Dog Collar Chaos

by Adrienne Giordano

  The doggie bells jangled and Lucie glanced up, expecting to see Dad. Instead, her hunky red-headed detective strode in. His suit jacket hung open, his tie was missing—probably hanging from the rearview mirror in his car—and he'd unbuttoned the top two buttons of his shirt. Her fingers immediately itched to touch him.

  O'Hottie wore the look well. Really well. "Hey, handsome," she said. "This is a nice surprise."

  Tim stopped in front of her and dropped a peck on her lips. No sense making a spectacle in front of Joey and Mom.

  "I took a couple of hours personal time. Thought we'd grab a movie and dinner to get your mind off...things."

  The robbery case he'd been working had eaten up a lot of his schedule over the past few days. And with Ro's arrest, she'd missed him. But this was life with a man in law enforcement. When the phone rang, he went. No matter what. Something she was still adjusting to.

  "Dinner?"

  She glanced at Joey. They hadn't finished their strategy session about Buzzy's agent.

  Joey waved her away. "Go. I'll take care of this other thing. Get us started on it."

  Tim swung his head from Lucie to Joey and back. "Are you in the middle of something?"

  She sure was. She just couldn't tell her cop boyfriend. He didn't appreciate her side investigations—even if, in her own craptastic way, she had a decent close rate.

  Nope. What Tim wanted was a girlfriend who let the police do their jobs. Which was all fine and dandy and perfectly agreeable. Except when Lucie's BFF was in the slammer.

  "No," Lucie assured him. "We're fine. Just business."

  Sort of.

  Tim cocked his head. "You know, one of the things I love about you is your sense of integrity. I mean, you wear your heart on your sleeve."

  Awww, how sweet was he? "Well, thank you."

  "You're welcome. There's a downside though."

  "Downside?"

  He tweaked her nose. "I always know when you're lying."

  Joey smacked his hands together. "I'm out. Let's go, Ma, I'll drive you home."

  "I want to walk."

  "It's cold out. You're not walking. Plus, it'll be dark soon."

  "Joseph, it's three o'clock. If I leave now, I'll be home by 3:15."

  But Joey, being insanely protective, wouldn't tolerate that. "Come on, Ma. Get in the car."

  He walked out front and hollered something. Probably to one of the guys in front of Petey's. This was their version of an intercom. Screaming from two storefronts away.

  Mom and Lucie exchanged a look. "Just do it," Lucie said. "He's worked up about Ro and this is not a battle worth fighting. Plus, Dad is down at Petey's and he'll probably side with Joey. I don't have it in me to mediate tonight."

  Mom snatched up her purse. "We need Roseanne out of prison. I can't live my life like this."

  "She's not in prison. She's in jail."

  Semantics maybe, but Lucie had spent a good portion of her lifetime compartmentalizing her issues regarding her father's choice of vocation. Prison meant convicted. Jail meant innocent until proven guilty and awaiting trial.

  Big difference.

  Mom marched toward the door. "If you need me, I'll be at home. With the barbarians. Tim, take my baby out for a nice dinner and make her smile."

  Oh, boy. That smiling line brought a grin to the good detective's face. A spark of lust fired inside Lucie.

  She and Tim? Good together.

  In many ways.

  Mom left, taking all the crazy Rizzo energy with her. Finally, some peace.

  "So," Tim said, "want to tell me what was going on when I walked in here?"

  Lucie dropped into her chair and tapped the mouse on her laptop. "I just have a few things to do before I close up. Is that okay?"

  "Nice try. Spill."

  "What? We were talking about Coitus."

  And, oh my god, they needed a nickname for that dog.

  Tim laughed. "Luce, I know you. And there is no way you're going to let Roseanne sit in a jail cell without helping. Please tell me you're not interfering in this investigation?"

  She clicked the refresh button on her emails. Then hit it again just to give herself something to do while figuring out how to avoid this conversation with Tim.

  "Shit," he said.

  "I'm not interfering." She bit her lip. "Much."

  Why couldn't she have been born a good liar?

  "Shit."

  "It's not that bad. I went to see Buzzy's sister."

  Lucie gave up on watching her emails load and finally looked up at him. Her fair-skinned Irish boy's face flooded with color so fast his freckles should have popped off.

  "Don't get mad," she said. "It was a business call. I thought, given the situation, I should reach out and see if we could settle the issue with Buzzy stealing our designs."

  And to find out if Buzzy's agent might be a killer.

  "Luce, I know what you're doing."

  "What am I doing?"

  Tim cocked an eyebrow. "You're hiding your investigation behind a business meeting."

  "I'm trying to figure out what happened. Ro had a meeting with Frampton's that afternoon. She left here before 3:00. I have a call into the buyer there. Two calls actually. But she's not getting back to me."

  "Can you blame her? Your employee just got arrested."

  Lucie's worst nightmare. Only she always assumed any shunning would come from her father's bad behavior.

  Not from Ro's.

  But she didn't believe for a second that Ro was a murderer. Hot-headed at times, yes. Determined, most definitely. "All she did," Lucie said, "was send a tweet. That's it. How can they even pin a murder on her for that?"

