Dark Angel (Sequel to White Raven)

Chapter Twenty-Five: Rave Knows

When she got there, Layla was in the room. She was adamantly telling Maria about some cute guy who had stayed at the motel last month. Maria looked like she was bored out of her mind. Ary remembered the days of listening to Layla go on and on about nothing and she felt bad for the other woman.

"Hey, Layla, can I talk to Maria for a second?" Ary asked the younger girl.

"Oh yeah, sure. Continue on with your super secret meetings," Layla told her. She gave Ary a very exaggerated wink as she left the room.

Ary shook her head. Keeping a witness in protective custody with a twenty-year-old gossip might not have been the best idea, but this was all coming out of Ary's own pocket. The P.I. business wasn't that lucrative at the moment and as a consultant for the Chicago PD she only got paid on a case-by-case bases. Investigating Christian was her first and only case, and it was not going very well. At this rate, she'd never get paid.

"Christian had to have shared a lot of bedroom talk with you or at the very least you had to have overheard something. Could this bomb have been Christian?" Ary asked as she took a seat at the end of the opposite bed that Maria was sitting on.

Ary wasn't quite sure how much Maria already knew about the bombing. It had been on multiple news stations throughout the week, but Ary hadn't really talked to Maria about it yet.

Maria thought it over. "Christian had a guy that worked with bombs in the military," she said as she picked at her nails. She looked a little scared.

"Did you ever meet this guy?" Ary asked, warily.

"A few times," Maria said. She shifted uncomfortably as she spoke, her eyes cast downward.

Ary didn't need to ask anymore questions on that subject. She could figure out on her own what had happened.

"Did you happen to catch his name?" Ary asked. She had to stick to the case and not worry about anything else.

"Randall something. He got booted out of the army three years ago. He has a real bad temper," Maria warned her.

Ary stepped outside to make a call. The wind had picked up and it had started to snow. It looked like it was going to be another freezing winter. Just something else she had to look forward to.

"Wilcox," the gruff detective answered on the third ring.

"Hey, it's Harper," she said into the phone.

"Hey kid, how you doing?" Wilcox greeted her. He sounded generally interested in her well being.

"I'm just peachy. I figured I might as well start looking into the bomb. I talked to Maria about it," Ary sighed.

"And what did she have to say on the subject?" he asked.

"She says Christian has a friend that worked with explosives in the military, has a real bad temper," she relayed the information that Maria had just given her.

"This guy got a name?" he pressed.

"Randall something. I know it's not a lot to go on, but I figured you could run it through the system. There can't be many Randall's in Chicago that used to be military explosive experts," she shrugged, running a hand through her hair. It was starting to get wet from the snow.

"I'll take a look, but are you absolutely certain this is Christian? Your uncle is a cop. He's sure to have some enemies," Wilcox suggested. He was trying to cover all of his bases and not overlook anything.

"His only enemies are the belligerent drunks he picks up after closing on the weekends. The local bar flies aren't exactly the most intelligent or capable of people," Ary said, immediately dismissing the idea.