Robert B. Parker's Debt to Pay by Reed Farrel Coleman Page B

Healy. And when the captain saw the writing on the back of Jenn’s photo, he knew as Molly knew before him.
    â€œJesus!” he said. “Not him again.”
    Suit had had enough. “Not who again? C’mon, guys. I’m tired of being the only one in here who doesn’t know the secret. Who are we talking about?”
    Molly, Healy, and Jesse looked at one another, then all turned to look at Suit.
    â€œMr. Peepers,” they said, as if in a single voice.
    And for the first time in all the years they had worked together, Jesse saw real fear on Suit’s face.

TWENTY-TWO
    H ealy stood up from his chair and poured himself double the amount of whiskey Jesse had already poured in his cup.
    â€œHow much more than a month?”
    â€œFive weeks total,” Jesse said.
    â€œYou know what you’re asking me to do?”
    â€œI know.”
    Healy took half the whiskey in a single swallow and made a face. “Why five weeks? Why not three or six or three months?”
    Molly answered for her boss. “Because of Jenn’s wedding.”
    Healy tilted his head at Jesse like a confused puppy. “Your ex?”
    â€œJenn’s getting married to a rich real-estate guy in Dallas in five weeks. And as a run-up to the wedding, they’re having a week’s worth of events. That’s when he’ll try to kill her,” Jesse said.
    Healy shook his head. “And what, you’re going to be Captain America and stop him?”
    â€œHopefully, I’ll have Diana with me and I’ll alert the people who need to know.”
    â€œThat’s big of you, Jesse. You’re a good cop, maybe the best cop I ever met, but this sounds crazy. First off, I need more than thebullets to prove we’re talking about the same guy who did the Salem vics and the vandalism here. And you’ve got to do better than your word to prove that Fish didn’t kill his boy toy and then himself of his own accord. And even then, even if you convince me you’re right, you’re putting me in a bad spot.”
    â€œUh-huh.”
    â€œGive me something, Jesse. Make the case.”
    â€œRight now we know his target. We know approximately when and where he’s going to strike, but if we blow the whistle and let him know we’re onto him, we give up any edge we’ve got. He may come after me through Molly or through Diana. Maybe Sunny Randall or even you, Healy. And I can tell you right now, he’s coming after Suit one way or the other. Suit may have been the one to shoot him, but he blames me for going back on my word. This is all payback for what went down during the thing with Vic Prado. That’s why Gino Fish is dead. It was Fish who put me in touch with Mr. Peepers. Fish warned me that if things went sideways, Peepers would come after us both. And you know his rep. He even scares Vinnie Morris, and no one scares him. Peepers enjoys his work. Fish killed himself to save himself.”
    Healy drank the rest of his Dew. “Okay, so let’s say you prove all this to my satisfaction. Why not go wide with it? Put every law enforcement agency on earth onto this guy? We’ll have everybody from the top folks at Interpol to the lowliest square badge at ShopMart on the hunt for Peepers.”
    Jesse shook his head. “C’mon, Healy, you know why.”
    â€œHe’ll go to ground,” Suit said in an uncharacteristic monotone. “And he’ll come after us another way and when he feels like it.”
    Molly took up where Suit left off. “Look, Captain, this man waited over a year to make his move after sending that photo to Jesseto let him know he was coming. He likes torturing people physically and psychologically. If we drive him into hiding now, we may never get a chance at him again.”
    â€œShe’s right,” Jesse said. “We won’t see him coming next time. Besides, according to the research I’ve done, law enforcement has