He crossed his arms and leaned against the door jamb. “Is that right?”
“You didn’t mention Alexander Hung was living in your building when I saw him at your office the other day.”
“Did think it was any of your business, Detective.”
The switch in address was meaningful. When he thought he had the upper hand, he called me “Kate” or “Katie.” When he thought I had something on him, it was always “Detective.”
“Anyway, we’ll just show ourselves over.” I turned toward the door on the opposite end. Halfway there, I realized two things. First, Morales wasn’t behind me. Second, Volos wasn’t trying to stop me.
I turned to see them both watching me with their arms crossed and near-identical expressions of masculine annoyance on their faces.
“What?” I demanded, feeling pretty annoyed myself.
“He left this morning.” Volos pushed off from the jamb. “Anyone else need a drink?”
“I thought you’d never ask,” Morales said, and followed him inside.
I stood alone in the hall for a second, wondering what just happened. Volos and Morales never agreed on anything. Why in the hell did they have to pick being pissed off at me as their first time?
I heaved a martyred sigh and marched into the apartment. Inside, Volos was at the bar, pouring three drinks, and Morales stood at the windows, looking out over the darkened water.
“What do you mean, he left this morning?” I demanded.
“What isn’t clear about that statement?” Volos shrugged and offered me a glass with two fingers of something amber-colored.
“He’s a suspect in a murder investigation, John. Don’t fuck with us here.”
He lifted his glass in a toast. “Hung didn’t kill Krystal LeMay.”
I slammed the glass on the coffee table in his sunken living room. “How do you know?”
He swirled his drink and took a lingering sip before answering. “No motive.”
I pursed my lips and pinned him with my best cop glare. “You stick to running the city and let us worry about motives, all right? Where is he?”
“I’m not his keeper, Kate. He was in town to meet about moving his company here. I offered him a place to stay while he was in town. I assume he left because he had business to tend to on the West Coast.”
“He left town?” My raised voice echoed in the cavernous penthouse.
“He vacated the apartment. I don’t know if he left town or not.”
“What’s his guard still doing here, then?” I demanded.
He quirked a brow. “Mike works for me. And I believe his family came over from the Philippines.”
“Sure.”
He tilted his head. “Do you think every Asian in Babylon is Chinese or just that all Asians are Fangshi?”
I shifted uncomfortably. Obviously, I didn’t like the idea of being called on biases, but it was also likely Volos was using this to throw me off. “I just assume anyone who associates with you is crooked. How about that?”
Before he could retort, I pulled out my phone and called Dixon. “Hey, I need you to contact the airport and see if Alexander Hung was on a flight headed somewhere on the West Coast today.”
“Gee, Kate, I’m sort of up to my eyeballs in hand-job videos here.”
“Then ask McGinty to do it.” I punched the button to end the call. When I looked up, I realized Morales still hadn’t moved from his spot by the windows. His untouched drink rested in his right hand. “Hey!”
He turned slowly. “What?”
I threw up my hands. “Murder investigation? Remember?”
He shrugged. “The guy’s not here.” He drained his drink in two long gulps. He walked across the room and handed the glass back to Volos. “Thanks, man.” Then he turned and walked to the door. “I’ll be in the car.”
I watched him go with my mouth hanging open. I suddenly felt like I’d entered the Twilight Zone, only instead of a gremlin on the airplane wings, I was witnessing my partner losing his damned mind. “Well, that’s just great,” I muttered.
“Trouble in paradise?” Volos said, smirking over the rim of his glass.
“Will you shut up?”
He looked pleased with himself but was smart enough not to say anything else on the matter.
“I was telling the truth, you know. Hung’s innocent.”
I shot him an ironic glare.
“Of this crime,” he amended.
“Why do you know so much about it?”
He watched me for a moment, as if weighing his options. My patience was thin, so I raised my brows and shot him an any-day-now look. Finally, he sighed. “When did Krystal die?”
“We don’t have the final report yet, but I’m guessing it happened last night.”
He ran a finger along the glass’s rim. “I was with Hung and one of his associates until one a.m.”
“Which associate?”
“A woman.”
“Cut the shit, John. Was it the chick with the horn?”
He paused. “You know her?”
“I just watched her butcher a duck,” I said, “and cut off her own thumb.”
He scowled. “Stay away from her.”
“You know, you have a really bad habit of believing you have a say in my decisions. We interviewed her as part of an official murder investigation.”
“And I’m telling you, she and Hung both have alibis for last night.”
I didn’t mention to him that whoever killed Krystal wasn’t there last night when she died. They could have sent that package over at any time. But he didn’t have the right to know every detail of my cases. “You willing to testify to that effect in court?”
He laughed softly and emptied his glass. “Don’t be ridiculous.”
“I thought so,” I said. “I don’t know what you have going with the Chinese, but you saying you were with them doesn’t exactly exonerate anyone. For all I know, all three of you killed her.”
He scoffed. “Why in the hell would I want to kill the girl?”
“Because she was running the Votaries.”
The look he slanted at me could have frozen water. “Don’t insult me. You don’t believe that.”
“What I believe is that you have gotten yourself in yet another dirty deal and it’s blowing up in your face.”
“The only deal I’m involved in is trying to stimulate this city’s economy by bringing in new businesses—legit ones.”
“Hung is a rumored hitman and Yü Nü is believed to be the head of the Fangshi worldwide. Plus, she’s scary as hell.”
“Luckily, rumors aren’t admissible in court, Detective. And neither are your personal feelings about Yü Nü—or me.”
“Whatever. I’m going now.”
I was almost at the door before he spoke again, softly this time. “I can pull the plug on this.”
Turning to face him, I said, “You wouldn’t dare.”
“Want to try me, Katie?”
“You’re the one talking about too much to lose.” I crossed my arms. “You interfere in my case and I’ll be forced to do some digging into business dealings, Mr. Mayor—among other things.”
“You’re not the only one who has dirt. Only a matter of time until Morales goes down now that the Fangshi are in town.”
I walked up to him and took his drink. After I drained it, I let out an ahh. I licked my lips slowly, and his eyes flared. “If I were you, I’d be more worried about the BPD getting wind of a murder weapon in the Pantera Souza case.” I shoved the glass into his chest, forcing him to reach up to grab it. “Never ask your enemy to get rid of evidence that implicates you in murder, asshole.”
As I walked away, he breathed, “I’ll be damned.”
I smiled but didn’t look back. Inside I was experiencing the dual emotions of elation and panic. The excitement was due to having the upper hand for once. The panic was the result of showing my cards. Now that he knew I had the gun that killed Pantera Souza with his prints all over it, I’d have a target on my back. I just had to make sure he never found out where I’d hidden it. As long as he had to worry about who I’d shown it to, I’d be safe.
Morales was downstairs in the lobby, where he and the guard were trying real hard to pretend they were ignoring each other. I walked past him and went out into the night air. The cool breeze off the river lifted my hair off my neck.