Tax Assassin (15 page)

Seth waited a few minutes and checked his
phone. Ferg sent him an email with a link to the surveillance
video. While he didn’t own a super-fancy phone, this phone had been
issued to him by the Denver Police Department. It was “smart”
enough to get email, and photos, and play videos. He moved the
cursor to around the time when the marshals were killed and put on
his headphones.

There was a cleaning cart in the hallway. In
a large hotel, there was probably always a cleaning cart in the
hallway. He backed up the video. A corner of the cleaning cart
appeared about an hour before the marshals were killed. Although he
couldn’t see her or the cart, he heard the cleaning woman say,
“Housekeeping,” in a thick, South American accent, and a tap on the
door. Fifteen minutes later, the cart moved forward, and the
cleaning woman came into view. She was fairly small and thin. She
had dark-hair and ruddy but fair skin. She moved with ease down the
hallway, cleaning the rooms. She was cleaning the room next door to
the marshals when they were killed. Seth counted on his fingers and
called Ferg.

“
Check room 374,” Seth
said.

“
And why is
that?”

“
You’ll find a dead
cleaning woman in it,” Seth said.

“
We checked out the
cleaning woman,” Ferg said.

“
You checked out a woman
you thought was the cleaning woman,” Seth said. “Did you keep her
cart?”

“
Yes,” Ferg
said.

“
The actual cleaning woman
is either in 374 or in the cart,” Seth said. “Someone’s mother
didn’t come home from work yesterday.”

“
Motherfu . . .” Ferg
slammed the phone down.

“
What was that?” Ava
said.

She’d covered her tear-stained face with a
light application of makeup. He kissed her cheek, and she sat down
to put on her running shoes.

“
Ferg,” Seth
said.

“
You found
something?”

“
I think so,” Seth said.
“Seems like we have a family of killers.”

“
We knew that,” Ava
said.

“
This is a family job,”
Seth said. “That’s what Jasper was trying to say – father; son;
daughter. The daughter, disguised as housekeeping staff, killed the
marshals.”

“
Wow,” Ava said.

Seth nodded.

“
I’m starving,” Ava
said.

“
Yes. Let’s eat,” Seth
said. “I’d love some coffee.”

“
You going to tell me what
Delphie said?” Ava asked.

Rather than answer, he signaled Clara, and
they left the room to find breakfast.

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EIGHTEEN

Seth set down his coffee cup and smiled at
Ava. Her sorrow had left her cheeks flushed and her lips, red and
full. The southern Colorado morning sun cast her in a beautiful
light. Noticing his look, she cocked her head to the side in a
“What?” He cupped her face with his left hand and stroked the scar
on her cheek. She closed her eyes and rested her chin in his
hand.

He hadn’t thought he’d find love again. He
certainly never thought he’d have any kind of relationship with
someone so much younger. But here he was, sitting in a small diner
in the middle of downtown Trinidad, Colorado, looking at the young
woman who’d stolen his heart. She gave him a soft smile.

“
How’s your breakfast?” she
nodded toward his pancakes.

He shrugged.

“
And coffee?”

“
Hot, watery, and
plentiful.”

“
Sounds like Seth’s perfect
coffee,” Ava said. “I thought we could . . .”

His phone rang. He turned the phone over to
look at it; she nodded that he should answer.

“
O’Malley.”

He heard the sound of wind and the clip-clop
of fast-moving horses.

“
Sir, it’s Switch,” a man’s
voice yelled. His voice held the echo of a Bluetooth
headset.

“
Go,” Seth said.

Sergeant First Class Gardner “Switch” Thomas
was the current caretaker of his family homestead outside of
Granby.

“
Came at dawn. But holy
Christ . . .” Seth heard the horses slow down. There was a
splashing sound as they forded the river, and then the horses sped
up again. Switch yelled, “Go in front.”

“
Switch?”

