Murder Charge (Jessie Black Legal Thrillers Book 9) by Larry A. Winters

Author:Larry A. Winters [Winters, Larry A.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2022-04-03T16:00:00+00:00

29

Jessie and Aliyah entered the Daylight Diner. Plagued with bad lighting and a heating system that barely kept up with the harsh winter cold, the Daylight was one of the old-school Philly diners. As far as Jessie was concerned, there were plenty of places in Center City that offered better food, better service, better ambience, and—most critically for her—better coffee. But the cop meeting them here was doing them a favor, so flexibility was the word of the day.

They found him sitting alone in a booth in the corner, his back to the wall. He wore a heavy knit sweater, with a bulge where his gun was concealed beneath it. He was focused on the screen of his phone and did not look up until Jessie said, “Officer Rosewater?”

His gaze lifted from his phone. “You’re Mark Leary’s wife?”

“Yes. Jessie Black. This is Aliyah Allen. Thanks for agreeing to meet with us.”

Rosewater looked like he was already regretting the decision. Jessie knew most cops acquired an institutional distrust of the defense bar. Even those cops who never saw the inside of a courtroom received the wisdom from prior generations. Never trust a lawyer. Dropping Leary’s name when Jessie had called Rosewater had been the only thing that convinced the cop to meet with them.

Rosewater gestured for them to sit down. Jessie slid into the booth. The vinyl was patched with strips of duct tape. She made room for Aliyah. When they were both settled in, Rosewater pushed a laminated menu toward them. “You want to order anything?”

“Maybe,” Jessie said. “Are you eating? Food’s on us.”

Rosewater shrugged. “Not really hungry.”

“Me either,” Aliyah said, wrinkling her nose at a sticky blob of syrup staining the menu.

“Then I’ll just get a cup of coffee,” Jessie said. “You want one, Officer Rosewater?” She felt it was important to buy him something here, even a two dollar cup of awful coffee.

The cop seemed to pick up on her thoughts. He gave another shrug. “Sure. Coffee would be good. And you can call me Irwin.”

When a sleepy-looking waiter came to their table, Jessie ordered three coffees. The waiter stood there for a beat, probably expecting a food order. When it didn’t come, he actually rolled his eyes at them before slouching away. Small order, small tip. But Jessie did not have time to worry about the financial woes of a diner waiter.

“When you called, you told me Leary’s tied up,” Rosewater said.

“He would be here himself if he could.”

Rosewater peered at her. “Is he in some kind of trouble?”

“Nothing he can’t handle.”

That made Rosewater laugh. “I believe that. Tell him I said hi.”

“I will.”

Aliyah leaned forward. “Officer Rosewater—Irwin—is it okay with you if I record this conversation?” She pulled out the voice recorder Jessie had given her and placed it on the paper placemat in front of her.

Rosewater regarded the device skeptically. “Actually, I would prefer not to be recorded.”

Aliyah put away the recorder and pulled out her usual legal pad and pen. Rather than looking disappointed, the young lawyer looked relieved.

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