Chapter 24 #3
“Where is his blood?” What the hell was the point of this discussion if he was going to be so close-lipped?
“Mallory.”
“Where?”
“I don't know.” He blew out a breath but it didn’t feel like a forced answer so much as a rushed one that he was trying to play as forced.
Too fast. Way too fast. There was no quick side-eye or slip in his expression. Just the forced breath that tried to tell me I squeezed it out of him. But it was bullshit.
“You're lying.”
Brewster's expression hardened. “Be very careful.”
“Or what? No credentials, Elliot. Currently, no position of authority. What are you going to do? Scold me?” This wasn’t my first rodeo and we’d been playing with fire since the beginning.
“Because you don't know what you're talking about.” His snap turned into a growl.
“You keep saying that,” I countered. “And excuse me butchering The Princess Bride quote, but I really don’t think that phrase means what you think it means.”
His eyes changed. Something dark moved behind them. Then disappeared. This was—Elliot Brewster. Probably more him than he’d been except for that moment in the kitchen. That moment when we let the masks fall or ripped them off.
“The sample was destroyed.”
My smile vanished.
“When?”
“Routine disposal.”
“When?”
“After testing.”
“Date.” That was Flint joining me in hammering him.
“I don't remember.”
I stared at him. Elliot Brewster remembered everything. Names. Dates. Behavioral changes. The number of times I failed to return his calls.
But not this?
“Bullshit.”
Flint's hand came up to rest on mine. My coffee cup was empty and we hadn’t placed an order, but I had a feeling the “fuck off” energy swirling around this table was keeping our waitress at a distance.
Brewster leaned forward. “Do you understand what Simon is doing?”
“Yes.”
“No, you don't.”
Patronizing son of a bitch. “You keep saying that.”
“Because you keep proving it.” His voice had risen enough that someone two booths away looked toward us.
Flint’s expression barely flickered. “Watch your tone and lower your voice.”
“Stay out of this.” Brewster's gaze snapped to him.
“No.” One word. Flat. Absolute. A line that if Brewster crossed it, I had a feeling that Flint would meet him fist for fist.
“Why was the sample destroyed?” As much as I might enjoy punching Brewster myself right now, better to sort this out.
Jaw clenched, Brewster stared somewhere between me and Flint as though he were even debating an answer. What he finally said was, “I told you. Routine disposal.”
Okay. If he wanted to play it that way. I leaned back in my seat and crossed one leg over the other. “Before or after Guy died?”
Silence.
He finally met my stare and I swore there were volumes of all the things he wasn’t saying housed inside them. The trouble was, I didn’t believe Flint’s presence was what made him coy.
It was just an excuse.
Into this expanding silence the waitress came by and refilled our cups. Flint even passed her mine before he set it back in front of me.
“We still haven’t decided,” he told her. “If you need the table, we can take this outside.”
“Take your time, hon.”
While I didn’t look away from Brewster, I could almost feel her studying us before she retreated.
Brewster blinked first. “After.”
I didn’t patronize him for finally answering, I just pressed forward on the interview. “How long after?”
“I don’t remember.”
Another lie. Guy hadn’t been dead that long.
Fine. If this was what he wanted to do, then we would do it this way. “Was the second sample destroyed too?”
“No.”
Everything in me stopped. “Where is it?” I asked.
His smile was almost bittersweet and more than a little twisted. “Federal evidence storage.”
“Why?”
“Because it became relevant to the Auditor investigation.” He gave an almost careless shrug like, what did I expect? “Once Reardon was dead, and the cases linked, all evidence in custody was moved.”
“So they can test it again.”
Another shrug. “Sure, but without the first sample there’s nothing to compare it to—and before you decide to demand answers on the current tests, testing procedures, and more, remember—it can only be used as evidence if it can be directly tied into his death. Without that first sample…”
“It’s an unclear timeline and I imagine there’s not enough of a sample for several tests.” Flint didn’t cuss, but I still heard it.
In other words, the evidence told a story but not enough of one.
“So—to clarify,” Flint said, ticking off the items with his fingers.
“There were two blood samples. One tox screen showed no versed. Second one showed the versed. First screen is missing. First sample was destroyed. Second sample is in evidence, but there’s not enough to replicate the tests in any meaningful manner. ”
“More or less,” Brewster said, his tone turning grudging.
“Then why are you telling us any of this?” By us, Flint meant me and I was already there. This was another excuse Brewster was using. But I wanted to see where this was going.
It was like something snapped in him before Brewster reached across the table, striking like a snake to grab my hand. “Because Simon clearly wants you.” The pause after that word let him suck in a deep breath. “He wants you looking for it, he wants you doing his work—he wants you.”
The diner went quiet around us. Not completely. There were too many people in here for that. Silverware still clinked. The coffee machine hissed. Somewhere a printer spat out an order ticket or maybe a receipt.
But the three of us in this booth went silent.
Brewster stared at me.
I stared back.
All at once, it crystallized. Not everything. Not even close. But enough.
I looked at Brewster. Really looked at him. “You're not afraid Simon is manipulating me.”
His expression didn't change.
“You're afraid I'll find something.”
“No.”
“Yes.”
“Mallory—”
I waved his next comment off. “You tracked us down after being ordered away from the case. I doubt you have authorization to speak to us, but you still came looking. You’ve spent this entire conversation telling me Simon is dangerous, manipulative, obsessed—” I shook my head.
“But every time we get near a point, you change direction.”
“That isn't what I'm doing.” Irritation discolored every single word.
“Then why are you here?”
“To warn you.”
“About Simon?”
“Yes.”
“What about him?”
“He's using you.”