Lazy Bird a Seth and Ava Mystery Read online

  “My friend Jill’s mother-in-law donated this bench,” Tanesha said touching the plaque. “Do you know Jill?”

  Ava nodded. Across the party, she saw Seth looking for her. Their eyes caught. He furrowed his brow to ask if she needed him. She shook her head.

  Ava took out her phone out of her tiny events purse. While Tanesha politely asked about Senator Hargreaves’ grandchildren, Ava poked around until she found the image that they’d received from the artist.

  “Here it is,” Ava said when there was a break in the conversation.

  Senator Hargreaves took the phone from Ava. He looked at the image. Using his thumbs, he enlarged the photo and scanned the face.

  Ava watched him looking at the image. She saw something move across his face. Recognition? Confusion? Relief? Anger? Ava wasn’t sure. He gave the phone back to her.

  He shook his head.

  “He looks like someone that I knew a long time ago,” Senator Hargreaves said. “But. . .”

  “What is it?” Tanesha asked.

  “I can’t be sure, but I don’t think it’s the man I knew,” Senator Hargreaves said. “Or I should say that I’m not sure that it’s him.”

  “Death does change things,” Ava said.

  “I have seen more than my fair share of the dead,” Senator Hargreaves said with a grin. “And you’re right — I cannot be sure but. . .”

  Senator Hargreaves looked out across the zoo. He shook his head.

  “Sorry, Ava,” Senator Hargreaves said.

  “Why are you sorry?” Ava asked.

  “This case is going to be as messed up as the others,” Senator Hargreaves said. “If I’m right, your victim was set up to look like the contractor.”

  “‘Look like’?” Ava asked. She rubbed her sore thigh with the heel of her hand.

  Senator Hargreaves noticed the gesture and looked into Ava’s face.

  “You were shot in the leg,” Senator Hargreaves said. “My son-in-law put you back together.”

  “They found a break in the bone a few months later,” Ava said. “I have a pin now. That’s what hurts.”

  Ava nodded to Tanesha.

  “Tanesha was working the day they brought me in,” Ava said. “She was with me the whole way.”

  Tanesha nodded.

  “I’m sorry,” Senator Hargreaves said. “I was so zealous to speak with you, without all kinds of flags and whistles going off, that I’ve burdened you during your time of healing.”

  “We’re just sitting here,” Ava said. “Can you tell me what you meant by ‘looks like’?”

  Senator Hargreaves lifted an eyebrow. His blue eyes searched her. After a few minutes, he shrugged.

  “In the course of my career as a soldier, I met all kinds of people,” Senator Hargreaves said. “I met a man who worked as an assassin. He had a particular skill at getting close to politicians. He frequently dressed as a homeless person. It was the ’80s and the mental hospitals had just been cleared out by Reagan. This man could grow this tremendous beard, almost overnight.”

  Ava glanced at Tanesha, and her friend was as fascinated by the story as she was. Ava turned back to look at the former Senator.

  “He would come into town dressed as a businessman or a playboy,” Senator Hargreaves said. “He was handsome as hell. He’d pick up women, go to parties, out to dinner — classic rich-guy stuff. Then he would hide in his room for two days. When he came out, he looked like a homeless person. His beard would have grown out. Hair disheveled. He had this outfit — a grey wool overcoat with random clothing underneath. He told me once that his father had mental-health issues, so he knew how to fake a severe mental issue.

  “He’d find a local shopping cart. Within a day, he’d fill it believable stuff,” Senator Hargreaves said. “I saw him do this all over the world. He’d find a street corner near the target’s work or home. He was basically invisible to his targets. You know how he killed people?”

  Ava and Tanesha shook their heads.

  “Box cutter to the neck,” Senator Hargreaves said. “Nick the carotid, just enough to cause a tiny hole. The person never knew they’d been injured until they fell over dead. It was an art form. He did it all over the world. Then, he’d head back to the hotel, clean up, and leave the city. Sometimes, he’d kill right outside of his swanky hotel. Walk right past the police on his way out.”

  Senator Hargreaves looked at Ava.

