Blood Money by Laura M Rizio

Author:Laura M Rizio [Rizio, Laura M]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: General, Fiction
ISBN: 9781453618707
Publisher: CreateSpace
Published: 2011-02-23T04:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER XXVI

Mike Rosa flipped his copy of the Raiders video cassette over on his desk as he talked to Muriel Gates on the telephone. It was tagged with an orange label marked “MAGLIO.”

“I think we have to work together on this one, Muriel. Our suspicion right now is that Maglio was murdered. The powder burns were on his right hand. He was left-handed. No way could he handle a gun with his right hand. I had forgotten about it until recently, until I saw the videotape of him—yes, I was his friend. I also went to law school with him. We used to kid him about being a lefty. When he broke his left arm in a softball game and tried to write with his right hand, his classroom notes were illegible. Even he couldn’t read them.”

“Where’s the connection with the Lopez murder?” she challenged. “I just don’t see it, Mike. Just because she worked in the same office doesn’t mean all the deaths are connected. Your guy and his family lived in a mansion in Gladwyne. My lady lived in a ghetto. Her purse was stolen and then emptied. I understand that none of the Maglio possessions were missing.”

Gates eyed the pretty young woman sitting on the couch across from her desk. She was dressed in tight jeans and a pink angora cable-knit turtleneck. Gates couldn’t wait to get her hands on all that soft material and what was under it.

“True. But we have a suspiciously blank video tape in the security system,” Rosa quickly responded.

“But there was no burglary, right?”

“Right.”

“Well that’s enough for me. Case closed.” She wanted the pretty woman.

“Muriel, you’re going to look like shit if my investigation leads to a connection you’re ignoring. The press will devour you. And how will it look come campaign time? The Republicans will call you incompetent. Or better yet, they accuse you of conspiracy. You know how those law-and-order types can be, and how far they’ll go.

“You threatening me, Rosa?” The DA frowned deeply and her voice dropped an octave. She wanted to pull him through the phone line and squeeze his neck until his eyes popped.

“No, Gates. I’m warning you. This case is a lot bigger than you think. And I’m asking for your help—as politely as I can. I want to work with you, not against you. I don’t want to step on your toes. That’s why I’m talking to you first and not the attorney general— not just yet. But I will if I have to, and you’ll wind up looking like a smacked ass if I do.”

Rosa knew that he had gotten her attention. She hadn’t interrupted him, and then there was silence when he finished. Did she have nothing to say for the first time in the fifteen years he had known her? Was that possible? “Muriel, you still there?”

“Yes, I’m here.” Prick, she thought. He has me where he wants me. Then she thought again. “Let me think about what you’re asking.”

“No, Muriel.

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