Chapter 29

CHAPTER 29

I took a deep breath. He was staying the night. I went from suspicion to happiness in a nanosecond.

I was in the middle of some kind of spy mess with people gunning for me, and there was a good chance he was the danger I had to protect Mei from, but I was still glad that a cute boy was spending the night—oh my God, I was regressing to teenybopper. I had to get a grip. I tried to frown. "So what are you really doing here?"

He sighed. "My ex-boss has an ex-girlfriend here and they have a kid and he wanted me to make sure everything was okay."

I knew it. I knew Max was too good to be true. I pointed at the door. " Out ."

Max shook his head. "I didn't know that until a couple of hours ago when I called him. I would have said no if he'd asked me."

"But you came back anyway after finding out." I pointed at the door again. " Out ."

"Listen," Max said, still not moving from where he sat. "You've got bigger problems than Herc checking on his daughter, okay?"

"Lian's my best friend. Mei is Poppy's best friend. I've got plans to protect her, but even I know I can't protect her from you, so get out. "

"I'm not here for Mei," he said, and he sounded tired but truthful. "I told Herc I wouldn't help him. What you need to worry about is that Oz was a player a long time ago."

"Yeah. CIA. Black Ops."

"You knew?" He didn't seem surprised.

I sat down again, too tired to stand up anymore. Outrage is exhausting. "Lian told me last night."

Max nodded. "So we both didn't know something important. But here's the real problem. Oz appropriated a lot of money a long time ago. And people are going to want that money. That's probably why Junior is here. And his mother. And Norman. And there might well be others."

It was good he kept the sentences short because they hit like body blows, even though I'd sort of known all along. All of Ozzie's rules. Don't use cellphones, they can track you. Don't set up a website for the store. Don't call attention to yourself, don't tell anybody I'm here. Always use cash. Don't sit in front of windows.

What didn't make sense was the "lot of money" part. We didn't have a lot of money.

Then again, the shop didn't make much money, but Ozzie had always had cash when he'd needed it. Right from the start after I gave birth to Poppy and he paid the Bearton hospital by peeling hundreds off of a thick roll of bills. When you don't have health insurance, giving birth takes a lot of money.

"I get it, but I don't get it," I said.

He held up a hand. "I'll explain as much as I know, but first, I need to know how you fit into all of this."

"I don't fit into Ozzie being a spy. Or money. Or whatever."

"Who was your partner in the fraud?" Max asked.

"I wasn't a partner, I was a dupe," I said, feeling sick even as he said it.

He waited, so I swallowed and told that awful story all over again. I finished with, "I was stupid and in love and I trusted the wrong guy. Very common story. Nobody's come after me, and Ozzie swore he'd protect me if they did. But now Ozzie is dead, and I have no idea what I'd do if the law showed up to take me, what Poppy would do, and I don't have a job or a place to stay once that envelope is opened tomorrow. That's it. That's my whole story. Very simple."

He sat there listening, his face as impassive as ever, so when I was done, I thought, Time for a subject change . "You know, Ozzie was a lot of things, but I never suspected he was an international spy. That seems . . . unlikely."

Max nodded. "Oz was a legend, so good at what he did that they called him ‘The Wizard.'"

"The Wizard of Oz?" I said, dumbfounded. "You're putting me on."

"Oz was putting you on. He and his partner, Pike Bernard, went missing about thirty years ago with that money. Everyone thought they died."

"Pike? Our Pike?" That made sense.

He nodded.

"Was Coral part of . . . whatever they were part of?"

"I don't know. But I bet she's got a background that would be interesting, to say the least."

Killed her first man at fifteen. I wasn't going to forget that. "How much money are we talking about?"

Max shrugged. "Millions."

Millions. Junior and Norman suddenly didn't seem so weird. "Who did he steal it from?"

"He didn't exactly steal it as much as not give it back. The money was ours. The United States. How did you end up here with Oz?"

I told him the rest of the story, about the bus and how Coral fed me and then took me to Ozzie. "She told him to give me a job, and he looked at me and said, ‘Why is it that the stray cats that show up here are always knocked up?'"

