Free Die-Off by Kirk Russell Page A

he smelled like fast food, but fuck Harknell.
    ‘What did you learn?’ he asked Marquez as he pulled a chair back and sat down across from him, smiling, his mouth tight like it was being pulled open with pliers. ‘Did you find the tie to your investigation?’
    ‘No.’
    ‘Maybe there isn’t one.’
    ‘I’m going to tell you why I’m here. The day I met Ellis and Steiner at the high school I had set up to buy from an individual whose identity I didn’t know. He was supposed to meet me and do a small deal with me that would set up a bigger one, but I think he probably always knew who I was. I think this recent tip call says that might have been Rider.’
    ‘Do you have any other evidence it was?’
    ‘No, I’ve just been thinking about it.’
    ‘No.’
    ‘Do you have a full name or a photo of him, or any kind of likeness?’
    ‘No.’
    ‘But you’re sure he exists.’
    ‘He exists.’
    ‘Has anyone ever questioned whether he really does exist?’
    ‘Sure.’
    ‘Who?’
    Marquez smiled. He wasn’t getting it, Voight thought.
    ‘The captain I report to.’
    ‘What’s his name?’
    He got ready to write it and Marquez watched that and said, ‘Captain Waller. He oversees the SOU and I told him you’d be calling.’
    ‘How did you know that?’
    ‘Every question you ask is headed that way.’
    ‘Then we’ll just go there now and get to it.’
    ‘That’s fine, but before we leave this, Rider is why I’m here. I don’t think you have anything to offer me or would if you did, and that goes double for you, Sheriff. I don’t even have a full name on this guy calling himself Rider and it took me a long time to believe he exists because I’m like you, Rich; most of the time I have to see things to believe them. But I’ve heard the name too many different places and their trafficking operation is large.’
    Voight let Marquez talk his wildlife going away thing and his fantastical pursuit of a ghost named Rider. It made him wonder if Marquez was delusional. He was either one hundred percent the real deal or way out there and it was good to get this on tape. Jesus Christ, the taxpayer was funding this guy.
    When Marquez finished his explanation for being here and tied it to the search for the gun, Voight made his move. He started it with a lie and though he was good at this with suspects it was still the delicate part.
    ‘We know you questioned the same people we were talking to after the girls were attacked. It’s not in the files you looked through because I took it out. I took it out along with the rest of the evidence that points toward you as a person of interest.’
    Voight paused. He read Marquez’s face and saw Marquez wasn’t making any effort to hide what he felt. He looked disappointed and saddened though everyone in the room knew this conversation was coming and probably the real reason Marquez got an early start was he couldn’t sleep.
    ‘There was never anyone you were going to meet to do a buy. You tricked your SOU into believing it and used them for cover. The meeting didn’t go down with your animal parts dealer. There was no buy and the undercover team pulled back and you went to the high school where Steiner and Ellis had been invited to sit on a panel and debate. Did you follow them when they left there? We have a witness who says you did and I’ve got more than that. I’ve been piecing things together and you can wave your arms in shock, outrage, and feigned disgust, but it won’t change the facts.
    ‘You didn’t get the crime scene location from anything we put out to other law enforcement, yet you showed up at the scene within an hour of our BOLO. At some point as an investigator the facts stare you down and later you ask yourself,
why didn’t I see that sooner?
This is one of those times for me.’
    ‘You’re making a bad mistake, Rich.’
    ‘Then convince me, because I see a Fish and Game officer who shows up at just the right time in an enormous county and asks