Necessary Decisions, A Gino Cataldi Mystery by Giacomo Giammatteo Page B

you know he’s available.”
    “Coop, you’re too damn smart for me.”
    “I know that,” she said. “What’s new on the case?”
    “The father was pretty torn up, as you might guess. The wife was at the hospital. From the sounds of it, she’s even worse off.”
    “Was he any help?”
    “Maybe. But I need Delgado. We need to find the people doing this before somebody dies.”
    “I’ll have Cindy tell him…unless you already did that.”
    “I didn’t, and if you don’t mind, I’d like to be the one to tell him.”
    “What kind of sick game are you playing now?”
    I dialed Hector “Ribs” Delgado’s number. He earned the name Ribs when he was young and so skinny his ribs showed, and because he loved eating ribs more than anything. Give Hector a choice of what to eat on any day, and the choice would be ribs.
    “What’s up, Gino?”
    “I just got a call from Coop. She wants to see us right away. You know anything about this?”
    “See us? What for?”
    “That’s what I asked. You don’t know anything about it?”
    “Fuck no, man. What the hell did you do now? Did you get me in some kind of trouble? Does this have anything to do with that poker-game robbery?”
    “Nothing I can think of. Meet me at the station, and we’ll go to her office together.”
    I knew he’d be sweating. For some reason, Ribs was terrified of Captain Cooper. I didn’t blame him; she was one of the toughest cops I knew, male or female.
    Ribs was waiting in my office when I got to the station.
    “Hector, how’s it going?” I asked.
    “Depends on why we’re being summoned. And quit calling me Hector, asshole.”
    I slapped him on the back. “Let’s find out. I’m sure it’s nothing to worry about.”
    “You dirty fuck,” he said. “What’s she really want us for?”
    “I really don’t know.” I headed toward Coop’s office, but he didn’t follow. When I turned around, he was laughing.
    “Hear we’re going to be working together again, cuz.”
    “That lousy shit Coop. She told you, didn’t she?”
    He laughed more.
    “And quit reminding me that we’re related,” I said.
    “You didn’t say that when you first met Mary.”
    I laughed, recalling that day. Mary’s whole family had come to her house to meet me, all of them armed with questions and hard-eyed glares. “Yeah, I know. That was a fun day.”
    “So what do you need my brains for?”
    “We got the same sons of bitches that hit the game.” I pointed to the stitches in my head. “Same ones who did this.”
    “And took Mary’s watch,” he said.
    “Yeah. But this time they did a home invasion and hurt the son. Bad.”
    “You sure it’s them? You’re not—”
    “When the guy was beating the son with a tire iron, one of the others yelled ‘Number Three!’” I stared at Delgado. “That proof enough?”
    “I’m ready,” he said. “Fill me in while we drive.”
    We stopped for coffee on the way. “I’m sure these are the same guys who did the house in Memorial, the one where the lady was home by herself.”
    “What makes you think they’re connected?”
    “Same approach. One guy went to the front door, the rest of them went in the back. Everybody wore masks and gloves.”
    “How many people are we talking about?”
    “Four at the Memorial job. Five on this one. I talked to the husband and their butler. Both said there were four whites and one black. When I was about to leave, the husband said that maybe the black was Latino.”
    “So that’s the way this is gonna play out. Blame the Latino.”
    “You know how it works, Ribs. I only asked for you in case we need an interpreter.”
    “What else you got?”
    “Well-organized. Methodical. Barely talked at either job.” I looked straight at him. “Except for the ‘Number Three’ remarks. In and out in less than thirty minutes.” I sipped coffee, and continued. “Both were huge houses in neighborhoods with limited views of the front doors, and both backed up to a golf