Under Cover (11 page)

“Convince me. Who else was there?”

“None of your business.”

“It is my business. I’m stuck here because of
it. All I wanted was to give Dad his camera. So out with it. Who
else was there and where were they?”

Being elbow to elbow, I could feel him
thinking. Figuring he might as well break his code of silence.

“All of us. Me and Johnny and Aus—”

“Who’s Oss?”

“He’s sort of—sort of—”

“The capo? With the loud voice? Who
else?”

“Sam McCallum. Freddie Gravitz. You better
not go blabbing about this, understand? No police. No
grandmother.”

“I won’t. I only want to know for myself.” He
was right about Grandma. She did have a big mouth sometimes. “You
and Johnny were in the front, the others in back?”

“It’s the only place they could be,” he
snapped. “Aus was right behind Johnny.”

I began to get the picture. “So then what? A
fight started?”

“There wasn’t any fight. We prayed.”

“You what?”

“I said we prayed.” His voice rose in
exasperation. He realized that and dropped to a whisper. “Aus said
we should pray.”

“Whatever for? You’re sitting there in the
park—”

“He said it was a spiritual moment. I thought
he meant the moon path on the river. They all knew what was going
down except me and Johnny.”

“So you say. Did he lead the prayer? Did he
make it up?”

“It was Hail Mary.”

“Are you Catholic?”

“No, but I know how it goes. We got to the
end, ‘Pray for us sinners now and in the hour of our death.’ Right
then, when he said ‘death,’ Aus jumped forward, Johnny fell back
and grabbed at his neck. I tried to get out of the way. Johnny was
kicking and I could feel the seat move where Aus braced his feet.
Then Johnny fell against me. Aus said to check his pulse but I
couldn’t because he was on top of me. So Aus did, and then he said
‘Bail!’ and the three of them jumped out and ran away.”

I could almost see it happening. I
almost
felt sorry for Liam. My brother.

“What did you do then?” I asked.

“I didn’t know what to do. I checked Johnny’s
breathing and I knew he was dead. Everything—it was all so—quiet.
Then my head cleared some and I thought I better get out of there
like the rest of them. I walked all the way home.”

“You left your car? With him in it?”

“What else could I do?”

“You could and should have driven straight to
the police.”

“I already told you! You don’t get it, do
you?”

“It would have looked better than doing
nothing. I’m not surprised they think you’re guilty. In fact, you
are guilty. You’re an accessory after the fact.”

“I had nothing to do with it!”

“I said
after
the fact. You saw a
murder happen and you didn’t report it. You’re helping this Oss
person get away with murder and that’s being an accessory after the
fact.”

He pondered that for a few seconds. “You want
to get me killed, don’t you?” Then in a deeper growl, “Maybe that’s
not such a bad idea.”

“If you give the police all those details,
they just might believe you. They’ll be on your side. They won’t
hurt you.”

“Maybe, maybe not,” he said. “Austen
will.”

“Who’s Austen?”

“Austen Storm.”

“The one you call Oss? The capo?”

Austen Storm.

“The one who killed Johnny,” I said. “And
you’re letting him get away with it. Did you know Johnny was his
mother’s only child? How do you think she feels? And it was all for
no reason.
”

Silence.

I pushed on. “You don’t care, do you? All you
guys care about is your own stupid selves. You’re a bunch of
psychopaths, do you know that?”

Still silence, but I was on a roll.
“Psychopaths have no regard for human life. Or any life, except
their own. Johnny would have had a whole lifetime and you snuffed
it out. What did he do to deserve that?”

Liam shook his head. From what I could see,
his eyes looked sparkly. Some of the sparkle rolled down his
cheek.

“Are you crying?”

Stupid, tactless me.

Angrily he wiped away the tear. “It wasn’t
me! I didn’t care what he did. He got on their nerves, always
goofing around. Trying to fit in. Aus said he was a snitch.”

“That’s not a capital crime,” I said. “Except
in the Mafia.”

“Aus said he had to go. I didn’t think he
meant like that. I thought—he just meant—away.” Liam’s voice
cracked. He sniffled.

“Aus is the boss?” It rhymed.

