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Pepper laughed, wiggled her fingers toward Melissa Kay. “That’s federal bitch, lady. I’m more than you want to deal with. Why don’t you tell me what you did to your second husband, you know, the one who just up and disappeared? You made him disappear for good, didn’t you?”
Melissa hissed. “You think I murdered the cretin? The bastard cleaned out my bank account and ran. He’s still hiding—” She took another step toward Pepper.
“Melissa Kay, stop!” Grissom’s voice was sharp. “It doesn’t matter what any of them say. Go away, both of you. You can speak to my lawyers.”
The hospital room door opened and three men marched in; in the lead was a white-haired gentleman wearing a bespoke gray wool suit and a matching dark blue tie, a man whose manicurist probably came to his office weekly to tend to his fingernails. The second man was a younger clone of the first. As for the third man, Savich knew immediately he wasn’t a lawyer. He looked a bit like Grissom. So this must be Ryman Grissom, his son. Savich knew he was forty, married and divorced three times like his sister. He had three children, all living with their mothers, all out of state, and why was that? Had he been abusive? He was bigger than his father and fit, looked like he tended his body religiously. He had thick dark hair with a dash of white at the temples, and a well-maintained mustache. Unlike his younger sister’s eyes, his were opaque, impossible to read, his expression well-controlled. He said nothing, merely stared at Savich and frowned, then at Pepper, where his eyes fell lower, assessing her body. Savich looked away from Ryman Grissom, introduced himself and Pepper to the two lawyers as he presented their creds. As the creds were duly examined, Savich said to Ryman, “You’re Mr. Grissom’s son?”
Ryman Grissom nodded, leaned toward Savich, wanting him to step back, wanting to intimidate. Savich merely smiled. “I understand you’ve served as your father’s fist for well on two decades. Did you murder Josh Atwood?”
Ryman laughed, a hard dismissive laugh. “You clowns are pathetic. Leave my father alone. Get out.”
The elder lawyer handed back their creds and said in a resonant voice, “You will not attempt to interview Mr. Grissom again without our being present. Is that understood?”
A pity, but the fun was over. Savich had wanted to see what Pepper could get out of Grissom’s daughter. But now, there was no point in trying for anything more, not with his top-of-the-food-chain lawyers there.
“Sure,” Savich said, and he smiled at Ryman Grissom, who looked like he’d be a happy man if he could get Savich into an alley. He’d enjoyed baiting Ryman just to see what he’d do, see if he’d stay controlled.
They walked out through a gauntlet of cold, hard stares. As they walked to the hospital elevator, Pepper said, “Bummer they had to show up, but no point in staying. Ryman Grissom, he’s one scary dude, Dillon. Looked like both he and Melissa Kay wanted to jump you.” She sighed. “I wish we’d had more time. I’d have liked to provoke Melissa Kay some more, see what she’d do, see if she’d come after me despite her father’s orders. I’ll bet you she uses her fists. No particular finesse, just naked violence.”
Savich said, “Still, we accomplished what we came for, Pepper. We put them on notice federal agents are involved, that they’re under investigation. That should disrupt business as usual for Grissom. And he knows silencing Eliot Ness won’t make his problems go away. We did Eliot a favor.”
She sighed again. “Still, I really wish I could have riled Melissa Kay some more, see what she’d say. Anger like she carries around makes you careless.”
Savich patted her arm. “Maybe next time. She’s a time bomb. You read her file, lots of bad behavior. She nearly lost it when you brought up her second husband. She could well have asked her father to make him disappear.”
“If not for Grissom holding her choke chain, I could have ended up arresting her for attacking a federal prosecutor. She’s too used to having her powerful daddy buy her out of trouble.” Pepper said, “I do wish he hadn’t called her off, I really wanted her to attack me.” Pepper cracked her knuckles, gave Savich a mad grin. “Test out my black belt. Federal bitch—I like it, makes me feel all powerful.”
Savich said, “Sorry, Pepper, I’d rather she’d have jumped me, not you.”
“Nah. You guys would hold back. I bet any domestic disturbance calls the police got during Melissa Kay’s three short-lived marriages were on her. She’s an active volcano.”
Savich said, “I have no doubt you could pin her feet behind her ears.” He paused a moment, looked regretful. “I’d like to see that.”
Pepper was smiling when the elevator doors opened and they got on. One young man and young woman stood at the back of the elevator, stethoscopes around their necks, looking like the walking dead. Savich would have bet his next paycheck they were interns. He’d been told by a physician friend the year of internship was a rite of passage. Savich should have asked him, a rite of passage to what, exactly?
Pepper said on a sigh, fully aware of listening ears, “I sure would have liked to kick her butt.”
The young woman yawned, said with a crooked smile as she exited the elevator on the second floor, “I don’t think I could kick my own butt right now, but good luck with that.”
The young man looked at Pepper, a sudden twinkle in his exhausted eyes. “My money would be on you.”
