Стюарт Вудс - Barely Legal

“Good.”

“Good?”

“Then it’s sure to show up in his blood test.”

Stone went upstairs to the guest room. Herbie, dressed in Stone’s pajamas, was sitting up in bed. He looked up with tear-stained eyes.

“I didn’t do it.”

“I know.”

“You do?”

“Of course I do. No one thinks you did it.”

“The police do.”

“I strongly suspect they’ll come around to my view.”

“This is all my fault.”

“No, it isn’t.”

“Yes, it is. I was stupid and arrogant. I provoked a mob boss in open court.”

“You don’t know that’s why this happened.”

“Oh? What do you think? I accused a detective of being dirty. The detective is dirty. You think he takes that lying down? You think Taperelli doesn’t seek revenge? And I didn’t even warn Yvette. I didn’t say, hey, I’m treading on dangerous ground in court, we have to be careful, we have to look out. I just assumed everything would be fine.” Herbie shuddered, shook his head. “Oh, God. I don’t know how you come back from something like this.”

“I know,” Stone said gently.

Herbie looked at him. “That’s right. You’ve been through it with Arrington. How’d you cope? How did you get through it?”

The love of Stone’s life and the mother of his son had been killed shortly after they had been reunited and finally gotten married.

“It was hard. But I had to be strong for my son.”

“Right. For Peter. You had to be strong for him.”

“Yes,” Stone said. He didn’t know what to say next. Herbie didn’t have anyone like that. Herbie didn’t have anyone at all, just his work.

“Oh shit, the case! I’m supposed to be in court today!” Herbie lunged unsteadily out of bed.

Stone caught Herbie as he nearly fell, shoving him back onto the bed. “It’s all right. I got an adjournment.”

“The judge never gave me one.”

“No. It took something dramatic.”

“What did they tell the jury?”

“Nothing. That doesn’t mean they won’t hear.”

“And I’m supposed to stand up in court tomorrow morning as if nothing was wrong?”

“Unless you want to duck out. The judge issued a bench warrant. You’d be fleeing the jurisdiction of the court.”

“Big deal. I’m already accused of murder.”

“The charge won’t stick. Dino’s working on it now.”

“Personally?”

“He feels bad. He wants to help.”

“Nothing helps.”

“I know.”

Stone’s cell phone rang on his way downstairs. He tugged it out of his pocket. “Hello?”

“Stone Barrington?”

“Yes.”

“You’re Herb Fisher’s lawyer?”

“Yes, I am.”

“He’s really accused of murder?”

“Excuse me. Who are you?”

“Oh. I’m Melanie Porter. David’s sister.”

“David?”

“David Ross. Herb’s his lawyer. What happened?”

“I can’t tell you.”

“You don’t know?”

“You’re an anonymous voice on the phone. You could be a clever reporter, for all I know.”

“Let me speak to Herb.”

“I don’t know where he is.”

“You don’t know where he is?”

“No, but if I hear from him, I’ll pass along the message.”

Stone clicked the phone off and went back up to Herbie.

“You know a Melanie Porter?”

Herbie reacted to the name. Stone couldn’t put his finger on the emotion, but it was a clear response.

“What about her?”

“You know her?”

“Barely. She’s my client’s sister.”

“She called me, looking for you.”

“What did you tell her?”

“Nothing. I wanted to check with you to make sure she’s legit, not some reporter or cop trying to ferret you out. No one knows you’re staying here. You’re ducking a warrant, if you’ll recall.”

“She’s fine. Tell her whatever you want.”

“She seemed concerned.”

“So am I.”

Stone went back down and sat at his desk, thinking. He’d managed to put his finger on Herbie’s reaction. Embarrassment. Then guilt. He liked the girl. The thought of her flustered him.

Stone took out his cell phone and called Melanie Porter back. “Hello, Melanie? I managed to locate Herb Fisher. Would you like to see him?”

Tommy Taperelli’s secretary knocked on the door. “Detective Kelly’s here to see you.”

Taperelli frowned. “Are you kidding me?”

“No, sir. He doesn’t have an appointment, but he’s most insistent.”

“Is there anyone else in the outer office?”

“No.”

“Good. Show him in.”

Taperelli scowled as Kelly came in. “You’ve got a lot of nerve coming here. A lawyer stood up in court and accused you of being on my payroll. It’s not the brightest time to pay me a call.”

“You expect me to just sit there and take it?”

“I expect you to respect the conventions. You don’t call on me, I don’t call on you. No one puts anyone’s job in jeopardy. You want to end your career in a police corruption scandal? Kind of a cushy job to be throwing out the window. Of course, some of those minimum security prisons are quite nice. I’m sure you’ll be very comfortable.”

“No one saw me come in.”

“That you know of. With that asshole lawyer making allegations in court, who knows who might be lurking around. A cop, or maybe a pain-in-the-ass reporter, which would almost be worse, some investigative journalist trying to make a name for himself. They’ll stick to you like glue.”

“I’m a cop, I know when I’m being watched. No one saw me.”

“What’s so all-fired important you had to see me in person?”

“I could use a little help. I’m on the witness stand all alone with people sniping at me. I’m giving all the right answers, but the questions are getting harder, and they’re asking about you. The judge knocked that down, but it doesn’t matter, it means they’re on the right track. It’s a little late to do something, but, lo and behold, the kid’s lawyer disappears. The lawyer simply doesn’t show up. The judge issues a bench warrant, and the lawyer still doesn’t show up.”

“So?”

“Did you kill the lawyer?”

“Oh, for Christ’s sake!”

“Did you?”

“No, I didn’t kill the fucking lawyer. Jesus Christ, if I did kill the lawyer, would you want to know?”

“No.”

“But you’re here asking.”

“I gotta know how deep the shit is I’m getting in.”

“I had nothing to do with the lawyer disappearing.”

“Yeah, well, I’m still on the stand. Now they’ll be asking about that.”

“It’s got nothing to do with you.”

“Oh, like that’s going to satisfy them.”

“It’s got nothing to do with me. I don’t know what happened, but it wasn’t us.”

“Of course not.”

“I mean it. I had nothing to do with it, I know nothing about it. The same goes for you. You answer the questions that way, no one can touch you. Now get out of here before someone comes in. I don’t want you meeting anyone in the waiting room.”

When Detective Kelly was gone, Taperelli started thinking. He had nothing to do with Herbie’s disappearance. He could say that with complete assurance. But he couldn’t be so sure that it had nothing to do with Detective Kelly. He was handling this case for Jules Kenworth because he was Jules Kenworth’s right-hand man. But if Kenworth didn’t think he was doing the job adequately, Kenworth wasn’t above getting someone else.

Taperelli called Mookie. “Did you find the girl?”

“Her name is Melanie Porter. According to her doorman, she works at Cornell Hospital. We followed her there earlier. Chico’s sitting on her now.”