Page 48 of Nightshade

AFTER COMPLETING HIS testimony before the grand jury, Stilwell stepped into the hallway on the third floor of the Criminal Courts Building and saw Oscar Terranova sitting on a bench with a man he assumed was his attorney. Juarez followed Stilwell out after addressing the jurors about the next witness. She held the door open and waved to Terranova.

“Oscar,” she said. “It’s time.”

Terranova was wearing a pin-striped suit and tie. He stood up, but his lawyer didn’t. The attorney was not allowed in the grand jury room. Terranova headed toward Juarez while buttoning his suit jacket. The suit was sleek and expensive, but to Stilwell he still looked like a gangster.

“You did good, Stil,” Juarez said. “You prepped them for the main attraction.”

“It shouldn’t be that way,” he said. “He should go down with the mayor.”

Juarez ignored that. “I’ll call you when we get the indictment.”

“I’ll be ready.”

Terranova reached them and stopped.

“Ready for what?” he asked.

“None of your business,” Stilwell said.

Terranova smiled glibly and assessed Stilwell with his eyes. He adjusted his tie.

“It kills you, doesn’t it?” he said. “The deal I got.”

“No, Baby Head, it doesn’t kill me,” Stilwell said. “I know there will be a next time. A guy like you, there’s always a next—”

“Oscar,” Juarez interrupted. “Let’s go in. They’re waiting.”

Terranova smirked and walked past Stilwell and through the door. He would tell sixteen strangers about how his life of crime had resulted in two of his associates being killed, an innocent woman being traumatized, and a buffalo getting beheaded.

“Go, Stil,” Juarez said. “I’ll call you with the news.”