Looking at that now, it occurred to me that he'd probably already met a pregnant Lian, sent into his town by the rat bastard who'd dumped her.

I remembered something that hadn't made sense at the time. "Ozzie asked who'd sent me. I told him I'd gotten off the bus and it left me, and he laughed. As if it were a big joke."

"And you just stayed here?" Max asked .

He was starting to annoy me. "I was penniless and pregnant. Ozzie gave me an apartment and a job and paid for my food if I cooked. My skills were sleight of hand, distracting people from what the magician was doing, and picking locks and pockets. Not a lot of call for those things. Yes, I stayed here and had my baby here, which Ozzie paid for, and I brought her up here where she was safe because Ozzie would kill anybody who tried to hurt her and where the law couldn't find me. That's my secret. Please don't tell anybody."

He shook his head. "I don't tell people things."

"I've noticed. Ozzie stole millions?" I was still trying to wrap my brain around that because it didn't fit with the way Ozzie had lived.

"Not exactly stole. He and Pike were given millions to do a buy-back of Stinger ground-to-air missiles from the Afghan mujahideen fighting the Russians as that war wound down. It wasn't a popular program, to understate it. They didn't buy many back. And they decided not to give what money was left back."

"Millions," I repeated. "Who gave Ozzie and Pike millions?"

"The government."

"How do you know this?"

"My old boss just told me."

"Herc."

"Yes."

Lian's bastard ex. "And when did Ozzie and Pike do this?"

"Over thirty years ago."

"Why did people wait so damn long to come looking for them?" I was pretty much gobsmacked by the story, especially by the way it was part of Lian's story, but I was also annoyed as all hell. I did not need this. Damn it, Ozzie.

"Everybody thought they'd died when their plane went down." Max said. "Which obviously didn't happen. But now Ozzie really is dead, and the only thing standing between people and the money is?—"

"Me and Poppy." I closed my eyes. "That's just great."

"Well, there's Pike," Max offered, which did help a little bit. It would not be easy to get through Pike. But I noticed he didn't add, "And there's me. "

I shook my head. "There is no money. Look around. Does it look like a millionaire lived here?"

"It was cash," Max said. "Did Oz use cash a lot?"

"He only used cash," I said. "He didn't have a credit card. Like you."

"Credit cards can be traced," Max said.

"Junior didn't have any credit cards either."

"You stole his wallet?"

"I looked in it. I gave it to Pike." I thought about it. "How did Junior find out Ozzie was dead?"

He frowned. "Good question. Another one is how they knew that this old guy named Ozzie was also The Wizard. Could be somebody in this town is working for an outsider. Junior and his mother and Norman showing up indicates that."

"Well, Norman found out because Ozzie's lawyer called him," I said. "His name is on the envelope Barry is going to open tomorrow. But Junior? Barry said he never heard of Ozzie having a son." I tried to think who would have called Junior and his mom.

Coral wouldn't have betrayed her guys. Betty's handling of Junior said she hadn't invited him here. It could be anybody, though. I didn't even know for sure who in town wasn't an ex-spy besides me and Poppy.

"I'm so tired of putting out fires," I told Max. "I'm so tired of looking up every time the door opens and smiling, hoping it's not some sheriff come to take me in or now, some asshole looking for millions of dollars. Like Junior. Or Norman." He was listening, not commenting. "It just feels like my life has been a mistake. I gave twelve years of my life to a cheating, lying bastard, and the next nineteen to Poppy and Ozzie, and now I find out that Ozzie was a cheating, lying bastard, too, in the past. Although he came through for me, so I forgive him. And then there's you, you're just like him. I have terrible taste in men."

"Sorry about that," Max said, not taking offense.

"And Lian gave years of her life to your rotten, lousy boss. Did you lie to me? Did you come here knowing you were checking on Mei?"

"Not until I called him today. If he'd have asked me, I'd have said no. Which is why he didn't tell me up front. It's the way he works. Manipulative."

