I remembered what Evelyn and Jack had said about “advertising.” “And that’s why Saul mentioned it to you. Because it’s possible that this killer is Baron—his way of proving himself.”

“Yeah. And there’s more.”

He turned from a secondary highway onto the interstate. I waited impatiently for him to continue, but he didn’t until he’d merged into traffic and resumed his speed.

“Couple months ago, Baron went to see a guy. Middleman Saul and I know. Guy named Cooper. Wouldn’t give Baron anything good. Just shit work. Gotta prove yourself, he says. So Baron says fine. Takes him on the street. Says pick a target. Give me thirty minutes and I’ll prove myself.”

My gut went cold. “Kill a random person on the street. And he did?”

“Nah. Cooper said fuck off. Prove yourself another way.”

I sat there for a minute, heart racing so fast I could barely breathe. “Where do we find Baron?”

“No idea. But I can find Cooper.”

“Then let’s do that. Where does he live?”

“Heading there now.”

CHAPTER TWELVE

TWELVE

Music from the nearby tavern boomed into the streets. Old-time country, the sort that reminds me of howling coyotes. Ask me where I’d expect to find a middleman/ drug dealer and I’d have picked some funky new-age bar, with go-go dancers and bathroom sinks sprinkled with powder that didn’t come from a Javex can.

Talking to Cooper wasn’t going to be as easy as I’d hoped. Yes, he knew Jack. Yes, he’d talk to Jack. But unlike Saul, Cooper couldn’t be trusted to keep his mouth shut, which is why Jack used him for information only.

Cooper was a businessman to the core. He’d buy and sell anything, meaning he’d happily give Jack what he wanted, only to run out and resell the information that Jack was on the trail of the Helter Skelter killer.

Cooper had no stomach for violence—so Jack could threaten him into keeping his mouth shut but, as he said, that kind of behavior didn’t foster good contact relationships.

When I came up with an idea for keeping Jack out of it, I expected him to balk but he’d only said, “Yeah. That’d work. Just keep in shadows. Don’t wanna have to kill him after. Bad for business.”

So now I was waiting outside this Kentucky bar as Jack scoped it out from the inside. After ten minutes, he exited.

“Cooper’s there,” Jack said. “Usual place. Now, we need—”