Against the Sky by Kat Martin Page A

scare the kid any more than he was already.
    Jimmy shrugged his shoulders. “They were wearing red ski masks so I couldn’t see what they looked like.”
    â€œWas there anything about them you remember? Height? Build? The clothes they were wearing? You must have noticed something.”
    Jimmy stared at him as if he didn’t want to remember anything about what had happened.
    â€œLook, we have to figure this out, okay? You and me, working together. You came to me for help in the beginning. Now it’s even more important that we find out what happened. You need to do your part and give me as much information as you can.”
    With a sigh of resignation, Jimmy sat down on the edge of his bed while Nick walked over and pulled out the chair in front of the boy’s computer, spun it around and sat down. “So what can you tell me about the men?”
    â€œOne was pretty big. Tall, you know, and heavy. He had shaggy brown hair that stuck out from under the bottom of his ski mask and squinty little pig eyes.”
    â€œOkay, what about the other one?”
    â€œHe was shorter and kind of skinny. He had a long, hooked nose and I think he smoked because he stank like cigarettes and his voice was raspy. One called the other man Virgil, but I couldn’t tell which was which.”
    â€œThat’s very good, Jim. You might make a pretty good cop someday.”
    He grunted. “No thanks.”
    Nick felt the pull of a smile. “What about their car?”
    â€œIt was an old beater, kind of a faded metallic blue. I don’t know what kind it was.”
    â€œYou didn’t happen to get the license plate number?”
    Jimmy shook his head, moving his short-cropped black hair. “I was too scared to think of it at first. By the time I did, it was dark and I couldn’t see it.”
    â€œThat’s okay. You did good. Anything else you can think of?”
    â€œOne of them was wearing a gun.” His eyes fixed on Nick’s face. “They were really bad guys, Nick. I think my dad must have found something out they didn’t want him to know and that’s why they killed him.”
    Nick didn’t tell him that considering the man’s background, there could have been any number of reasons Alex Evans was dead. “We don’t know enough yet to draw conclusions, but eventually we’ll find out. You just go on with your life the way you have been, like nothing has changed. Go to school, play your after-school sports, go fishing with your friends.”
    â€œWhat if those men come after me again?”
    â€œIf they wanted to kill you, Jimmy, they had every chance. As long as you stay away from your father’s office and out of trouble, I don’t think they’ll bother you.”
    Some of the tension left the boy’s thick shoulders. “Okay, then.”
    â€œWe’ve got to take this slowly, Jim. We can’t afford to stir up anything that would put you and Mary in danger.”
    â€œBut you’re gonna find them, right?”
    â€œOh, yeah. I’m going to find them. In the meantime, I want you safe.”
    Jimmy walked Nick downstairs and out the front door. Neither of them spoke along the way. Until Nick figured out what the hell was going on, there wasn’t anything left to say.
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    It took a second round of knocking before Samantha realized someone was standing at Nick’s front door. Getting up from the computer, she hurried through the living room, paused at the window to see who was out on the porch, saw an attractive blond man, early thirties, close to Nick’s age.
    â€œI’m a friend of Nick’s,” the man called to her through the glass when he spotted her peering out at him.
    â€œHe isn’t home,” she called back.
    When he grinned and held up his badge, she felt a sweep of relief.
    â€œSorry,” she said as she unlocked the door she’d locked earlier and pulled it