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“Complimentary?” I don’t think I’ve ever heard anyone refer to the DA’s office and the Italian Mafia ascomplimentarybefore. We have a source inside her office already, but that’s different. He’s paying off a debt, so he’s been pretty cooperative, but it only goes one way. We never give him information. Or so I thought.
Klein looks at me. I’m skeptical. It already feels like we’re crossing a line. Like we’re sharing too much.
“You can think about it,” she says.
* * *
When I get home, I message Ethan Pace, the source I was thinking about this morning. I set up a meeting with him for later in the day.
I take a shower, regretting washing Klein’s light scent off of me. My bedroom suite is larger than her whole apartment. But I liked being there with her. It was cozy. I wonder what my room would feel like to her.
I can almost see Klein’s apartment from my penthouse, except that it’s tucked behind the Wells Fargo building.
I meet Ethan in Rittenhouse Square, across the street from my apartment. I find him sitting on a bench by a statue of a lion crushing a serpent.
Ethan is built like an ex-high school quarterback, still trim but filled out a bit. He has close-cropped red hair and a groomed beard. I sit down on the other end of the bench from him. He doesn’t turn to look directly at me. His head turns just enough for him to watch me out of the side of his eyes. I can’t tell if he’s scared, or if he thinks this is how these rendezvous go.
I haven’t met directly with Ethan before. He knows who I am, and I know who he is. He’s a gambler who ran up quite a debt. More than most lawyers would ever be able to pay off. We arranged for him to make payments to cover half his debt. The other half to be worked off when we want a favor. Mostly giving us information from inside the DA’s office.
“How are you doing after the incident at the courthouse?” I ask. I try to start off light. For what I need to ask him, it’s probably best if he’s not afraid of me.
“You know…” he replies. He bends down and brushes something off the top of his shoe. “I made it out alright. But it was close. I was standing right next to my co-worker, and he got shot in the leg.” Ethan turns his head a little more to see my reaction. He’s wondering if I ordered the attack.
“Is he going to make it?” I ask.
“Yeah, he’s just out of work for a bit.” Ethan says. He places both his hands on his knees, takes a breath, and leans back against the bench. “He’s a bit of an asshole, so it’s been kind of nice without him.” He laughs lightly and glances back toward me.
“That’s what I’ve been hearing,” I say. “Do you have any idea who was behind the shooting?”
“It was all such a blur,” Ethan says. “I couldn’t tell you who those guys were.”
“What have people been saying in the office?” I ask.
Ethan slides his hands up and down his knees slightly, rocking back and forth while nodding before he answers. “They’re talking about the Russians. Three of their guys got away…” He trails off.
“Anyone else?”
“Well,” he glances at me and then away again. “One of your guys got away…”
I nod. “Any other suspects?”
“They’re pretty focused on those… two.” he says.
I figured I’d ask Ethan these questions while I met with him. I suspected as much as he’s told me so far. But now it’s time to get to the real reason I wanted to meet with him.
“What do you know about the big bust on that drug and weapons deal?”
Ethan looks up to the sky and rubs his hands together. This is what he was nervous about. Good. It means he has the answer I’m looking for.
“I know,” I continue, “that the tip came from inside the DA’s office.”
“I…” he hesitates. “I thought you already knew. Luca told me to leak the details of the deal to someone in the office.”
Ethan stares ahead of him, looking at the serpent being crushed by the lion. I don’t believe that he thought I already knew. He knew this order didn’t come from me.
“Did Luca say anything else?” I ask.
“I asked him why, but he just hung up.”
