AllFreeNovel
Share Us
As I walk back down the hallway and outside to Riccardo, I can’t help but feel that I’m just the bearer of bad news. Especially when it comes to my family.
How many times have I been the one that had to tell them something terrible has happened? No wonder they all get so serious when I walk into a room. It feels like every time I come to them with information, I’m twelve years old again and trying to tell my father and adult relatives what happened to my mom.
I have Riccardo drive me back down to the courthouse. I can’t stand sitting around when there’s work to be done. Riccardo parks by the corner on the other end of the block from the courthouse.
“Maybe you should wait here,” Riccardo says. Most of the block is taped off. There are dozens of cops, most of them just guarding the perimeter of the crime scene. I can see teams of detectives working behind them.
“Yeah, alright,” I say. “But I’m not going to sit in the car.” It’s still hot, but not as arid as yesterday. It’s actually a bit more comfortable. I’m not going into the courthouse today, so I didn’t wear a jacket and tie. Just pants and a dress shirt since I was planning to talk to the Detective Archer.
I lean against the hood of the Maserati Levante as Riccardo heads toward the police this side of the scene. He’s too far away for me to hear, but I see him talk to one of the police officers. The officer turns and calls for someone. Then I see Detective Morgan Archer duck under the police tape and join Riccardo.
Detective Archer is reliable. We sometimes give him information and he sometimes returns the favor. Nothing that would get either of us in trouble. Mostly just details that don’t get covered in the paper.
“I didn’t think I’d see you back here,” a voice says from behind me.
I turn to see Klein walking up the sidewalk, back toward the courthouse. She’s wearing a narrow black skirt that matches her dark hair and a white button up shirt. She looks amazing as usual.
“I thought they would have given you the day off. After yesterday,” I say.
“You’d think, wouldn’t you?” she replies. “Courts are closed, but the DA’s office is busier than ever. I barely managed to get out for lunch.” She gestures back toward the restaurant she must have come from. “But seriously. What are you doing back here?”
“Just trying to make sense of what happened,” I say.
“Yeah,” Klein frowns and drops her gaze. “Sorry to hear about what happened to Anthony Boncaldo. He worked for you, right?”
I narrow my eyes at Klein. “He was a friend of mine.”
Klein looks back at me, realizing what it sounded like she was asking. “Right, that’s what I meant.” She shakes her head. “I am sorry.”
I look back toward Riccardo. He’s still talking to Archer.
“And thank you. For protecting me yesterday.”
“It’s nothing,” I reply.
“One of my colleagues was shot. In the leg. It seems like he’ll be alright. But if I hadn’t come over to talk to you…” Klein takes a breath and then lets it out. “I would have been right in the crossfire.”
“I’m glad I was here, then,” I offer. “And sorry about your colleague.”
“Eh,” Klein shakes herself out of her morbid thoughts. “He probably deserved it. He’s the biggest asshole in the office.”
I can’t help but laugh. It feels wrong, but it feels so fucking good. Klein laughs along. It’s actually the one moment of stress relief I’ve had in a while. Since the night I first met Klein.
“I’ve got to get back to the office,” Klein finally says. But before she moves a step, she looks like she’s trying to decide on something. “Do you think we could meet sometime? I have some questions I would like to ask you. They aren’t about the case or anything like that. It’s just… something else.”
On paper it seems like a terrible idea to see Klein again. But I don’t think I can say ‘no.’ I’m confident that I’m not going to give anything away and expose my businesses or my family. And I might be able to get some information from her.
“How about over dinner?” I say. “Friday?”
“Sure,” Klein says.
I write down my number for her and she heads back to her office.
Not long after, Riccardo returns to the car. In talking to Klein, I almost forgot why we were here in the first place.
Riccardo fills me in on the details Archer gave him as he drives me home. Two shooters, one driver. No information on the van yet. They used 223 Remington cartridges for ammo, so probably AR-15s. In addition to what we already know happened to our guys, the van made off with three of the Russians. Four civilians injured, two cops killed, and another Russian was killed. The fifth Russian is still in custody.
I turn all this over and over in my mind, trying to get the facts to fall into place in a way that makes any sense at all, but so far I’m getting nowhere.
