The Wrong Side of Dead

“And guys like Sal never know when to leave well enough alone.”

“Yeah, unless they learn the hard way.” Jess chewed the inside corner of her lip.

“Honey, I doubt the hard way would make an impression on Sal, but he’ll get what’s coming to him. I can assure you.”

“Yeah, that’s a sure bet. And I’d pay serious coin to be there when it happened.”

Midnight

Nadir Beladi opened his eyes and stared into the dark shadows of his bedroom, not recognizing where he was at first. It took him a moment to get his bearings. With alcohol on his breath and the smell of sex on his sheets, he remembered the hooker he had brought to his room earlier, but she had been taken away after he was done with her. His men had seen to that.

But something had awakened him. He was sure of it.

And as he held his breath to listen, he felt a presence in the room. He remained still—his body taut—and peered through the dark for any signs of movement. Nothing. When he raised his head off the pillow, he heard a chilling sound. Someone had racked the slide of a gun and shoved the muzzle next to his ear, pressing it hard to the back of his skull.

When the trespasser didn’t shoot, he dared to take a breath.

“Who are you?” he asked. “And how did you get in here?” Not waiting for a reply, he ventured the real question on his mind. “Do you have any idea who I am?”

“I know exactly who you are, Nadir.” A woman’s voice.

She barely spoke above a whisper. And he did not detect an accent. He looked for any reflection of her face in a mirror. There was none. And he tried to place the voice, but nothing came.

“If this is your idea of foreplay, I must say it is working. My cock is hard for you. Please…let me see your face.” He tried flattery, anything to keep her talking.

She nudged the gun and thumped his head.

“Ah.” He winced, but kept still. “What do you want?”

The bitch had dared to injure him. Surely he would have a bruise by morning, if he survived.

“Let’s get one thing straight,” the woman whispered. “I’ve got nothing but contempt for men like you. And I can only pray that you learn from your parents’ mistake and use birth control.”

“Surely you did not come here merely to insult me.”

“Why is that hard to believe?” She hesitated, then added, “But you’re right. And insulting a man like you is too easy. I’m here about justice. And believe me, you’ll want to hear what I’ve got to say.”

The woman spoke and he listened. At first he was reluctant to believe what she had to say about Sal Pinzolo, his number one man. Even she admitted her conjectures were only speculative, but what she told him eventually made sense in light of his own observations. In the end she had planted a fertile seed of doubt and made him a believer.

In America, a man was presumed innocent until proven guilty, a noble belief that had served him well in his many brushes with the local police. But in his world he could not afford such idealistic sentimentality. Such a view would be a weakness, to be sure. And men like Sal Pinzolo could be easily dealt with and replaced. The way he saw it, he had nothing to lose by ridding his house of a suspected traitor.

Nothing.

CHAPTER 30

Two days later

“Glad you could meet me on such short notice.” Sam shoved into a corner booth in the back of the Funky Buddha Lounge, hitting the bar for an early drink before it got crowded. It was a trendy metro watering hole with mural-covered walls and antique lighting that was more her friend’s style. Sam waited until the waitress brought their drink orders before she gave Jess the news.

“Earlier today someone at the Adler Planetarium called to report a body floating in Lake Michigan off Lakeshore Drive. The medical examiner ID’d the body as Sal Pinzolo. He was capped twice in the back of the head, but not before someone carved him up. And the fish of Lake Michigan had their fill of Sal…like the rest of us. Can’t say I’m sorry he’s gone, for your sake.”

Jess narrowed her eyes and stared at Sam before she took a long swig of her single malt scotch. In her world, mustering sympathy for anyone like Pinzolo wasn’t going to happen. The guy lived by the knife and died by it. Beladi must have found out what Sal had done. Or maybe his suspicions were enough reason to torture him for a real confession. But she had no doubt, the murder of Sal Pinzolo would end up a cold case with no leads.

“I gave Jake Cordell the news, too. I think he had thoughts about recanting his story, but he’s probably even more afraid of Beladi with Sal not being his safety net, if he ever was.” Sam looked up from her drink. “You don’t seem too surprised.”

Jess shook her head. “In my gut I know that Sal was the one who tortured those women, Sam. Their knife wounds had his signature all over them. He got what he deserved.” She downed the rest of her drink and gestured for the waitress to bring another. “And if Jake served Harper the Mickey, I doubt he was there when Sal killed Mandy. Jake was an ass, but I couldn’t see him standing by and watching that girl die, not like that.”

Sam nodded, a grim look on her face. “I bet Jake was the anonymous caller, but he’s never admitted it.”

“My gut tells me he was the driver who tailed me out to the murder scene the night I first met him at Dirty Monty’s, too.” She narrowed her eyes. “He got someone to cover for him, then waited until I drove away. That had to be him. I left Pinzolo and Beladi kissing the pavement.”

“Kissing the pavement?”

She’d never told Sam about the stun grenade, and now was not the time for true confessions.

“Just a figure of speech.” She waggled her finger at Sam to change the subject. “But you know, there was a time I would have pegged Jason Burke as a killer.”

Sam stared at her for a long moment but eventually went with the flow. No questions asked. “Yeah, me too. But get this. That jerk was fencing stolen merchandise on eBay.”

“No, say it ain’t so.” Jess had to laugh. “Him sitting behind a computer would be a stretch, but having the balls to sell online is real chutzpah.”

“Kind of creative, actually. With the anonymity of the Internet and the lack of online controls to monitor that kind of thing, Jason Burke was living on the cutting edge of technology…until we arrested him.”

“Couldn’t happen to a nicer guy.” Jess grinned. “Speaking of a real nice guy, how’s Ray?”

“Ray is damned fine, sista.” Sam crooked her lip into a lazy smile and lowered her eyes, lost in a memory. And Jess couldn’t be happier for her childhood friend.

“Yeah, I’d second that,” she agreed. “And whatever came of that bet you two had? Now that Harper’s a free man, you have to spill the details.”

“Ray acknowledged that I won, but I think he knew I tag teamed him by using your help and Alexa’s. But the way I worked it, we’ll both win.”

“Anyone ever tell you that you’re a real tease, Sam Cooper?”

Her friend knew how to milk a story, so Jess settled into her seat with an elbow on the table and her chin resting on her palm.

“You love him, don’t you?”

Sam looked as if she’d object or deny, but in the end she only smiled. “I was going to have him paint my house, but after he kissed me, I came up with another idea. Now we’re taking a long-overdue vacation together. I pick the place, and he pays.”

“Sounds nice,” Jess admitted. “And what if he had won?”

“He told me he wanted me to cook for him, some family recipes from his mother. No pressure there.”

Unlike her, Sam was an excellent cook. She would have aced any test Ray could have conjured up.

“Ah, that’s kind of sweet.” Jess cocked her head. “In a ‘me Tarzan, you Jane’ sort of way. Add candles, ditch the chimp, and I see real romance potential.”

Sam chuckled. “No matter how it would’ve turned out, if I got more time with him, I would’ve been a winner