Page 125 of Nightshade

“Not a thing,” Terranova said. “I read about it in the news.”

“That wasn’t you who called Spivak in the trailer that night?”

“Not me. I never spoke to him one time. Like I said, he was the mayor’s guy, not mine. I had nothing to do with that thing either.”

“Bullshit. They grabbed her because they thought the saw handle was still on the island and not at the lab. That piece of information came from you, so don’t try to claim you’re innocent. The whole thing went down because of you.”

“Well, maybe, maybe not. But if you want to go that way with it, your pal and prosecutor here is part of the chain of guilt. That comes out, I don’t know how the chips will fall.”

Terranova had thoroughly thought out the moves here. Stilwell would be forced to throw Juarez to the wolves if he tried to pursue him for abducting Tash. It was an impossible decision, so he put it to the side for the moment.

“Tell me about Spivak,” Stilwell said. “If this was all the mayor’s play, how did he know him?”

“Far as I know, they went way back,” Terranova said. “The mayor used him before. He was like a bodyguard for hire who was willing to do whatever needed to be done.”

“Including murder?” Stilwell said. “And assaulting a deputy to get into jail to carry out the murder?”

“For the right price, you can get people to do anything,”

Terranova said. “Don’t tell me you don’t know that, Deputy Doo-Dah.”

Terranova stared at him, and Stilwell saw the threat in his eyes. Then Terranova’s face transformed into a smile.

“So we got a deal or what?” Terranova said. He looked at Juarez for an answer.

“What kind of deal are you looking for?” she said. “You’ve committed serious crimes. You can’t expect—”

“I get the golden parachute,” Terranova said. “That’s what I get. No conviction and no jail time, or it’s no deal. You take your best shot at me, and we’ll see how that goes with no witnesses and a… compromised prosecutor.”

That brought a long silence to the room. Stilwell didn’t know if he should respond, because golden parachutes were Juarez’s department.

“We’re going to step out for a moment,” Juarez finally said. “Sit tight, Oscar.”

“I’m not going anywhere,” Terranova said. “Yet.”

Stilwell followed Juarez out. She closed the door to the interview room and they walked several steps down the hall so their whispers could not be heard. Juarez spoke first.

“So, what do you think?” she asked.

“I can’t see him walking away clean,” Stilwell said. “That bothers me.”

“It may be the only way.”

“I don’t like it.”

“Nobodylikesit. But there may be no choice. That recording alone is solid evidence, and he says he has more. We’re talking about a corrupt mayor who had someone killed.”

“And Baby Head’s complicit in all of it.”

“He may be, but he’s holding the high cards and we might not have a choice.”

“Yeah, you happen to be one of those cards.”

“Don’t you think I know that? Don’t worry. As soon as we get through this—if we get through this—I’ll resign and never step into a courtroom again.”

Stilwell moved away for a moment to think and walk off his anger. He forced himself to concentrate on what was at hand, not what had been done in the past. He came back to Juarez.

“Okay,” he said. “What will you do, take him to a grand jury?”