Birds of a Feather by Don Easton Read Free Book Online

tell us where she is, getting murdered. Think about it.”
    Connie paused for a moment, biting her lip as she pondered the situation before replying, “Yeah, okay, I believe you.
    â€œYou should.”
    â€œShit, don’t blame me for being suspicious. It’s not like you don’t have a long history for doing things you shouldn’t … and don’t give me that act surprised, show concern, deny, deny, deny routine. There have been far too many bodies turning up around you and far too many coincidences.”
    â€œSo … how’s it feel with the shoe on the other foot?”
    â€œWhat do you mean?”
    â€œWell … you know I’m going to have to be truthful when I talk to Wilson. You were the last person to see him alive. You then came to see me and appeared angry. As I recall, you even made some comment about feeling justified smacking him around. Jesus, CC. Why did you do it? You must have known you would get caught.”
    â€œWhat the fuck? Jack! I didn’t! It was just a coincidence that —”
    â€œA coincidence?” Jack grinned. “Where have I heard that word before?”
    Connie scowled at Jack. “You prick. Quit screwing with me.”
    Connie and Jack arrived at the condo building and a uniformed member of the Vancouver Police Department opened the lobby door to let them in. Minutes later, Detective Wilson came out in the hallway to talk to them outside of Porter’s penthouse.
    Jack told Wilson what had prompted his interest in Porter, as well as Drug Section’s past interest in Porter and his associate, Clive Slater.
    â€œBusiness interests in Mexico,” mused Wilson. “We already ran the footage on the apartment security cameras. The cameras show two men sneaking in through the underground garage this morning. They both look dark and I was thinking they were Aboriginal, but now that I think of it, they do look Mexican. One looked up at the cameras. I expected him then to try and hide his face. It was the opposite. The asshole sneered into the camera and laughed.”
    â€œHe sneered and laughed?” said Jack, incredulously.
    â€œWe don’t have sound, but you can tell he did. His sneer is one I won’t forget, either.”
    â€œLet’s nickname him El Burla,” said Jack.
    â€œAl who?” asked Wilson.
    â€œEl Burla. The Spanish word for sneer is burla .”
    â€œSounds good,” replied Wilson.
    â€œYou’ve got their faces, then?” noted Connie.
    â€œEl Burla for sure. Stocky, black hair covering the tops of his ears, and a very flat and wide nose. He acted like he thought he was invincible. As if he thought we couldn’t touch him. I’ll love showing a jury the camera footage once we catch him. The other guy’s image isn’t quite as clear. I’ll have to see if we can enhance it.”
    â€œPorter was really paranoid when I came to see him,” said Connie. “Now it makes sense. He knew somebody was after him. The thing is, he wouldn’t open the door, even for me, until I held my badge up to the peephole.”
    â€œThe door isn’t damaged, so maybe he trusted whoever he let in,” noted Wilson.
    â€œAre you going to grab Clive Slater for questioning?” asked Jack.
    â€œDefinitely.” Wilson looked at Connie. “Maybe you and I should work together. You for the missing girlfriend and me for her boyfriend’s homicide.”
    â€œSounds good to me,” replied Connie. “Let’s hope it doesn’t turn into a double homicide.” She looked at Jack. “Anything to add?”
    Jack shook his head. “Not now. You two do your thing, but keep me apprised. I’m willing to help out with a UC approach if it is warranted. Maybe on Slater or whoever else surfaces.”
    â€œYou said a UC was tried on Slater before,” said Connie. “It didn’t work.”
    â€œThere are different approaches or