Carrots: A Shelby Nichols Adventure (17 page)

“That would be Stephen Cohen. He was the force behind the establishment of our law firm, a real smart and talented guy. Unfortunately, he was killed about twenty-five years ago. Murdered, actually, and from what I know, his murder was a real tragedy,” he said. “Apparently, he surprised a burglar in his home, and ended up getting killed. At least his murderer was put away for it.”

“Wow, that’s awful.”

“Yes,” Chris agreed. “The senior partners have been around a long time, but they’re thinking of adding to the list and retiring. I’m hoping I can move into one of those spots.”

“So, you think it’s a good firm?”

“Of course,” he said, surprised. “Why are you asking me that?”

“It’s just that Kate seems to represent some clients that aren’t the best. Even you think that Mr. Hodges is guilty, right?”

“Well, yes at first, but now I’m not so sure. We went to court on Friday, and he seemed pretty desperate. I haven’t seen him like that before. He told everyone that no matter who stole them, his jewels were gone, and if he didn’t get the insurance money, he was ruined. It didn’t seem like he was lying to me.”

“When will you find out the verdict?”

“Monday, or Tuesday. We still have more witnesses to call.” He could see I was still troubled. “Hey, in this business sometimes you can’t choose who you represent. It’s not always a matter of who’s guilty; it’s a matter of representing your client to the best of your ability under the law. If everyone does their job right, the guilty are caught. But sometimes it doesn’t work that way.”

“Doesn’t it bother you?” I had to ask.

“Yes, but I try not to think about it too hard.”

“Just don’t make any enemies or you could end up like Stephen Cohen.”

He sensed that I knew more than I was saying, but he didn’t pry, and I was grateful. I didn’t think telling Chris about Stephen Cohen and who really killed him was a good thing to do. At least not yet. First, I had to figure out how to use this information to my advantage, but for the life of me, I couldn’t come up with anything.

Chapter 10

Monday morning began rainy and wet, perfect for a funeral. I donned my wig and glasses, but decided not to wear my black clothes even though they were the right color. I was getting tired of black. Besides, I wanted to wear the new clothes I got at the mall.

As I drove to the funeral, a sinking feeling settled in the pit of my stomach. I didn’t care much for funerals in the first place, but I was worried that with my abilities, I would pick up a lot of the family’s grief and sadness. I really didn’t want to cry, but some funerals were sad with all the goodbyes, even when the deceased wasn’t someone you knew. That, along with listening to all those minds could be disturbing. I mean, wouldn’t most of them be thinking about Johnny? Of course, the murderer probably would too, and that was what I wanted, right? If I actually heard the murderer, I sure hoped I could figure out who it was in the crowd.

I arrived about ten minutes early. Not early enough for the viewing, but hopefully in time to get a good seat in the back. Usually those were the first to go, but if I was the murderer, that’s where I’d sit, and I was hoping the proximity would help me ‘hear’ him. Or her if it was a woman, I mean, who knew?

The place was filling up, and there weren’t many seats left. So much for my plans. Uncle Joey and Ramos were sitting up front, but I didn’t want to go up there. I scanned the back again, hoping to find a small space I could squeeze into. Number Five was sitting on a row close to the back, and caught my eye. He motioned me over, and I happily squeezed in beside him.

“Thanks for letting me sit here,” I said, truly grateful.

“No problem,” he answered. “I have to admit I am surprised to see you here. I didn’t think you knew Johnny that well.”

“Oh, I’m not here for Johnny as much as for Uncle Joey. He was pretty upset about Johnny’s death.”

Number Five smiled. “I didn’t know Mr. Manetto was your Uncle.”

Oops. “Oh, yeah, on my mother’s side.” My mother would kill me if she ever found out I’d said this.

“Ah…I thought you were involved because of other reasons.” He was thinking it was because of things I had no control of.

“Oh, I am…I mean…well…you know how it is.” I was trying not to say too much, but if he was a cop, I didn’t want him to think I was really working for Uncle Joey of my own free will. I smiled and he just smiled back. Maybe now was a good time to do a little probing of my own. I whispered, “I think Uncle Joey has a good idea about who killed Johnny.”

“Really? Did he tell you?” Number Five was suddenly tense. His whole body tightened up, and he focused all his attention on me.

“No,” I said quickly, hoping he’d calm down. Why was this upsetting him so much? “But he has informants everywhere, even in the police department.” I hoped he took that as a warning.

“Oh.” He relaxed, and I let out my breath. I puzzled him. He was wondering why I’d bring up the cops, since he was the one who took care of them. Maybe I didn’t know as much as I thought. Or maybe I knew a lot more than he was giving me credit for. Whatever the case, it was time he did some real checking up on me.

