Chapter 10 #2
“Fuck you, Hudson,” he snarled. Five seconds passed.
“Delgado threatened my family. He had pictures and knew everything about their schedules. Even worse, I think someone spent time in my house. There was nothing missing but you know that feeling when sense your space had been invaded? There was a strange odor after we came back from a couple days at the beach. Nothing too distinct and my wife was certain something had gone bad in the refrigerator.”
I turned to face him after hearing the haunted tone in his voice.
“I noticed a few things like a book was turned upside down in the bookcase in my office. A piece of paper on the floor when I know I didn’t leave it there.
A photograph had been moved. I could tell because of the dust.” He laughed, the sound even more strangled than before.
“I didn’t tell my wife because I was supposed to dust the cabinet before we left.
Anyway, I didn’t tell her about anything.
Then the pictures turned up on my computer, including where we stayed at the beach.
The last straw was the smell. It kept getting worse. ”
Without him telling me, I already knew what he’d found, but I allowed him to tell the story.
“Thank God my wife was out getting groceries or we wouldn’t be living in the same house. There was a rat in the pantry in a box. And no, it wasn’t just any rat as in we had a rodent problem. It had been beheaded.”
He stopped talking and since I knew him fairly well, I was surprised to see how rattled he was.
However, threats from organized crime were nothing to be taken lightly.
And I did believe him. With Delgado being suspected in several horrific acts of violence, including against the mayor and her family, the man had every reason to be afraid.
There was nowhere else to go at this point. If the attorney general was corrupt then the case was dead and buried, never to be resurfaced again. And I had my doubts even with a witness that Jacob Jones would ever face another day behind bars.
That’s because Valentina would never make it inside a courtroom alive.
I did little more than glare at him. He wasn’t finished yet. What the hell was going on with the system we were all supposed to trust? Corruption at its highest level.
“There’s more,” he finally admitted.
“How much more shit could there be?”
He almost laughed as if any of this was funny in the least. “You were right. The list was leaked.”
I cocked my head, studying him as if he were on the stand fighting for his freedom. “What the fuck?” The words were little more than a growl.
“I swear to God, I don’t know how it happened but—”
Without allowing the bastard to finish, I lost it.
All control. All sense of reality. All sense of doing the right thing.
I slammed him against the wall with enough force his beloved picture of him flying some goddamn plane fell from the wall, the glass shattering.
I didn’t hesitate to wrap my hand around his throat. “You motherfucking son of a bitch.”
Dan’s eyes opened wide mainly because he’d never seen me lose control. Not once during our limited friendship. This time I had a damn good reason. So I squeezed his neck, fighting with that very anger to keep from snapping it.
“Please.”
“Please what? Allow you to live?” Something snapped back into place in my mind and I let him go, turning away out of disgust, not embarrassment. “I cannot believe you allowed that to happen.”
“Do you… think I… wanted to expose those people?” His strangled cough annoyed the hell out of me.
“At this point, I have no clue what you wanted, but it’s painfully obvious you were going to let the chips fall without interference.
Do you know what that means, Dan?” I raked both hands through my hair before shifting so I could see his face.
He damn well better have shame as an expression or I might finish the job I started.
“That means about two dozen people might suddenly turn up dead. If one of them does, you’re to blame.
It’s your office. You’ll have blood on your hands. ”
His look shifted to exasperation. “Don’t you think I know that? Don’t you know I’ve lost sleep? I’ve tried to figure out who the hell would do that? You know me, Hudson. This isn’t anything I’m taking lightly.”
A full minute passed before I could even stomach making a reply. “I used to know you, Dan. Not any longer.”
“At least you can rest easy. Your name wasn’t on the list.”
“Well, how fabulous for me and no one else. Christ. I hope to fuck you did put the fear of God into those people. They need to watch their backs.”
“Yeah, they know.”
“About your incompetence or just that he’s free?”
When he didn’t answer, that became a clear indication they weren’t provided with a full scope of what they could expect.
“I’m going to give you a piece of advice just like I offered to one of your attorneys. You should take a leave of absence, Dan. I think that will do you some good.” What he didn’t know was part of the reason I wanted him out of my face was so I didn’t find the need to finish snapping his neck.
“There are too many outstanding cases for me to be able to do that.” He tried to smile while beads of sweat rolled down both sides of his face. “Plus, I will find the leak.”
“Uh-huh. Excuse me if I’m having some difficulty believing anything you say. Besides, I think you have several qualified people in your office. Don’t you?” If he wouldn’t do his job, I’d do it for him.
He narrowed his eyes. “What are you planning on doing?”
“Nothing. If my family had been threatened, I’d need some time to regroup. That’s all I’m saying.”
His sigh was heavy and he looked away. “Maybe you’re right. I have some vacation time stored up. I could use a few days to try and get this shit off my mind. I can still work on finding the leak so he or she can be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”
I swear to God, I almost laughed in his face. At this point, what in the hell would the law do for all the people in danger?
“You do what you need to do, Dan. So will I.”
I could tell he knew better than to challenge me at this point.
“Things used to be easier when we started out, eh, buddy?”
I half laughed. The sound was bitter. “That was a lifetime ago, Dan. Things have changed.” People had succumbed to temptation and had strayed from the path of righteousness.
It was a tale as old as time. Palms could be greased, people choosing to look the other way.
Or blackmailed or threatened into succumbing.
Only the strongest survived.
“I’m going to make a promise to you, Dan. If I find out you had anything to do with the list of names being leaked, I will have you up on federal charges. And as you know. I am a man of my word.”
“I had nothing to do with it. I swear to God.”
He threw out his hand and for some reason, I took a second before accepting the gesture. It was nothing against him. Now I better understood what had occurred and why. He was simply trying to protect his family.
I would do the same.
Only I’d do it in my way.
“Maybe we could grab a beer sometime like me used to. Hell, we’re at the point of being able to talk about old times.
” His laugh was hollow. We were faking it.
In truth, it was obvious we’d never really been friends in the first place.
Was he kidding me? Did he actually think this was just another day at the office?
Why bother contesting?
“Yeah, we can try and do that.” We both knew we wouldn’t. At this point remembering the past would be painful.
We were no longer those men.
Soon, I’d be less of the man who’d left law school determined to take the world by storm. The one who believed in right and wrong, never to cross the line.
As soon as I was out of the building, I yanked out my cellphone, dialing Chase.
“What’s up, buddy?” he asked.
“Are you working a case?”
“For the love of God, it is Sunday, buddy. Every so often I get a few days off. What do you need?”
“How about a cup of coffee.”
He snorted. “That’s not like you. What the hell is going on?”
“Remember what you mentioned last night?”
“Yeah…” He elongated the word. “What about it?”
“I need to hear a few more ideas and to float something past you. There are some extenuating issues with the Jacob Jones case that need… handling.” For some reason, I glanced over my shoulder as I headed to my car.
It wasn’t as if I gave a shit if I was being watched.
Let the motherfuckers come at me. I would do what was necessary.
“Why the sudden interest? You’re not going to give me any details?”
“Not yet. Just know the conversation is more about the woman who witnessed the crime. She’s in danger and there’s more. But I don’t think it’s wise to talk about it on the phone.”
“Wow. Now, you have me curious,” he chortled. “I know a perfect place. But you might need to have something stronger than coffee.”
“That I can do. After all, it is Sunday.”