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“No.”
He finishes the burger, licking the last ketchup from his fingers. “I know you’re angry now, and that’s understandable, but think about this. He’s going down with or without your help. I’ll make sure of it. You can be locked up with him, or you can be free as a bird, and I reckon you’d prefer option two. In fact, I will go as far as to say this is happening. You know you’ve got no choice, right?”
“I’ve done nothing wrong. You’ve got no proof against me, only their word against mine.”
“Three against one. I’ve got your flight records, too, and they match what they said about you.”
“Where’re the drugs? If I’ve been bringing drugs into the country, where is it?”
He dumps a clear bag on the table. It’s filled with white powder.
“What’s that?” I ask.
“It ain’t confectioner’s sugar, that’s for sure. Found it in your apartment while you were yakking with your roomy.”
“No, you didn’t.”
He taps the top of the bag. “I’ve done this plenty of times before. My case is solid. Got the drugs. Got the witnesses. Got the judge lined up and ready. All I got to do is tip the wink, and you’re going down for a long time. Do you want that, or do you want to help me out? Don’t even need to do much of anything. Just record him saying he killed Sofia or Oswald. One of them would do. Enough to make something stick. Son of a bitch is slippery as an eel.”
“And if I refuse?”
“Like I say. You’re going down for this bad boy.” He slaps the bag again. “Here’s my card. Call me when you have it. I’ll be generous. Take a month. At the end of that time, you either bring me what I want, or I bring you in wearing cuffs on your dainty wrists.”
He gets to his feet, putting the bag back in his pocket. “Pick up the tab for breakfast, would you? I’m a little light.”
36
Bex
* * *
I pull up outside Catherine’s house. I don’t pause to think. I walk straight up to her front door and hammer on it. Eddie answers. “Bex?” he asks. “What are you doing here?”
“Where’s Catherine?”
“Not here.”
“That’s bullshit. I can fucking see her legs. Catherine!”
She shouts to me. “He told you I’m not in.”
“I want to speak to you.”
“Yeah? Well, maybe I want my job back.”
“You going to let me in, or am I yelling from here?”
She leans around her armchair. “Let her in, Eddie.”
He steps back as I walk past him straight into their lounge. The only furniture is the armchair and a TV on a couple of milk crates in the corner. “What do you want?” she asks.
I lower myself to the floor in front of her. “I wouldn’t,” she says. “You’ll get splinters in your ass.”
I stand again, leaning back against the wall. “Why’d you lie to the cops?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Detective Brody just came to see me and told me he’s got three witnesses that say I stole the money from the pension fund.” I look around the room at the empty space. Eddie is tapping his foot in the doorway, arms folded across his chest.
