Free Tax Assassin by Claudia Hall Christian

us
everything we want to know,” Seth said.
    “ We?”
    “ Why not?” Seth asked.
“Unless you weren’t serious.”
    “ No, I’m serious,” she
said. “I’ve wanted to do this very thing – own my own knitting
store – for . . . well, since my grandmother taught
me to knit when I was thirteen.”
    “ My family has a homestead
outside of Granby,” Seth said. “A lot of people have alpaca and
sheep in that valley. You could always go ‘Made in Colorado’ and
stock only wool from here.”
    “ I hadn’t thought of it,”
she smiled. Lost in thought, Ava’s sister fell silent. She looked
down and then at Seth. “What about being a lawyer?”
    “ What about it?” Seth
asked. “You can always volunteer if you want to keep your hand in.
Do you know my agent, James Schmidt? He goes by Jammy or Schmidty?
He’s about your age. Took over from his dad about three years
ago.”
    “ I don’t think
so.”
    “ He graduated top of his
law school class, yada, yada. I bet he’ll be all over
this.”
    “ You mean take over
it?”
    “ No,” Seth said. “If you’re
going to do this, it has to be your baby.”
    She nodded.
    “ It’s a lot to take in,” he
said. “Why don’t you think about it?”
    “ I’ve thought about it
almost all my life,” she said. “Will you call your
agent?”
    Seth picked up his phone and made the call.
His young agent’s excited voice drifted through the phone. When
Seth hung up, he turned to look at Éowyn.
    “ Sorry about that,” Seth
said. “He’s dating my daughter, Lizzy, and wanted to know if he
could marry her.”
    “ Congratulations,” Éowyn
said.
    “ It’s not a huge surprise.
He’s been in love with her since they were little,” Seth said.
“She’s had a few . . . issues.”
    “ You suck as a
dad?”
    “ I’m sure I do, but these
particular issues have more to due with her mother and step-father.
Anyway, he’ll call me when he’s spoken with his
step-mother.”
    “ Great,” she said. “What’s
next?”
    “ I’d encourage you to
rest,” Seth said. “You’ve been through a horrible ordeal, and
retail is no picnic.”
    Getting up from her seat, she nodded to him.
She was almost to the door when she turned around.
    “ You know, most of your
murders are along major highways,” Éowyn said. “I bet your guy
drove there.”
    “ Sure.”
    “ If I were you, I’d check
parking tickets; speeding tickets; stuff like that,” she
said.
    “ You think he’s that
stupid?”
    “ Look at your time frame,”
she said. “That’s a lot of cities. He’s traveling to cities he
doesn’t live in. Over the course of all these years? No one’s that
good. Just random chance says he’s had a ticket or two. And even if
the tickets are ten years apart in different cars, you might come
up with his name. Who knows? They may even have a picture of him on
some traffic cam.”
    “ Good idea,” Seth said.
“Thanks.”
    “ Analytical mind,” she
said, and left the room.
    Seth thought for a moment and began making
calls.
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ELEVEN
    Seth navigated the double gates and stepped
into the fenced area of the dog park before letting Clara off her
leash. She rubbed her head against his leg for a moment and he
rubbed her ears. When the moment of bonding passed, she zoomed off
to meet the other dogs. She gave an excited bark and playful bow to
Zephyr, the Rhodesian Ridgeback. Zephyr mimicked her bow, and they
began romping around on the flat dirt. Seth moved toward a quiet
end of the dog park and waited.
    “ I forget that my Anjelika
takes the majestic Zephyr to play with your puppy,” a man said as
he walked toward Seth.
    His deep, rich voice had the lilt of British
Africa. At least a decade older than Seth, he carried himself in a
way that spoke of physical prowess. Seth had never heard his given
name; he went by the name Perses. Someone had told Mitch that
Perses had barely survived the meltdown of Rhodesia. His