Free One Secret Night by Jennifer Morey Page B

sides and one down the middle. A double door in the back must lead to the shooting range. Posters advertising ammunition and the latest rifles on the market hung on the walls. Two windows in front and one on the side had old, cheap white blinds that were kept shut but allowed light in through broken panels.
    A clerk helped a customer to their right. Another saw them from where he stood in the back near the doors.
    “Can I help you?” that clerk asked, putting his hands on the edge of the counter. A skinny man and not very tall, he had dark circles under his brown eyes and chapped lips.
    Raith walked toward the man, Autumn following. “We’re looking for Garvin Reeves. Is he here?”
    “Who’s asking?” The clerk pushed off the counter.
    Raith caught the clerk’s guardedness. Garvin’s workers were trained to be on the lookout for cops.
    “Raith De Matteis. This is my girlfriend, Autumn.”
    Autumn turned to look at him. This was the second time he’d introduced her as his girlfriend. Did she like playing the role of his girlfriend or did it offend her?
    “Wait here.” The clerk disappeared through a door. The sound of gunshots grew louder until the door swung shut again.
    Autumn leaned closer to Raith and whispered, “Why aren’t we using false names?”
    “We don’t need to,” he whispered back.
    “Why not?”
    “It doesn’t matter if these people know who we are.”
    Before she could ask why, a man emerged from the back. Close to six feet tall, Garvin was more muscular than the clerk and had almond-shaped blue eyes that leveled on him, hard and shrewd.
    “Mr. De Matteis.” Garvin said his name as though he were a long-lost acquaintance.
    “Garvin Reeves?”
    “Yes.”
    “We’re here to talk to you about Leaman Marshall. His sister, Kamira, said you were good friends.”
    “You talked to Kamira?”
    “We just came from her apartment.”
    He looked from him to Autumn and back again. “Are you some kind of investigator or something?”
    “I’m a private investigator,” Raith answered. He didn’t see much to gain by lying.
    “A private investigator, huh?” He looked at Autumn again. “And this is your girlfriend?”
    “Yes.” Did he wonder why he’d brought her?
    He turned to Autumn. “You look familiar.”
    “We’re here to talk to you about Leaman,” Raith said. “He was hired by someone to kill Kai Whittaker.”
    Garvin turned to Raith, still pondering whether he’d seen Autumn before. “Who?”
    “Kai Whittaker. CEO of DT Corporation.”
    “Leaman never mentioned anyone by that name,” Garvin said, and it may or may not be the truth.
    “Did you sell Leaman any guns?” No professional killer would own a registered gun.
    Garvin shook his head, but in a cynical way, almost mocking. He folded his arms. He was definitely lying.
    “I wonder how much inventory is missing from your records,” Raith said.
    “Is that a threat?”
    A man like him wouldn’t respond well to threats. “No. I just find it hard to believe that you wouldn’t help out a friend.” He insinuated that the kind of help offered would be illegal.
    “Leaman never talked to me about any of his jobs.” He grinned. “Real sorry about that.”
    Raith hadn’t expected Garvin to talk.
    “He did tell me about you, though,” Garvin said. He lowered his arms and leaned on the counter, bringing himself closer to Raith in a menacing way. “He said you wouldn’t leave him alone and that you were the reason he went to Reykjavik.”
    “I’ve been looking for him for quite some time.” Raith didn’t have to explain to Garvin his history with Leaman. Even with the horrible things his friend had done, Garvin would victimize him.
    “You should have kept your nose out of his business.”
    “He should have kept his out of mine.”
    Beside him, Autumn looked from Garvin to him. Not much ruffled Raith, and this man certainly didn’t. He must sound that way to Autumn right now.
    “Did you kill him?” Garvin