“Axe anyone. Tamela and me, we was together. Why I gonna do her?”
“That’s nice, isn’t it, Eddie. I mean, being together’s a great thing, don’t you think?”
“All you need is love,” Rinaldi agreed.
Slidell turned back to Tyree.
“But you know, Darryl, sometimes a woman gets wandering eyes, know what I mean?” Slidell gave an exaggerated boys’ club wink. “My way of thinking, being together means being together. Sometimes a man’s gotta bring his gal back into line. Hell, we’ve all been down that road.”
Tyree flopped his head to one side. “Beatin’ on a woman is messed up.”
“Maybe one little slap? A punch to the kidneys?”
“No, man. I ain’t into that shit.”
“How about beating on a baby?”
Tyree kicked out with one heel, his head flopped to the other side, and his eyes dropped to the ground.
“Shi-i-t.”
Slidell’s brows shot up in mock surprise.
“We say something to offend you, Darryl?”
Slidell turned to his partner.
“Eddie, you think we offended Darryl? Or do you think Mr. Tough Guy’s got a secret he don’t want to share?”
“We all have skeletons,” Rinaldi played along.
“Yeah. But Darryl’s was a tiny one in a great big nasty woodstove.” Directed at Tyree.
“I didn’t do nothin’ to Tamela.”
“What happened to the baby?”
“Baby jus’ dead.”
“And the woodstove seemed like a touching memorial?”
Another heel kick.
“Man. Why you tryin’ to do me like this?”
“We’re real sorry, Darryl. We realize this little setback might delay your making Eagle Scout.”
Tyree shifted his feet.
“Maybe I do a little bidness. That don’t mean I know nothin’ ’bout Tamela.”
“A little business? We just nailed you with enough blow and E to send my three nephews through Harvard.”
Slidell took two steps forward and put his face inches from Tyree’s.
“You’re going down hard, Tyree.”
Tyree tried to back up but the Chevy kept him trapped within breath range of Slidell.
“Know how long baby killers last in the joint?”
Tyree twisted his face as far to the side as his neck would allow.
“I’d say about three months.” Over his shoulder to Rinaldi. “That sound about right to you, Eddie?”
“Yeah. Maybe four if you’re tough.”
“Like Darryl.”
“Like Darryl.”
I could take it no longer.
“Please,” I said. “Do you know where Tamela is?”
Tyree tipped his head and glanced over Slidell’s shoulder. For a moment his eyes fixed on mine. It was only a moment, but it was enough. I felt like I was looking into the dark, empty void of hell.
Wordlessly, Tyree turned away.
“Please,” I said to the side of his face. “It’s not too late to help yourself.”
Snorting air through his nose, Tyree shifted his feet and gave a who-gives-a-shit shrug.
A terrible thought kept recycling through my brain. Tamela and her family are dead. This man knows.
This man knows a lot.
As I watched Tyree being led off, a cold, sick feeling overcame me.
At the MCME, Tim Larabee’s office door was open. I suspected he’d been lying in wait for me. He called out as
