“I was trying to explain, sir.”
“Cut the crap and get to the details or I’ll throw you in jail.”
“Can he do that?” I glance over at my lawyer who shrugs.
“You definitely should answer all of his questions.”
Smirking, I twist the cap off my water and look my opponent in the eye. “I would but he ain’t asked me one yet.”
Andy, poker-faced, loosens his tie. “My client has indicated all night he is more than willing to cooperate. What would you like to know?”
“I want to know what the fuck he was doing shooting at Javier Gomez.”
I feign to look insulted. “You don’t need to cuss. I think I already said but apparently you weren’t listening. Me and my pal Slate drove to Columbus Place after receiving a phone call from a woman who said she needed help. When we got there, we heard her scream so broke down her door. Inside, a man held a gun to her head, so we rescued her and her kid and…”
“Where are they now?”
“Where are whom?” I shift my gaze over to the FBI agent.
“The woman and child?”
I point to the Fed. “You’ll have to ask him. I assume they’ve been taken someplace safe because they –“
“Did you recognize the men?”
“The FBI, sure, we worked-”
“No stupid, the men who attacked.”
“No sir, I never seen them before in my life but if you will allow me to conjecture, I think they worked for Little Tony because she, the woman is called Seraphim. Huh. I never heard the name before exceptin’ maybe in church. The little girl had a weird name too… “
“Mr. Sutcliff. Why were you shooting at the DA?” The sergeant turns a bright shade of red as a muscle in his jaw twitches.
I probably should shorten my speech but, hell, I’m on a roll. “Wahl, in truth, I had no idea it was him. Upstairs, I was just about to call nine-one-one when three men started shouting outside. I didn’t kill no one but I got a right to defend myself, don’t I? And by the way, don’t try to say they announced themselves ’cause I got a bodycam that says differently. The DA is dirty, pal, and y’all got a lot bigger problems than me. And don’t you dare shut me up because I’m not gonna. Y’all picked the wrong person to piss off.”
“Stop right-“
“No sir. I won’t. My wife was out doing her job, supposedly taking a few pictures of a cheating spouse and all of sudden, she’s framed for murder. Want to know why? Because Javier Gomez was meeting with Tony Buonanno Junior and didn’t want no one to know. Now, I’m guessing the mobster shot Adam Biermann because he recognized them and maybe even suggested blackmail. The woman, Seraphim saw it all go down from across the hall which is why she needed rescuing. Of course Gomez didn’t want her talking so when he heard over the airwaves how something was going down on Columbus Place, he immediately went to check it out but he was too late. And that explains why he was shooting at me and I returned fire. However…”
“You lost me.”
“Well, hell man, I told you I wanted to start at the beginning.” I share an exasperated look at Andy who tries not to grin.
Hours later, I am led out of the little room and into a hall where green bills exchange hands.
“Did I do it?” I tug on Andy’s elbow as he puts a stack of money in his wallet.
“Nice doing business with you.” After he finishes shaking hands with the FBI agent, I’m annoyed because despite the big win, I didn’t make a cent.
“You should subtract some of the dough from your hourly fee.” I glance down at his overstuffed folded leather.
“You wish.” He chuckles but it isn’t really funny.
Shit. I need to stop solving NYPD’s cases and focus on our backlog of cheating spouses so I can pay the rent. Damn. For all the commotion me and my partner cause, you’d think we’d have money coming out the wazoo.
Speaking of Sam, all sleepy-eyed and hair mussed, she exits a room down the hall. “Was it a world record?”
Andy nods and Tim Brown grins. “By a whole fifteen minutes.”
She holds out her hand and as my lawyer slides ten Benjamin’s into it, my eyes widen. “What was that for?”
“I guessed how much you would beat your last time by and I was the closest.” She kisses my cheek and as I tuck her close, I raise a brow at Andy.
Now I understand why he made me cut my last few sentences short. Obviously, he wanted her to win.
“Thank you.”
“For what?” Laughing, he walks us out the door and into the yellow light of dawn.