I went on with my tirade. “That’s not a
reason to kill somebody. Deprive them of their whole life. Deprive
a mother of her only child. Just because you didn’t like him. There
are other ways of dealing with that. And then you wouldn’t be in
trouble now.”

Liam had a hand to his face and again shook
his head. “That wasn’t the only thing. I told you. And it wasn’t
me, it was Aus. I didn’t even know.”

“You knew after it happened. And he left you
holding the bag. Are you some kind of wimp, or what?” I remembered
Dad’s letter.
Do those people have a hold over you?
It
didn’t have to be a hold. Just a forceful personality.

“You don’t know Aus,” he said. “I didn’t—I
wouldn’t—”

He sniffled again. Were those tears for
himself or for Johnny?

I said, “Let me get this straight. You say
you didn’t know Aus was going to do that?”

Slowly he shook his head, then changed it to
a nod. “No idea.”

“Really?”

“Really.”

Maybe he truly was sorry. Killing somebody is
rather monstrous, and if he didn’t know it was coming…

“You need a lawyer,” I told him.

“Nope.”

“The police.”

“I said no!” He almost forgot to whisper.

“I’ll go with you.”

“Big whoop.”

“I mean it. You should appreciate the
offer.”

“I don’t. You’ll get yourself killed and me,
too. And not only that, I can’t go anywhere.”

“Why not? You don’t have your car?” I
supposed the police had it and wouldn’t let it go.

“I don’t have my car and I do have this.” He
hiked up the hem of his pants.

“An ankle monitor? I never saw one
before.”

“Lucky you.”

“I’m not lucky. I just, um—”

“You keep your nose clean,” he finished for
me. “Maybe you’re the wimp.”

Did he think there was something
glorious
in being involved with murder?

The tears said otherwise. Maybe his comment
was only bravado.

Chapter
Eleven

A set of wheels rolled past the window.

Upstairs, a door banged open. It was an
outside door, I could tell by the sound.

Liam’s face was only a blob in the near dark.
A terrified blob. He really was sort of a wimp. Or else Austen had
him thoroughly brainwashed.

My dad’s voice shouted, “Anybody home? Liam,
where are you?”

Liam stumbled up the stairs. I followed. I
knew it was going to be awkward. Dad stared at us both, at Liam for
being in the basement and at me just for being.

I said, “Hi, Dad.”

When he didn’t answer, I explained, “We were
besieged.”

“Besieged?”

“The goons. Austen and company.”

“They were here?” Apparently I didn’t need to
tell him who they were.

“Outside,” I said. “But they wanted to come
in.”

Dad and Liam exchanged looks.

I said, “I brought your camera. I didn’t know
if you meant to leave it.”

Mrs. Mulvaney greeted me with a nod, Mei with
a hug. Dad mumbled some thanks for the camera and said he’d planned
to stop by in a few days. No hugs, no kisses. And he was my
dad.
So sweet and loving. Not.

Liam had disappeared. The rest of them began
to scatter. I stepped outside, looked both ways, didn’t see any
goons, so I sprinted to the car and locked myself in.

My
brother?
It still seemed
incredible. I should have known, if I ever got one, he wouldn’t be
the brother of my dreams.

It was sickening, the whole thing about
Johnny Kinsser. I couldn’t believe that either. My brother involved
in a murder. Even if Aus did the actual killing, Liam must have had
some sort of inkling. Aus must have told him something, like where
to park. And then sat in back, which probably wasn’t typical. With
Aus’s personality, I couldn’t see him taking a back seat to anyone
unless he had a reason.

Did Liam try to stop him? Or give Johnny some
warning? Or report it after it happened? Instead he let all the
blame fall on himself, just the way Aus planned it.

I’d heard Aus’s voice, but had no idea what
he looked like. I couldn’t help being a little afraid of him. And a
little curious.

My watch said I had a half hour before
Grandma’s bingo game. It would take me a while to get home and
Grandma a few minutes to get to the game, but I just had to see
Ben. Too much had happened. It couldn’t wait.

When I reached Frosty Dan, Ben was leaning
across the counter, talking to a customer. She wore shorts and a
tight-fitting black tee, and sat idly swinging her stool back and
forth. It was her hair that gave her away—short, blond, and fluffy,
like a dandelion gone to seed. Stacie Marr.