  “That’s who this man looks like,” Senator Hargreaves said. “And, I bet if you get a DNA match it will even say that it’s him.”

  “But?” Ava asked.

  “I don’t think it is,” Senator Hargreaves said.

  “Huh,” Tanesha said. “Is there someone else Ava can ask?”

  “Have you met Steve Pershing?” Senator Hargreaves asked.

  “I have,” Ava said. “But he’s blind.”

  “True,” Senator Hargreaves said. “Could he touch the skull?”

  “I can ask Joan,” Ava said. “Usually, she doesn’t like anyone messing with her bones, but I know that she’s fond of Steve. He teaches martial arts to her son.”

  Senator Hargreaves nodded.

  “You’re a friend of Jill Roper-Marlowe?” Senator Hargreaves asked.

  Tanesha nodded.

  “Her father probably knew him the best,” Senator Hargreaves said. He sucked in a breath and shook his head. “There’s a question, though.”

  “What’s that, sir?” Ava asked.

  “If this isn’t him, where did he go?” Senator Hargreaves asked. “I don’t think anyone has even looked for him. He hasn’t been active in all of these years.”

  “You’re saying that, according to those who hired the assassin, he is dead,” Tanesha said.

  “Exactly,” Senator Hargreaves said.

  “Those guys at our house?” Ava asked. “The G-Men? They just want confirmation that their guy is dead?”

  Senator Hargreaves nodded. They sat in silence for a moment while they each processed the information.

  “Did your friend have a broken hyoid?” Ava asked.

  “The remains have a broken hyoid?” Senator Hargreaves asked with a gasp.

  “Remodeled,” Ava said. “Not the cause of death.”

  Senator Hargreaves shook his head.

  “Special Forces training used a technique that sometimes resulted in breaking or partially breaking a person’s hyoid,” Senator Hargreaves said. “It’s something I put a stop to when I was on base in Fort Bragg. Too many good recruits would die.”

  “But some didn’t?” Ava asked.

  The Senator nodded.

  “This is an interesting case,” Senator Hargreaves said with a nod. He took a breath and looked at Ava. “Are you coming with us to Guadal?”

  “It depends on if I can wrap up this case,” Ava said. “The more we learn, the more complicated it gets.”

  Nodding, Senator Hargreaves got up and left the bench without saying another word. Ava looked at Tanesha and she shrugged.

  “Let’s get out of here,” Tanesha said. “You look like crap, and I don’t want to be here without you. So. . .”

  “No, really, old bean, how do you keep up with a twenty year old wife?” another ancient man asked. “There’s only ten years between Matilda and I. I struggle.”

  Ava rolled her eyes.

  “I’ll drive you home,” Tanesha said.

  “Brought your own car?” Ava asked.

  “I’m learning.” Tanesha nodded.

  “Smart,” Ava said. “Would you ask Jill to call me?”

  “I think his father is coming over tomorrow,” Tanesha said. “I’ll tell him to call you.”

  Ava gave her a vague nod.

  “I know that look,” Tanesha said. “You’re in pain, and you aren’t listening. Come on.”

  They stood up, and Ava winced. Seth was by her side in an instant. Ava’s head was too full of pain to track much of what happened next. Tanesha drove Ava home, made her take her pain medication, and h
elped her get settled into bed.

  Hours later, Seth climbed into bed. He wrapped his arms around Ava and held her for a long time.

  “You okay?” Ava asked.

  “Grateful to have you,” Seth said softly.

  Smiling, she fell back asleep

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  Six

  Ava was sitting at the bar in the kitchen when there was a soft knock on the front door of the house. She got up and slowly made her way to the door. Because she had fallen asleep so early, she’d awakened at three in the morning. After running through her conversation with Senator Hargreaves not less than a hundred times, she had gotten out of bed, pulled on some clothing, and gone downstairs.

  She needed time to think everything through.

  Maresol had set up the coffee pot before she’d gone to bed, so Ava just turned it on. She was finishing her second cup when she heard the knock. The sun was just peeking over the horizon.

