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Eddie

Kate and I took a moment.

We stood in the hallway outside the courtroom, watching our client holding his wife. They cried hard. It was a mix of so much pain being released and so much joy at a life returned. Alison would need counseling, and Kate had already told her she would help arrange it. None of this was their fault. A monster had found its way into their home. It was no one’s fault but Ruby’s. The agony of what they had been through together would only deepen their love for each other. Detective Chase had agreed to visit John’s hospital and speak to the director – get our guy his job back, any salary for the time he had missed work and an apology. In exchange, I agreed that John wouldn’t sue the NYPD.

I hadn’t told this to Al Parish yet. He was standing beside his army of associates as they patted him on the back and applauded him for a job well done. There would be no applause when I told him John wasn’t going to sue the police. Al had made enough money out of John. I made a mental note to send Harold Washington III a new pair of jeans. I still felt a little bad about ripping a hole in his expensive pair.

I beckoned Al over.

‘Thank you so much, Eddie. Kate, you were wonderful,’ said Al.

‘I need one more favor, Al,’ I said.

‘Anything.’

‘There’s a lady called Maura who is going to send you her résumé. She’s a secretary, a damn good one. Hire her.’

‘Do you know her?’

‘Not really. She used to work for Castro, but she quit. Couldn’t stand him.’

‘If you don’t know her, then why are you going out on a limb for her?’

‘Because that’s what people do, Al. Everyone needs a little help from a stranger.’

The elevators chimed and two people came out of it. Bloch and Castro. They weren’t talking. I think Castro was still a little sore about everything and Bloch didn’t talk.

Al and his associates left with John and Alison.

I still had business to attend to.

It was Castro who came up to us first.

‘Ruby is in custody,’ he said.

‘Good. Detective Chase is better than I thought. I got one more favor to ask. Get Althea out of jail today, and get her family documented. It’s the least you can do. And it’s good for PR. And it might help prevent Althea from suing the city.’

‘I hate you, Flynn. You know that, right?’

‘You’re joining an already sizeable group of like-minded people.’

He turned his back on me, walked away.

I asked Bloch, ‘You get my text message?’

She nodded, put her hand in her jeans and came out with a pack of Juicy Fruit.

‘I checked your car too. Like you asked. No devices anywhere. Even checked the fuel tank,’ she said, and then gave me the keys.

‘You top up the windshield wash and polish it too?’

Bloch raised an eyebrow.

I checked my watch. It was coming up on midday.

‘I’ve got to go. Kate, can I borrow a page from your legal pad?’

She looked at me strangely.

‘You mean you actually want to write something down? This is new.’

She tore off a page, handed me one of her pens.

‘Stay here,’ I said, and ran for the elevator.

On the way down I scrawled five words on the page. Big letters.

I chewed gum.

Checked my watch.

11.58 a.m.

The elevator doors opened in the lobby and I ran for the exit. It was a wall of reinforced glass. Two large panes on either side of the double exit doors.

A few people were filing out of the building ahead of me.

The sun was coming through the glass, bathing the faded tile lobby in golden light. I stood in that light for a moment. Breathing hard, but not from the run. From the adrenalin.

My fist clenched. Jaw tight.

I walked up to the solid pane of glass and stood in front of it. Then took the gum out of my mouth, set it in the middle of the page and slammed it onto the glass.

The page stuck.

I turned on my heel and walked away, toward the coffee shop on the ground floor.

I needed coffee. It would be another long day.

Tonight, I had to meet Buchanan. Had to straighten things out with New York’s Finest.

Either I would walk away tonight, or a few days later a paramedic would carry me out in a body bag.

Nothing I could do about it.

I had to end this. One way or another.