Free One Secret Night by Jennifer Morey

open-minded with him. He would have to turn his life upside down the way hers was going to be turned upside down as soon as the baby was born, and she didn’t see him doing that.
    Kamira opened her apartment door, which had an entry to the outside. An average-size woman with light brown hair and eyes, she had blotchy skin and was dressed in jeans and a football T-shirt with an unbuttoned shirt over that.
    “Kamira Marshall?” Raith asked.
    “Yes?” she said warily.
    “We’re here to ask you some questions about your brother, Leaman Marshall.”
    “Who are you?”
    “I’m Raith De Matteis and this is my girlfriend, Autumn. We’re here trying to locate an associate of Leaman’s.”
    Autumn expected him to lie, but he didn’t, well, not really. While she stiffened with the shock of Raith calling her his girlfriend, Kamira eyed them both before saying, “My brother is dead.”
    “We’re aware of that. We still think you may be able to help us.”
    “What associate are you looking for?”
    “That’s part of the problem. We don’t have a name.”
    After several long seconds of contemplation, she said, “I don’t have anything to do with his trouble. I’m sorry, I can’t help you.” She was about to close the door, when Raith put his hand on it and stopped her.
    “We’re aware that your brother was a contract killer,” Raith announced.
    Autumn wondered how that would make her more comfortable. Would she protect him?
    “Why are you looking for this associate?” Kamira asked. “Are you cops?”
    “No. We’re helping the man who was almost killed. We’re looking for the person who hired him.”
    Kamira blinked a few times as though the subject of her brother upset her, and not only because he was dead. What other associate could there be than someone who’d contracted for his services? Her disappointment was evident. Much of her grief must center around her brother’s poor choices.
    “Please. We just have a few questions,” Raith said.
    “I don’t see what good that will do if he’s dead.”
    “We’re talking to everyone who knew him.”
    She hesitated but seemed to consider relenting. “Did my brother shoot someone?”
    “He made an attempt and missed.”
    “He missed?”
    “Yes, fortunately.”
    Kamira contemplated them a moment more. Then, rather than invite them inside, she stepped out onto the concrete sidewalk in front of her door.
    “What do you need to know?”
    “When was the last time you saw him?” Raith asked.
    “About two months ago.”
    Fairly recent. “Were the two of you close?” Autumn asked.
    Kamira shrugged. “We had each other growing up. Messed-up parents, you know?” She reached into the pocket of the button-up shirt she wore and took out a pack of cigarettes. After lighting one and taking a puff, she blew out a stream of smoke and said, “He wasn’t the type to make it home for the holidays, and I don’t think he ever saw any women long-term. He traveled a lot. Hardly ever home, but when he was, he came here for visits regularly. He spent time with his best friend, too.”
    Autumn was amazed at how freely Kamira spoke. She didn’t condone her brother’s lifestyle, but she must have loved him despite all of that.
    “Who is that?” Raith asked.
    “Garvin Reeves. He runs a gun shop and shooting range here. They’ve been friends for years. Met in school. Leaman was always so reclusive. A loner. And he was always getting arrested when he was younger. Garvin looked up to him.”
    That didn’t say much for Garvin’s character if he looked up to someone like that.
    “What about when he was an adult?” Raith asked.
    Kamira shrugged again, taking another drag off her cigarette. “He stopped getting arrested. I think he got good at skirting the law. He never talked about what he did and I didn’t ask about it. I never liked his obsession with guns. He got that from Garvin. I suspected he was into some pretty serious crime and always thought it would be