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I watched silently. Both of the boys were better than I’d thought. Allan sunk a three pointer. Brian hit three fifteen-foot jumpers. On the last one, after the ball had slipped through the hoop and bounced on the hardwood floor, the boys stood face-to-face.
Brian called out, “Game.” He stared down the younger boy and said, “Do it. Do it right now.”
I was intrigued, but also ready to intervene if Brian was ordering Allan to do something out of line. I watched as they both stepped over to the bleachers. Allan retrieved his phone, and the other boys gathered around him.
I made my way down the bleachers until I was in the lower level, not too far from the boys. None of them noticed—they were all too focused on Allan’s phone.
Ricky said, “Put it on speaker.”
Allan said, “Don’t you trust me?”
“Not even a little. Now put your phone on speaker so we can all hear it.”
Allan pushed a few buttons.
“Hello?” said a voice I immediately recognized as Jane’s.
Allan didn’t waste any time. “I’m sorry for breaking up with you, Jane. It was a mistake. Is there any chance you would still go to the dance with me?”
There was almost no hesitation on the line as Jane answered. “No.” Then she hung up.
I couldn’t keep a wide smile from spreading across my face.
My three younger boys all started to hoot and chide Allan.
Trent said, “She’s already over you, loser.”
Eddie said, “Can’t play basketball, don’t know women. Good luck in the future.”
All four of my boys walked out and left the entitled little shit standing in the gym by himself.
Chapter 76
The next morning, I lingered long enough to eat breakfast with the family. Jane looked much better. Being able to turn Allan down had meant a lot to her.
Mary Catherine lingered over our kiss good-bye at the front door. It’d been so long that I’d forgotten what a good mood felt like. She made me promise to call her soon with an update on Brett Hollis. I hopped into my city-issued Chevy Impala and made the short drive to the Columbia University Medical Center.
Outside Hollis’s room, I took a moment to compose myself. As I opened the door, I heard a voice behind me. I turned to find a tall nurse with reddish hair.
“What are you doing?” she demanded.
I closed the door. “I was going to visit my partner, Brett Hollis. Isn’t this his room?”
“He’s resting right now. They set his pelvis last night. Come back sometime after lunch and he’ll be ready for visitors.”
I knew not to argue with the nurse. Nurses are right up there with nuns, judges, and teach
ers.
It took almost no time for me to make it back to my car. I had a number of assignments I wanted to cover today.
Mainly, I was checking with employers of the victims from our homicides, my own follow-up to the initial Task Force Halo outreach.
It took me less than an hour to visit the workplaces of the victims in Brooklyn and the Bronx, as well as Columbia Law School, where Chloe Tumber had been enrolled. No one had any new information. I would hit the rest after I saw Brett Hollis this afternoon. I might even get home before dark again.
Almost as soon as I settled at my desk, I saw John Macy trudging through the office, straight toward me. “I heard Hollis is out of action,” he said. “I guess we’re stuck with each other.”
I thought about that for a moment. I looked up at the well-dressed mayor’s aide and said, “Let me just wash up. Have a seat and make yourself comfortable.”
