“Well, this is awkward,” Vic muttered. He took a step to the side, freeing up his gun hand. Erin kept a grip on Nina’s arm with one hand and dropped her other to her holstered Glock. Rolf, sensing the mood, raised his hackles and tensed.
“This is a surprise,” Vinnie said softly. “I have to say, Lieutenant, I wasn’t expecting you to target a widow this way.”
“She’s under arrest,” Webb said. “If you’d care to step aside?”
Vinnie didn’t move. His voice was as smooth and cultured as ever, but there was a cold, hard edge to it now. “I don’t claim to understand how things work in your sphere, Lieutenant Webb, but in mine, family members are off-limits.”
“Sorry, Mr. Moreno,” Webb said. “That’s not in our Patrol Guide.”
“You do the crime, you do the time,” Vic added.
“I’ll be sure to remember all of this,” Vinnie said. “I do hope you haven’t told them anything which could cause problems, Mrs. Bianchi.”
Nina gave him a scornful look. “I got made, you slick son of a bitch,” she said. “But don’t worry, I’m stand-up. I did what I did, and I’m doin’ the time. Put that in your pipe and smoke it.”
“Mrs. Bianchi,” the lawyer said, “don’t say another word. Not one.”
Webb turned to the attorney. “We’re going to Precinct 8,” he said. “If you’d care to follow us, I’m sure you’ll find plenty to keep you busy.”
“Lots and lots of billable hours,” Vic said, giving Erin a sly smile.
Chapter 13
Getting Nina booked and sorting out the deal with the DA for Paulie’s release took the rest of the day and part of the evening. The Bianchi lawyer tried his best, but Nina wasn’t interested in his attempts to obstruct the process. She was proud of what she’d done, she said, and she’d do it again.
Up in Major Crimes, Vic and Erin started boxing up the evidence, getting ready for the next case. Webb, as the ranking officer from the arrest, was filling out the lion’s share of the paperwork. Vic looked downright cheerful for a change.
“You’re happy,” Erin said. “Considering you didn’t get to beat anyone up or shoot anybody.”
He paused. “Erin, you really think I like shooting people?”
“I can see how a guy might think you did,” she said.
“Jesus.” He set down the file box he’d been holding. “You seriously think I get up in the morning and think, ‘Gee! I hope I get to shoot someone today!’ The hell is the matter with you? I’m not a goddamn psycho. I like the action, I like the juice, sure. I don’t mind mixing it up, throwing a perp across the room, but gunning down mopes is not how I get my kicks.”
Erin was taken aback. “I didn’t mean…” she began.
“I know, I know. I’m just Vic the crazy Russian, the guy who was too nuts for ESU. You have any idea how many guys I could shoot, without breaking the rules? Shit, when I was working ESU, I’d throw down on guys six, seven times a week. That’s every day, practically. Know how many times I fired my gun in the line, before I came to work with you?”
“Zero?” Erin guessed.
“Zero,” he confirmed. “So maybe I’m not as psycho as all that. Maybe we’ve just got a curse on us here in Major Crimes. Since I took up with you crazy bastards, I get in gunfights all the damn time. I’ve been shot more than once. I’ve taken guys down hard. And today I’m in a good mood because I didn’t have to mow down a perp. Or at least I was. So get off my back, okay?”
Erin held up her hands. “Okay, I get it,” she said. “Sorry. It was a good collar and a good case.”
“One thing I’m wondering, though,” Vic said.
“By all means, elaborate,” Webb called from behind his desk. “Every clean, tidy case needs some loose ends tied onto it. We’re only two hours past quitting time as it is.”
“Why was that slick Italian bastard so keen to shut this thing down?” Vic asked, ignoring his boss’s sarcasm.
Erin had been thinking about that, too. “I have a theory,” she said.
“Enlighten us,” Webb said.
“I think he knew Nina killed Lorenzo,” she said. “Or at least he suspected it.”
“How the hell would he know?” Vic demanded.
She shrugged. “Doesn’t matter. Just suppose for a minute he did. What was a guy like him gonna do in that situation? He’d protect his organization. If we figured out Nina was the killer, what would stop her making a deal with us?”
“She did make a deal with us,” Vic said, giving Erin a funny look. “You were in the room. Were you paying attention?”
“That’s not what she means,” Webb said. “O’Reilly’s talking about Nina giving up dirt on the Lucarelli family.”
Vic blinked. “Oh.” For once, he didn’t have a smart remark.
“Sure, she’s not directly connected,” Erin said. “But she was married to a wiseguy for three decades. How much dirty laundry you think got aired around her in all that time?”
“You think she knows where the bodies are buried?” Webb asked.
“Some of them,” she said.
“Shit,” Vic said. “That’s a great idea. We gotta flip that girl.”
“We’ll try,” Webb said. “She’s already admitted to the crime. Now it’s up to the DA to work out a separate plea deal with her. I’ll have a talk with him. Maybe he can get her to play ball, for her own sake.”
“That’s what I think Vinnie’s worried about,” Erin agreed. “He wanted to keep her out of jail so she wouldn’t have a reason to talk to us.”
“You heard what she told him,” Vic said. “She said she was stand-up, that she wouldn’t squeal on anyone.”
“Lots of perps say that at first,” Webb said. “Then they start staring down the length of all those years.”
“I guess maybe we’re not done with her yet,” Vic said. “You want us to leave this stuff out?”
“Don’t file it away just yet,” Webb said. “Let’s see
