“Lucinda, you understand if you identify this guy, there is no turning back,” Johnny said. “You have to testify in court.”
“Please call me Lucy,” she said and nodded. “I understand.”
A female uniformed cop knocked on the door, then stepped in and handed Zack a folder. He thanked her and flipped through some pages. “How do you know Felipe Cruz?”
“Never actually met him,” Lucy said. “He came into the salon a few times for his weekly protection money. I’ve seen him enough to know his name and to hear the stories of what he’s capable of—if you don’t pay.”
Johnny Guidry reconfirmed what Lucy had said to Mario and the sergeant at the scene. Her story hadn’t varied.
“Do you remember anything else?” Johnny asked.
Given her family history, Lucy wasn’t new to police questioning; Johnny was fishing. The one thing she had down pat was that you said everything with conviction from the start and at no time did you correct yourself. You had to get your story straight and let it roll off your lips as the truth, the first time.
This time there was no lying. Lucy was about seventy percent sure it had been Felipe running from Vivien’s room, and if it wasn’t him, she knew he’d ordered the attack. Just like he’d ordered Picklehead to jump her in the alley. That was good enough for her.
“No, Detective Guidry,” she said, taking a sip of Coke. “I have nothing else to add.”
Zack flipped another page of Felipe’s rap sheet. “Running behind him, all you saw was the back of his head.” He flipped another page. “Are you sure it was Felipe?”
Lucy paused and composed herself. “Do I have to repeat again what I told three people? I saw his profile at the door and twice when chasing him.” Lucy flopped back in her chair. “Read the damn report.”
Zack looked at Johnny and closed the folder. They’d brought Felipe in as a person of interest in the case. Which allowed them to question him and put him in a lineup. If he was identified by Lucy, they had an eyewitness who could put him at the scene. If not, they had to cut him loose and all their creditability was lost.
Zack looked at Lucy. “Are you ready for the lineup?”
Lucy stood, and a female officer came in and escorted her out. Placed in a dark room separated by a one-way mirror, Lucy saw people walking in on the other side of the glass wall. Two in orange jumpsuits, the other three in street clothes. The light flicked on—bright. The five people were standing with their backs to Lucy, with their hands behind their ears in an attempt not to show their profiles.
She chuckled. A thought popped into her head. I’ve never been on this side of the glass.
“Please look at everyone carefully and pick out who you saw leaving Vivien Bluff’s room and chased for a few blocks,” Zack said in his most official detective voice.
She studied the lineup for their sake. There was no doubt it was number four. She knew that as soon as the light flicked on. Not a good idea to have suspects place their hands behind their ears. She couldn’t see their profiles, but a tattoo jumped out at her. The first thing she saw was the hummingbird on Felipe’s right hand, just above his thumb. She’d noticed it the first time she’d ever seen him, and today it was a dead giveaway.
“Number four.”
“Are you sure?” Detective Guidry said. “Have them turn to the right,” he said into the microphone. “Now the left.”
“Number four,” Lucy said again.
Zack slid the microphone stand across the desk and said, “Face forward, please.”
Slowly they each turned, facing the glass wall.
“Number four,” Lucy insisted.
Glaring at Johnny, Zack clicked the mic back on and said, “Cuff number four.”
On the drive back to the salon, Zack explained his frustration to Lucy. “If this goes to trial, it will be the third time Felipe will face a murder charge, but he has yet to serve a day in jail.”
“How can that be?” Lucy said, pulling herself up from the back seat.
Zack peered at her through the rearview mirror. “His fancy lawyers always find a way to get him off when the witness fails to show up to testify.”
“Cold feet?” Lucy asked.
“The last witness no-showed the morning of trial.” Zack looked at her again. “And the guy is still missing.”
Lucy swallowed hard. “I’ll show up, and I’ll put him behind bars forever.”
The car pulled up curbside. Zack opened the back door for Lucy. He’d explained that they planned to use her testimony to sway the judge on bail. He was sure the judge would side with the DA’s request for no bail based on the first-degree murder charges and the possible flight risk.
Zack looked Lucy in the eye. “You need to be careful. It could be a few days before I get approval to get you into a protection program.”
“No way. I’m not running scared.”
“Just until the trial is over,” Zack said, looking more frightened than Lucy felt.
“I’ll be right here working every day. You need anything, you know where to find me.”
“Be careful, Lucy,” Zack said to the back of her head as she walked away.
No surprise, Mario was still hanging around, standing across the street keeping an eye on the salon. He gave Lucy a nod, and she smiled back.
Everything at the salon was running smoothly, except waiting for her were three of Vivien’s girls. Good earners, as she remembered. When she’d bought the salon, the night callers hadn’t been part of the sale. With Vivien gone, opportunity was knocking. Only the girls and their clients, some of whom were high-profile people of the community, knew about the after-hours business.
Lucy’s first instinct had been to shut down the night callers. But the more she thought about it, the
