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He hurried over as I got out of the Gladiator.
“Damn it, Cooper! I told you that River Vista is off-limits. You’re lucky I took the call.”
“From who?”
“What?”
I tried to calm down. “Who called you?”
“Someone called nine-one-one and reported you trespassing at River Vista.”
“Who?”
“They didn’t leave a name.”
I shook my head, knowing it had been one of the guys by the road. “Why?”
“Why what?” He was confused.
“Why do you think O’Toole and Senator Wilcox want it off-limits for the Iron Wolves?”
“I don’t know.”
“Mickey Pitts is dead.”
Bartlett didn’t follow the shift right away. “What?”
“Mickey Pitts was killed in prison overnight,” I said.
Bartlett blinked as he absorbed that. “I don’t understand.”
At least he was willing to admit that. It was the leaders who would never admit they were wrong or didn’t know something that could get you killed. Was there hope for him?
“I figure Pete OneTree put out the word to the Wolves in prison to take Mickey out. I suspect he, or more likely, one of his people killed Jim Pitts by running him off the road.”
“Why?”
“To shut them up.” I quickly briefed him on what George had told me about the Wolves-Cleve-Wilcox triangle of money laundering. Before I was done, Bartlett was shaking his head.
“That’s a pretty outrageous accusation,” he said when I finished. “I told you River Vista is off-limits. If O’Toole finds out, He’ll fire you.”
“Don’t worry,” I lied. “I won’t be going back.”
“Good.”
I was definitely going back there. I waited to see if there would be anything further.
There wasn’t. He walked inside the station and my phone buzzed, a text from Liz, the one good thing in my life:
DON’T FREAK OUT.
I closed my eyes. So much for one good thing. OKAY.
It took a few second before she replied.
I BOUGHT A HOUSE.
I blinked, much like Bartlett when I’d told him George’s thoughts. So much for the blue bedroom. I took a few moments to compose myself. CONGRATULATIONS