“
Who is this girl?” Switch
asked. Seth smiled. “Last night, I thought I was ready to kill her.
She’s such a bitch.”

Seth heard Éowyn yell something.

“
That’s right, I called you
a bitch,” Switch laughed. Seth heard Éowyn laugh. “Did you know she
was a high school champion? College marksman? Was on the team in
college and law school. We even competed against each other five
years ago. Said she rooted for me in Beijing.”

“
What happened this
morning?”

“
Shooter came just before
dawn,” Switch said. “We were arguing in the kitchen by the sink.
I’d made coffee and she thought it was crap. She’s on your horse by
the way.”

Seth heard the horses begin to gallop as the
sound of their hooves echoed off the granite cliffs at the edge of
the lower pasture. The homestead was his older brother Saul’s
favorite place on the planet. Seth knew the land like the back of
his hand.

“
What happened?” Seth
repeated.

“
She saw the guy first.
Grabbed the shotgun. The one on the wall,” Switch said. “Bam. Bam.
Shot out the kitchen window.”

“
You pushed me,” Éowyn gave
an indignant shout.

“
Guy clipped me. Caught me
in right upper arm.”

“
And?”

“
You need to call Granby
PD. She made a quality field dressing, I can say that for her, and
. . .” Switch yelled to Éowyn. “Right at the cairn. No, your other
right.”

“
Did you get
him?”

“
What do you think?” Switch
laughed. “Left-handed. Even impressed little miss
‘I-can-shoot-better-than-you-any-day-anyhow’ Annie
Oakley.”

Seth heard Éowyn laugh.

“
She insisted on taking
your horse,” Switch said. “I thought it was too big for her but . .
.”

“
Too big for you, maybe,”
Éowyn’s voice was hard and edgy, but Seth heard a feminine giggle
mixed in with her words. Remembering what Delphie’s had said, Seth
smiled.

“
You don’t need to be
talking like that,” Switch said.

Éowyn yelled something Seth couldn’t hear.
Switch laughed.

“
Listen,” Switch said. “She
says you’re her ‘Sugar Daddy.’ I just want to know . .
.”

“
She’s Ava’s sister,” Seth
said. “Be nice.”

“
Good to know,” Switch
said. “We’re heading to the hideout in the Upper Pasture. But you
got to call and have ‘em come pick up the body.”

“
Did you call your
command?”

“
Before we left. I’ll check
in when we get there,” Switch said. “You think there’ll be
another?”

“
Might be,” Seth said.
“Turns out there are three shooters. Two now.”

“
We’re armed,” Switch said.
“And dangerous. Out.”

He heard Éowyn laugh and the line went
dead.

“
What was that?” Ava
asked.

“
They came for Éowyn,” Seth
said.

Ava gasped.

“
She’s with Switch,” Seth
said.

“
You sent her to Switch?”
Ava’s eyebrows shot straight up. “And?”

“
I think it’s
love.”

“
I thought he was . . .”
Ava’s head shifted back and forth to indicate that he might be
gay.

“
That’s one of the reasons
he’s called Switch,” Seth said.

“
What’s the other?” Ava
smiled.

“
He can shoot equally well
with both hands,” Seth said. “Ambidextrous.”

“
He’s not really her type,”
Ava said. “She likes dark-haired, blue-eyed, super-handsome
sociopaths in expensive suits.”

Switch had received the worst of his
mother’s extreme whiteness and his father’s deep blackness. He wore
his tan-colored hair long and kinky, like a blonde steel wool pad
on top of his head. He’d grown up with his father and spoke in an
almost unintelligible Southern drawl. He dressed mostly in
fatigues, even when he wasn’t at work as a marksmanship instructor
at Fort Carson. Seth doubted he owned a suit.

“
I don’t think he’s a
sociopath,” Seth said. “Those guys usually go work for Black
Ops.”

“
You watch, she’ll remake
him,” Ava said. “Clothing, face, and that hair.”