Oh great. Now, I’d just made things worse. What was I thinking? The funeral services began, and the conversation around us stopped. Everyone stood as the funeral directors brought the casket down the aisle with the family following behind. I didn’t want to listen to any of them, their grief and anger was too fresh. Besides, I already knew none of them did it.

After everyone sat down, I got down to business. I tried to pick out individual thoughts, and concentrated on the back row. I figured I’d move forward row by row, that way I wouldn’t miss anyone.

At first, all I got were random thoughts, none of them telling me anything important. I scanned up through the crowd, listening for anything that sounded remotely incriminating. There were a lot of people who would miss Johnny. He was a good person even though he was a bad guy. Everybody seemed to agree about that, but I wasn’t sure it made sense. Many were angry that he’d been killed so violently, but that came with the territory. They just hoped Uncle Joey would take revenge.

Soon, my mind began to overload. I could no longer pick out individual thoughts because there were so many. It was like being in a crowded room with everyone talking at the same time. I used all of my concentration to pick up those stray thoughts that told me they were glad he was dead, but it was almost like looking for a needle in a haystack. I tried blocking out thoughts and then listening again, but that didn’t make them any clearer.

I tried everything I could think of, but all it got me was a pounding headache. The funeral was nearly over when I knew I had to get out of there, even if it was just for a few minutes. I excused myself to Number Five, realizing I didn’t even know his name, and nearly collapsed when I got outside the doors.

I found a drinking fountain, and swallowed some aspirin, then wandered around until I found an empty room. I sank into a soft chair, and closed my eyes, grateful for the silence. After a few minutes my headache dulled to something bearable, and I could breathe again. I relaxed and decided I couldn’t go back in there. The stress was too much. I wasn’t sure what I’d tell Uncle Joey, but I’d figure that out later.

After a while the voices of people leaving the service reached me, and I knew it was over. I reluctantly left my chair, and searched for Uncle Joey. He would probably want a report, and if I give it to him here, then maybe I could go home.

I wandered into the foyer and spotted Ramos standing beside Uncle Joey in a watchful stance. He looked like a bodyguard, and it hit me that Uncle Joey was a standing target for the killer. If someone took him out now, my troubles would be over.

That didn’t make me feel as glad as I thought. I didn’t like Uncle Joey, and I hated being in his service, but I still didn’t like the thoughts of him being gunned down in cold blood. What was wrong with me? Was I showing signs of that hostage syndrome thing? I hoped not. It was probably just that I didn’t like to see people get killed. Now if he were holding a gun to my head, it would be different.

The crowd had thinned considerably when Uncle Joey spotted me. His smile was friendly, and he motioned me over with an outstretched arm. “I’m glad to see you made it. You look a little pale, are you all right?”

“I’m okay now. It was a little stressful in there.”

“I didn’t see you come in.”

“I sat in the back by Number Five, but I got a headache, and had to leave for the last few minutes of the service.”

“Number Five?”

“Yeah, the guy you saw me talking to in the parking garage, on your surveillance camera. I don’t know his name, so that’s what I call him.”

“Oh, yes I remember now. Why don’t we head over to my office? We can order some food, and discuss what you found.”

“Well, I really didn’t find anything…”

“That’s okay. I have some other things I need to talk to you about.” He held the doors open for me, and I took a breath of fresh air. The rain had stopped, and the sun was shining. A big rainbow hung over the cemetery like a benediction, and took my breath away.

“That’s something isn’t it?” I said.

“Yes. Somehow, it makes me feel okay about Johnny. I hope he’s in a better place.” I was surprised to hear that coming from a hardened crime boss like Uncle Joey. “I’m not all bad, Shelby.” He didn’t like the look of surprise on my face.

“Oh…no, of course not.”

“You can come with us, my car’s over there.”

“No, wait. I brought my car. I might as well meet you at the office.”

He looked around until he spotted it. “I know you went car shopping over the weekend, did you have any luck?”

Did he know everything? “No, not yet.”

“I know someone who can get you a good deal. You can have anything on the lot for less than half of what they’re asking. I’ll call him, and tell him you’re coming. I just got a new car myself. It’s right over there.” He pointed it out, and we started walking toward it.

“Oh, you mean that black one? Now why doesn’t that surprise me? You know, you really should try a different color some time.”

“But I like black. He’s got another one on the lot just like it that you could get. It’s a great car with all the bells and whistles. It even has a remote start. Ramos, show her how it can start from here.”

