NYPD Red 6 - James Patterson Page 0,40

I called my mother, but—”

“No buts! I don’t want excuses. I want my money. Now!”

“I’m trying. I left messages. She just hasn’t called me back yet.”

“I’m trying. I left messages. She just hasn’t called me back yet,” Dodd said in a high-pitched nasal voice. “Your wife is listening to this, Jamie. You should see the look on her face.”

“Tell her I’m sorry. As soon as my mother knows about the baby, I’m sure she’ll help.”

“Listen, asshole,” Dodd said, “your mother knows about the baby. By now, the whole damn world knows about the baby.”

“You’re right. I know she’ll come up with the money. All I need is a little time to convince her.”

“You better convince her fast, because a little time is all you’re going to get—very little. You tell her that the longer she makes me wait, the angrier I get. And if she ever wants to see this baby, she better cough up the money, or she’s going to force me to do something I don’t want to do.”

The phone went dead.

“Disconnect,” the tech said.

A second phone on his console rang. “Hold on. It’s Benny with a trace.” He scribbled something on a piece of paper. “It’s a number right here in the city. Let me see who it belongs to.”

Kylie picked up the paper as he typed the number into the system.

“Don’t bother,” she said. “I know the number.”

We all looked at her.

“The son of a bitch routed the call through my cell phone.”

CHAPTER 36

LESS THAN FORTY-EIGHT hours after her wedding, Mrs. Jamie Gibbs picked up her coffee mug, flung it at the stone fireplace, and cursed out her new husband. “Asshole,” she screamed as glass shards scattered across the living-room rug.

“Hey,” Bobby said. “Take it easy. It’s the maid’s day off.”

She wheeled around and gave him the finger. “That hag has half a billion dollars, but she hates me so much that she won’t pay a nickel to save her own grandchild.”

“I guess you picked the wrong mother-in-law. Don’t worry. Jamie will come up with the money.”

“Jamie? I’m more pissed at him than I am at her.”

Dodd grinned. “So then I guess the honeymoon is over.”

“Screw you,” she said, both middle fingers in the air this time. “Jamie is a people pleaser. He’ll tell you whatever he thinks you want to hear. He’s really good at making promises. But ask me if he delivers.”

“I’m gathering he doesn’t.”

“Not when he has to go through her. He’s like an indentured servant. You heard what he said. She just hasn’t called me back yet. What man waits for a return phone call when his wife’s life is on the line? Why isn’t he pounding on Veronica’s front door with a baseball bat demanding that she help?”

“Why did you marry him?” Bobby said.

She plopped down on the sofa and gave him the finger yet again, but this time she didn’t put any heart into it.

“Come on, Erin,” Bobby said, trying to keep it playful. “Everybody knows why you married him. He’s rich. No shame in that.”

“He’s not rich. She is. He may be heir to the throne but as long as she’s the queen, all he gets is an allowance.” She picked up the Daily News and waved it in his face. “Millions of people are praying for me, but not Veronica Gibbs. She’s praying that you kill me.”

“You know I’m not going to hurt you,” Bobby said.

“You say that now. But what happens tomorrow or the next day or the day after that when you finally realize Jamie can’t come up with the money?” She put her hands to her face and started to sob.

Bobby leaned over and tried to put his arm around her, but she shrugged him off. “Don’t touch me,” she said. She stood up and stormed off to her room.

Bobby didn’t know what to say. The two of them had had such a great morning. It was like a dream come true. First the sex in the shower, then they got dressed and had breakfast together. She passed on the croissants, but he’d stocked the fridge with yogurt, and even though he’d bought the wrong kind, it couldn’t have been that bad, because she ate the whole thing.

Then he made a fresh pot of strong hot coffee, because he could tell she didn’t like the stuff he’d brought from the deli. After that they went to the living room, read the papers, and he told her what she could and could not say when they