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Conrad Sweeney sat behind his mahogany desk drumming his fingers, staring at the two men seated on the other side. His face was calm, almost blank. His posture was straight. Only the fingers provided a clue to his inner state.
“This cannot continue.”
“I know. None of us saw this coming, Mr. Sweeney.”
“Doctor Sweeney. I’ve been patient. God knows I have. Bad enough to lose in court. Again. But this is a disaster.”
“You’ll bounce back, sir.”
“The kid gets off. Phil goes to jail—which means he’ll never be able to pay me what he owes. He’ll probably be disinherited, so I can’t collect against the estate. This is a catastrophic blow. The biggest loss I’ve taken in my entire career.”
“I know. I know.”
“And worse—Pike knows I’m involved. He used my name in open court. He knows he’s hurt me. He may not know all the details—but given his talent for unraveling secrets, it’s only a matter of time before he figures out the rest. Something has to be done.”
The two men facing him—District Attorney George Belasco and Bradley Ellison—matched his somber expression.
“I tried to keep you out of it,” Ellison said, “when I was testifying. Pike forced my hand.”
“Pike’s not as smart as he thinks he is,” Belasco said. “He’s not in your class. Not even close. He wants to be what you are.”
“Not exactly correct,” Ellison said. “He wants to fix his father’s mistakes.”
Sweeney steepled his fingers, still stoic as a rock. “He blames you.”
“Yes. And now you.”
Sweeney shook his head. “If he only knew.”
“Maybe it’s time he did.”
“I can’t do that. Fun though it might be.”
“Imagine how that would screw him up. He’s built his whole life around the belief that his father was wronged so he’s going to spend the rest of his life playing Zorro.”
“I know, I know. And I’ve let him have his little delusion. Even though we both know better. You testified that his father killed that man—because he did.”
Ellison nodded. “And you know it’s true—because you were there.”
Sweeney turned to Belasco. “Did you bring the folder?”
“Yes.” He opened his briefcase.
“What, no backpack?”
“I’m a lawyer, not a child.” Belasco slid the file across the desk.
Sweeney picked up the file and thumbed through it. “This is good. Very good.” He looked up. “You know I’ve been gathering information against Pike for some time. But waiting. Choosing the moment. I believe the moment has arrived.” He tilted his head slightly. “But I don’t think you’re going to enjoy it very much.”
* * *
Dan rolled over, but the bed was so small that put him halfway on top of Camila.
“What’s that racket?”
She blew hair out of her face. “Someone is at your front door. If you can call it that.”
He immediately tensed.
“Relax, Dan. Murderous thugs don’t knock.”
Sound point. And they would’ve come in the dark. The sun was already rising. “Still weird.” He grabbed a robe. “I’ll see who it is.”
“Right behind you.”
“You don’t need—”
“Just in case you need the Kung Fu mayor to take them out.”
A minute later he was topside. He opened the door—
Detective Kakazu stood outside.
“Jake? Kind of early. What’s going on?”
He glanced at the two officers standing behind him, Enriquez and a cop he didn’t know. “I’m surprised you were sleeping. We’ve been awake all night.”
“That doesn’t explain why you’re bothering us. Look, if this is some crap Belasco put you up to, just take it home and leave me alone.”
The officers looked at one another.
Kakazu drew in his breath. “It does involve Belasco. In a way. He’s dead.”
“What? The district attorney? When? How?”
“We’re just beginning to unpack the details...”
Camila pushed forward. “This is an outrage. I don’t know what you’re doing, but it should have gone through the mayor’s office first.”
“That wasn’t possible in this case, ma’am.”
“And why not?”
“You couldn’t be objective about your...paramour. And this involves you, too. Directly.”
“Stop talking in riddles and tell me what you’re babbling about.”
The men glanced at one another. Kakazu shrugged. “You’re going to find out soon enough. We received this by anonymous email. We’ve already checked to make sure it’s authentic and hasn’t been altered. Our experts say it’s legit.”
“Just get to the point. What is it?”
Kakazu pulled out his phone and played a recording.
It didn’t take long before Dan realized he was listening to his own voice. His and Camila’s.
“There are ways we could deal with the District Attorney.”
“What do you mean?”
“We could have him taken care of.”
“Just off him?”
“If he’s on Sweeney’s payroll, he deserves to be offed.”
“You don’t have to do that.”
“For you, I would do anything.”
“Likewise.”
Kakazu withdrew a folded piece of paper and slapped it into Dan’s hand. “This is a warrant. You’re both under arrest. For the murder of District Attorney George Belasco.”