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Authors: Carol Stephenson
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Pretend you’re on your cell phone.”
Since he had shot to the top of my list of people to question, I made a show of putting on my sunglasses and digging through my purse. I held the cell phone to my ear.
“Okay, Drew. What’s going on? What’s with the secrecy?”
“The police didn’t seem to want to waste a lot of resources on investigating the death of a dirty accountant. Borys deserved better. I’m trying to come up with new evidence so they’ll reopen the case.”
“What?” My pulse kicked up a notch as I studied Drew closely.
Borys’s lover had aged significantly since I’d last seen him. Graying blond hair had frosted to white and was considerably thinner. His deeply tanned face bore the ravages of too much sun, looking like old, cracked leather. His once kind brown eyes wore the look of indelible resignation shadowed with grief.
My client had been such a sad, lost man that I drew comfort from knowing someone had truly loved him. “I haven’t had a chance to say this before. I’m so sorry about Borys.”
“Thank you. You were the last person to see him alive.” Accusation mingled with hurt in his voice. “Yet you still have amnesia?”
“Bullet versus skull. Who knew my hard head would lose.” I resisted the urge to touch the tender skin where the stitches had been removed this morning.
“Didn’t you visit him that night as well?” After tugging at my jacket, which now clung to my damp skin, I dug out a small notepad from my bag. Might as well take notes.
“Yes.” Drew glanced around. Was he more nervous of being caught with me or the topic being discussed?
“I had some harsh words with him. To put our business in jeopardy like that, my reputation…I was hurt. Furious. I’d broken off our relationship.” He swallowed. “But I kept thinking of how lost he looked in jail. So I went to see him, to tell him he could come home when he got out and we would work things out.”
Drew brought out a crumpled pack of cigarettes and lighter and lit a cigarette with a trembling hand. “I’m so glad I did. I couldn’t have lived with myself, knowing our last words together had been in anger.”
The man gave all appearances of being sincere. But it was also possible that Borys’s criminal activities had pushed Drew over the edge. I wasn’t about to strike anyone off the suspect list.
“What time did you see him?” I already knew from the register but needed to see if the man would tell the truth. A poor liar would perjure himself on the dumbest details, but a clever one would weave in the truth, making a tighter fabric of lies to unravel.
“About four-thirty. I had a late afternoon meeting and then went straight to the prison.”
That time squared with his sign-in. I had arrived at five-thirty, having gotten hung up in a hearing.
“Did Borys ever talk about his clients?”
Drew blew out a puff of smoke. “Specifically? No. Like attorneys, an accountant’s confidentiality about his clients’ affairs is vital.”
“Was he afraid of anyone at Rocket?” Had Borys known if Rocket smuggled drugs? Was that why he was murdered?
Drew’s brow furrowed. “Greg for starters. That’s why I took over the account. Anytime he received a call on his cell, Borys would drop everything and rush off. I thought he might have left some information in his office there but…”
He dropped the cigarette butt and crushed it beneath his heel. “I haven’t found anything yet on the computer.”
“Did Rocket know you two were partners?”
“No. Our relationship was—” Drew paused, “—private.”
In other words, secret. I sought for a politically correct way to ask the next question. “Did all the news concerning Borys’s arrest affect your business?”
The man’s lips twisted into an ironic smile. “Do you mean did my clients mind that I had a gay lover who was also a crook?”
So much for being PC. I shrugged. “Yes.”
“I went through a rough period, but the impending
Since he had shot to the top of my list of people to question, I made a show of putting on my sunglasses and digging through my purse. I held the cell phone to my ear.
“Okay, Drew. What’s going on? What’s with the secrecy?”
“The police didn’t seem to want to waste a lot of resources on investigating the death of a dirty accountant. Borys deserved better. I’m trying to come up with new evidence so they’ll reopen the case.”
“What?” My pulse kicked up a notch as I studied Drew closely.
Borys’s lover had aged significantly since I’d last seen him. Graying blond hair had frosted to white and was considerably thinner. His deeply tanned face bore the ravages of too much sun, looking like old, cracked leather. His once kind brown eyes wore the look of indelible resignation shadowed with grief.
My client had been such a sad, lost man that I drew comfort from knowing someone had truly loved him. “I haven’t had a chance to say this before. I’m so sorry about Borys.”
“Thank you. You were the last person to see him alive.” Accusation mingled with hurt in his voice. “Yet you still have amnesia?”
“Bullet versus skull. Who knew my hard head would lose.” I resisted the urge to touch the tender skin where the stitches had been removed this morning.
“Didn’t you visit him that night as well?” After tugging at my jacket, which now clung to my damp skin, I dug out a small notepad from my bag. Might as well take notes.
“Yes.” Drew glanced around. Was he more nervous of being caught with me or the topic being discussed?
“I had some harsh words with him. To put our business in jeopardy like that, my reputation…I was hurt. Furious. I’d broken off our relationship.” He swallowed. “But I kept thinking of how lost he looked in jail. So I went to see him, to tell him he could come home when he got out and we would work things out.”
Drew brought out a crumpled pack of cigarettes and lighter and lit a cigarette with a trembling hand. “I’m so glad I did. I couldn’t have lived with myself, knowing our last words together had been in anger.”
The man gave all appearances of being sincere. But it was also possible that Borys’s criminal activities had pushed Drew over the edge. I wasn’t about to strike anyone off the suspect list.
“What time did you see him?” I already knew from the register but needed to see if the man would tell the truth. A poor liar would perjure himself on the dumbest details, but a clever one would weave in the truth, making a tighter fabric of lies to unravel.
“About four-thirty. I had a late afternoon meeting and then went straight to the prison.”
That time squared with his sign-in. I had arrived at five-thirty, having gotten hung up in a hearing.
“Did Borys ever talk about his clients?”
Drew blew out a puff of smoke. “Specifically? No. Like attorneys, an accountant’s confidentiality about his clients’ affairs is vital.”
“Was he afraid of anyone at Rocket?” Had Borys known if Rocket smuggled drugs? Was that why he was murdered?
Drew’s brow furrowed. “Greg for starters. That’s why I took over the account. Anytime he received a call on his cell, Borys would drop everything and rush off. I thought he might have left some information in his office there but…”
He dropped the cigarette butt and crushed it beneath his heel. “I haven’t found anything yet on the computer.”
“Did Rocket know you two were partners?”
“No. Our relationship was—” Drew paused, “—private.”
In other words, secret. I sought for a politically correct way to ask the next question. “Did all the news concerning Borys’s arrest affect your business?”
The man’s lips twisted into an ironic smile. “Do you mean did my clients mind that I had a gay lover who was also a crook?”
So much for being PC. I shrugged. “Yes.”
“I went through a rough period, but the impending
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