AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Nothing will come between us,” I say. “Not Castille, not Nicoletti or our jobs or anything else. We’ll always find a way to be together. We’ll find a way to make things work.”
He squeezes my hand and smiles gently.
* * *
It’s hard to pull myself away from Mateo and go back to work. Even if I hadn’t met him, I would still have trouble being as excited about my job as I used to be. Working with Nicoletti has been frustrating. I thought this would be a dream job. I worked so hard to get here. But of course, nothing is everything you’d think it will be.
Nicoletti is getting harder to be around, too. He’s gone from just generally gruff to acting in ways that have me my questioning his sanity. The way he’s almost completely ignored his daughter’s disappearance. The way he continues to taunt the crime families of Philadelphia, even when he seems to think they’re behind the attack on the courthouse. The way he’s begun to flout ethics and violate his own citizens’ privacy. I used to think he was just passionate about the law, but now, I can’t discern his motivations at all.
And now that I know Castille is possibly even more unhinged, it makes me question whether I want to work for any District Attorney in the future.
I’m working at my desk when Ethan Pace sits down at his own, just across from mine.
“Oh shit,” he says pressing his palm to his forehead.
I look up from my computer.
He looks at his watch and then back at me. “I’ve got a really important call right now, but I just left my notepad in the meeting room.” Ethan’s desk phone starts to ring. “That’s my call. Would you mind running and getting my notepad for me?”
“Sure,” I say. I recognize this is an odd request, but I’m not busy right now and his phone is ringing.
“It’s in Meeting Room B,” he says as I lock my computer. He picks up his phone. “Ethan Pace,” he answers. “Thank you,”he mouths at me over the phone.
If it were anyone else in the office, I probably would have said ‘no.’ Too many guys in the office think by default that the women around here should be the ones taking notes in meetings or running little errands. But Ethan has never been that way before. He actually seemed thankful. Plus, I’m so distracted from my work today that I’m glad for an excuse to get up and go for a little walk.
I go into Meeting Room B and see Ethan’s notepad sitting at the far end of the large conference table. There’s nothing else on the table, and it makes me wonder how he could have possibly forgotten it.
As soon as I pick up the notepad, I hear voices coming from the room next door. I recognize Nicoletti’s voice coming from the next meeting room. He sounds angry.
I lean my head against the wall. He’s speaking so loudly I can easily hear what he’s saying.
“That’s not the point!” He’s hissing. “It’s been weeks since the attack. You know how many fucking strings I’ve had to pull with the NSA? They’re breathing down my neck for results.”
I press my ear harder against the wall. Nobody’s talking. Like Nicoletti is waiting for a response.
Then I hear Blaine responding to him. His voice is quieter. It’s harder to hear what he is saying, but I can still make it out.
“What if…” he says slowly, hesitating. “We take in one of the Italian guys? I saw one of them at the courthouse the day of the attack.”
My heart skips a beat. I can’t believe what I’m hearing. I want to scream to try and stop the conversation from going any further.
“How high up?” Nicoletti asks. He’s no longer yelling.
“High,” Blaine replies. “He wasn’t just a nobody. He had a driver with him.”
There’s a long pause. My heart is racing now.
Then Nicoletti speaks. “Would you… be willing to testify… that he was the one who shot you?”
“Yes,” Blaine replies.
I can’t believe what I’m hearing. I always thought he was a creep, but more or less harmless when it came to it. I was so wrong. I hate him so much, I would shoot him myself right now.
“We would owe you. Big time,” Nicoletti says. I can just see him clapping Blaine on the shoulder and shaking his hand the way he does.
“I can do it,” Blaine assures him.
“That’s enough for an arrest. You get the PD to take him in. I’ll handle the statements.”
