Haskell's face changed repeatedly.
"I didn't know."
"I know."
Marcus didn't accuse him.
"That's why I'm here. Not to blame you. To give you the correct information."
"He sounded so certain."
Haskell's fear was turning into embarrassment.
That was better.
"He had names. Said people saw it."
"He had people willing to repeat what he told them," Marcus said. "There are no real witnesses to something that never happened."
Haskell looked at Ethan.
"Is that true? You really returned it?"
"Every dollar."
"You can ask him."
Haskell turned to Marcus.
"I just told you."
Haskell exhaled.
Rubbed the back of his neck.
"What do you need from me?"
"The truth," Marcus said. "When it matters. That's all."
Cole found them before they found Cole.
It happened in the parking lot outside Haskell's office.
Marcus and Ethan were walking toward the truck when Ethan heard a voice.
Sharp.
Carrying the aggressive edge of somebody who already knew he was losing and had decided aggression might reverse it.
"I see you found yourself some protection."
Cole stood approximately 20 feet away.
One of his supposed witnesses stood behind him.
Danny Ferraro.
Ethan recognized Danny from the Van Buren shelter.
Danny did not look happy to be there.
His body carried the posture of someone who had agreed to something and was reconsidering it in real time.
Marcus stopped.
Turned.
Looked at Cole as though deciding whether he'd seen the man somewhere before.
"Cole Ramirez."
Not a question.
Not a greeting.
Cole's confidence shifted.
He clearly registered Marcus's vest.
The composure.
The particular presence of somebody who didn't seem interested in proving anything.
But Cole had already committed to approaching and had to work with the decision.
"I don't know who you think you're dealing with," Cole said. "But this kid has been running stories on people for months. I've got witnesses who saw him with your wallet."
"Danny," Marcus said.
Danny blinked.
"Danny Ferraro?"
Danny looked at Cole.
Then Marcus.
Took a small step backward.
"I don't... I didn't really see anything."
His voice cracked at the end.
"Cole said it would be simple. Said I just had to say I was in the area."
"Danny," Cole snapped.
"I wasn't there."
Danny seemed to be saying the words partly to himself.
"I wasn't there. I didn't see anything."
The parking lot changed.
It acquired the strange quality of a story collapsing in real time.
The second version arriving before the first could establish itself.
Cole's face tightened.
He looked at Marcus.
Then Ethan.
Ethan could see the calculation.
The fast reassessment behind Cole's eyes.
The realization that the position he'd built was dissolving.
Cole made the wrong next choice.
"You can't prove anything."
He looked at Ethan.
"His word against mine. Homeless kid with no address, no history, against somebody with friends."
"We spoke to Haskell," Marcus said.
Cole stopped.
"Ricky has also been looking into your history since last night."
Marcus paused.
"There's a woman in Tempe who'd like to discuss something similar you ran last spring. A man in Glendale too."
Cole became absolutely still.
"Ricky's thorough."
Marcus kept his tone level.
"We aren't police. We don't operate the way police do."
He paused.