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I spin around in time to see Detective Brody approaching me. “Get lost,” he says to Ursula.
“I’m waiting for a burger.”
“I said get lost, or you’ll be eating it back at the station. Now, move. Get.”
Ursula gets out of her seat. “I’ll be right outside,” she says, heading toward the door. “Shout if you need me.”
Brody sneers at her. “She’ll be fine.” He takes the vacant seat just as the burger appears. Without skipping a beat, he picks it up and takes a bite. “Damn, that’s good,” he says, nodding toward the server. “I get some ketchup over here?”
She brings him a bottle, and he drowns the burger before taking another bite. “That is fucking good,” he says, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. “You want some?”
“No, I don’t.”
He grins, a piece of onion stuck between his teeth. “You want to know why I’m here?”
“Because you’ve been following me.”
“I mean, why do I want to talk to you?”
“I’m sure you’re going to tell me.”
He slams his hand down on the table loud enough to make me jump. “Don’t start with that smart mouth. I get enough of that from your husband. Why’d you marry that piece of shit, anyway?”
“I don’t think that’s any of your business, is it?”
“You want to know some of the things he’s done in the past?”
“Not really.”
“He’s sliced people real deep in his time. Couple of people with ugly scars on their faces because of him. That’s before we get onto the murders. He’s a real nasty bastard, Hunter Lombardi.”
“Why are you telling me this?”
“Because I think me and you could make a deal.”
“Why on earth would I want to make a deal with you?”
“I don’t know. Maybe because I’ve got three witnesses willing to swear that you’ve been stealing from the pension fund at your job. That kind of fraud is bad enough, but they also say you crossed State lines with drugs you brought back from those regular trips to Europe you’ve been taking.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Melanie Harrison. Catherine Jones. Buffy Davis. Their stories match, and I interviewed them separately. They all say your trips were to bring back coke and sell it. You know you’re looking at ten to twenty inside based on their statements alone.”
“They’re making it up. They’ve got a grudge against me.”
“All three of them?”
“Yeah. I worked with them, and they’re pissed off they got fired.”
“Buffy Davis still works there.”
“Well, not her, but she hates me. She wanted my job and said she and Melanie weren’t finished with me. You don’t believe them, do you?”
“It doesn’t matter what I think. The judge will decide, and I know the right judges for the right cases. How about we talk about this deal, so you don’t end up locked up?”
“I haven’t done anything wrong.”
“If I had a nickel for everyone that said that to me over the years, I’d have retired long ago. Here’s what’s going to happen. You’ll bring proof that Hunter killed his wife and your ex-partner. Record him saying he did it. I don’t care how. Just get me something that will stand up in court. In return, I’ll make this case against you disappear.”
