Chapters (88)
“Maybe so, but I’d be careful if I were you. I have a lot on the line here, and I’m not counting my chickens until the rape charge is dismissed.” He paused. “And if I go down, I’m still taking you and Terry with me. Your little sex worker ring will be public knowledge, and you’ll spend the rest of your life in prison. Got me?”
Lou gazed down at Zannick’s uneaten sandwich. “I understand that, Mike.” He paused. “Do the Hoshima folks know about Butch’s death?”
“Yes, and they’re concerned, but I think they’re also beginning to believe my pleas that General Lewis had a vendetta against me. With Sack as acting district attorney, and with the bomb that’s gonna drop tonight, Helen Lewis will never be the head prosecutor again.”
“What bomb?”
“You haven’t heard yet?”
Lou slowly shook his head.
“You will.”
Lou left two minutes later, saying that he was late to another appointment. The old lawyer apologized profusely, but in all honesty, Zannick was grateful that he was gone. The man was a dinosaur. A puzzle piece easily manipulated. The key to this crazy world, Zannick knew, was always having something on someone. When you had the power to cripple someone’s life if you shared clandestine information, well, then that person would do almost anything you asked.
Zannick ate his sandwich alone. As he was finishing the last bite, his cell phone buzzed on the table. Seeing the familiar number, he wiped his mouth and clicked the “Answer” button.
“Hello, Finn.”
“Good news and bad news.”
“Let’s start with the good.”
“A source in the sheriff’s office has confirmed that they found a press release in Butch Renfroe’s safe during their search of the home.”
Zannick rubbed his index finger over his scar. “And does it mention the bombshell?”
“Indeed, it does.”
“Good. So the Vine can go with the story?”
“Yes.”
“What’s the bad news?”
A pause on the other end of the line followed by a frustrated sigh.
“Finn?”
“It seems our friend, the recently evicted Mr. Rowe, is continuing to squat on our property. Want me to call the sheriff’s office again?”
For at least fifteen seconds, silence filled the line. Michael Zannick took a sip of tea and winked at a petite woman who was walking up the stairs with a backpack strapped to her shoulder. “No,” Zannick finally said to Finn, pausing for emphasis. “The sheriff’s deputies haven’t communicated the message clearly enough. I’d like you to handle the situation.”
There was another half beat of silence and then Finn’s voice, firm and cold. “Ten-four.”
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