Wild Justice (Nadia Stafford 3)

Jack gave her a hard look, one that said, You owe us and you'll go along with whatever I say to fix this particular mess.

"Evelyn had a lead on it," Jack said. "Wanted to track it down. For Dee. We didn't believe her. Just wooing a student."

"You mean that Evelyn offered to find the Contrapasso Fellowship for Dee. When Dee wasn't interested, no one"--his gaze met mine--"said I might be."

"Dee did," Evelyn said. "And I chose not to pursue it. I won't apologize for that, Quinn. I don't know you as well as I know her, and you aren't--"

"--the one who interests you," he finished.

Which was true, but Evelyn had the grace to soften it by saying, "You aren't in the market for a mentor and even if you were, we'd be a poor fit."

"Dee's not in the market, either," Quinn said. "She's got . . ." A thumb-hook in Jack's direction.

"I believe I could add to her education," Evelyn said.

Jack had a rebuttal to that, and Evelyn had one to his. They argued--diverting Quinn's attention.

What they'd said about the Contrapasso situation was close to the truth. I had suggested she take the offer to Quinn, and she'd refused. I'd chosen not to tell Quinn because I knew it was useless--Evelyn wouldn't help him get in the club.

"So you think IPP is a shell company for the Contrapasso Fellowship," I said when Jack and Evelyn finished sparring.

"One of my contacts had heard the rumor, and I followed it up with my Contrapasso contact, who confirmed it. IPP is Contrapasso. The man who killed Drew Aldrich was driving a car rented by them. The hit must have been theirs."

I thought about that. "Presumably, then, they'd been on Aldrich for a while. They set that guy on him, probably pretending he was interested in teenage girls, too. Then Aldrich sees me, calls his new buddy in a panic, and the Fellowship steps up their game. Pulls the hit. Leaves the suicide note to get justice for at least one victim."

"Only to turn around and order a hit on the other girl he kidnapped?" Quinn said. "That doesn't make sense. If you believe in justice, you don't kill victims."

"Depends on the victim," Jack said. "What they think she saw."

"You think they might have made me at the scene," I said. "That the killer had backup who spotted me coming or going. Or a cleanup crew that went in later and found something."

"We were careful. Covered our tracks. But didn't know the situation. Anything's possible. These guys? Better equipped. Better connected. Better organized."

"So Aldrich says he thinks he saw me, and they find a sign that someone else was at Aldrich's townhouse. They don't want to handle it themselves because that's not their mandate. They need to distance themselves from the hit. So they hire Roland to send a pro, confirm Aldrich saw me and if so, get rid of the problem."

Quinn shook his head. "I'm not buying it. These guys aren't going to put out a hit on a victim, no matter what she saw."

"No?" Jack said. "If it endangers them? Sure they are."

"Your faith in humanity is overwhelming."

Jack snorted. "Fuck faith. They get caught? Whole system goes down. Won't risk that."

"So if some innocent bystander sees a hit, it's okay to off them, too? Is that how it works in your world, Jack?"

"Not talking about me."

"Why not?"

"Irrelevant."

"I don't think it is. Have you ever done this? Killed an innocent bystander to protect yourself? Because that's not someone--"

"Not someone you want to work with? Bullshit. You already think I would. Think you know what I am. What I've done. What I'd do. Pretty fucking hard for me to sink lower. Not talking about a pro offing a bystander anyway. This is an organization. Risk is bigger. Stakes are higher."

"I don't know," I said. "The risk seems low. It might be worth it to kill one witness if she endangers the organization, but the fact they hired Roland could suggest it's not the Contrapasso Fellowship ordering the hit. It could be one member whose concern for himself outweighs his concern for victims and innocent bystanders."

"That I'll buy," Quinn said. "Someone orders the hit without group approval. So what's the next step? Evelyn has a contact, right? If she can still get Dee an interview--"