  Certain questions, Tim couldn't respond to. This would be one of them. Even if he knew the answer, he couldn't comment on an active case.

  Lucie knew that. All the Rizzos did.

  The bells on the shop door jangled and Joey entered, his lips pressed into a tight line.

  Lucie's head snapped back. "I thought you were taking Mom home."

  "I got a call on the way, so I dropped her off and came back."

  Crap. Based on Joey's body language, probably not good news. On cue, Joey made eye contact with Tim and there was nothing friendly about it.

  The Rizzos, Tim had learned, were a loyal bunch. Nutty to the point of psychosis, but they stood by each other.

  Ro's incarceration and the way they'd rallied around her proved it. It also put Tim, the cop, on the outs. Didn't matter that he loved Lucie. The breach between the Chicago PD and the Rizzos ran deep. Tim had known from his first date with Lucie that he'd have to find his place in the middle and get comfortable there.

  So far, he and Lucie had managed sometimes being on opposite sides. They usually talked it through, respected each other’s viewpoints, and agreed to disagree on certain things. This time? As sure as he was standing here, he knew he was boxed out.

  Joey stopped about a foot from them, his pissy gaze shooting from Lucie to Tim and finally landing on Lucie.

  He waggled his thumb in Tim's direction. "Did he tell you?"

  "Tell me what?"

  "About the witness?"

  Witness?

  "What witness?" Lucie asked.

  "Joey," Tim said, "what the hell are you talking about?"

  Joey hit him with a scathing look. "You're gonna tell me you don't know?"

  Up to this point, Tim had never had a beef with Joey. For the most part, they stayed out of each other's way and had even formed a halfway decent friendship. That said a lot, considering Lucie and Joey’s closest friend had dated for four years.

  One thing Tim and Joey had in common was a mile-wide protective streak. When it came to the women they loved, they agreed on the need to keep them safe.

  And now Joey was pissed. Something that absolutely lacked a woo-hoo factor, but Tim's stones were just as rock solid as Joey's.

  Tim met his stare. "Why don't you explain? Then I'll tell you if I know."

  "Yes," L
ucie said, her voice vibrating, riding the edge of control. "What witness?"

  "Willie just called. Some woman saw Ro walking into Buzzy's around the time of the murder."

  In the words of Tim's highly-experienced-in-the-world-of-law-enforcement grandfather: Oh, shit.

  Lucie peered up at him, her big blue eyes stricken. No. Nuh, nuh, nuh.

  Tim held up a hand. "Don't get ahead of yourself. I haven't heard this. Had no idea."

  That alone frosted him. Another reminder of his boss’s attempt to isolate him from a big case.

  The gossip mill ran strong, though, and Tim heard the security video from the night of the murder had been deleted from the victim's hard drive. Whoever deleted the file didn't count on detectives getting a warrant that entitled them to copies of the security company's backups. But Tim couldn't talk about that. And the Rizzos would need to accept it.

  "Right," Joey said, taking a step forward, getting up in Tim's grill. "You're always the guy not wanting to get involved. You probably didn't know about the security tapes either."

  Tim stayed silent.

  Lucie's eyes got big again. "What tapes?"

  Joey waved one hand. "That problem with the security video from Buzzy's? They don’t think it was turned off. They just can't find anything from the night Buzzy got killed."

  "Come on," Lucie said.

  "Relax, they're getting a warrant for the security company's records. They want to see what kind of activity the system had." Joey turned a hard glare on Tim. "You’re telling me, with the hype about this case, you didn't know. You think I believe that?"

  Tim stood stock still. If Joey Rizzo wanted to throw hands, they'd throw hands. No problem there. "I don't care what you believe. I care what your sister believes."

  After a long few seconds, Joey backed off, literally retreating a step. Beside him, Lucie, still wore that bombed out look of a woman skeptical of her surroundings. Whatever Tim said next would stay with her. She was good that way. Honesty, she'd support. No matter what.

  Neither of them had ever been afraid of the truth.

  "Luce," he said, "some lines I don't cross. I've never lied to you. I've told you I can't comment. You know that means I have information I can't share. Whoever this witness is, I haven't heard about it. If I had, I'd stand here and tell you I can't comment. If I had known, I would have warned you something big was coming. I'd have prepared you. I would not let you be blindsided. When would I ever do that to you?"

  Chapter Ten

  Lucie’s feet wouldn’t budge. How ironic that she should be standing in between her brother and Tim. Stuck between Rizzo world and law enforcement.

  Looking into Tim’s eyes though, she believed him. He’d never been a liar. His need for brutal honesty wouldn’t allow it. Heck, sometimes she might prefer a lie. Like now, when she wanted to pretend this mess didn’t exist.

  "Never," she said. "You'd never do that to me."

  "Thank you."

  "You're welcome." She shifted to Joey. "This witness is either mistaken or she's lying."

  "Well, she picked Ro out of a photo lineup."

  "Then they need to do an in-person lineup. Photos can be tricky."

  Tim shook his head. "We don't do those anymore. We show the witness six photos. One is usually our suspect."

