Page 62 of Hostile Witness
A salesperson offered to help him.
“I need to speak with your butcher about meat bones.” He pointed at Flynn. “Is he in?”
The woman gave a firm nod and plunged through the swinging doors, yelling, “Tony, got a bone buyer... wants to talk to you.”
Tony strolled behind the meat case, wiping his hands on a white towel. “You need goodies for a special dog? I got ’em.”
Ethan smiled in relief. “Great. How many do you have?”
“Who’s the dog?”
“This guy here. Flynn.”
“For Flynn? I love that dog.” Tony came out from behind the counter, got down on one knee, and held out his arms. “Who loves you, baby?”
Flynn’s tail swished into overdrive, wagging and slapping the wood floor. Not only that, but he also licked Tony’s face and barked, dancing in a circle. Ethan shook his head. Obviously, Tony the butcher wasn’t on Flynn’s shit list today.
Tony glanced at Ethan. “This is Tia’s dog. Why do you have him? Oh, wait, are you the cop she shares him with?”
Ethan nodded. “That’s me. Nice to meet you.”
Tony rose from the floor. “I’m glad you stopped in. The strangest dude came in here about an hour ago. He had dead eyes; you know what I mean?”
Ethan switched into work mode. “Anything else strange about him?”
“Everything, man. His face... all busted up. The gauze fell off one side, and there were black stitches all over his nose and chin, across one cheek. Almost looked like he stitched himself up. Docs these days don’t use black thread on the face. I told him about the medical clinic on Seventy-Fifth and how they’d fix himright up if he needed help, ’cause I don’t know, he looked like he needed medical attention.”
“What did he say?”
“He just looked at me with those deadpan eyes and told me to hurry up with his steaks.” Tony shivered. “Those eyes, they really got me, man. The guy wasn’t right. He didn’t threaten anybody, just took the steaks, paid for them, and walked out.”
Ethan squinted. “Which way did he go?”
“Turned left, hit the candy store, then drove off in his car. It looked brand-new. Temporary tags, but I didn’t get the plate number.”
Ethan pulled up the artist’s rendering of Tia’s traffic guy on his phone. He held it up. “Is this him?”
Tony leaned closer. “Maybe, there are similarities in the mouth and eyes. But my guy had dark-brown hair with a flattop.”
“What color was his car?”
“White sedan.”
Just like the local police cars.“Do you have security cameras?”
Tony nodded. “Wanna take a look at them? It was only an hour ago.”
“That’d be great.”
“Sure. How many bones you want?”
“As many as you’ve got. A dozen, maybe? Can I freeze them?”
“Twelve? No problem. I’ll wrap them individually, and you can thaw as you need them. Come on back. You can review the security feed while I wrap bones. Okay to give the dog a treat to enjoy now? It’ll keep him busy while you work.”
“He’d love that. Thanks.”
Ethan followed Tony back to the office and got busy scrolling footage.