Page 66 of The Evening Wolves

That made North smile, but it faded as he continued, “This guy is bogus. Shaw and I checked out his place, and it’s—it’s like Lil’ Bits said. It looks like a real person lives there. Hell, a real person does live there. But it’s like he’s in a hotel, or something. Nothing that’s truly personal. No clutter. None of the junk people collect, like your boyfriend’s boxes and boxes of ‘art’—” He drew the air quotes with his fingers. “—and more boxes and boxes of ‘dildos’.”

“Why did you put dildos in air quotes?” Jem asked.

“Come over sometime,” North said in a dead voice. “Take a look.”

“It’s important to represent the full spectrum of penises,” Shaw said.

“Where does the one that looks like a jellyfish fall on the spectrum?”

“Oh, that’s a great question for Tean—”

“I don’t know,” Tean blurted.

“I bet he actually does know,” Jem said. “I’ll ask him later.”

“Vermilya is out of reach for right now,” John-Henry said. He glanced at Emery. “If Emery’s source is able to ask him some questions, that might be an option, but even that seems like a stretch.”

“God damn it.” North spun the empty paper tray that had held his cheese curds. “What are we talking about, then? Another dead end?”

“Did you get anything from Brey?” Tean asked. “His wallet or phone or laptop?”

“What about a car you could connect to the killer?” Jem asked.

“Security cameras on the other houses?” Theo said. “Maybe a neighbor saw something?”

“The last thing we want is a neighbor with a camera,” Emery said. “John was in that house. And sooner or later, the police are going to learn Brey is dead, and they’re going to start asking questions.”

“His phone,” John-Henry said. The memory seemed like a half-formed thing: the phone at the bottom of the stairs, buzzing as the screen lit up. Like it had fallen there. “I think he must have tried to call someone. Maybe he did call someone. Brey, I mean. It looked like he’d either dropped his phone or had it taken from him.”

Shaw glanced at North.

“God fucking damn it,” North said as he took out his phone. “Do I have to do everything?”

As North put the phone to his ear, his face souring, Shaw said, “I could have done it, but it’s good for his self-confidence—”

North pinched him, and Shaw squealed. Then North spoke into the phone. “Hey, Park. No, that must have been on your end.”

John-Henry hid a smile as Shaw massaged his arm. A few months before, while pursuing an escaped killer, North and Shaw had bumped into an old friend who happened to be working for Eric Brey’s re-election campaign. Parker Rhodes had helped them once, and it looked like North was willing to try again.

“Listen, I need a favor: can you still get on Eric’s computer? Uh huh. Uh huh. I’m actually still with Shaw, Parker. That’s not why I called. Yes, I did call you because I wanted to make you drive across town in the freezing cold in the middle of the—his phone records. Because he’s a shady shit and something bad is going down. Is that good enough for you?” North grinned. “Yeah, you sneaky fuck. That’d be fine.” He lowered the phone long enough to say to the men at the table, “He can access his phone records from home, so he’s checking them now.”

“How can he access them from home?” Emery asked.

“Brey gave him access to his computer at the campaign office. It looks like Parker got bored and started snooping.” North raised the phone to his ear again and said, “Uh huh. Uh huh. You’re sure? He didn’t make any other calls? Got it. You’re a lifesaver. Yes, Park, I’m sure I’m still with Shaw. I’ve got to go.” Dropping the phone on the table, North said, “He called 911 at four-fifty-seven today, and the call lasted three minutes.”

“Jesus,” Theo said.

“So, what happened?” Jem asked. “Where were the cops?”

“Excellent question,” Emery said.

John-Henry shook his head. “I didn’t see anyone. And I got to the house, I don’t know, less than half an hour after that call. It’s possible a patrol car came and did a walk-around, but—”

“But it’s also possible they didn’t.”

Shaw pushed some of the lettuce around in his salad. “You think Chief Cassidy helped?”

“It certainly looks that way.”

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