Page 34 of NYPD Red 7: The Murder Sorority

“And that’s all?”

He shook his head. “No. I said, ‘And if I were you, the very first door I would knock on would belong to Warren and Curtis Hellman.’”

CHAPTER 23

Travis lived on WestForty-FifthStreet just east of Eleventh Avenue, which meant we’d be crossing Manhattan at rush hour.

Kylie tossed me the car keys. “Take the tunnel. The bridge will be a parking lot.”

At any other time, I would have said, “So you trust me to drive, but you’re not sure I can figure out the best way to get there.” But I gave her a pass. As soon as we were in the car, she was on the phone checking on Shane.

I got snippets of his progress along the way. He was in stable condition. Cheryl was at the hospital. His mother couldn’t fly in from Texas, because she was recovering from hip surgery, but everyone at her church was praying for him. I also picked up something that wasn’t said out loud but was abundantly clear.

Kylie was in love.

It was a little after five p.m. when I pulled up to Travis’s apartment building.

“That’s him. That’s him,” Kylie said, pointing at a man standing at the curb, two suitcases at his feet, tapping away on his cell phone. “Pull over.”

I did as directed, and we got out of the car.

“Travis. Yo, Travis!” she yelled.

He lifted his head, and his face erupted with joy. “K-Mac!” he said, spreading his arms wide.

Kylie was just as happy to see him, and they sealed the reunion with a hug.

“You look fantastic,” Travis said. “How is Spence?”

Kylie had kept the sudden disappearance of her husband under wraps, and even if Travis was someone she might be willing to share the news with, this wasn’t the time.

“Oh, you know Spence,” she said. “Crazy as ever.” She pointed to the suitcases. “You skipping town?”

“Better than that,” Travis said. “I’m skipping the entire hemisphere. I’m flying to Sydney. At least, that was the plan. But my Uber driver just called to say he got a flat, and now I’m trying to scrounge up another ride to Newark Airport.”

“You won’t get one at this hour,” Kylie said. “But if you’re willing to sit in the back of a cop car, we’ll take you.”

“Are you shitting me?” Travis said. “Don’t answer that. I’d rather accept your magnanimous offer before you change your mind.” He picked up both bags and then hesitated. “Wait... You’re the poster girl for maverick cops. How many laws are we breaking here?”

“That was fiction,” Kylie said. “In real life I’m a paragon of virtue. We’re here on business. We came to talk to you, but since you don’t have time, we can get it done while we drive to Newark.”

Travis gave me a dubious look, set his bags down, and extended his hand. “Travis Wilkins,” he said. “Old friend ofK-Mac. Is she on the level?”

“Zach Jordan.K-Mac’s silent partner,” I said, shaking his hand. “She definitely pushed the envelope with thatparagon-of-virtuebullshit, but as long as we don’t accept any gratuities, your ride to the airport will be blessed by the department.”

I chucked Kylie the car keys and picked up one of Travis’s bags, and he grabbed the other.

“What’s in Sydney?” Kylie said as soon as we were in the car.

“My girlfriend, Brianna, is an actress. She landed a job as a series regular on an Australian TV show. She showed her producers some of my work, they liked it, and they hired me as a staff writer for thirteen episodes. I won’t be back till January.”

“What about Theo?”

“Theo’s eighteen. He’s going off to college at the end of next month. He’ll be fine. He doesn’t need his old man telling him what to do or how to do it. Now can we get back to the part where you’re here on business? What do you want to talk to me about?”

“A few months ago, you pitched an idea for a TV series to Shelley Trager.”

“I did?”