A Murder of Justice

EIGHTEEN

Skeeter had insurance?” Jose scoffed. “Didn’t get his money’s worth.”

“Maybe he didn’t keep up the premiums.”

“Names?”

“I asked Waverly who he heard it from-”

“Yeah?”

“He heard two guys he didn’t know jiving about it while they were looking for a watch.”

“And the eyes business?”

“Same guys… ‘eyes on you and Detective Phelps.’ ”

“He’d recognize them if he saw them again?”

Frank shook his head. “Two black males, late twenties, early thirties. Medium build. Shorter than Waverly.”

“Big help.” Jose tilted back in his chair and gazed out the window. The Weather Channel had predicted rain. Not a cloud in the sky. His eyes came back to Frank. “They had our names? I mean, Waverly said…?”

“Yeah, he did. He said they said our names-Kearney and Phelps.”

The two men sat thinking about it, neither moving. Finally Jose broke the silence. “Two calls this morning. Salvani and Gideon.”

“Oh?”

“Salvani wasn’t happy.”

“Unh-hunh?”

“He talked with Congressman Rhinelander.”

“And?”

“Just that the congressman didn’t want us digging in the subcommittee files, and was talking about calling Emerson about us.”

“Oh, shit.”

Emerson’s face… first, the wide eyes as he realized he really had heard what he thought he’d heard. Then the shattered look of disbelief. Finally the angry flush of betrayal. Get yelled at by Chief Day or, God forbid, the mayor.

“Salvani said he did some damage control.”

“Oh? Rhinelander just going to shoot us outright? No drawing and quartering?”

“We got a command performance with the congressman today.”

“We? You and me?”

“Yeah. I figure we’re gonna get a lecture, but we’ll get in. Otherwise Rhinelander’d be talking with Emerson.”

“Time?”

“TBD…” Jose said. “Sometime this afternoon.”

“Gideon…?”

“He wants us to drop by.”

“He didn’t say why?”

Jose shook his head. “Maybe he and Waverly been listening in on the same party line.”

“Why don’t you take that? I want to do a little digging on Congressman Rhinelander.”

“Where you going to dig?”

“The Dragon Lady,” Frank said, reaching for the phone.

Jose nodded. He stood and gathered his cell phone and pager. He got the look of a man who had remembered something.

“Frank…?”

Phone at his ear, Frank looked up.

“Those guys with our names… they said Kearney and Phelps?”

“That’s what Waverly said.”

Jose smiled. “Tell me, brother, how’d you get top billing?”