  Ava opened the door to find a man standing on the other side of the door. He was nearly her height, dark, tan skinned, and wearing a moderately rumpled Western suit with the shirt collar open and no tie.

  “You must be Ava,” the man said.

  “Why must I be Ava?” she asked.

  The man gave her a wide grin.

  “I’m Samoset Kiaiyo,” he said, holding out his hand for her to shake. “Most people call me ‘Sam.’”

  Ava looked at his hand suspiciously. He laughed.

  “My wife, Koko Running Wolf, is staying with you,” Sam said.

  Ava nodded and stepped back to let him inside.

  “I missed you on Wednesday,” Sam said.

  “I heard that you were here through the grapevine. I was shot about three months ago,” Ava said. “I had to start work this week. I’ve been going to work and coming home to go to bed. I can’t really handle much else right now. Sorry to have missed you.”

  Sam gave her a nod.

  “Do I smell coffee?” Sam asked.

  Ava nodded. He followed her to the kitchen. She poured him a mug of coffee and gestured to the refrigerator. He took out a milk carton and added some to his coffee. She refilled her own coffee mug and turned off the pot.

  “Wait, it’s Sunday,” Ava said. “Koko said that you don’t spend more than two nights apart.”

  “I was here Friday night, too,” Sam said. “I had to return to the casino to see what happens on Saturday nights.”

  “That’s a lot of driving,” Ava said.

  “I fly my own plane,” Sam said with a nod. “It’s completely worth it if I get to see my Koko. I know that you and she had some trouble in the beginning. . .”

  “Just because her mother is so mean,” Ava said.

  “Her mother is a troubled person,” Sam said. “Koko really likes you. Do you know Jemma?”

  Ava nodded.

  “I haven’t met her,” Sam said. “I guess that she has some morning sickness, so she wasn’t able to join us Wednesday and Friday.”

  “I think that she was avoiding you,” Ava said. “I wasn’t here, and Running Wolf has been working so late that I bet he wasn’t here, either.”

  Drinking from his mug of coffee, Sam pointed at Ava and nodded.

  “I understand,” Sam said.

  “If you want to catch her, she usually swims just before dawn,” Ava said. “She should be here in a half hour or so.”

  “Good,” Sam said. “I want to welcome her to the family.”

  “You’d better be nice, or Maresol will kill you,” Ava said.

  “Yes, I’m sure she would,” Sam said with a smile. Gesturing to her laptop, he asked, “What are you working on?”

  “I run a forensics lab,” Ava said. “We have a contract to work on ten rural cold cases in Colorado. We’ve finished four, so far. This is our fifth.”

  “Didn’t you find indigenous women in Pawnee Grasslands?” Sam asked.

  “That’s how I met Jemma,” Ava said. “Her best friend’s remains were buried there. She’s the one who reported her friend missing, so I went to speak with her. I introduced her to Running Wolf. If anyone’s mad at them being together, they should be mad at me.”

  “Koko’s mother would have been mad at any woman,” Sam said. “You cannot add reason to her madness.”

  Ava shrugged. Sam finished his coffee and set the mug on the counter.

  “That is very good coffee,” Sam said.

  “I would offer to make you another pot, but I have no idea how Maresol makes it so good,” Ava said. “My coffee is very pedestrian.”

  “Mine is just bad,” Sam said.

  “Maresol will be awake in an hour or so,” Ava said. “You can go visit with Koko and come back.”

  Sam nodded.

  “Who’s that?” Sam asked, gesturing to the image Ava had received from the artist.

  “It’s an artist’s rendition of the victim in our cold case,” Ava said. “Odd case. The man had a broken hyoid that had remodeled, which means it was healing, but he was killed with a Smith and Wesson revolver.”

  “Very Dirty Harry,” Sam said.

  Ava nodded.

  “I spoke with a guy who said that the victim here — this man — is dressed up to look like someone else, who just so happens to be an assassin,” Ava said. “I’m wondering how to figure out who this guy is and why he’s dressed up to look like someone else.”

  Ava shrugged.

  “It’s in Mancos, so he could be off any of the reservations near there,” Ava said. “Or. . . from anywhere, really.”

