Page 135 of Maddy's Justice

“Give her the phone,” Marc said.

Maddy angrily snatched the phone from his hand and punched him in the shoulder.

Carvelli covered his ears and said, “I don’t want to listen to this syrupy goo.”

“You’ve never been in love, you old curmudgeon,” she said.

“Are you kidding? I fall in love three or four times a day.”

“That’s not love, it’s lust.”

“There’s a difference?”

“Paxton will want to hear that,” Maddy said as she put the phone to her ear.

Carvelli turned his head and stared out the passenger window while suffering through two minutes of it. Finally, Maddy elbowed him lightly in the ribs and said, “Here he wants to talk to you.”

“Yeah?” Carvelli said.

“I need a favor,” Marc replied.

He then told Carvelli about the attempt on Melanie Stewart the night before. Marc also filled him in on the meeting with Jefferson and the sheriff’s deputies.

“Who do you think did it?” Carvelli asked.

“I don’t know but I have a feeling it is tied with Stafford, Hughes and what you’re doing in Chicago. I need a place to stash Melanie for a few days and some protection for her,” Marc said.

“Why didn’t the cops offer her protection?”

“They offered to put her in a cell for protective custody. They don’t think whoever did it will try again.”

“Sounds like them…”

“Here he comes,” Maddy said seeing Alan Dale pull out of the car wash.

“I gotta go. Listen, I’ll call Dan Sorenson or Jake and get the ball rolling. I’ll have them call you.”

“Wait, I need to get a hold of Conrad. I need to have him sweep our offices. I have reason to believe they may be bugged.”

“He’s back in Minneapolis. I’ll call him and have him call you, too. Don’t let him overcharge you. He’ll try. Offer him half of what he says,” Carvelli said.

“Great, thanks,” Marc said.

“Love you, miss you, big kiss,” Carvelli said mocking Maddy.

This elicited a look that would melt steel.

“What do you think?” Maddy asked Carvelli.

“Let’s get something to eat. He’s in for the night,” Carvelli replied.

It was after nine o’clock and they had been at it all day. They were both tired, hungry, and crabby from sitting in a car all day and now were sitting outside Labelle’s lakeside house. He was not going anywhere and both Carvelli and Maddy were ready to call it a day.

“Let’s try that place we passed,” Maddy suggested.

“I was thinking just that,” Carvelli replied.

Despite the lateness of the hour, the restaurant was still quite busy. They got a table and enjoyed a leisurely, excellent seafood meal fresh from the Lake. After about an hour it was time to go. Carvelli paid the check and the two of them strolled out.

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