Page 128 of Maddy's Justice

“The man up North is displeased with you, Brandon,” Quentin calmly said. “He wants to know why you made the decision to eliminate Melanie Stewart on your own?”

Stafford leaned forward, elbows on his knees and his best intimidating look on his face, glaring at Quentin.

“First of all, how did he find out…”

“Irrelevant,” Quentin casually said not the least bit bothered by the lawyer’s attempt to be a tough guy.

“…about it.”

“I called and told him,” Cliff Spenser said.

Stafford turned to Cliff and said, “We’ll discuss that later.”

“No, we won’t Brandon,” Cliff said.

“The man wants it called off,” Quentin said.

“Tough. I made the call. I don’t need anyone’s permission,” Stafford replied leaning back on the couch. He crossed his legs and spread his arms on the back of the couch as if he did not have a worry in the world.

“You should’ve discussed this with the partners and Chicago,” Cliff said.

“She’s snooping around on thirty-eight…”

“We took care of that,” Quentin said.

“Not good enough,” Stafford replied.

“How is this little operation supposed to take place and when?” Quentin asked.

“An accident. It will be a one-car accident. We’ll be fine.”

“Call it off,” Quentin said again.

“No can do,” Stafford said. “The man I used told me once it is in motion, he can’t call it off. Why? What’s the big deal? The bitch is a pain-in-the-ass anyway. Good riddance.”

“I was told to tell you there are things taking place that you are not aware of. This could cause complications for that.”

“Then he should be more willing to share. Keep us informed. We’re supposed to be partners, not junior employees.”

Quentin stared across the table between them at the fool who made this decision. While he did so, he wondered how anyone so stupid could get through law school. Wasn’t it supposed to be difficult? Apparently not.

FORTY-TWO

Hennepin County Sheriff’s Detective Harry Childs parked his department issued Ford behind the highway patrol cruiser. Childs and his partner, Clarice Walker, were both wondering why they had been sent to the scene of a one-car accident.

There were two Minnetonka police squads, the highway patrol cruiser, and a tow truck. The local cops and patrol officer were standing together on the side of the road. They were watching the two men from the towing company work to bring up the car.

From the looks of things, the car had slid off the road in last night’s rain and went over the side. It had crashed through the brush and smaller trees for sixty to seventy feet. At that point, it had hit a large oak tree and stopped.

“Hey, Paul,” Childs said greeting the state trooper.

“Morning, Gary. Hi Claire,” he said in return.

He introduced the detectives to the local police as the winch on the tow began to grind.

“I don’t see an ambulance,” Childs said. “So, why are we here? Was someone injured?”

“Um, maybe,” Paul replied.

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