Tax Assassin (5 page)

“
Or suicides,” Detective
Markleman added.

“
But they were all shot
with hollow points,” Seth said.

“
One hanging,” Detective
Markleman said. “Ruled a possible suicide with an emphasis
on
possible
.”

“
No brass,” Detective Bodie
said.

“
Did you bring the files
and evidence?” Seth asked.

“
It’s in the trunk,”
Detective Markleman said.

Seth nodded. Detective Bodie got up and left
the room.

“
What do you think,
O’Malley?” Detective Markleman asked.

“
I’m not sure,” Seth said.
He picked up a black dry-erase marker and wrote on his new white
board:

Hollow point

No brass

Reloaded rounds

Tire weight lead

No M.O.

Variety of weapons

He turned to the detective.

“
Three firearms, one
hanging?” Seth asked.

“
Yep,” Detective Markleman
said.

“
Any other suicides? Weird
deaths?”

“
Slit wrists,” Detective
Markleman said. “Cut her arm clean off. Contentious divorce; a
couple of kids; husband an asshole. You know the drill.”

Seth put a dash at the end of “Variety of
weapons” and added “Firearms, one knife (suicide).”

“
What about the rope?”
Detective Markleman asked.

“
I doubt it was related,”
Seth said. “That doesn’t mean it’s not murder. It’s just that
murder-for-hire usually sticks with a set of services. These are
the characteristics of those murders.”

Seth pointed to the stack of McGinty’s files
on his desk.

“
There’s more?” Detective
Markleman asked.

“
There’s a lot more,”
Detective Bodie said. He came in carrying an evidence box. He
gestured to the hallway, “These guys were just getting out of their
car when I got out there.”

FIVE

“
Cheyenne?” Seth
asked.

“
Rapid City Sheriffs, sir,”
a woman’s voice said from the hallway.

“
There’s more?” Seth
asked.

“
Detective O’Malley?” A
young man with ragged hair and a stained tie stuck his head in the
room. “We’re here from Wichita. We got your email . . .”

“
So did we,” a voice came
from the hallway.

“
Say, you wouldn’t happen
to be Maresol, would you?” a different voice asked from the
hallway. “Our captain told us you were the best cook this side of
the Mississippi. We came a long way. Would it be too much trouble .
. .?”

Maresol threw up her hands and retreated to
the kitchen.

The police detectives kept coming.

Dale had just closed the front door when
detectives from Scottsbluff, Nebraska knocked. A few hours later,
detectives from Provo, Utah and Lubbock, Texas arrived. The
detectives told the same tale of murder and asked for the same
reward – dinner by Maresol.

After securing everyone’s handguns, Seth
broke out the alcohol they’d bought for the wedding reception. He
recruited Dale to play bartender. When he went to check on Maresol,
she was standing in the middle of the kitchen talking to herself in
Spanish. He slipped out before she noticed him and went to the
chest freezer in the basement. He took out the enchiladas,
taquitos, and tamales originally destined for the reception dinner
and carried them to the kitchen counter.

“
They won’t like it,”
Maresol said. “It won’t be special enough, famous
enough.”

“
They’ll love it. This is
great food. Just warm it up and add some cheese. It will be
perfect.”

“
But . . .”

“
I am the
master
in this house,”
Seth said. “This is what
I
want.”

He ducked to miss the coffee mug she threw
at him. The mug shattered against the cabinets behind him. He
scooted out the door when she picked up a kitchen knife. When he
peeked in a half hour later, she was singing along to the cumbia
music blaring from her computer. She cast him a sly smile. He
shrugged and retreated to the party.

A couple of bottles in, a detective
attempted to “help” Maresol in the kitchen. Before Seth could head
him off at the pass, the detective was scooting out of the kitchen
like his pants were on fire.

“
She likes to work alone,”
Seth said.

Seth patted his back and gave him a beer to
calm his nerves. Seth leaned into the kitchen and Maresol gave him
a dark look. Seth smiled and closed the swinging door.

A man and woman walked toward him.

