I took a moment to wade into thoughts that I normally ignored—politics—a world where Briggs spent most of his energy.
Niki said, “Remember a few weeks back, the mayor was pissed off at Chief Murphy? There were all those rumors that the mayor was looking to replace the chief? What if those weren’t just rumors. What if there’s a shake-up in the works? Having close ties with the deputy chief of staff might come in handy.”
“I have no doubt that Briggs is here to play his game. We need to keep him out of the loop. I don’t like the idea of our investigation being used as a political football.”
I stopped my aimless weaving through downtown and turned around to head back toward City Hall.
“There’s something else we need to talk about,” Niki said with an air of seriousness that made me uneasy.
“What would that be?”
“Your lunch date. Was she helpful?”
“Helpful? Oh, she’s just an old friend.”
“How long are you going to keep feeding me crap, Max?”
“How long are you going to keep asking questions that you know I’m not going to answer?” I focused on the road, hoping the subject might fall away but knowing it wouldn’t.
“Dammit, Max. What’s going on?”
“Nothing.”
“Who is Farrah McKinney?”
“No one.” I started to formulate a plausible lie, as the heat of Niki’s anger and hurt burned against my cheek. I hated lying to her.
“And by no one, do you mean Farrah McKinney is a figment of your imagination, or she’s no one you should be talking to?”
I don’t answer.
“Because when she called to tell you she was running late, I asked her what this was in reference to. Do you know what she told me?”
Crap.
“She told me that you had contacted her about the death of your wife.”
I stopped at a red light and looked out my window so that Niki couldn’t see my face.
“And Ray Kroll, the guy you had on your computer earlier. I’m betting he has nothing to do with this Fireball investigation. I’m betting he’s a name from the past that you shouldn’t be digging up. Tell me I’m wrong.”
I turned to face Niki, but I couldn’t look her in the eye. “You don’t want to know what I’m up to,” I said. “We have the Fireball case to work. Anything beyond that is best left alone. I’m not putting you in the crosshairs. Please—”
“Crosshairs?” Now she was really angry. “What are you talking about?”
The light changed and I turned onto Third Avenue, pulled up to the curb next to City Hall and parked. “You know what I’m talking about, Niki. Let’s assume I’m doing what you think I’m doing. If I get caught, Briggs will make sure I’m out the door. I’m not taking you down with me. That’s all there is to it.”
“You’re such an idiot,” she said, her indignation flushing red on her face. “For a smart detective, you’re a bastard and an idiot and you’re as blind as a . . . as a . . . you can be such an asshole.”
I sat in stunned silence, each word stinging like a slap to my face.
“I’m already on the hook with you,” she said. “I know what you’re doing. I’m not stupid. And because I’m not telling anyone, that puts me on the hook. You’re not protecting me by keeping me out of the loop.”
“You have plausible deniability. You can—”
“I don’t want plausible deniability. I want to help you. I want to find your wife’s killer. I want you . . . I want you to trust me.”
“I do trust you. I—”
“No you don’t. Not really. To you, we’re partners, that’s all—a business relationship. At the end of the day, you don’t give me another thought. You have this wall you’ve built, and you won’t let me past.”
“What are you saying?”
“I’m saying . . . I’m saying that I feel like a replacement still. We’ve been together three years, and you still don’t trust me—not the way I do you. You say you’re protecting me, but that’s bullshit. You either trust me—all the way—or you don’t. That’s all there is to it.”
While my brain lined up a counterargument, another voice inside of me whispered that she was right. She knew what I was working on. If she helped to cover it up, she’d be in trouble. And for what? Was it fair that I trusted her to keep silent about my investigation, but not to be part of it? I had put her in jeopardy yet kept her in the dark as to why she was making that sacrifice.
“This investigation can never go on the books,” I said.
“I figured as much.”
“I’m serious, this crosses a line. I’m beyond just getting fired. There could be real consequences.”
“Max.” Niki leaned forward so that I could see the seriousness in her soft, dark eyes. “I want to get the prick who murdered your wife. I am in this all the way—neck-deep if that’s where it leads. Let me help.”
I leaned back in my seat, hoping to come up with one last way out. Nothing came. “Okay,” I said. “I’ll tell you.” I closed my eyes and spoke in a low whisper. “It goes back to the day I killed Ben Pruitt. Boady Sanden and Pruitt were in Sanden’s office. I was standing just outside, separated from them by a pair of French doors, glass doors, so I could see into Boady’s office. Pruitt had a gun in his hand. I thought Pruitt was going to kill him.”
“I know,” Niki said. “I read the report.”
“But there is something I left out of the report. I busted into Boady’s office with the idea that I would either arrest Pruitt or shoot him. I had him in my sights, and I was yelling for him to drop his gun. But Pruitt didn’t drop the gun, and he didn’t point it at me, either. Instead, he brought it up to his own head. He pointed the gun at his temple and pressed his finger against the trigger. I could see the white in his knuckle. He was serious.”
I turned to look at Niki so that I could see her reaction to what I told her next. I said, “That’s when Pruitt told me that he knew who killed Jenni.”
Niki’s eyes tightened as she realigned the chain of events to see it from a new perspective. “But how’d Pruitt know?”
“That’s where Raymond Kroll comes in.”
“The guy you were looking up this morning.”
“Yeah. Boady Sanden showed up on my doorstep yesterday and handed me a file on Kroll. He was Pruitt’s client. When we were in Boady’s office, and Pruitt wanted to bargain with me, he said that if I let him go, he’d tell me who killed Jenni. He said if I didn’t agree, he’d kill himself and I’d never find my wife’s murderer.”
“But you shot him.”
“I didn’t believe him. I didn’t think he’d go through with it, so I told him that he was going to prison. I’d let him think about that bargain from his prison cell. I figured he’d give up Jenni’s killer in exchange for better conditions or maybe a reduction of his sentence. People talk big when they’re bluffing.”
Niki shook her head slowly. “He wasn’t bluffing.”
“No. But he didn’t shoot himself, either. He shot at me. He was standing right in front of me and he shot wide. I couldn’t stop myself. I killed him before I realized what had happened.”