AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Chapter 39
When Pugh refocusedhis attention on me, I managed to keep my mouth shut. That was no small accomplishment. Not considering I was raised by Seamus Bennett.
Then Pugh said, “It’s about that New York Times asswipe we got into a scuffle with in Manhattan. It was nothing. I don’t care what he said.”
I didn’t remember hearing about a Times reporter getting into a fight. What the hell was he talking about?
Pugh said, “We were just having some fun. Maybe it got a little out of hand. Why aren’t you trying to arrest real criminals?”
I stared at him. Son of a gun, he was right. I needed to be more active on Emily’s case. If Pugh was a suspect, I needed to deal with him. Not let him think he could assault a cop without me doing anything about it.
Pugh said, “You got no authority here. In DC, you’re just another jerk.”
The little guy said, “And we know how to deal with jerks.”
Before I could contemplate exactly what Jeremy Pugh meant, the big asshole decided to demonstrate.
Pugh drew back his forearm for a massive blow across my face.
I ducked the forearm. His forearm struck the locker with a boom. The locker popped open.
The little guy threw a punch.
I passed it with my hand. The little guy’s momentum carried him toward the locker, and I pushed him into it. I kicked Pugh and forced him back a few feet.
Quickly, I spun the lock on the locker with the little guy crammed in it. Then I faced Pugh. Now it was time to deal with this asshole. I owed him.
Jeremy Pugh and I squared off in front of the locker. I barely noticed the guy I’d stuffed into it as he yelled for help from inside. Now a couple of people glanced our way as they hurried toward the hotel entrance. I’m sure they didn’t realize exactly what was happening.
I savored what I was going to do with Jeremy Pugh.
Then a car pulled through. At this point, I didn’t care who saw this. I’d been patient long enough.
Then I saw it was a DC police car.
We both froze in place.
The young female cop looked into the lobby. Maybe someone had called in a disturbance, maybe not. She idled in front of the entrance, then slowly gave us a good look. She must have been satisfied because she parked the cruiser and walked into the lobby.
Pugh backed away.
The guy in the locker banged on the door and screamed, “I think there’s a spider in here. Let me the hell out.”
Pugh barked to his friend, “Shut up, Kyle. We got a cop close by.” Then he looked at me. “If you were here on official business, a cop pulling in here wouldn’t stop you. You’re full of shit.”
He was right for now. But I wasn’t going to give up. Until I found Emily’s killer, I guess I was full of shit.
I said, “See you around.”
“You bet you will.”
I turned and headed into the lobby.
Content for now.
