Read Shadow Tag (The Ray Schiller Series - Book 2) for Free Online

Chalmers waited for a laugh, got none and continued. “He’s a black kid. ACC part-timer, college student full-time. Math major or something like that. Brainiac, ya know?”
    “Are you aware of any connection between Gaines and Paul Davis?” Ray asked.
    “Nope.”
    “Ever hear Gaines talk about him—mention him in any way?”
    Chalmers paused, stroking the small wattle on his throat. “Just that he was as surprised as me that Mr. Davis hadn’t booted Michael out on his ass like he said he would that time. I don’t think I ever heard Gaines mention him before or since.”
    Waverly set his coffee down. “Not even once?”
    “Pretty sure.”
    “Even after Davis’s death?”
    Chalmers slurped his coffee. “Haven’t spoken to Gaines since then. The kid quit.”
    “When was this?”
    “The day they found Davis’s body in the boardroom.” He watched a look pass between Waverly and Ray. “Hey, it shook me up plenty, too. If it wasn’t for the age thing, I might’ve quit and looked for another job myself. The whole thing kinda gave me the willies. That’s the truth.”
    Ray and Waverly stood in unison.
    “Mr. Chalmers, thanks for your help.” Wincing, Ray turned in a half-crouch to Audrey Chalmers. “Thank you, too, ma’am.”
    At the door, Waverly gave the security guard one of his cards. “If you think of anything else that might be helpful, give us a call.”
    “You betcha,” Chalmers said, tugging at the gap in his robe. “I’ll do that.”He shut the door behind them. From the other side they heard his voice. “There’s no way I’m gonna be able to get back to sleep now, Audrey. Bring yourself over here, you little sweet pea.”
    She giggled like a schoolgirl.
    Waverly chuckled. “Sounds like Chalmers is planning to do a little ‘gardening’. Doesn’t seem like a man with a guilty conscience to me.”
    Ray tried to straighten his back. “Right. I think we can scratch him off our list…for now, anyway.”
    They got into the car and Waverly checked for Todd Gaines’ address in his notebook. “Don’t get too comfortable, buddy,” he said, pulling away from the curb, “we’ll be there in no time.”
    “Comfortable? Not likely.” A sharp right turn made Ray cringe. “Chalmers seemed straightforward enough. Johnson, though… He was as hostile as hell.”
    “But a man with nothing to hide.” Laughing, Waverly repeated the ‘flasher’ gesture with his jacket.
    “That’s getting old in a hurry.”
    Waverly laughed. “Only from your perspective.”
    “Look, before we get there, what’s your take on the Gaines kid?”
    “I haven’t talked to him yet.”
    Ray turned his head to see if he was joking. “You’re kidding, right?”
    Waverly’s knuckles went white around the steering wheel. “Schaefer claimed the kid’s a dead end.”
    “Then Todd Gaines was interviewed.”
    “Yeah, but by my ex-partner, not me.” Waverly kept his eyes on the road. “That being the case, I don’t know how much the information’s worth.”
    “Look, I know Schaefer was demoted, but just how bad was he?”
    “He’s an okay guy and a good cop, but as a detective he wasn’t making the grade. He was kinda hit-or-miss a lot of the time—too damn inconsistent. He might’ve done okay with this Gaines kid, maybe not. I can’t swear to it one way or the other.”
    “If you knew that, why didn’t you check Gaines out yourself?”
    “Believe me, I tried—three times at least. Either Gaines is mighty damn busy, or he’s intentionally ducking me.”
    “Let’s hope we get lucky and pin him down today.”
    “Yeah.” Waverly let out a heavy sigh. “Ray…”
    “What?”
    “There’s something I’ve been wanting to talk to you about.”
    “I’ve got a couple spare minutes on my hands. Go ahead.”
    “The cool reception you’ve been getting at the precinct…”
    “What about it?”
    “The guys think Roth should’ve given Schaefer more time to get his act together before demoting him.