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“It’s actually Tobias Masterson,” Luke says. “You see, Toby, we ran your fingerprints. They weren’t easy to pick up, but we managed to do it.”
“The coffeeshop,” Toby mutters, though I’m not sure what he’s talking about.
“Sharp as a tack, this one,” Fallon chuckles.
The more they talk, the more beads of sweat I see blossoming on Toby’s forehead and the deeper the wrinkles of doubt and concern on Charlene’s face. They’re hitting a soft spot, and it is starting to hurt. Kellan slowly raises his hands in a defensive gesture.
“You see, Charlene. You’re not as smart as you like to think you are,” he says.
“Toby Masterson hails from Wyatt, New Mexico,” Luke continues. “Raised in the juvenile system, he joined the LobosLocos when he was fifteen. Now, normally, they would’ve made him get the gang-affiliated tattoos to prove he was one of them, but the Lobos thought they had better use for a pasty white boy if he didn’t stand out with Lobos ink.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Toby says, but I can see his knuckles turning white as he grips the gun tighter in his hand.
“Eventually, he went down for manslaughter. According to the case files, he could’ve been tried for murder but the evidence for premeditation was considered circumstantial,” Luke says. “After a few years in prison, Tobias Masterson got out early for good behavior.”
“Oh, look, that’s something else you two have in common aside from being remarkably functional sociopaths,” Kellan quips.
“But he couldn’t go back to the Lobos anymore, since the local police had eyes on him, and the feds were closing in on the gang and their cartel affiliations,” Luke continues. “So, what did Tobias Masterson do? Why, he faked an entire academic record and lied his way into a military base. He didn’t last long, though. The Army isn’t for spineless murderers, after all.”
“You shut your fucking mouth!” Toby snarls and turns the gun on Luke.
Luke smiles broadly. “Go ahead, shoot me. Ruin all of Charlene’s good work here. I’m sure she’ll appreciate it.”
“Toby, what the fuck is he talking about?” Charlene croaks.
“Oh, that’s an easy one,” Luke says. “Toby here isn’t who he says he is. Tobias Jones doesn’t exist. And we’ve got the fingerprints to prove it.”
Suddenly, the air in the room shifts into something dark and heavy. Shivers trickle down my spine, and it’s not because of the low temperature. It’s because an ugly truth is starting to rise to the surface, a truth that Charlene wasn’t equipped or prepared for. The scary part is that it’s forcing Toby into a corner, and I know all too well how a cornered beast reacts.
31
Avery
Iswore to myself that I would never allow anyone to make me feel helpless ever again. For the past five minutes, I have been quietly grinding my cable ties against the chair’s wooden legs. Fortunately, they’re carved with edges, so I’ve got something to work with. I can feel the ankle ones gradually loosening as the plastic slowly gives way. It’s the wrist ones I’m worried about, since my hands are tied behind my back, but at least Toby can’t see how hard I’m working to loosen them up. I only need a few more minutes.
“Tobias Masterson was never actually in the Army,” Luke says. “He lied his way into Fort Williams, and then did some time for that, too. By the time he crossed paths with you, Charlene, he was already a new man, let’s say. New identity, new home in a different state. He managed to go off the grid. But then he met you, and I think something deeper began to form—”
“Shut the fuck up, I said!” Toby shouts, increasingly agitated.
It’s enough to get Charlene out of her chair and even more visibly worried. “Toby?”
“Oh, he loves you, that much I can tell,” Kellan says. “That much we could all tell from the fierceness with which he protects you.”
“You see, Charlene, once we got his fingerprints and a decent CCTV shot of him, we were able to run him through our facial recognition system,” Luke adds. “We found him chatting up a certain Owen Yates at a bar in North Platte, and from there we were able to trace the two of them across the county. Owen Yates’s fingerprints were found at both Kellan and Fallon’s attack locations. And then Owen was found murdered. Crime scene techs picked up some hair and fibers off the guy. I reckon we’ll match them to Toby’s DNA. We’ve already matched them to hair and fiber particles found on the bomb debris from my car.”
Charlene gasps as she starts putting two and two together. “No.”
“I’ve got you, you son of a bitch,” Luke growls, his blue eyes never leaving Toby’s. “Wave that gun around all you want, but we both know you’re fucked.”
“Toby, what are they saying?”
“They’re saying I did everything I could to avenge you,” he tells Charlene. “There’s nothing I won’t do for the woman I love. You wanted Wolfhound Security. You wanted them rattled. I rattled them.”
“You killed people!” Charlene snaps, the shock and horror finally seeping through her features until she becomes as pale as a sheet of paper. “Oh, God, Toby, I didn’t want any of this. I just wanted Avery where I could use her against them.”
Toby shrugs, then laughs nervously. “Well, you’ve got her.”
“And now two murders can be linked back to me!” she shouts.
