supply, a little less now. If anything happens to me, that’s how long he’ll live.”
He was telling me that I couldn’t arrest him if I wanted to, because it would be a death sentence for Bryan. For the time being at least, I couldn’t see any flaws in that logic.
“Why did you come here yesterday?”
“Probably to kill you. So in a way he saved your life.”
“So why don’t you ditch ‘Plan B’ and start over? Let my brother go, and then come after me.”
He smiled. “You think you can handle me?”
“Only one way to find out.”
“Luke, you have no idea what you’re dealing with. You’re sitting there holding a gun, and I’m unarmed, and if I wanted to kill you right now, you’d be dead in thirty seconds.”
“Let my brother go and you can prove it.”
“All right, that’s enough of this bullshit. Your brother has a hell of a lot more chance than my brother had. It’s up to you.”
“How is it up to me?”
“You know the investigation you didn’t do before you went in shooting? Do it now. Prove Steven didn’t do it; find the real killer and announce to the world that you were wrong. That you killed an innocent man.”
“And what if I find out he did do it?”
“He didn’t.”
“What if my investigation shows that he did?”
“Then we’re both short one brother.”
In a way this was a positive development, but a small one at best. While there was no chance that I was going to actually find information to exonerate Steven Gallagher, this at least gave me some time to try to figure out another way.
“OK, what are the ground rules?” I asked.
“There aren’t any. Do your job.”
“What if I have to reach you? Give me your cell number.”
“I’ll reach you,” he said.
He was no doubt aware that every cell phone has a built-in GPS signal that can be traced and located. My hope had been that I could find out through the signal where my brother was, when and if Gallagher went there.
“Can I use other detectives to help in the investigation?” I asked.
“I don’t care how you do it; just make sure you do it.”
“This won’t bring your brother back.”
“Really?” he sneered. “I wasn’t aware of that.” Then, “It’s my fault what happened to my brother. I wasn’t there for him when he needed me. That’s something I have to live with. Make sure you don’t know what it feels like to be responsible for your brother’s death.”
He started towards the door, and then stopped and turned. “Your brother’s got seven days, so don’t waste any time.”
I called and made an appointment to see Julie at 10 AM.
I wanted to break the news to her in her office, where things would seem less personal. I was aware that either way things were going to be intensely personal, but I needed Julie’s professional help if we were going to succeed.
Julie is an assistant prosecutor for the state of New Jersey. We worked together on a couple of cases a long time ago, but not since we had our sexual indiscretion. I assume she has structured things deliberately to not work on my cases; I’m just not sure why she’s done that, and I haven’t been about to ask.
I had met Julie while working on a case, and I was the one to introduce her to Bryan. I was in that phase of my life whereby a long relationship lasted three weeks, and in fact I’m still in that phase. Julie wasn’t the three-week type, that was immediately clear, and Bryan was looking for someone to settle down with. So I introduced them, and if there has been a twenty-four-hour period since in which I haven’t regretted doing it, I can’t recall one.
There was and is something special about Julie. She has the ability to see through me, but in a way that I never seem to mind. I’ve always thought she felt something for me as well, though I can’t pinpoint why I thought that. Our way of dealing with all of this was never, ever to deal with it.
When I called I spoke to Julie’s assistant, who had no
He was telling me that I couldn’t arrest him if I wanted to, because it would be a death sentence for Bryan. For the time being at least, I couldn’t see any flaws in that logic.
“Why did you come here yesterday?”
“Probably to kill you. So in a way he saved your life.”
“So why don’t you ditch ‘Plan B’ and start over? Let my brother go, and then come after me.”
He smiled. “You think you can handle me?”
“Only one way to find out.”
“Luke, you have no idea what you’re dealing with. You’re sitting there holding a gun, and I’m unarmed, and if I wanted to kill you right now, you’d be dead in thirty seconds.”
“Let my brother go and you can prove it.”
“All right, that’s enough of this bullshit. Your brother has a hell of a lot more chance than my brother had. It’s up to you.”
“How is it up to me?”
“You know the investigation you didn’t do before you went in shooting? Do it now. Prove Steven didn’t do it; find the real killer and announce to the world that you were wrong. That you killed an innocent man.”
“And what if I find out he did do it?”
“He didn’t.”
“What if my investigation shows that he did?”
“Then we’re both short one brother.”
In a way this was a positive development, but a small one at best. While there was no chance that I was going to actually find information to exonerate Steven Gallagher, this at least gave me some time to try to figure out another way.
“OK, what are the ground rules?” I asked.
“There aren’t any. Do your job.”
“What if I have to reach you? Give me your cell number.”
“I’ll reach you,” he said.
He was no doubt aware that every cell phone has a built-in GPS signal that can be traced and located. My hope had been that I could find out through the signal where my brother was, when and if Gallagher went there.
“Can I use other detectives to help in the investigation?” I asked.
“I don’t care how you do it; just make sure you do it.”
“This won’t bring your brother back.”
“Really?” he sneered. “I wasn’t aware of that.” Then, “It’s my fault what happened to my brother. I wasn’t there for him when he needed me. That’s something I have to live with. Make sure you don’t know what it feels like to be responsible for your brother’s death.”
He started towards the door, and then stopped and turned. “Your brother’s got seven days, so don’t waste any time.”
I called and made an appointment to see Julie at 10 AM.
I wanted to break the news to her in her office, where things would seem less personal. I was aware that either way things were going to be intensely personal, but I needed Julie’s professional help if we were going to succeed.
Julie is an assistant prosecutor for the state of New Jersey. We worked together on a couple of cases a long time ago, but not since we had our sexual indiscretion. I assume she has structured things deliberately to not work on my cases; I’m just not sure why she’s done that, and I haven’t been about to ask.
I had met Julie while working on a case, and I was the one to introduce her to Bryan. I was in that phase of my life whereby a long relationship lasted three weeks, and in fact I’m still in that phase. Julie wasn’t the three-week type, that was immediately clear, and Bryan was looking for someone to settle down with. So I introduced them, and if there has been a twenty-four-hour period since in which I haven’t regretted doing it, I can’t recall one.
There was and is something special about Julie. She has the ability to see through me, but in a way that I never seem to mind. I’ve always thought she felt something for me as well, though I can’t pinpoint why I thought that. Our way of dealing with all of this was never, ever to deal with it.
When I called I spoke to Julie’s assistant, who had no
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