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The police station isn't in the high-rent part of town, and the public lot is across the street and unguarded. It was too late, too dark, and I was too worried to take a chance on the public lot, so I parked illegally in the lot reserved for cop cars. I had myself buzzed in through the back door, and I went directly to the desk. Ward was there, chained to a wooden bench, still naked. Someone had draped a towel over his lap.
'Hey, bitch,' Ward said to me. 'Want to take a peek under the towel? Take one last look at the big boy?'
Then he made slurpy kissy sounds at me.
I'd already seen more of the 'big boy' than I wanted, and it wasn't that big or that fascinating. And the kissy sounds were really getting on my nerves. I kept my head down at the desk, waiting for my paperwork. I didn't want to see Morelli. I didn't know if he was in the building. If I got out before he found me, that would be cool.
I figured time and space were my friends at this point.
There was a new cop behind the desk, going slow, making sure he was getting it right. I had a hard time not ripping the body receipt out of his hands.
'In a hurry?' he asked.
'Things to do.'
I took the receipt from him, turned on my heel, and marched out of the building. I avoided eye contact with Ward, just in case the towel had slipped or, even worse, was moving. The back door closed behind me, and I shrieked when Morelli grabbed me and pulled me to one side.
'Jeez,' I said, hand over my heart. 'You scared the crap out of me.
Don't sneak up on me like that.' Although, truth is, I'm not sure I shrieked because I didn't know who it was or because I did know who it was.
'Are you okay?'
'Yeah, I think I'm okay. I'm just having some heart palpitations.
I have them a lot these days.'
'Now that you've had a chance to see Ward up close, are you sure he's the Red Devil?'
'Yes.'
'And he was in the car when Gazarra got shot?'
'Yes.'
A patrol car pulled up to the back door for delivery. Morelli and I stood aside while two cops hauled Lauralene out of the back seat.
'What did she do?' I asked.
'Ran a red light in a stolen car, driving without a license.'
Lauralene's eyes were red from crying.
'She's had a bad night,' I said to Morelli. 'And she's pregnant.
Maybe you can talk to her. She looks like she could use a friend.'
I called Francine and told her Ward had been captured. Then I told her Lauralene was at the cop shop.
'Now what?' Morelli said.
'I'm going home. Stick a fork in me, I'm done.'
'And home is where?'
'It's a secret.'
'I could find you if I put some energy to it,' he said.
