Colby Brass

“He’s on the phone with Chicago PD.” Trinity pulled the collar of his coat up around his neck. “They’re not too happy that we got the jump on their investigation. Larkin’s neighbor mentioned we’d been in the apartment. Jim’s doing damage control.”

Von made a disapproving face. “That’s ridiculous. Who cares who got the jump? Finding the kid is the goal here.”

Her lack of patience with the rules was a leftover of Equalizer methodology. That tactic had slowly but surely been overcome in recent months. Von, like the others, had learned the Colby way of conducting an investigation. Granted, this situation called for swift, decisive action, still some amount of interfacing was necessary when boundaries were breached.

Enemies were easy to make. Allies were far more difficult to attain and even harder to keep. The Colby Agency prided itself on cultivating and maintaining strong allies.

“Where to first?” she prompted.

Trinity kicked aside the distractions and gestured to the apartment building to their right. “Kobi Larkin has a sister who lives on the second floor. The sister, according to neighbors, has refused to speak to him since he and Wanda divorced. We’re hoping she can point us in the right direction.”

“Larkin may be scum,” Von commented as they crossed the street, “but he’s still the woman’s brother.” She shook her head as she surveyed both ends of the block once more. “In my experience a perp’s family is rarely any real help so I wouldn’t hold my breath.”

Trinity couldn’t cite any recent examples to dispute her assertion. But they had to try every avenue, no matter how remote.

Like the building where Wanda Larkin lived, this one was rundown and dingy. Despite the cold, four teenage males loitered on the steps leading to the front entrance. Von ignored their lewd comments. Trinity stared from one to the other, long enough to make them squirm. The door closed behind Von who hadn’t hung around to watch his protective maneuver.

He caught up with her on the stairs leading to the second floor. She didn’t bother glancing back. Von Cassidy could take care of herself and she didn’t like anyone indicating otherwise—in word or deed.

Fixing his gaze someplace besides on her swaying hips was a task. Trinity was glad when they reached the second-floor corridor.

“Two-fifteen,” he said as he led the way along the cluttered hall. Apparently tomorrow was trash pickup day. Most of the doors were flanked by bags of what had the look and smell of household garbage.

At apartment 215, he stopped and rapped on the door, careful to keep to the left in the event whoever was inside opted to take a shot at whoever had dared to knock. Von waited on the other side of the door.

“Who is it?”

The voice inside was female and distinctly unfriendly.

“Maggie Clemmons,” Trinity began, “my name is Trinity Barrett. I’m an investigator looking into the disappearance of your brother, Kobi Larkin, and I have a few questions for you. I’d appreciate it if you’d open the door and cooperate.”

Von arrowed him a look of approval. Nothing he’d said had been a flat-out lie, but he’d left out some relevant info like the fact that he wasn’t a cop.

“I don’t know anything about him or his friends,” the woman claimed. “I haven’t heard from that no-account bum in months.”

“Ma’am,” Trinity pressed, “just a few moments of your time will be greatly appreciated. This is a matter of the utmost importance.”

Silence.

Von raised her eyebrows in question at Trinity.

He wasn’t giving up just yet. “Ma’am?”

“I told you I don’t know anything,” came through the door.

“He took Lily,” Trinity added since the concept that her brother was missing hadn’t done the trick.

Trinity’s gaze locked with Von’s. If the child being in danger didn’t get through to the woman … likely nothing would. Maybe Von had been right in her assessment. Blood was thicker than water.

Grinding metal echoed from turning locks, pro- viding the response they had hoped for. Relief flared in Trinity’s chest.

The door opened and a woman who’d obviously just saturated her hair with a color treatment looked from Trinity to Von and back. “He wouldn’t have taken Lily.” She shook her head adamantly as if that would make her words so. “No way.”

“May we come in, ma’am?” Trinity didn’t want to have this conversation in the corridor. Not with several doors cracked open just enough for nosy neighbors to see and hear too much already.

With a swipe to her brow with the towel dangling around her neck, the woman opened the door wider. “There’s got to be a mistake.”

Once Trinity and Von were inside, she closed the door. “Did Wanda say Kobi took Lily?”

“Ms. Clemmons, have you heard from your brother today?” Von asked.

Clemmons glared at Von, then blinked repeatedly. Apparently the pungent smell of the chemical hair treatment was getting to her. “I told you I haven’t heard from Kobi in months.” She blinked twice more. “Where’s Wanda? Why didn’t she come if what you’re saying is so? She wouldn’t just send somebody around saying such things.”

“Wanda is at Mercy General,” Trinity explained. “According to an update I received from my superior just a few minutes ago, she survived surgery and is currently in guarded condition.” Victoria had called just before Von arrived. He probably should have mentioned that to her as well. But he’d been too busy worrying about how they would manage to work together without killing each other.

The woman hugged her arms around her waist. “He swore to me that he didn’t hurt her. Is Wanda gonna be all right?”

So much for telling the truth.

“If Wanda pulls through with no permanent damage,” Von answered the question, “she’ll be very lucky. Kobi stabbed her, stripped her coat and boots off and left her to die in the snow beneath a stack of empty boxes in an alley where no one would find her.”

“Dear God,” Clemmons murmured.

“When did you speak to Kobi?” Trinity pressed, hoping to get the truth before Clemmons had time to rethink her position.

“About two o’clock, I guess.” She dabbed at her forehead with the towel again. “He said they’d had a big fight, but that everything was gonna be okay. He said he was going away for a while. To get himself together.” She turned her palms up in an earnest manner. “That’s why he called. After all this time, he just wanted to say bye before he left.” Her head wagged side to side. “He’s pushed her around from time to time but he never hurt her … like this.”

Not so according to the neighbor, but Trinity wasn’t arguing the point. He needed this woman to keep talking.

“Did he give you any idea where he might be planning to go? “ Von demanded before Trinity could, keeping the pressure on.

Maggie Clemmons shrugged. “He just said he was owed some money and he was gonna use it to do the right thing … finally.”

“Do you have reason to believe he planned to, as you say, get himself together?” Trinity hoped the man had perhaps gone into hiding with his child and meant no harm to her. Finding a scumbag like him wouldn’t be that difficult. So far, he hadn’t proven that smart. “To do the right thing?”

Clemmons heaved a weary sigh. “No. He’s said that before. He probably took the money and got more drugs. That’s what he usually does.” She divided her attention between Trinity and Von. “That’s why I know he wouldn’t have taken Lily with him. He don’t care about much but he does want her to have a better life. He’s always said she deserves better than he or Wanda could give her.”

“The fact of the matter is,” Trinity said somberly, “he did take Lily, after leaving Wanda for dead. It doesn’t sound like he has Lily’s best interests at heart just now.”

“We have to find him,” Von added. “Before he allows any harm to come to the child … before the police find him. If you care about your brother you need to help us. You know what they do to people who hurt children.”

Silence screamed in the room for two beats. Trinity hoped Von’s strategy worked. A plea from woman to woman—one that included hope for the brother.

“Charlie Jones,” Clemmons said with a confirming nod. “I don’t know where he is. But Charlie knows Kobi better than anyone. He’ll know how to find him.”

“How do we find Charlie?” Trinity asked. “We have to hurry. There’s no time for tracking him down. Not if you can give us that information.”

Clemmons hurried over to the end table next to her sofa. She scribbled something on a pad of paper, then ripped the page free and brought it to Trinity. “This is his address. I don’t know his phone number. But you’ll find him here. If anyone knows where Kobi is, it’s Charlie.”