“
I’m sure she’ll try,” Seth
smiled.

“
So Éowyn’s met her match?”
Ava laughed.

Seth nodded.

“
Is she all right?” Ava
asked.

“
Sassy and controlling.
What’s that tell you?”

“
She’s scared. She gets
like that when she’s scared,” Ava said. “Where are they
going?”

“
I’m not quite sure,” Seth
said.

Ava’s eyes slipped over his face. Seeing his
lie to protect her, she nodded. It was safer for her if she didn’t
know.

“
She’s safe?”

“
There’s Switch to worry
about.”

Ava smiled and turned her attention to her
breakfast. Her shoulders squared with tension. The moment of love
and safety had passed.

“
We’re going to catch this
guy before . . .?”

“
I sure hope so,” Seth
said.

He took out his wallet and put enough cash
on the table to cover their meal and the tip.

“
Ready?” He drained his
coffee cup.

She nodded. Standing, he took her hand and
they left the restaurant.

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NINETEEN

“
What do you think?” Seth
asked.

They were sitting in the parking lot of
Hoehne High School. The principal had agreed to see them if they
made it before noon.

“
It’s worth a try,” Ava
said.

Seth got out of the truck and went around to
open Ava’s door. His eyes scanned the horizon. He’d picked the high
school because he thought it was unlikely that the shooter would
target them there. Hopefully, they could find out everything they
needed and be on their way before anything happened.

“
What is it?” Ava
asked.

“
Nothing,” Seth
said.

“
You’ve been odd and
pensive ever since you talked to Delphie,” Ava said.

“
Pensive?”

Ava chuckled at his tone. She stopped
walking. He turned and instinctively scanned the area again.
Surprised, she looked around.

“
They’re coming for me,”
Ava said. “That’s what you didn’t say.”

Seth nodded.

“
Did Delphie say if I . .
.”

“
She didn’t,” Seth said. “I
don’t think that’s been determined yet.”

“
And Mom?
Éowyn?”

“
She said they were in
danger but would be fine,” Seth said. “Listen, we need to get
inside or . . .”

“
Get out of the open,” Ava
nodded. They jogged to the building. “Why didn’t you tell
me?”

“
Because we can only live
this moment and the next,” Seth said. “Our lives are determined by
our actions.”

“
I’m not a child,” Ava
said. “I’ve won plenty of marksmanship awards and . . .”

She glanced at him.

“
What can I say?” Seth
stopped to open the school door. “I’m an old-fashioned pig. You
knew that.”

She smiled, and he held the door for her.
She stopped short, and he ran into her.

“
Love you, piggy,” she
whispered in his ear. He nuzzled her neck and his phone
rang.

“
O’Malley?” the voice on
the phone asked.

“
You’ve got him,” Seth
said.

“
Deputy Young, Grant County
Sheriffs,” the man said. “You called about a white male shot on the
edge of your property.”

“
Yes,” Seth
said.

“
Driver’s license Hillery
Bloom Jr.,” Deputy Young said. “Age 82 years. Has a rifle that
matches the hollow points stuck in the wall of your kitchen. Shot
twice in the head with what looks like the M9 on your kitchen
counter. I’ve got an MP from Fort Carson breathing down my neck.
Does any of this sound familiar?”

“
Yes,” Seth said. “Call
Denver PD and the U.S. marshals.”

“
Turns out I don’t have to
work that hard,” Deputy Young said. “U.S. marshals arrived just
after we did. Something about two dead marshals, that prick, Aaron
Alvin, and a missing Seth O’Malley?”

“
Sounds like you have
everything under control,” Seth said. “Can you do me a
favor?”

“
You can ask,” Deputy Young
said.

“
Can you keep this out of
the press?” Seth asked.

“
No problem,” Deputy Young
said. “We just had a report of some gunfire on that dick O’Malley’s
land. Who wouldn’t believe that?”

Seth laughed.

“
And Seth?”

“
Jethro?”