Last Call

Theo decided to stay put until his anger subsided. He looked out the window again, his gaze drifting toward the spot where Moses' dancer had been shaking her naked ass. That little display hadn't been about entertainment. It was Moses' way of telling the new guy that he had contacts to the outside.

Theo pondered that for a moment, and it occurred to him that he hadn't really focused on the woman's car – what man would have? But he seemed to recall that it had looked new, and a thought crossed his mind.

He wondered if it was the one Isaac was supposed to have gotten.

Chapter 27

I'm here to see Theo Knight," Jack told the guard at check-in, handing over his Florida bar card. "I'm his lawyer."

In another decade, Jack's mere a

The guard searched Jack's briefcase and patted him down.

"Come with me," he said, and he led Jack to the meeting room.

Attorneys and inmates met in an area separate from the main visitation room, a more private place where they could communicate confidentially. The fluorescent lights overhead were so bright that Jack almost needed sunglasses. The floor was bare concrete, and the cinder-block walls were pale yellow with no windows. Jack was taken to a small Formica-topped table and left to sit and wait. Two minutes later, the door opened, and Theo entered.

"Hey, stranger," said Theo.

The guard said, "You got twenty minutes," and then left the room.

Theo went around the table, and Jack rose to return the bear hug.

"Did you bring the tequila?" said Theo.

"Don't even joke about that"

"Who's joking?"

Jack gave him a reproving look.

"What?" said Theo. "You think somebody's listening?"

"They're not supposed to, but I say you never know."

They each took a chair on opposite sides of the table.

"How's Cy? He hittin' on Trina yet?"

"He's doing fine. I did have that talk with him, though."

"So… he knows?"

"I couldn't keep him in the dark any longer. Your going back to jail was eating him up inside. Now he's cool with it. Understands what we're trying to do."

"I wish I could tell Trina," said Theo, and then his gaze drifted off to the middle distance. "Man, I really miss her."

"You do?"

"Yeah. Somethin' wrong with that?"

"No, I – I just don't think I've ever heard those words come out of your mouth before. At least not without some additional reference to the female anatomy."

He put a finger to his temple. "Jail messes with your mind, but it also puts things in perspective. Makes you stop taking things for granted. Maybe you should go to jail. "Me? Why me?"

I'm talking about women. Makes you appreciate what's real

You mean Rene?"

No, dude. That ain't real. I mean Andie." What are you talking about?"

"I seen how you looked at her before, how you still light up at the sound of her name."

Jack averted his eyes, searching for a quick change of subject. "So, you and Trina been talking?"

Only a slight change, but thankfully Theo let him get away with it.

"She wanted to come and visit, but I don't think she's ready to see me like this. I call her every day."

"So do I," said Jack. "She's solid."

"You didn't tell her, did you?"

"About the arrangement? No way. Real undercover agents don't even tell their wives what they're doing, so I'm not about to tell your girlfriend. I try to reassure her, explain enough for her to know that the charges against you won't stick."

"Thanks," said Theo.

"No problem. I'm not just playing Cupid here. Don't forget, she's your alibi for Isaac's shooting."

"You telling me I still need one?"

"For now," said Jack. He told him about Andie's slip of the tongue – how Isaac shouted out Theo's name before the gunshot that killed him.

"How do they know that?" said Theo.

"A witness heard it. Presumably the waitress who was stuffed in the trunk."

Theo drew a breath, then let it out. "I don't doubt it happened. Makes sense Isaac would call out my name. He went there expecting me to come meet him. The phone messages prove that."

"I'm trying to figure out a way to convey that information to Andie without digging a deeper hole for ourselves."

"Meaning what?"

"It's a touchy situation. Isaac tells you he knows who killed your mother. Maybe you interpret that to mean that he killed her. You go and blow him away."

"I know he didn't kill her. My brother and me was riding with Isaac in his car the night we found my momma dead in the street."

"I'm thinking like a cop here," said Jack. "Isaac was a gang leader. Your mother was a prostitute and a drug addict. Maybe she owed somebody money. Maybe Isaac ordered her killing."

"That ain't what happened, dude."

"How do you know that?"

Theo leaned back in his chair, thinking. Jack could see from the expression on his face that it was a possibility he hadn't considered – one he couldn't readily dismiss. "I guess I don't know. Isaac and me never talked about it."

"And if the cops find out about Isaac's phone messages, they won't believe you never talked to him. They'll say you went there to meet him, he told you the truth, and you blew him away."

Theo rose and began to pace. "Bad enough somebody's trying to kill me. Now if I don't find the bastard, I could be tagged with Isaac's murder."

Jack let him pace a little more, blow off some steam. "That isn't going to happen;' he said.

"Says who?"

"We'll find this guy."

"How can you be so sure?"

"There's some good news," said Jack. He told him about Flo's grandson – the gang symbol he'd spotted on the shooter's car and sketched out for Jack.

"Cops been able to locate the car yet?"

"They're looking for it. We don't have a tag number, so they can't just run it through DMV and haul in the owner. Andie tells me it may take some time."

"True," said Theo. "These gangs are smart. They do a drive-by, they might garage the car for weeks, until the heat cools down."

Jack just listened, adding it to the long list of things that he really didn't want to know how Theo knew.

"Can I see the boy's drawing?" said Theo.

"Absolutely." Jack opened his briefcase and removed his notepad. He laid the rough sketch of the bloody knife on the table, facing Theo. "It's a KA-BAR," he explained. "A military fighting knife for a local gang called-" Jack stopped himself. Theo looked as if he'd gone cold. "You okay big guy?"

Theo didn't answer. He kept staring at the drawing, unable to tear his eyes away from it.

"Talk to me," said Jack. "Do you know this symbol?"

He lifted his gaze and looked Jack in the eye. "Last night," said Theo. "I'm positive I seen it last night."

"Where?"

"In the shower."

"What, like graffiti on the wall?"

"No," he said in a voice so low that it rumbled. "A tattoo. On some dude's back."