  “Interesting,” Sam said. “You know, the Ute Mountain Casino has been there for more than thirty years. Was your case older than that?”

  “Forty years?” Ava asked. “But I’ll take any help I can get.”

  “They have photos of those banned,” Sam said. “A database of regulars with images. Would that help?”

  “Can we run photo recognition?” Ava asked.

  “Absolutely,” Sam said. He thought for a moment. “Your lab is running the rape kits from Native American peoples.”

  “My friend, Bob, and I are administrators of that lab,” Ava said. “We have hired an all-Native staff. We just handle the money, politics, and the space. I do their ordering. We double-check their findings when they have something significant. That’s standard practice at the FBI, and we do the same with the Denver Crime Lab.”

  “I’m confident that I could get you access to the Ute Mountain Casino database,” Sam said. “They may even have DNA profiles.”

  “We did put together a database of Native people with the help of my friend Jet. It’s minimal,” Ava said. “It would be great to have a more complete set. What I don’t understand is that the Ute people gave us the bulk of the money to do the work. I would think that they would have already mentioned that they had their own database.”

  “Not always,” Sam said. “No one trusts law enforcement. They probably thought you’d just blame the missing on them.”

  “That’s true,” Ava said, nodding.

  “Now that you have a track record — five convictions?” Sam asked.

  “Three are waiting for sentencing,” Ava said with a nod. “Another trial is just wrapping up. The prosecutor is confident they will get a conviction.”

  “It shouldn’t be a problem,” Sam said.

  “If you could get it, I know we’d use it,” Ava said. “You probably know this, but we’re having some trouble figuring out who some of the completed the rape kits belong to.”

  “Why?” Sam asked.

  “The people administering the kits were careless, or more truthfully, cared less,” Ava said. “The women and men were embarrassed. There’s also a lot of movement among the Native populations, especially on the reservations. People move around due to opportunity or safety.”

  Ava shrugged.

  “Having a database of Native peoples in Colorado would help us a great deal,” Ava said. “Do other casinos have these databases?
”

  “All of them do,” Sam said. “I’ll make a note to remind myself to see what I can do. I bet I can pick up a few donations, as well. Your work is the buzz of every nation. Everyone’s talking about it.”

  “Oh?” Ava asked.

  “As you’d expect, your project is met with a lot of skepticism and a dash of hope,” Sam said with a nod.

  He took out his phone and made a note to himself.

  “Thanks,” Ava said. “We had enormous success.”

  “What is ‘enormous success’ for you?” Sam asked.

  “Violent offenders moving through the system into jails and prison,” Ava said. “Justice for the victims in the form of reparations or, at a minimum, connecting them to services that will assist them.”

  Sam gave Ava a long look.

  “You are not what you look like,” Sam said.

  “What do I look like?” Ava asked.

  “Rich girl with corrupt father,” Sam said. “Beautiful young woman married to a wealthy icon.”

  Ava laughed.

  “My mother will be thrilled to know that I pulled off the ‘rich girl’ she tried to make me,” Ava said. “As for my marriage to the ‘wealthy icon,’ it’s a mystery to everyone, including me. Why is that man interested in me?”

  “Dementia is setting in,” Maresol said as she rounded the corner to the kitchen.

  Sam laughed at Maresol’s joke. Maresol was wearing a bathrobe over her bed clothing.

  “Nice to see you, Sam,” Maresol said. “I came for coffee, but I see it’s gone.”

  “Sorry,” Ava said.

  “Not a problem,” Maresol said as she set about making another pot. “Are you in pain, Ava?”

  “Yes,” Ava said. “I stood too long.”

  “In those shoes,” Maresol said.

  “You were right,” Ava said. “The shoes killed my thigh.”

  “What was that?” Maresol asked, turning on the pot. “Did you actually say that I was right?”

  Ava laughed. Maresol grinned at Ava before turning to Sam.

  “Don’t listen to her,” Maresol said. “Seth is head over heels with her. She’s magnificent. They are very happy.”

  “We’re both middle children,” Ava said. “I think that’s why it works so well.”