“Reagan know?”
“I have so notified the Essex County DA.”
“So why tell me?”
Rita smiled.
“Because the Marinos wish to sue you for dereliction of
duty.”
“Is that in the penal code,” Jesse said.
“Not exactly,” Rita said. “But
pretty much everything is in
there if you’re a good enough lawyer. They are also suing Chuck
Pennington for assault.”
“Really?”
“They claim he assaulted them in your presence and you did
nothing to prevent it.”
“It all happened so quickly,” Jesse said.
“I’m sure,” Rita said.
“I can tell already that you’re kind of slow to react.”
“Well,” Jesse said, “the thing
is Bo attacked Chuck, who
responded in self-defense. Then Joe Marino jumped in and Chuck had to defend himself from both of them.”
“And you?”
“Broke it up as soon as I could,” Jesse said. “Restraining the
Marinos was difficult.”
Rita smiled faintly. “I’m sure,”
she said.
The club sandwich was cut into four triangles. Jesse picked up one of the triangles and bit off the point.
“And,” Rita said. “If I were to
talk with the Pennington father
and daughter, I’d probably hear the same story.”
“Sure,” Jesse said.
“Verbatim,” Rita said.
Jesse smiled. “We all saw the same thing,”
Jesse
said.
“And that’s how you’ll all
testify.”
“Absolutely,” Jesse said.
“So it will be your word against theirs.”
“And I’m a distinguished law officer here in Paradise,” Jesse
said. “And Bo is a rapist.”
Rita nodded and ate a crouton and looked out at the harbor, and
across at Paradise Neck, with Stiles Island at the tip, tethered by the new causeway.
“Did you know that Chuck Pennington was a boxer in college?” she
said.
“I did,” Jesse said.
Rita ate another crouton and half a romaine leaf.
“Doesn’t that make Bo seem kind of
foolhardy?” she
said.
“Bo isn’t smart enough to be
