Clark shook his head. “When somebody calls you after dinner and asks you to come over, it’s a bad idea. See why I don’t want to be your partner?”
“Yes,” I said honestly. However, I was really warming to the idea of starting my own firm, and Clark and I complimented each other. I gave him Aiden’s contact information. “Good luck. I hope you get him to open up.”
My Lady Smith& Wesson was tucked in my overlarge handbag as I knocked on Kelsey’s door. I might be big-hearted, but I wasn’t a moron.
Kelsey opened the door, and her eyes were as red as her nose. “Come in.” She sniffled and ushered me inside the cute living area.
Krissy sat on the sofa with a bag of frozen peas against her right cheek and eye. Her lip was swollen, and her hair crazily messed up. “I’m sorry Kelsey called you, Anna.”
“She’s our attorney,” Kelsey said, going to sit on the sofa and take her sister’s hand. Her sister’s bruised hand—most likely a defensive wound. There were more bruises along her neck and down the arm that I could see, and maybe some of the hair from her temple had been pulled out?
My ears heated, and my lungs flared even hotter. “Did Pucci do this?” I set my purse down and moved toward her for a better look.
She nodded wearily and then winced before rubbing her neck. “We got into a fight. It was just as much my fault as his.”
Somehow I doubted that. “Listen. We have to call the police on this.”
Kelsey looked toward her sister.
Krissy shook her head. “No. I hit him, as well. They’d have to arrest us both, and we have too much going on. I wouldn’t press charges, anyway.”
Kelsey cuddled closer to her sister. “Maybe I shouldn’t have called. Are you required to notify the police, Anna?”
Man, I wished I were required by law to notify the authorities. “No. I have to notify the police if I know of a crime being committed right now or one that’s going to be committed in the future.” Although, if Pucci had hit her once, he’d hit her again, so theoretically I believed there was a crime coming. But that didn’t quite fit the requirements. “Although my professional advice to you is to call the cops on that bastard.”
“What’s your personal advice?” Krissy cracked a smile, and blood slid from her lip.
“To shoot him,” I said, smiling back and dropping into a chair. “Seriously. Let’s get him locked up and move on. I can help you.” I had Detective Pierce on speed-dial and would be more than happy to have him cuff Pucci for good. After so many felonies, he would serve plenty of time, and there was no way I’d represent him again. Ever.
“No,” Krissy said, holding her sister’s hand. “I fought him, and he’s hurting right now, too. We had too much to drink and started fighting about everything, and we both got out of hand. It’s the truth.” She lowered the frozen peas.
I winced. “That’s going to be a glorious shiner.” Wow. Under her eye and atop her sharp cheekbone, the skin was already turning a light purple. It’d been a deep amethyst by the morning.
“I’ll keep ice on it,” Krissy said, gingerly touching the bruise.
Kelsey’s eyes widened. “Oh, no. We’re supposed to testify tomorrow.”
I reared back. “You two can’t be considering testifying for him tomorrow after this. He hit you in the face, Krissy.”
She straightened her shoulders and met my gaze head on. “I’m well aware of what he did. But I’m on the witness list, and I was present the night he was arrested, so either way I’m going to testify.”
The woman had a point. If I decided not to call either Krissy or Kelsey to the stand, then the prosecution would wonder why and track them down. Not that they’d work with Alice. “Listen. If I choose not to call you two, then I still have two of Rich’s guys who can take the stand and testify for him.” Although I’d said in my opening statement that Krissy had been assaulted, and if she didn’t testify about it, I couldn’t get it into evidence. “Did Rich see that guy grab you?”
Krissy shook her head. “No. I told him.”
It’d be hearsay, then. I sat back, my mind spinning. “Let me think this through.”
Krissy set the peas to her face again. “No. It’s a done deal. I’m going to plaster makeup on tomorrow, and then I’m going to testify like I promised. That moron in the bar really did clamp onto my butt, and he deserved to be punched by Rich. That’s the truth.” Her good eye glowed with determination.
I believed her. But I also thought Pucci had worn a gun in his ankle holster that night, although everyone was denying that still. “You might get him off this charge, Krissy. Are you sure you want to do that?” Putting him away seemed to be best for her.
She sighed and shut her eyes. “I love him. It doesn’t make sense, but I think we can work things out.”
As if on cue, her phone rang. She looked down. “It’s Rich.” Then she held the phone to her head. “Hello?” She shifted on the sofa. “Yeah. I know. Me too.” She blinked and a tear slid down her face. “I know. Why don’t you come here?” Then she giggled. “Okay. That sounds good.” She set the phone down. “We’ve made up. Or we’re going to make up, anyway.”
I didn’t want to be there when Pucci arrived, because I might just lose it. Helping a guy like Pucci was something I’d never wanted to do. I wondered what it would take for Nick to hire me back so I could put jerks like Rich Pucci into prison. That guy deserved prison. “Are you sure it’s a good idea to see him tonight?” I asked.
Krissy rubbed one of the bruises. “I need him here. It’ll be better if we’re on the same page tomorrow, right?”