Neither of them noticed me. They were too
busy with each other. And he’d given me his ring. I let the door
close slowly behind me and just stood there.

I waited for one or both to catch sight of
me. They couldn’t be bothered. So I opened the door and slipped
out.

Forget telling Ben anything. He wouldn’t
care. Not even about my new-found brother.

Forget calling Maddie, too, and interrupting
her pesky project. She wouldn’t want to spend the time listening to
an account of my day.

What was I going to do about Liam? He
couldn’t go on this way. He was in danger and so was his mom. And
my dad. And Mei. What was Dad doing about it? What could he do,
unless he knew some legal beagles? Had he tried the police? It
would have to be the Hudson Hills police. I could do that myself.
But even if I told them everything I got from Liam, why should they
take my word for it? They’d have to check it all with him and he
would kill me, if Aus didn’t.

I turned off my engine and looked around.
There was our house and I was in the driveway. Holy cow, I’d driven
all the way from Frosty Dan and didn’t even notice. Almost as bad
as being asleep at the wheel.

Grandma came out, dressed for bingo in a hot
pink pantsuit and humongous pearl earrings. “Nice to see you
again.” Grandma could be sarcastic, too.

I apologized. “I didn’t mean to cut it so
close. All sorts of things happened.”

“Like Frosty Dan?”

“No, that only took a second. I was hiding
from some Mafia goons. With my brother.”

“What are you talking about?”

“I mean it.” I tried to hand her the keys.
“Hey Buddy is my brother.”

“Say what?”

“Hey Buddy. He’s my half-brother. I’ll
forgive you for not telling me if you really didn’t know.”

“Honest to God.” Belatedly she took the keys
from my hand. “Are you sure?”

“That’s what he said. When you get back from
bingo I’ll tell you all about it.”

“You tell me now! I can be late for bingo.”
With her hand on the back of my neck she pushed me into the house
and onto the sofa. “Now, then.”

I scarcely knew where to begin. “It’s going
to take awhile,” I warned her.

“It’s going to take as long as it takes from
whenever you get started.”

I started with the camera. And then Liam. And
the goons, and the basement.

“Son of a gun,” she said. “That’s your
brother
we’re talking about?”

“He wasn’t one of the goons,” I told her.
“He’s a victim, too. And you don’t need to say anything. I already
bawled him out for being an accessory after the fact.”

I went to the kitchen and took a long drink
of water. My mouth still had the taste of that basement.

She followed me. And then back to the living
room. “Jules had a kid and he never told us? Son of a gun.”

“You must have had some idea,” I said. “When
we were talking about it, you said there was a possible
relationship I hadn’t thought of.”

“It did flit across my mind.” Grandma sat
down on the coffee table, facing me. “But I thought he would have
mentioned it.”

“Don’t count on him mentioning anything,” I
said. “He’s big on secrets.”

“Yeah, especially like having a kid out of
wedlock. He didn’t want to get your mother put off.”

“If Liam was out of wedlock, then he’d have
his mother’s name. The goons called him Penny.”

“Anybody can call anybody Penny,” Grandma
replied. “Who knows what’s what, the way they do things? Anyway, if
the kid’s having cop trouble, your dad might not want people to
know, namely us.”

Cop trouble was putting it mildly. “He not
only
might
not, he didn’t want.”

“He underestimated you,” Grandma said with a
grin.

“That’s because he never bothered getting to
know me.”

She wanted more details, so I went over it
again. My stuffy little office room. The capo with his gang of two.
I thought it was two from the voices. And Liam had named two others
besides Aus. I tried to remember those names, but I couldn’t. And
then my long talk with Liam in the basement, and the goons banging
and shouting.

“The whole time,” I said, “all I could think
of was getting the car back to you.” It wasn’t a complete lie. I
had thought about it now and then.

“Thanks for reminding me.” She jumped up from
the coffee table and made for the door.

I said, “What am I going to do?”

She whirled around. “Why do you have to do
anything? It’s not up to you. Let the cops handle it. That’s what
they get paid for.”

“They can’t handle it if they don’t know
anything and Liam won’t tell them. He’s more afraid of Aus than of
going to prison. I’m the only one who knows, besides the
goons.”