had lined up while she danced, or troll the parking lots around the Busy Body for customers.
Most nights, Jarrod kept an eye on her. But last night he got lucky with one of the other dancers, and when he got home he figured she’d done the same. When Jack told J Rod they needed him to come to the morgue, his expression froze, and he tried to work up some tears. They didn’t come.
Jansen opened the door of Duffy’s Tavern and the smell of stale beer and burned grease washed over him. The occasional raised voice followed by hooting laughter made him want to turn around and leave. But he had a meeting inside.
Internal Affairs caught Dick in the act, right where Jansen told them they’d be. Chief Pope wanted to fire Dick, but the mayor nixed that plan. So Dick was given a paid vacation and warned to keep quiet or Pope promised to bust him in rank and suspend him without pay.
Jansen told Pope about Dick’s “secret” meetings with Maureen Sinclair at La Sombra Coffee Shop. He told him that the leaks were coming from Dick and he resented like hell being suspected of something he didn’t do. Pope already knew that Dick had assigned Jansen to Murphy’s case, so it wasn’t a great leap of logic to figure out that Dick was the leak. Jansen resisted telling on Dick just enough to sell it, and it had worked.
Marlin Pope and Trent Wethington had someone’s head on a pike for the leaks. The pressure was off. Now it was time to make some real money.
Jansen smoothed the wrinkles in his coat, made sure his shirt was tucked in, and stepped into the gloom inside.
CHAPTER THIRTY
After leaving J Rod’s apartment, Jack busied himself on his cell phone while Liddell drove toward headquarters.
“Where to now, pod’na?” Liddell asked.
“Head downtown to the old courthouse building.”
When he provided no further information, Liddell followed up with, “Are you going to tell me who we’re going to see, or is it a surprise party for me?”
“Bob Rothschild.”
“It’s about time,” Liddell said, and sped up. “Are you gonna be the good cop or the bad one?”
“I’ll do the questioning, Bigfoot,” Jack said. “No point in both of us getting in trouble with the politicians.”
“That’s why I love you, pod’na. Always protecting me.”
The sarcastic tone didn’t sit well with him. “Do you want to question him, Bigfoot? I’ll be more than happy to wait in the car.”
“No, no, you do it,” Liddell said, sounding like Jack had offered to scald him with hot water. “I just wanted to complain a little so you wouldn’t think I was unwilling.”
They parked and walked across the street to a tall building. Inside, the lobby was decorated with stone pillars, polished marble floors, and brass fixtures at every turn. Liddell found the office number for Bob Rothschild, walked to the elevator, and punched the up button.
“He’s in 12A,” Liddell said. “Ever been here before?”
Jack shook his head. “Me neither,” Liddell said. “Some building, huh?”
“Big ego, big office,” Jack commented.
The elevator arrived, and when the doors opened, both detectives were surprised to find a small black man in a red uniform, complete with a red/gold embroidered cap, operating the elevator.
“What floor?”
“Twelve,” Liddell said, then whispered in Jack’s ear, “Do we tip him?”
“Nah, suh,” the man said. “I get paid well.”
Jack shot Liddell a scathing look, and Liddell’s face went red.
When they stepped off the elevator, Jack said, “If he’s got a secretary, you stay with her and see what she knows about Nina and Bob’s involvement.”
“You don’t want me to go in with you?”
“Like I said. No sense in both of us getting called in to the chief’s office.”
They reached 12A and Liddell asked, “Ready?”
“As I’ll ever be,” Jack said, and they entered the office.
Bob Rothschild was not part of a firm, but to look at his grand office space you would think he was the senior partner of Wee, Cheatem & Howe Law Firm.
They showed their credentials to a knockout redhead who was obviously hired for her skills. Liddell had made himself comfortable on a leather sofa, while Jack was buzzed into Rothschild’s inner sanctum.
Fifteen minutes later Jack came out of the office and made eye contact with Liddell.
Liddell grinned. They thanked the secretary and walked back to the elevator.
“She said she wants me,” Liddell said.
“She couldn’t afford to feed you.”
Liddell punched the down button on the elevator and heard the hum of a motor somewhere. “Yeah. You’re right. But