed, she picked up the pieces, sold off the big old barn he’d refused to leave and bought herself a smaller, newer rancher. Rather than grieving herself silly, she made a new life, even built up a business, became a blogger that many people followed. She had skills, the motivational kind. Making people see the ridiculousness of wallowing in a lot of angst others suffered from, she wanted to help them. She called it,Live Your Life. It had a huge following.”

Amazed, almost speechless, Kayti turned to him and stared. “I used to read her blog all the time after a friend of mine passed from cancer. It was refreshing and filled with good advice. I loved it.”

“You and a few thousand more. I called it simple, common sense, and she’d laugh and agree. But people ate it up.”

Kayti noticed the frown starting to form. She felt him distancing himself both in body and spirit. Not wanting to lose the closeness she’d worked so hard to form, she forced herself to question him more, thrilled when he hesitated but accepted her questions. “What happened?”

“She remarried.”

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