Page 84 of Winning Bid

We text to meet up at the pizza parlor. Instead of sitting in the restaurant part of things, the owner gives us his office. “You take all the time you need,” he says before leaving us there with a closed door.

Moss looks tired. “Is it as we feared?”

“Well, if it was, I probably wouldn't be out.” I shake my head at him. “They don't have shit.”

“You are certain?”

“I had another person look into it for me. Their people are good. I dare say better than yours. There's no video.”

He growls under his breath. “My people are the best.”

“Maybe usually, but not this time. I'm not sure if they knew and they lied to you, or if they were lied to. Whatever the case, you can't trust them. They're giving you bad information.”

He sighs deeply, cursing in Italian under his breath. “Should have seen this coming. I should have known. Anderson, I am so sorry.”

I could tell him that it's not his fault. These are people that he trusted. People who had helped him before. I imagine he had helped them, too. I know how hard it is when somebody that you should be able to trust lets you down. But if I tell him that he's no longer on the hook, then he will deny it.

Above all else, Moss knows he's responsible for this. Had he done a better job with the body, this wouldn't be happening. It's his people who fed us the wrong information. If I were an underworld boss, like my father, there would be serious consequences.

But I am not my father. “I know you’re sorry, Moss. But what I need you to be is better.”

He nods respectfully. “I will do everything in my power to be that.”

“Their lack of a video is a win, but this case isn't going away. While I was in questioning, I threatened to sue them for harassment. Hopefully, that will keep them at bay for a while. Make them hesitate to bother us again. But I’m not sure it will work forever. Those detectives are like a dog with a bone.”

“Should they meet an end like the haddock?”

“What? No! No more haddock. From here on out.”

He sits back and takes a breath. I can’t tell if he is relieved or disappointed. “Your father's lawyer is a piece of work.”

“You heard from Pym?”

“No. I only watch him for few days. He makes threats, but I never see him carry through.”

I shrug. “His reputation precedes him. Most people are happy to do what he wants.”

“Yet you see other lawyer.”

“Pym wanted to hang June out to dry over this. So I needed somebody in her corner.”

“Despicable.” He spits on the floor. “When men blame women for their troubles, that is when they are no longer men.”

“I could not agree more.”

“The evidence they do have. It's not much.” He rubs his hand over his bald head. “My people may be compromised, but they can get their hands on evidence. Or maybe evidence lockup has fire.” He's still trying to make it up to me.

“I appreciate the offer. But I think I'd rather take my chances with where we stand now.”

He nods. “As you wish, boss.”

“Their forensics lab is going to have to really earn their paycheck this year if they think they can build a case on a soggy body.”

“It is unlikely. But not impossible.”

“What do you mean by that?”

Moss says, “With enough supposition and a little bit of evidence, I have seen people convicted for murder with less. Though, that was in Europe.”

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