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“Really?”
“Yeah, really.”
“My honest feeling is civilians should never tell the police anything unless they have too.”
Ames shook his head. “You know you don’t always have to be so combative. For the most part, we’re on the same side.”
Margot knew the ‘For the most part’ comment was about her continued friendship with Mal. There wasn’t much question about Mal being on the payroll for more than one local crime boss during his days as a cop. This had cost him his job. Even a straight-laced, by-the-book guy like Ames could probably get over that, but it was also alleged that Mal had earned the money they were giving him by using his badge as a hunting license and assassinating their rivals. If anyone could prove that, though, he wou
ldn’t be walking around free, picking a few bucks here and then helping out Margot. Even though he couldn’t prove enough to make an arrest, Ames was sure Mal was a hitman for local mobsters.
“What if we’re talking as civilians?” Radcliff asked.
“How are we going to do that? Are you quitting?”
“No, but at the end of the day, when I take off the badge, I’m no longer Detective Radcliff. Without the badge, I’m just Rick.”
“Is that so?”
“Certainly is. Maybe we could have dinner and you could tell me what you think. Or, since I’m just Rick at that point, we could talk about whatever you want.”
“Are you asking me out? At a crime scene?”
“When else would I ask you out? It’s not like I see you anywhere else.”
“Are you buying dinner?”
“Sure, unless that offends you.”
“Why would it offend me?”
“I don’t know, feminism or something?”
Margot laughed, then said, “That shit doesn’t pay the bills. Thanks to this, I’m out of a job.”
“Last I checked, the daughter is still missing.”
“True, but I’m guessing you guys will be bringing out the full-court press to find her and her mom since they might be only ones out there who could explain this mess. You’ve got better resources than me, my only advantage is I care.”
“We care.”
“You do now. Until I called, you never knew any of these people existed. Now that you guys are on the case, I’m kind of redundant. I’m sure my client will see it the same way.”
Ames nodded. “No offense, but we don’t need to be tripping over each other anyway.”
“For once we agree.”
“So, is that a yes or a no about dinner?” Radcliff asked.
Margot considered it while she looked Radcliff over. After a long thirty seconds, she said, “A yes.”
“Is this really happening?” Ames asked.
“I think so,” Margot told him.
“Why?” Ames asked. His question seemed to be more directed at Margot than Radcliff.
“Why not?” Margot replied, thinking Radcliff was a good looking guy, even though their longest interaction had been adversarial. Ames had hauled her in for questioning on another case and Margot hadn’t exactly been polite.