“
The bartender said there’s
a hot tub?” a young man from Lincoln said.

The man gave a quick look to the young
detective from Utah. She bat her blue eyes at him. Seth moved aside
to send them through the kitchen, then thought better of it. He
escorted them down the hall off the dining room and pointed to the
carriage house. A couple women sat down in the chase loungers on
the patio. Seth lit the chimenea so they would be warm and returned
to the party.

Seth refreshed drinks, laughed at stories,
and in general kept the party light. A detective from Scottsbluff
was holding court with a long improbable story about a girl, a tall
Native American shaman, and a coyote when Dale called Seth to the
door.

Ava, her sisters, and her mother standing in
the entryway.

“
Welcome!” Seth
said.

“
We had nowhere to go,” Ava
said. “The press found us at the hotel and . . . I .
. .”

Ava bit her lip to keep from crying. If
they’d been alone, he would have held her. Given that her mother
hated him, he caught her hand and turned to her mother.

“
You are more than welcome
here,” Seth said. “A few detectives came from around the West to
talk about a case. Maresol was just about to serve dinner. Please
come in and make yourselves at home.”

“
Amelie told us about the
wedding and the money; how you’ve helped us every step of the way,”
Ava’s mother, Vivian Alvin, said. “I’m . . . sorry.
That’s all. After that reporter called our suite to warn us, my
daughter corrected my impression that you had called
Westword
. The reporter
said he’d promised you that he would take care of us, protect us
from scrutiny, and he has; he truly has. This whole ordeal could
have been a lot worse. And . . . I’ve been wrong,
Seth. I hope you can forgive my pride and . . .”

“
Of course,” Seth held out
his arms and hugged her. “You’re welcome here for as long as you
need – as long as it takes. We have plenty of space, certainly. And
tonight, we have plenty of food. Please come in and join the
party.”

“
Come help me, girls,”
Maresol said to Ava and her sisters. Seth raised his eyebrows in
surprise. She shook her head as if he was the impossible one. “We
have these hungry coppers to feed.”

Relieved to have something concrete to do,
Ava and her sisters were moving into the kitchen to help Maresol,
when a man with a bushy white mustache to match his white cowboy
hat said, “Vivian?”

“
Jeb?” Ava’s mother’s hand
self consciously touched her hair.

“
Vivian Bell?” he asked.
“Well, I’ll be goldarned.”

“
Jeb Elliott. What are you
doing here?” Vivian smiled.

“
Came to talk to O’Malley
about some trouble we had a few summers ago,” Jeb said. “I’m the
Pennington County Sheriff now. I have my very own office in Rapid
City.”

“
And Patricia?”

“
My Patty
passed . . . Gosh, I guess it’s been five years,”
Jeb said.

“
I’m so sorry,” Vivian
said.

“
Breast cancer. It was a
relief for both of us at the end,” Jeb said.

“
My mother suffered like
that, too,” Vivian said. “Horrible.”

“
It’s hard when good people
are called to suffer so much,” Jeb said “I heard about
your . . . trouble. Golly, Viv. What the heck is
going on in the world when a man gets caught up in all of that
unsavory business?”

“
I have no idea.” Ava’s
mother looked down to cover her pain and humiliation.

“
Well how could you?” Jeb
glanced at Seth. “You must be here to see O’Malley? He’s always
escortin’ the most lovely woman in the room.”

“
No,” Vivian chuckled and
shook her head. “I’m lucky he doesn’t throw me out. I haven’t been
exactly civil.”

“
I bet,” Jeb said. “Anybody
who’s going through what you are isn’t going to be exactly civil.
Terrible business.”

“
Awful,” Seth
said.

“
I saw you hugging, and I
just assumed you were . . .” Jeb looked at Seth, who
shook his head. “You’re certainly the most attractive woman in this
room.”

“
He’s marrying my
daughter,” Vivian said. “My
twenty-three
year-old
daughter.”

Jeb glanced at Ava, and she gave him a
little wave.

“
I can’t say I’m not
relieved,” Jeb said. “Come on, Viv. Let’s get you something to
drink.”

