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I wrote down the contact information that Stacia gave me, noticing that Alaina was much calmer now that it was clear my ex had called about the case. I noticed that the address was in a moderately expensive part of town. Not the wealthy enclaves of Highland or Cherry Creek but respectable. I don’t know why I thought that Rossi’s henchman and the procurer of dead bodies would live in some rat-infested hovel, but that’s what I had been picturing.
“Got it?” Alaina asked impatiently.
“Got it,” I said.
“Let’s go, Duke,” Alaina said, standing up.
Both dogs responded to her call, getting to their feet. We walked out of the police station as a power couple, dogs at our heels. Alaina went for her car, and I followed. There wasn’t time to argue about who was going to drive.
The dogs hopped in the back seat, and I took shotgun. I plugged the address into the navigator, and we were off. We didn’t speak on the way, each lost in their own thoughts. I knew this meeting wasn’t going to be easy. Mike Harper had a long history with the law, and he wasn’t likely to want to cooperate. I hoped I could turn the situation around by reminding him that he had done a good thing for Stacia. Maybe we could connect around someone that both of us cared about to some degree.
Alaina pulled into the neighborhood fifteen minutes later.
Mike’s house was set up on a hill, overlooking the street. It was an impressive wood paneled home with a two-car garage and plenty of living space. I shook my head.
“I guess crime really does pay,” I muttered.
Alaina gave me a half-cocked smirk. There was no time for fun and games, and although the neighborhood itself seemed safe, the person we were about to see was anything but. She strapped her gun on as we got out of the car.
Leaning into the back seat, she instructed the dogs to stay. “I don’t want to spook him,” she explained.
“Wise,” I said. “But maybe we could let them out of the car just in case we need them.”
Alaina sighed, looking back at her best friend. “We’d better not. I don’t want to run into an issue with the city having unsupervised animals on the street.”
“Okay,” I agreed reluctantly.
Alaina rolled down both the driver’s side and the passenger window, effectively solving both of our problems. Now the dogs could get out if they needed to, and they wouldn’t be locked in the car by themselves if something went wrong.
We walked up to the front door and knocked. It was still early, but officially business hours. We were well within our legal rights and clear of any impoliteness. No one answered our first knock, so Alaina knocked again and rang the doorbell just to be safe.
Finally, the door opened, revealing a man who was every bit the criminal I’d expected. He towered over both of us, his neck a trunk that attached a smallish head to a much wider body. I could see dark swirls of a tattoo disappearing into the lumberjack shirt he was wearing. This guy meant business, and he wasn’t above advertising it.
“Yes?” he asked.
“I’m Officer Dawson, and this is Fire Inspector Cooper. We have some questions for you about Silvio Rossi,” Alaina said.
“Don’t know him,” the man barked, trying to close the door.
Alaina put a hand out, surprising him with her strength. I had to grin. Alaina might not look like much, but she was scrappy and could hold her own. If I had to put money on one of them in a fight, my girlfriend wasn’t completely out of the running.
“We know you helped Stacia Rossi evade capture,” she said. “We’re not interested in you or her. We just want Silvio.”
The hulk of a man looked past us to the street, checking for other patrol cars. Finally, he stepped aside, allowing us to come in. I glanced at Alaina, telling her to be prepared for anything. Being inside the house with Harper wasn’t likely to be much safer than being out on the porch. In fact, it might be a whole lot worse.
“Hi,” I began, holding out my hand in a gesture of peace. “I’m Travis. I used to go out with Stacia.”
Mike frowned, raising his hand almost robotically. “I heard about you.”
“So you know that we’re not after you or Stacia.” I repeated what Alaina said earlier, using my personal connection to soften the blow.
“Okay,” he agreed.
“Are you still in contact with Rossi?” Alaina asked.
Mike clammed up, crossing his arms over his chest and standing firm. He was familiar with the criminal justice system and knew his rights. He wasn’t going to budge if she kept using her cop voice. I stepped in, leveling with the guy man to man.
“Whatever you’ve done for Rossi in the past is water under the bridge,” I said. “We’re not going to ask you to incriminate yourself.”
Mike sighed, swinging his gaze from Alaina to me. He wasn’t convinced yet, but I had a feeling he was softening up.
“There’s been a string of arsons, bad ones,” I continued. “Apartment buildings with families and kids. We just rescued a couple of toddlers last night whose babysitter ran out and left them.”
That did it. Mike’s face smoothed, and his shoulders relaxed. I could see that he was torn. He wasn’t aware that Rossi was putting so many innocent people in danger and it was likely that his previous criminal activity involved only those who were in business with his boss. . Even though I suspected that he was a hitman, he obviously still had a line that he wouldn’t cross and putting children in danger was that line.
“Yeah, I’m still in touch with Rossi,” he relented. “I have his phone number. I don’t know where he is, though.”
“That’s good enough,” I said. “Can you give him a call? Ask him to meet you somewhere?”
Mike studied me for a long moment, trying to decide whether to help. I held my breath, hoping that my sales pitch had been enough. I was asking him to put his neck on the line to help us out. Rossi was a snake in the grass, and there was no telling what lengths he would go to for revenge. I knew Mike could take care of himself, but even a behemoth could be taken down with a bullet or two.
Finally, Mike pulled out his phone. “You said those kids were left alone in a burning building?”
“That’s right,” I said. “The babysitter was just a teenager, and she got scared.”
“You don’t mess with kids,” Mike said, clearly indicating that Rossi had crossed the line. He searched through his contacts until he came to the right one. Then he hit the button and put the phone on speaker so we could all hear.
The phone rang once, twice, three times, and finally Rossi picked up. The blood in my veins froze at the sound of his voice. It was so calm and cultured, not at all the voice of a maniac. I knew he was good at hiding what he was, that he had the mayor and the Chamber of Commerce eating out of his hand. But to hear him hide his insanity so well was chilling.
“Mike!” Rossi said jovially. “Long time. What’s going on?”
Mike looked at me with a stony expression. We hadn’t given him any pointers on how to conduct the phone call aside from asking for a meet and greet. It was up to him to come up with material on the fly that would resonate with our gangster friend.
“Been hearing about you on the news,” Mike said.
“All lies,” Rossi assured him.
Mike chuckled. “Did you forget who you were talking to?”
“It’s water under the bridge,” Rossi tried again. “It’ll all blow over soon.”
“I need a favor,” Mike said.
“What is it?” Rossi asked.
“I don’t want to talk about it over the phone,” Mike said.
“You know I can’t do that,” Rossi protested.
“All right,” Mike agreed, not wanting to seem too eager. “It’s not a big deal.”
Rossi’s voice relaxed. “I may have a job for you.”
“I could always use the money,” Mike responded.
“Stay in touch,” Rossi said, hanging up.
Mike looked at us and shrugged. “That’s the best I can do. If I try to push him further, he’ll get suspicious.”
“Keep at it,” I instructed. “Let us know the moment something changes.”
“And let us know if he calls again,” Alaina added.
We walked out onto the porch together, one tiny step closer to catching our guy.
