She’d never quite understood that, his fealty to a skinny little menace like Jeb Fowler. She fixed him with a stare. “David, what is it with him, anyhow? He stood up for you once when you were getting beat up—”
“He’s my friend. Always had my back,” Czernowitz insisted.
“David, we were kids. That was more than twenty years ago. And I figure maybe that’s the last time he did anything nice for you.”
The police officer shook his head gently. “No, ma’am, that is not the case. Got me this job. Got our old captain to sign off on me, even with my dyslexia. Jeb… Jeb looks out for me,” he said.
I need to get under his skin, at least a little. Get him to admit who Jeb is. “Everyone knows he’s got you mixed up in his crooked business, David. The same crooked business that got your former captain fired, and a few others. He has to be running out of friends at the department, with some of what I’ve heard.”
Czernowitz looked away sharply, as if studying the counter clerk. He can’t even hold my gaze, Sharmila thought.
“Jeb’s got plenty of friends. And he never hurt nobody what didn’t deserve it. We’re on the right side, that’s what he says. The side of law and order.” He nodded brusquely, affirming what he knew had to be true. “Ain’t hurting no one good, no one people ever worried about.”
“Eventually, he’s going to hook you in too deep,” she said.
Czernowitz frowned. He returned his attention to her. “Well… I’m a gosh-darn grown-ass man, Sharmila, and you know what? We ain’t in high school no more. And I’ll make my own darn decisions, thank you very much.”
She glared at him.
His expression shifted quickly, obvious regret and surprise setting in. “Oh geez… I mean… I know you just lost your father and all…” he said. “I’m sorry, Sharm, I didn’t mean nothing by that.”
“It’s okay, David,” she said. He hadn’t changed much since high school, she decided. There was still a sweet guy under there. Sweet, and dopey, and far too willing to trust Jeb Fowler.
“I… I can’t really drink coffee after three, or I don’t sleep no good,” Czernowitz said. “Maybe I should go.”
“Think about what I said, David, please.”
“Okay, Sharmila.” He rose and put his hands in the pockets of his jeans, as if suddenly conscious of their presence, his body language awkward. “If you need to talk about the case, you can call me whenever.”
“I will. Take care, David.”
He gave her a nod and strode towards the door, each stride a little off, anxiety in every step.
22
Sharmila had a steely grimace when she met Bob by the clinic. “You look irritated.”
“I had to walk here. They booted my car. Parked illegally.”
“Let me guess…”
“One and the same,” he said. “Which is funny, because he told me he had the day off. It’s almost like he decided to follow me around town or something.”
They ambled silently over to her car, then climbed in. “We should go to the cops, tell them what we know so far,” she said. “At least then maybe we have some official people on our side.”
“If we talk to the wrong person, what we know will quickly become useless,” Bob said. “And right now, all we have is the framework of a conspiracy. Your father wanted to run for sheriff and didn’t like the new trailer park. Merry Michelsen didn’t like your father. That’s all we’ve got. It’s not enough. Did you eat yet? I’m starving.”
“I’m having dinner with my family. I’d ask you to join us, but like I said, I’m trying to keep all of this out of our home,” she explained.
“Understood,” he said. “I need to find a new place to stay.”
“What’s wrong with the motel?”
“They know I’m there,” Bob said. “Mel is a nice old guy. I don’t want him to get hurt, but he’s stubborn. So… I’m going to skip out on him. I paid him a week in advance, figuring this would all take at least that long to figure out, so he gets three extra days’ cash out of it.”
“Or, you could just leave him to make his own decisions…
“No! No, I can’t,” Bob said. “Sorry… I didn’t mean to sound harsh. I’ve been through this before. People who deal with bad people, they know the risks involved. Joe Public always underestimates it when they’re close to those involved. People close to me have been hurt too many times.”
She slowed the car to stop at a light. “So… this isn’t a one-off event for you, then? I guess that explains the subterfuge about being a lawyer. You’ve had ‘friends’ in trouble before.”
“Basically… yeah. I mean, you can stress ‘friends’ like I’m an employee or something, but that’s not what this is about. Marcus is a friend, a close one.”
“I’m just frustrated,” Sharmila admitted. She was silent for a moment, then added, “You haven’t asked yet.”
“About…”
“Marcus. His bail hearing was this afternoon.”
Bob hung his head for a moment. “With everything else, I put it out of my mind. Your cousin—”
“Tried for bail, but we knew that wasn’t going to happen. As Marcus is not from here and has no local assets, he is considered a considerable flight risk.” She pulled the car into the motel parking lot. “So what do we do next?”
“I know both you and Mel are sure Jenkins isn’t involved. But even if that’s true, he might have useful information he hasn’t given us yet, some explanation for the heat from Michelsen, maybe. He’d have to be a cooler customer than he lets on if he’s genuinely responsible. I’ll see if he wilts under a little pressure.”
“Pressure?” She sounded skeptical.
“Hey… I’ll play nice,” Bob said. “Promise.”