I let out the breath I'd been holding because I believed him. He didn't seem like the type to betray a woman, although that could just be my hope talking. Plus, he described this Herc guy just the way Lian had. "I forgive you. Okay, seriously, you're going to be out of here again—I'm amazed you came back—so how do I handle this? Is anybody else around here something horrible?"

"There are a lot of former players here. At least half a dozen of the people I've met. Poppy told me about Mrs. Baumgarten and the funeral director. And there's your friend Coral with the knife."

"Listen, I'll defend Coral to the death. She's been damn good to me. Which does not mean she wasn't Mata Hari in a previous life." I thought about Coral, slinking through alleys with a knife in her stocking. Or her hat. "I don't care. She drives me crazy, but I'm keeping her."

"That's nice of you," Max said.

"And Pike was like Ozzie. And you." I thought about it. "That makes sense. Pike's very efficient at law enforcement. We don't even have a jail. People who cause problems just . . . go away." I met Max's eyes. "He's not killing them, is he?"

"Probably not. A lot of people dying as they pass through Rocky Start would attract attention. Although the funeral director probably has a crematorium, which can be useful."

"Do you think Melissa fed Junior into it?" I asked, sort of appalled.

Max shook his head. "I doubt it. That would cause a reaction that no one wants from his mother."

He sat there, completely calm, his eyes steady on mine, having told me this horror story of theft and death like it was no big deal. Because it wasn't to him. He was just like Ozzie.

Was that good? Or bad?

"So how do we handle this when you leave? Can you teach us some skills? Or something?"

"I'm not leaving until you and Poppy are safe," he said, and my heart gave a little surge because my heart is a dumbass. "There's something that's bothering me. Mrs. Baumgarten said she knew Junior's mother?"

I nodded. "She mentioned a name. Serena. Coral did, too."

Max frowned in thought. "I've heard that name before. I just can't place it." He shook his head. "Can I stay in Oz's room for a while?"

"God, yes." I swallowed. "I have the shotgun"—I nodded to it over on the shelf by the pantry—"but I really don't think I can shoot anybody on purpose. You probably can. I also have the gun Mrs. Baumgarten took from Junior."

He didn't respond to that so I had to ask, even though I already knew the answer. "Have you?"

"What?"

"Shot people?"

"Yes."

He just sat there, steady as ever, no expression, and told me he'd shot people, probably killed people. It wasn't like he was a gun nut. He was sane. But he shot people. I mean, maybe he missed sometimes or aimed for a leg, but I doubted it. Max didn't look like somebody who would aim to maim. Or miss.

I stood up. "Well, if you get the chance, shoot Norman."

He frowned. "I think Norman is living in his van. It's parked on the next block over. What's his story?"

"I have no idea. He used to come here and mooch off Ozzie, and then one day he showed up and told me he knew about my arrest, but he wouldn't tell Ozzie if I slept with him. So I told Ozzie everything, and Ozzie told Norman if he ever saw him again, he'd kill him." I stopped there because of the look on Max's face, which was a lot like the look on Ozzie's face when I'd told him. "Norman is scum and Ozzie loathed him. I'm certain he left him nothing, but if he didn't make a will, Norman will get it anyway unless Junior scoops the pot."

Max nodded and then stood up, too. "I can stay somewhere else if?—"

"No. If you were going to shoot Poppy and me, you'd have done it by now. "

That made him change his expression. "Why would I shoot you and Poppy?"

"Max, I have no idea who you are, so I have to be prepared for all contingencies. I have always had to be prepared for contingencies. I remember trying to make Ozzie promise he'd take care of Poppy if they found me and arrested me, and he told me that if anybody found me, he'd get rid of them. I thought he meant pay them off or threaten them, but now I'm thinking . . ." I swallowed hard. "But I still had to be prepared for it. I've been braced for disaster my whole life, the law could come find me at any minute, and then Poppy?—"

"Hold on." Max held up his hand to stop me and got a fancy phone out of his backpack.