Did he really think I’d want a car just like his? I had to admit, however, that it looked pretty sleek, lots more fun to drive than a van. Ramos pulled the keys out of his pocket and pushed a button. The engine sputtered for a second, and then sprang to life with a huge unnatural roar. Why did it sound so strange?

Suddenly the car exploded in a fiery blast of shattering glass and metal. The blast threw me to the ground, and I cringed as showering sparks and metal fell around me. Ramos and Uncle Joey were beside me, and before I knew it, Ramos pulled me under him, shielding me with his body.

We stayed like that until the last of the flying debris came to rest. For a fleeting second Ramos’s eyes met mine, then traveled to my lips. I could feel a rush of pure desire pulse through him before he quickly jerked to his feet. He turned to Uncle Joey, checking to see if he was injured.

“I’m all right,” Uncle Joey muttered. Ramos helped him to his feet. “Check Shelby.”

Ramos dutifully took my hands and pulled me up. I was shaking so bad it was hard to stand without his help. “Are you okay?” he asked.

My mouth didn’t seem to be working so I just nodded. What was going on?  What had happened? We all stood there in shock, watching flames shoot out from the car. The black smoke billowed up, and was thick with the smell of burning rubber and gasoline.

Soon people were gathering around us, and I heard a siren in the distance. Someone asked if that was our car, and Uncle Joey nodded. His hair was sticking up on one side, and there was a smudge of dirt on his face. A trickle of blood was running down the side of Ramos’s face, making him look more dangerous than ever. His hair was sticking up too, and I panicked, hoping my wig hadn’t blown off my head.

I frantically reached up and let out my breath to find it was still there. It seemed a little crooked so I straightened it the best I could, and caught a fleeting smile from Ramos. He nodded, then quickly turned away, puzzled and uncomfortable with the protective feelings I aroused in him.

I took a deep breath, and let it out slowly. It was good he felt that way, wasn’t it? At least it would make it harder to kill me, and that was a plus. I inspected my new skirt and cardigan and gasped. Not only were they spotted with something black, but covered with charred holes where the material was burned away. That’s when it hit me that I’d almost been killed. Again.

A fire engine pulled into the parking lot, and started hosing down the car. Luckily, it was the only one sitting in that part of the parking lot at the time of the blast, or others probably would have gone up with it. One of the firemen asked if anyone was hurt, and proceeded to look us over. The back of Ramos’s jacket was singed, and he had a cut in his scalp over his temple. It looked like he took the brunt of the blast protecting me. I wondered if Uncle Joey noticed what he’d done. Ramos was supposed to be his bodyguard, not mine.

After being prodded by the fireman, Uncle Joey lost the dazed look in his eyes, and started telling everyone what to do. Someone had planted a bomb in his brand new car, and he wanted a full investigation by the police. He wanted to know who did this, and he wanted them caught.

The parking lot was starting to get crowded, especially when three police cars roared in with their lights blazing. I thought they were getting a little carried away, but what’s the fun of being a policeman otherwise? I was starting to get tired of standing around when another car pulled in, and I recognized Dimples. Yikes!

“Ramos,” I grabbed his arm. “I’m going to go now.” His eyes tightened. “Or maybe I should just wait in my car. Is that okay? I guess you guys will need a ride back to the office. I’ll wait.” I hoped he would leave me out of the police report, but I couldn’t come right out and say it.

He knew something had rattled me, and he searched the crowd to see who it was. Not finding anything he decided to trust me. “Go ahead. Just don’t start your car until I check it.”

“Are you serious?” He was thinking that was as good a reason as any to keep me from leaving.

“You never know,” he said, adding, “I’d rather be safe than sorry.” He figured it was a possibility, remote, but it could happen.

“Okay.” I slipped behind the crowd before Dimples got there, and tried to walk nonchalantly to my car. When I was still several feet away, I hit the unlock button and cringed. Of course nothing happened, except that the door unlocked. I climbed behind the steering wheel and sagged into the seat.

I sat there staring morosely at the scene when movement from the funeral home caught my attention, and I noticed two people standing in front of the doors arguing. With everyone out in the parking lot, no one saw them but me. Shock ran through me when I recognized them as Kate and Number Five. I hadn’t seen Kate at the funeral. In fact, I thought her relationship with Uncle Joey was supposed to be a secret, so what was she doing here?

She jerked in anger when Number Five tried to touch her. He shook his head, and said something that seemed to calm her down. In a moment she nodded, and after glancing at the crowd, disappeared into the building. Number Five ran a hand through his hair, looking like a man who had bitten off more than he could chew. He hurried toward the opposite end of the parking lot. I kept him in my sights all the way to his car, and watched as he drove away.