Final Appeal by Lisa Scottoline

Author:Lisa Scottoline [Scottoline, Lisa]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi, pdf
Tags: Mystery & Detective, Legal, Women Sleuths, Fiction
ISBN: 9780061042942
Google: LdmUPwAACAAJ
Amazon: 0061042943
Publisher: HarperTorch
Published: 1995-01-01T13:00:00+00:00

19

The phone rings after the police leave. ''Grace.'' It's a man's voice, almost in a whisper. ''It's Winn.''

''Who?''

''Winn. Shake and Bake. Get down here fast.''

''What? It's eleven o'clock at night.''

''Please. I can't talk long.''

''Listen, you, somebody tried to grab my daughter today. And somebody hit me from behind.''

''Are you all right?'' He sounds stricken, but not as stricken as I am and only half as stricken as my mother.

''She's fine, we both are.''

''Was she hurt?''

''No, but only because she was at school. I can't have this, Winn.''

''I'll protect her. I'll get somebody on her.''

''Who, kindergarten cop?''

''I'll make him a teacher. A janitor.''

''That's not the point.''

''I can't talk now, just come down here. It's Artie. He needs help.''

''Artie? Where?''

''Northern Liberties.''

Not one of Philadelphia's showcase neighborhoods. ''What are you doing there?''

''We're at Keeton's. On the corner, at Third. There's a sign.''

''Is Artie okay? In danger?''

''Nothing like that, but come now.'' He hangs up.

I hang up slowly, looking at the phone. I hate to leave Maddie tonight, after what happened to her, nor am I excited about driving around, after what happened to me. On the other hand, it might help to talk to Winn, and Artie's in trouble. There's a caffeinated couple of cops driving circles around my house and a bulldog of a grandmother seething in the living room; my daughter has never been safer. I decide to go, mumbling an excuse to my mother, like in high school.

I drive into town with an eye on the rearview mirror, and no one appears to be following me. I reach the warehouse district in a half hour. The streets are wider here than they are in the rest of Philly and almost deserted. Trash mars the sidewalk, and the homeless beg from the traffic on the expressway ramp. One man, apparently crazy, is draped in a blanket despite the warm, breezy night. I look away until I remember that it's an apparently crazy man I'm looking for. I look back, but it's not Winn.

I drive around the block, past a graffiti mural on an electrical wholesale store, until I find a ratty tavern. An old-time window of thick glass block is stuck into a dingy brick facade. Over the black-painted door a pink neon sign glows KE TON'S. Artie is lying in front, passed out under a dim streetlight. Winn is propped up against the lamppost, fuzzy-faced and dressed in a raincoat, looking oddly like a degenerate Paddington Bear. I pull up to the curb and get out of the wagon.

Winn smiles vacantly when he spots me. ''Harvard's sick, Miss Rossi.''

I kneel over Artie. There's stubble on his formerly handsome face, and his clothes are a mess. But then they always are. ''Artie? You okay?''

Artie opens one eye, then covers his startled face with his hands. ''It's alive! Make it go away, Grace. It's heinous!''

Winn smiles. ''Harvard drank too much.''

''I figured.''

''I figured you figured.'' Winn claps his hands. ''I figured you figured I figured you figured.''

''He's crazy as a fuckin' loon, Grace,'' Artie says, his eyes still closed.

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