One Dead Drag Queen: A Tom & Scott Mystery (Tom & Scott Mysteries) by Zubro Mark Richard

Author:Zubro, Mark Richard [Zubro, Mark Richard]
Language: eng
Format: azw3
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Published: 2000-07-12T16:00:00+00:00

16

Thieme left.

Scott asked, “Do I fire McCutcheon?”

“Yes,” I replied immediately.

“You’re getting ahead of any facts that we have. Remember, he hasn’t proved a danger to us yet. And what do we do for protection if I do fire him?”

“There’s other firms. If he’s who Thieme says he is, he’s a danger to us.”

“He was walking with me to your truck the other night. He could have been killed. If he’s a danger, I don’t see him connected to the people trying to attack us. I’m going to go with my gut feeling. Whatever McCutcheon’s story is, he’s been faithful to me. Why would he be, if he’s out to do me or you harm?”

“I don’t know.”

“Until we get specific knowledge, I’m sticking with him.”

I had no plausible arguments to refute Scott’s logic. We used the pay phone in the lobby to try to call Thieme’s contact in New York. We got an answering machine. I decided not to leave a message.

“You know,” I said before we strolled over to McCutcheon, “if he’s out to get us, having him around means he knows our every move.”

Scott put his hand on my arm to stop me. “I’m kind of tired of this semi-cloak-and-dagger crap. I know you’re just out of the hospital, but this is getting to be a bit much. You don’t like him. That is not criminal. I remember your reasons for disapproving of him. ‘He’s too pretty to have his own agency.’ That logic sucks a hell of a lot more than the reasons I used to hire him.”

“That was more a joke than anything.”

“I wasn’t laughing. Your comments were dismissive and condescending. You don’t make shallow judgments based on looks. That’s not the kind of person you are. Why’d you do it this time?”

I hate it when he’s insightful, reasonable, and right. “I admit I was too flip, but you were too hasty.”

“Maybe” was all the admission he gave.

“My gut feeling says he’s a rat. Your gut feeling says he’s okay. I hope you’re right. I’ll agree to a truce about him until we know more. Okay?”

Scott agreed.

We stood across the lobby from McCutcheon. He nodded at us. “What now?” Scott asked.

“We could try Pulver,” I said.

We called, but he couldn’t meet us for several hours. Next, we called Jack Wolf, Kearn’s contact in the fire department. He agreed to meet us at Ann Sather’s restaurant on Belmont.

When we arrived, we asked for a seat in the farthest room from the sidewalk. We huddled in a corner hidden from most observers in the restaurant. We asked McCutcheon to sit farther up front. Every few moments Scott peeked around the corner to see if Wolf had arrived.

In the meantime the waitress plunked a plate of confections on our table. These included the famed cinnamon rolls.

I began to wonder if McCutcheon himself wasn’t a magnet. Maybe he wasn’t a specific danger, but if someone was single-minded enough to follow us around, then maybe they were able to recognize and remember our guards.

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