Page 49 of Winning Bid

“I’m gonna get so fat.”

She snorts a laugh and makes two more plates, bringing one to Moss and one for herself. To my surprise, he does not object. In fact, he engulfs his stack with the same gusto I do. It’s a surprise, considering every time I offered him a meal at our place, he refused it. Maybe he’s a little afraid of June. I kinda hope so. I like the thought of her scaring the big bad thug.

After a few moments of silent eating, June asks, “Have you considered calling the Blade to see if he knows anything yet?”

“Calling seems like a bad idea. My phone could be tapped.”

But Moss shakes his head. “Is unlikely. Getting a warrant for that is a big headache. Most will not do it.”

“What about a tap in an apartment?” June asks.

“Less paperwork, but also usually too much for them to try. You are both lawyers. How you not know this?”

I shake my head. “I’m a corporate lawyer, she’s a tax attorney. We went through some criminal law classes, but de jure is what we learned. The letter of the law. Not how it actually functions day to day. De facto is what matters here. It’s one thing for us to know the steps for a cop to obtain a warrant, but the odds of whether or not they’ll do it is another thing entirely.”

She goes on, “So, since it’s a pain in the ass, then they probably haven’t planted a bug in our place?”

He thinks for a moment, then shakes his head. “Getting information from a person is much easier than the work that goes into planting a bug because judges do not like giving their approval to such things. Convincing judges is trouble for police. Physical evidence is far easier to come by. Confessions are even easier. Anderson, you did not confess to anything?”

I shook my head. “And I’m not about to.”

“Then what they need is physical evidence. If they have video of the brawl or of us handling the haddock, then … you are proper fucked. But if they have video of the attack followed by the brawl … ”

“Mitigating circumstances,” June mutters. “We need to know if that video exists and, if so, how much it saw. If they recorded that piece of shit attacking me, then we can argue fighting back was justified.”

Moss nods along, but I’m not sure. “The only way to find out what’s on the video is the hard way. We go back, we face the music, and let the chips fall where they may. I’m not sure I’m ready to do that.” Going back sounds like the exact opposite of what we should be doing.

June takes my hand in hers. “Like we do everything else. Together.”

Moss smiles at us. “I will do what I can to help. Whatever you choose.”

“Thank you. How are your pancakes?”

“Best I ever have. Thank you.” He finishes his stack before either of us.

She smiles. “These aren’t special, guys. One day, I’ll make some sourdough pancakes, and you’ll see how good they can really be.”

One day, she says. As if we aren’t going to prison forever. I’d like to think she’s right, but all of this makes me feel like the noose is tightening, and I can’t escape it. Did I cheat death when I was shot only to end up in prison? I don’t want to believe that’s my fate. I’d like to believe fate let me live for a reason. I just wish I knew what the hell it was.

-

26

JUNE

The car ride back to Boston is tense. Not a mile goes by that I don’t want to take him up on the offer of fleeing. But I can’t give up on the dream of a normal life for us and our kids. Not yet.

We cross the border into Massachusetts, and I’m half-convinced that the police are going to pop out from the next billboard to swarm us. Nothing happens, though. I know this isn’t a movie, but when you think about running from the law, everything gets grandiose.

Anderson gives my hand a squeeze. “Holding up?”

“I’m here. You?”

“In my mind, I’m in the Maldives.”

I smile at him. “That sounds nice.”

“No extradition there, you know.”

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