Jeb took Vivian’s elbow and guided her past
her stunned daughters and into the dining room. Seth shot an amused
look at Ava and she wiggled her eyebrows.

“
Good for her,” Maresol
said. “Now, come along, girls. We have plenty to do.”

Once in the kitchen, Maresol assessed Ava
and her sisters.

“
Why don’t you round up the
detectives outside?” Maresol asked Éowyn, Ava’s eldest sister.
“There’s a couple in the hot tub. You’d do well to make sure they
know you’re coming.”

Relieved to have some non-cooking thing to
do, Éowyn followed Maresol’s finger and went out the sliding door
to the backyard.

“
Off you go,” Maresol
placed a tray of enchiladas in Ava’s younger sister Bella’s arms.
“Don’t let those old goats give you any trouble either.”

Bella nodded and carried the enchiladas out.
Maresol hugged Ava.

“
How are you, dear?”
Maresol asked.

“
Is this my reception?”
Ava’s expression was neutral but her eyes echoed her desperate
heartbreak.

“
The
master
of the house
ordered
me to use this
food from the freezer,” Maresol said.

“
Talking to yourself
again?” Ava smiled.

Maresol laughed and hugged Ava again.

“
Don’t worry,” Maresol
said. “When we get you married, your reception will be perfect in
every way. Trust me. We’ll have a wonderful time.”

“
I love your confidence,”
Ava sighed.

“
I am the master of the
house,” Maresol said.

Ava laughed. Seeing her little sister, Ava
straightened her face back to neutral. Maresol gave Bella the
taquito platter and she left the room. Éowyn came through the
kitchen with the female detectives.

“
Where are the others?”
Maresol asked.

“
Finishing up,” Éowyn said.
“I didn’t want to . . .”

Maresol gave her a hard look and stomped out
the sliding door. Éowyn and Ava heard Maresol tell the detectives
to “get dressed and stop acting like horny teenagers.” Éowyn
glanced at Ava.

“
She’s . . .” Éowyn
started.

“
Amazing, isn’t she?” Ava
smiled.

Éowyn nodded. Maresol smiled when she came
back in the house.

“
Detectives are such
children,” Maresol said. “They are all like that.”

Unsure of how to respond, Éowyn and Ava
nodded.

“
Is your family staying
tonight?” Maresol asked.

“
Do we have space for my
sisters and mother?” Ava asked.

“
We’ll make space,” Maresol
said. She went to the doorway and waved Seth into the kitchen. Seth
stuck his head in. “We should give Ava’s mother your bedroom,
yes?”

“
Sure,” Seth said. “Ava and
I can sleep downstairs. We’ve done that often enough.”

He smiled at Ava and she blushed.

“
Then go change the
sheets,” Maresol said.

Laughing, Seth left the
kitchen. When he returned, the party was in full pitch. He watched
Dale lean over to say something in Ava’s ear. Her face flashed with
surprise, and her eyes welled with tears. She hugged him. Dale must
have told her that he’d called
Westword
about her father. Seth
smiled. Ava had responded like he knew she would – her friend,
Dale, was more important to her than the secrets and lies that
caused this transition in her life.

Feeling his eyes, she looked up and smiled
at him. He tried to move in her direction, but was confronted by a
detective who wanted to talk to him about investing in some prime
“re-eel ‘state” just outside of Shallowater, Texas. While he
continued his pitch, Seth tried to imagine what could possibly be
considered “prime” about the incessant hot, sandy wind of Lubbock,
Texas. Rather than ask, he smiled and tried to slip away. By the
time Seth sloughed off the detective, Ava was deep in a
conversation with her sister, Éowyn.

Seth looked around the room. Jeb Elliot
leaned in to talk to Ava’s mother Vivian. A few of the men were
making eyes with the female detectives. Ava’s younger sister,
Bella, was blushing at something the ragged haired detective from
Wichita had said. Seth even noticed a few furtive glances between
partners. As the alcohol and great food continued to flow, love was
definitely in the air.