Page 40 (1/2)
The next , Reilly went into work froe juice, two homemade cinnamon buns, a cup of coffee, and a strip and a half of bacon that she had purloined from her father&039;s plate
As she parked her car in the lot behind HQ, every ounce of the yuled in against the building
He&039;d obviously turned hi up the ugly rear flank of where she worked, she was teine back on and head off toanywhere
But she did not run Never had Never would
Getting out, she blinked in the bright sunlight, and wished that God would hit the di thing drove it down even farther into the sewer
"Beautiful day, ain&039;t it," so over her shoulder, she said, "Morning, Bails"
The detective ending his way through the cars and trucks and SUVs, and as she watched hilare on her
Maybe she was getting a raine
"You okay?" he asked
"Not even close You?"
As he calasses "Same boat" He nodded over at the bike "So he&039;s here"
Reilly rubbed her eyes "Yes, he is"
"Where are your lenses?" he said, tapping his aviators "Su, and so are cataracts"
As he put his darks back on, she tilted her head and looked up at hiuy, it seemed as if he were oing total gaga Next thing she knew, she&039;d be wearingto watch the interrogation?"
Shaking herself, she murmured, "God, no And sorry, I&039;m just off today"
He put his aret that Co"
"Good plan"
They walked in together, headed out to the lobby and hit the stairs On the second-floor landing, the admin pool was not at their desks, but over in the back corner, clustered together As soon as one of the her head, she muttered a see-you-later and hurried off to her department In Internal Affairs, she had ues caed the situation: aard, but better than hushed whispers - and folks were supportive
Then again, otten snowed It was an occupational hazard of breathing
When the chat-ups dwindled, she sat down at her desk, logged into her computer and lasted abouta minute and a half
Out of her department Down the hall Into Homicide
And as if it were supposed to happen, the first person she ran into was de la Cruz
"I ondering if you&039;d show," he said, co his pal"
"They&039;re just getting started You want to watch?"
"Yes," she said hoarsely
"Come with me" As he led her past the desks, he lifted up his coffee cup "I just made a caffeine run, you want soh"
The interrogation rooh its own doorway, but there was a cut-through at the rear of the department, and de la Cruz held the back door open for her/font>
"There&039;s a monitor in here"
The tiny conference room had old carpet, but a new round table - on which was a screen showing black-and-white feed from a ten-foot-by-fifteen-foot roo in a chair against the corner, and she felt a physical shock at seeing hiressive as he was: his arms were crossed over his chest, and his eyes were narrowed and focused on the detective as questioning hiuy was a dartboard
Reilly pulled out a chair and sat down, her legs feeling unreliable
"Here, let me turn the sound on," de la Cruz said as he settled in and reached forward
" did not plant that earring as evidence," Veck clipped out "You have video - watch the da - "
"But you were over by the Kroner evidence - "
"Just like every other detective in the house"
"And Officer Reilly indicated that you were hoping to find a tie to the Barten case"
Veck showed no reaction to her na so?"
The other detective - his name was Browne, if she real pad "Your hand was in and out of your pocket"
"You ever hear of change? Quarters, dimes, nickels?"
"You had been up in Sissy Barten&039;s bedroom"
"As had others I&039;h that house"
"Look, Veck, just tell me what happened"
Veck leaned in as well, his face flat-out furious "I went to Sissy&039;s house to speak to her mother I went upstairs, yeah, sure, but I didn&039;t take anything out of there, and I did not plant any evidence You&039;ve already proved that I didn&039;t hurt Kroner Why would I want to frauy - for a murder, incidentally, that I did not commit?"
"I&039;m not sure e&039;ve proved with Kroner"
Veck sat back again "You&039;re fucking kidding ed the attack precisely so you could put the Barten murder around his neck"
"So you think I travel with trained mountain lions or some shit? Besides, Kroner knehere the body in the quarry was, not me"
"On the contrary, Kroner mentioned the quarry You found the body"
"No, I didn&039;t That was "
"Who?"
At that, he reached into the pocket of the fleece he had on and pulled out a pack of Marlboros
Ah, so he&039;d lied about quitting as well
The other detective shook his head "No s in here"
Veck muttered under his breath as he disappeared the pack "Look, you want my statement? It&039;s si, any of it So to frame me"
"Can you prove that, Veck"
God, she could practically feel a cold rush of air as Veck bit out, "The question is more, can you prove it"
"He killed her," Reilly said roughly "Oh, my God, he killed her, didn&039;t he"