Page 21 of The Woman on the Jury

CHAPTER FIVE

Halle

Okay.

So… he was a complete and utter dickhead.

I mean, I guess I’d gotten hints of that at the trial. But talking to him up close and personal was a whole other thing. And, yeah, holy crap, was he a dick.

I mean he looked at me with those cold, disinterested eyes. And he spoke to me in that detached tone.

Which was why it was extra ridiculous that I swore a spark coursed up my arm when his hand came down on mine.

I know I probably should have taken his cash and tossed it in his face just to make a point. But, honestly, I needed that money.

I couldn’t, wouldn’t, involve Lauren in this. The last thing she needed in her life was to be the target of some old-man-beating psychopaths.

If they were willing to do what they’d done to a senior citizen, I didn’t have any illusions about the kind of torture a woman in their path would have to endure.

Which was why I’d gathered up that money, and slipped it into my pocket, only taking out some to pay for my coffee, only to be told that it was covered. Even though I hadn’t seen Cosimo pay her.

“A tip then,” I urged, holding out the twenty. What did I care that it was an exorbitant tip for a cup of coffee? It wasn’t my money anyway. And, I mean, judging by how the mob worked, Cosimo hadn’t exactly worked for it, either.

“They tip well too,” she told me. Then, voice lower, so no one else could hear. “Trust me,” she said. “Keep that all for yourself.”

With that, she was gone. I did sit and drink my coffee. I was dead on my feet. And while I drank it, I looked up hotel rooms on my phone.

With this kind of money, I could stay anywhere I wanted. But I decided to go for somewhere as cheap as possible, which might allow me to stay for several days. It wasn’t like Cosimo had told mewhenhe might be in touch. And I couldn’t imagine my situation was high on his priority list. So, just to be safe, I booked a room that seemed like it would have a view of the alley full of rotting garbage. But at least breakfast was included. That would save me more money.

I mean, I couldn’t even go back to the shop until this was handled, right? It was far too empty most of the time. No one to see anything happen.

It was high on my priority list to get a good security system in the shop. Both inside and out. So nothing like this could ever happen again without us at least having evidence of what had transpired.

I couldn’t help but wonder how the finances were at the shop as I tucked my phone away, ready to head out, even though I couldn’t check in at my hotel until four. I figured I could grab something quick and cheap to eat, then maybe hit the library for a while, get some books to study while I was locked up in the hotel.

Were the bills all paid up?

Did my grandfather have any savings?

Ones that would hold the place over if we had to close for a few days?

I mean, if I had my laptop, I could continue to work on the website. A lot of antique aficionados were online, not coming into the store. We could be missing out on a huge market by not having an online presence. But I was no expert, and I couldn’t afford to pay for one, so it was taking me a long time to figure it all out.

I guess I could spend some time at the library on their computers researching that more too.

That in mind, I headed out, losing a few hours at the library before heading back to the hospital.

I was paranoid at best as I slipped into the hospital, my head on a swivel, sure one of the brothers might be hiding behind any corner, waiting for me in the elevator, that kind of thing.

But there was no one.

Save for my grandfather who looked even smaller than before in the big hospital bed.

“Shouldn’t you be at work?” he asked, trying to squint at the clock.

He had bad eyes, but he never wanted to wear his glasses. He didn’t have them when he’d come in, so he was seeing everything all blurry.

I was lucky that it was late fall because the sun had set a while ago, and he was none the wiser.

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