Animal Instinct by Rosenfelt, David (novels for students TXT) 📕

knew it was as much her fault as mine, which is why she didn’t press charges. But I didn’t kill her … come on, man. I talked to the police; I wasn’t even in town that night.”

“I know about the twenty-five grand in cash, and I know who you paid it to. You’re going down, and I’m going to enjoy watching it.”

“I’m telling you, you’re wrong. That cash was to go play blackjack in Atlantic City. Lisa and I broke up a while ago; why would I kill her?”

I can feel myself getting angry; it’s an anger I have been carrying a long time. I move toward him slightly … threatening. It’s a subtle threat but not an empty one; I’m not sure what I might do.

“I’m just spitballing here, but it could be because you’re a chickenshit asshole. Why did you break up? She got tired of being abused?”

“Because she dumped my ass.” Then he shrugged. “She caught me fooling around. It was time to move on anyway. We both knew it.”

“Don’t get too comfortable, Kline. I’m coming for you, and I’m not moving on. And I’m no longer a cop; I’m private. So I can do whatever I want with you.”

With that I turn and leave. I have to tug on Simon’s leash; he’s staring at Kline like he wants to use him for a chew toy.

That’s my boy.

LAURIE and Marcus are waiting for Simon and me at Laurie’s house after we leave Kline’s.

I’m going to update them on what happened, which shouldn’t take long, since nothing of great consequence was discovered. And I’m sure Simon is planning to check in with Tara.

“He denied it,” I say. “Which was obviously to be expected. The surprising thing is he admitted to the domestic violence, sort of. He said he pushed her, and she fell.”

“Maybe he just wanted to give you something,” Laurie says. “Maybe he was afraid of the lunatic and his dog waiting for him behind his house.”

“That’s the strange thing. He was scared when he first saw me, but when he realized who I was and why I was there, it was almost like he was relieved.”

“Could be that knowing you were a cop gave him confidence you wouldn’t do anything violent to him?”

I think about that for a few seconds. “It’s possible, but that’s not what it felt like. It was almost as if he was afraid I might be someone else, someone who he was really afraid of. Although his level of nervousness went up a bit when I told him I knew about the cash he withdrew.”

“So where are we now?” Laurie asks.

“The same nowhere we were before.” It’s hard for me to admit that, but it’s true. “Unless he makes a phone call that helps us and Sam tracks it.”

“If not, then much as I hate to say it, it might be time for a reality check, Corey.”

I nod. “Let her rip. I can take it.”

“Okay … here goes. We have not been able to lay a glove on him. I’m not saying we’ve exhausted all our possibilities; there are still plenty of people to talk to. But all we’ve uncovered so far are the suspicious cash withdrawals, which could be explained in a hundred different ways.”

I nod. “He said he was using it to gamble in Atlantic City.”

“There’s plenty more to do, and Marcus and I are happy to follow your lead. But I don’t think there is any concrete reason to think he did it, other than your dislike for him. We’re not aware of any other domestic violence incidents between them, and if that were a recurring problem, there would be records of it somewhere.

“They dated for a while and they split up; why would we think that would lead to murder? And a professional hit from a moving car? Do we have any evidence that Kline had connections to that world?

“We don’t even know for sure that Lisa Yates was the target. It could have been the other couple, or it could have been someone else there that escaped injury, or it could have been a case of mistaken identity.

“We just don’t know, and we’re not likely to know.”

The phone rings and Laurie gets it. After hello, she says, “Thanks, Sam. Stay on it, please.”

She hangs up. “Sam says that Kline hasn’t made any calls since you left.”

“Okay,” I say. “Let me think about this for a little while.”

“Take your time,” Laurie says. “We are ready and willing to take this as far as you want to. Your instincts have always been excellent.”

I smile. “Not just mine. Simon couldn’t stand him either.”

Laurie laughs. “You sound like Andy. If Tara doesn’t like someone, Andy thinks the person is a serial killer. Of course, Tara likes everyone.” Then, more serious, “We’ll await your direction, right, Marcus?”

Marcus nods. “Yunhh.”

That pretty much sums it up.

“I found out what is going on. We have nothing to worry about,” Kline said.

He had felt this news was important enough to make one of his rare calls on the special phone that they had given him.

As always happened when he called Carlos, the call went unanswered, and there was no option to leave a message. Yet within a minute Carlos returned the call. Kline had no idea why Carlos went through this process but assumed there must be a good reason. Carlos always seemed to have a good reason for everything.

“That will require some explanation,” Carlos said.

“Sure. A while back, when I was living with Lisa … with Yates … we had an argument. I got pissed and I hit her. Only time I ever did it, and I didn’t hit her that hard. Anyway, a neighbor must have heard what was going on, because next thing we know a cop shows up.” Kline was relaxing into the story, knowing it will relieve the pressure.

“Lisa knew better than to go against me, against us, so she told the cop she fell. He left, but I could tell he didn’t believe