Wild Justice (Nadia Stafford 3)

I swore. "So what does that mean?"

"I have no idea, and it's not important right now. The point is that to get this information from them I had to tell them about Aldrich, obviously. And about Sebastian Koss and the fact that he used a car rented by their fleet. Now they want answers. From Koss. They're going after him and once they get to him, we lose him. He disappears into their custody until they sort this out, and they won't give a rat's ass about you, Dee. Anything Koss knows is about to disappear with him."

CHAPTER 47

"Koss was Aldrich's partner," I said as Jack peeled from the parking lot. "He had to be. Koss . . ." My stomach lurched. "Amy . . ."

"Don't know that."

Jack drove as fast as he dared. As urgent as the situation was, getting pulled over for speeding would consume any extra time we gained.

"I never even considered the possibility," I murmured after a few minutes. "Why the hell didn't I consider it?"

"Because it didn't fit. We knew Koss was Contrapasso. That answer made sense. He killed Aldrich for them."

Jack's gaze was fixed on the road, his face expressionless. I knew that face. It said he was keeping it blank on purpose, so I didn't read something in it.

"You did consider the possibility, didn't you?" I asked.

No answer.

"Jack . . ."

"Considered. Only to be thorough." He paused. "That PI we were meeting? Asked him to look into Koss. Any connection between Koss and Aldrich. Other than Amy's trial. Honestly? Didn't expect anything. Would have told you otherwise."

"Does Evelyn know you suspected him?"

"Nah. Wasn't really suspecting. Covering all bases." He paused. "I mentioned it to Quinn."

"Quinn?"

"Yeah. Before the fight. Wanted him to look into Koss. Said he doubted any connection. Koss is one of the good guys. Quinn didn't even like me suggesting he might not be. So I called the PI."

Another few minutes of silent driving. Then, "Maybe I should have told you. Didn't think so. Not without proof."

"Because I would have reacted just like Quinn did."

"Nah. Not exactly."

"But close enough. I know Koss's reputation and I admire it. Even after meeting him and suspecting he could be the one trying to kill me, my opinion didn't change. I'd have thought you suspected him because, in your world, guys like Koss are never as good as they seem."

He shrugged. "Tough call. Long shot, too. Even now? Koss as Aldrich's partner? Amy's killer? Huge leap."

"It is if I kee

p looking at him as Sebastian Koss, defender of justice, protector of women. But if I strip that away, and he's just any other guy? I can imagine what happened."

"Tell me."

Did Jack really need me to lay it out? Probably not. He would have come up with his own theory when he considered Koss for the role of partner. But he wanted to hear mine, untainted by his own conjecture.

"Koss and Aldrich knew each other somehow, before Amy's death. I don't remember exactly how old Koss is, but if he'd just passed the bar before the trial, he's within a year or two of Aldrich. So same rough age, same rough geographic area. I'd theorize that they knew each other. Aldrich was already preying on young girls. Koss . . . I couldn't speculate how he got involved, because it's not like having a friend who likes to race motocross and thinking that sounds like fun. Somehow, though, they hatched the plan. Aldrich gets me; Koss gets Amy. Maybe Aldrich convinced Koss that Amy would be into it."

I paused, considering before I continued. "Yes, that fits. Koss thinks Amy will be a willing partner, except she isn't, and he panics and kills her. Koss flees the scene and is spotted, but Aldrich is the one who's caught. He doesn't roll on his buddy because Koss has a plan. He's just been hired by a big Toronto firm. He'll convince them to take Aldrich's case, and Aldrich will get off, because he wasn't the killer anyway. It works. Aldrich is free. Koss helps set him up with a new identity and tries to wash his hands of the business. Driven by guilt, he makes crimes against women his life's work. But he stays in touch with Aldrich. Or, more likely, Aldrich stays in touch with him--blackmailing him into helping him change identities, maybe hitting him up for cash. Koss goes along with it until Aldrich calls to say I'm following him, and Koss has had enough. He knows how to kill Aldrich from his work with Contrapasso, so he does. Then he sends a hitman to the lodge to kill me if I was there. I show up in Chicago . . ."

"And he knows he's right. Aldrich's photo was of you. Hitman's missing. Middleman, too. Koss gets spooked. Sets a new pro on you."

"That's the theory, then. Now we need to test it by confronting Koss, and we need to do it fast, before Contrapasso gets hold of him."