“Did you invite this man to join us?” Harry asked Margot.
“I certainly did not.”
“Aw come on, Margot, you and I go way back,” Anderson said.
“All the more reason not to invite you to sit down, but since you’re here, I’m thinking I’ll be leaving,” Margot said as she stood up.
“I was thinking the same thing, only we’re going to be leaving together.”
Cranston finally finished lumbering over to the table. He stepped in Margot’s path.
“What do you want?” Margot asked.
“We need to talk.”
“Then talk.”
“I’d prefer you come with us.”
“Too bad for you, I don’t give a damn about what you prefer.”
“What’s this about?” Radcliff said as he approached the table.
“Sit down, choirboy,” Anderson said, “this doesn’t concern you.”
“Let’s make it easy and just arrest her,” Cranston added.
“Easiest thing would be for her to come down and cooperate,” Anderson said.
“What am I being arrested for?” Margot asked.
“We’ll think of something. I mean, you are here consorting with a known criminal.”
“Come on, Harris,” Cranston said, “come on down and we can clear all this up.”
“Clear what up?”
“The mess with Cassandra Cole you’ve got yourself into.”
“You mean the goth chick with the YouTube channel?”
“The one and the same, Harris, or should I call you ‘Viuda Negra’?”
“Is she still trotting out that nonsense?”
“You tell me.”
“I quit listening a while ago. What exactly did Cassandra do that has you two here bothering me?”
“She’s been getting death threats.”
“I can see how that might happen.”
“Someone took a shot at her.”
“Forty caliber slug was dug out of the wall,” Cranston added, “the same caliber as the gun you’ve got registered.”
“You think I took a shot at Cassandra Cole?”
“That’s what we want to talk about. You coming nicely or…” Anderson said as he took out his handcuffs and let them dangle by his index finger.
“Why does the organized crime taskforce care about someone shooting at a YouTube reporter?” Radcliff asked.
“Well, when one of the suspects is the feared and famed cartel hitwoman Viuda Negra, it sure sounds like organized crime to me,” Anderson said.
“Or you’re just harassing her because she’s talking to me,” Harry replied.
“Either way, she’s coming with us.”
Margot could think of all sorts of arguments as to why she wasn’t the one who took a shot at Cassandra but knew that at best, they’d fall on deaf ears and at worst, they’d twist them around so she sounded guilty. So instead, she said, “Whatever, I’m coming.”
“Bummer, I was kind of hoping to do it the other way,” Anderson said as he put the handcuffs away.
Margot turned to Radcliff. “Do you want to call my lawyer?”
“Already on it.”
Anderson looked at Harry Lee. “I’m guessing we’ll be seeing you again soon.”
“I certainly hope not.”
“I don’t see how it would be avoidable since we caught the Lucas Lau case.”
“You two got that?” Margot asked. “I thought Barnes and Cartwright got that one…”
“They had The Masterson Hot Tub Massacre; Lucas is a whole different case. Since he worked for a known organized crime figure, he falls under our jurisdiction. You were working that hot tub case too, weren’t you?”
Margot thought discovering the identity of the killer was a bit more than just ‘working it,’ but she just said, “Yeah.”
Cranston shook his head. “I don’t know how Barnes and Cartwright put up with it. Having some snoop second-guessing them. That kind of shit would drive me crazy.”
Margot turned to Harry Lee. “I think I’ve changed my mind. I’ll take the case.”
Chapter 2
Anderson set a tape recorder the department had been using since sometime before Margot was born on the table and said, “Would you please say ‘I hear my name coming out your mouth one more time, bitch and I’m putting a cap in your pretty face.’”
Anderson pressed record.
Margot said nothing.
Cranston turned off the recorder and said to her, “You need to say it like you’re pretending you’re a man.”
He turned it back on and set it back down on the table.
Margot still said nothing.
After a couple of minutes of silence, Anderson turned off the recorder.
“Do I need to repeat the phrase? I can write it down.”
“Is this for some sort of voice line up?” Margot asked him.
“Yeah. If it’s not you, then we can check you off the list.”
Margot shook her head. “You do know I was a cop? A detective, in fact. Did you really think I’d do this?”
“Of course I knew you were a cop. We were in the academy together.”
“Plus,” Cranston added, “the dirty ones always stick in my memory.”
“Why do you think I’m trying to get you in the line-up other than to clear you so we can move on?” Anderson went on. “I’m playing it straight with you. I know better than to try and con a cop.”
“You know, the fact you think I’d fall for this shit is actually making me angry.”
Anderson put the recorder back on the table. “Come on, Margot: ‘I hear my name coming out your mouth one more time, bitch and I’m putting a cap in your pretty face.’ Just say it and you can be on your way.”
Anderson hit record.
Cranston turned it off again and once again added, “Say it like you’re trying to sound like a man.”
Cranston pressed record.
Margot shook her head and then leaned in close and said, “Hey Cassandra, this is Margot. While I do think you are a bitch, I didn’t threaten you and I certainly didn’t shoot at you. Have a nice day.”
Anderson turned off
