Fitz strolled in. “Got us a real live suspect?”
Taylor smiled and raised her eyebrows. “Think so. He has three addresses, but one of them, a house on Hillsboro, has come up twice. Marcus here earned his pay and threatened to arrest a doctor at Vandy if he wouldn’t give up the info.”
Marcus sat with a Cheshire cat grin. Fitz looked at him and couldn’t help but laugh. “Good job, son. There’s more good news, if you want to call it that.”
“What?” Taylor asked, shoving her chair over to make room for Fitz.
“Three things. Arrested the father of your seventeen-year-old suicide. Though as you suspected, he wasn’t a suicide.”
Taylor’s mouth fell open. “You’re kidding? What happened?”
“Guy waltzed in here this afternoon and announced he did it. It was just like you thought, LT. They were fighting, he was drunk, and when the kid got up to leave, he grabbed the gun and shot him. The guilt finally got to him. Got him down in night court being booked right now, and he’s got company.”
“Who?”
“Little Man Graft. Big bad Little Man. Your kid gave a statement. His mama found a job out of state, so they packed up all their stuff and stopped by the station on their way out of town. Kid gave me the whole story. He saw Little Man shoot Lashon Hall, no question about it. I videotaped a statement and let his mom take him to their new home. She gave me a cell phone number where I can reach her if we need him again. Then the planets aligned. Central sector called to say they’d picked up Terrence Norton after they’d gotten reports he was involved in a shooting on Charlotte Pike. Seems he took a shot at one of the homeless guys who’ve been breaking into cars down by the Exxon station.
“He was singing my name the moment they cuffed him, asking to talk to me before they booked him. They brought him in, and I sat down with him. Lo and behold, Terrence suddenly remembered that Little Man shot Lashon Hall, just like we thought. We have Little Man sitting in a cell, and we’ll get him for this one, what with two witness statements and all. I promised to drop the accessory charge on Terrence in exchange for his testimony.”
“Well done, Fitz. Thank you.”
“It gets better. The homeless guy, God rest his soul, died on the way to the hospital. Central has the gun Terrence was carrying when they picked him up. If the ballistics match we finally have Terrence dead to rights for murder.”
Taylor pumped her arm in the air. “Yes! Get both those thugs off the street in one fell swoop.” She got up and gave him a huge hug.
He hugged her back. “Ah, it was nothing. Anything for you, love. There’s one more thing, though.”
“What’s that?”
“Your dad’s in the lobby.”
70
Taylor rolled her eyes and sank back in her chair. “What the hell does he want?”
“I don’t know, honey, but you’d better get out there and find out so we can go arrest Gabriel Lucas.”
Taylor sat for a moment, trying to gather herself. Of all the times to come barging into her life. How dare he?
“Fine. Fine, I’ll go talk to him. But you’re coming with me.”
Fitz hesitated for a moment. “I think you’d—”
“I’m pulling rank. Come on.” She grabbed his hand and dragged him into the hallway. They walked the hallway down to the lobby door. Taking a deep breath, Taylor flung the door open and strode purposefully into the lobby.
She saw Win immediately, his back turned to her as he laughed it up with the desk clerk. Typical.
“Win,” she said quietly. He wheeled around and broke into a huge grin.
“Ah, my little girl! How are you, sweetheart?” He rushed to her and enveloped her in a hug. She stood stiffly with her arms at her sides until he got the hint.
“Still pissed at your old man, I see.”
“Win, what do you want? This isn’t the best time.”
“Well, I’ve been trying to reach you for days. Come on, sugar, cut an old man a break.” He noticed Fitz standing behind Taylor.
“Why, I’ll be damned. Pete Fitzgerald. You’re a sight for sore eyes.” He reached out to shake Fitz’s hand, but Taylor cut him off.
“Win, we’re really tied up at the moment. Just say what you came to say, and let us get back to work.”
“Jeez, Taylor, just trying to say hello to an old friend.”
Fitz rolled his eyes. “An old friend who put your sorry ass in jail. What do you want, Win?”
“Ah, Fitz, I’m willing to let bygones be bygones. What’s it like, working for my little girl?” The remark was meant to sting, but Fitz laughed instead.
Taylor was getting more frustrated by the minute. “Spit it out, Win. Now!”
He quickly became serious. “I just wanted to let you know that I’m engaged.”
Taylor felt like a rock had hit her in the chest. “What? To who? Does Mom know?”
Win was grinning like a jackal. “You remember Lori Westerson?”