  Lucie swung her hands wide. "Well, that explains it. I'm sure the witness saw some other brunette going into that house. And, how do we know the police didn't put just one brunette—Ro—in their photo lineup?"

  Again, Tim shook his head and Lucie wanted to throttle him.

  "Typically, we put photos of similar looking people. It should have been all long-haired brunettes in the pack."

  Lucie waved that off. "Yada, yada. I still don't believe it. I need to talk to her."

  "Ro?" Joey said.

  "Yes, Ro. Who do you think?”

  She pressed two fingers into her forehead and squeezed her eyes closed. If she got through this without inflicting bodily harm on someone it would be a miracle. Relax. One step at a time.

  A second later she dropped her hand and looked up at Tim. “My application for visiting privileges hasn't been approved yet. I know I can't call. How do I talk to Ro?"

  Tim cocked his head one way, then the other. If she knew this man at all, he had an idea.

  He headed for the door, waving his keys. "Lock up and let's go."

  "Where?"

  He swung the office door open. "If you want to see her, then move it. I'll get you in there. Or at least try."

  That's all Joey needed to hear, because he hauled to the door. "I'm coming."

  "Fine, but I can't get both of you in. Decide who's going in. The other waits. That's the best I can do."

  Lucie gripped his arm. "Thank you. I know this is asking a lot."

  "You didn't ask. I offered."

  "Luce," Joey said, "you go in. I don't know if I can stand seeing her in that place. Temporary holding is one thing. An actual jail? That'd make me insane. Tell her I love her."

  Her brother. Total mush. At least right now. In ten minutes he'd be a jerk and she'd forget the whole thing. But for now? How sweet was he? "Aw, Joey." Lucie went up on tip-toes and kissed his cheek. "You're a good guy."

  "Yeah, well, don't spread it around. I got a reputation to protect."

  Tim did his magic, flashing his badge and making nice with the guard at the main entrance to the Cook County Jail's women's division. According to the information board, the two-story building contained sixteen wings and held over 700 female inmates of all security levels. Lucie's lungs froze over the idea of Ro mixed in with lowlife murderers. Well, maybe she shouldn't judge the lowlifes since currently Ro was considered one of them.

  To think, she'd had enough of jails when her father had been incarcerated. How did the Rizzos always wind up back where they started?

  Tim shook hands with the guard, stowed his badge in his suit pocket, and waved Lucie over.

  "We're in," he said, keeping his voice low.

  Tim O'Brien. What a guy. "Thank you."

  "You only have fifteen minutes. While they're bringing her to a room, figure out what you want to say. I don't know how long your application will take, so make use of this time. She can always call you."

  "Those calls are recorded."

  "Yes, they are. Like I said, make use of your time, Luce. I can only go so far."

  She knew that. He’d taken a huge risk with this. For her. If his boss found out he’d used his badge to sneak Lucie into the jail, it would cause problems. Or maybe cops did things like this. Who knew? Tim certainly never shared that information with her.

  "I really do appreciate this."

  "I..." He shook his head.

  "What?"

  He checked the guard's position, making sure they were out of earshot. "I don't want my job being a thing between us. Joey and your dad operate a certain way. The cops they know are willing to risk their jobs by leaking info. I'm not doing it. If I can help, I will. Otherwise, my work is off limits."

  Lucie nodded. "I'm sorry. They're just used to…something different."

  "Meaning they don't like cops telling them no."

  "Exactly."

  "Well, too bad." The guard waved Lucie through the x-ray machine and Tim followed behind. "I'll wait out here."

  "You can come in. It's okay."

  "No. It's better this way. It'll give you two a few minutes. If you need me, holler for the guard."

  The guard led Lucie down a long corridor to a set of steel doors with a lone window. He stopped at the door and tipped his head up to the camera mounted above the wall. A second later, a loud buzz echoed through the cement hallway followed by the clunk of a disengaging lock.

  Once inside, they navigated another maze of hallways and doors. By the time they reached the final door, Lucie was all turned around. She wouldn't have been able to find her way out with a compass.

  Which, she supposed, was the point in a jail.

  Another buzz sound
ed and the guard pushed the door open. Inside the tiny white-walled room sat Ro, her hands cuffed to a hook on the shiny metal table and her feet shackled. Trussed up like a wild animal. Fierce, paralyzing anger punched Lucie in the solar plexus. She paused, breathing in the stale air. She didn't have time for a fit right now.

  Later.

  Now she had fifteen minutes to get her friend cleared of a murder charge.

  She rushed to the table, ready to throw her arms around Ro.

  "No contact," the guard said. "Everything is on video."

  Lucie drew up short. "Okay. Right. I'm sorry."

  The guard nodded. "Fifteen minutes. I'm right outside this door."

  As if Ro, the big bad murderer, could break a rule when shackled like a wild animal.

  The door closed and Ro shook her head. "Oh. My. God. Are they kidding me with these shackles?"

  "I think it's protocol." Lucie hurried into the chair and set her hands on the table, itching to touch the woman who’d been her best friend for twenty years. If nothing else, to let her know that everything would be okay.

  Can't.

  A total first in the Lucie-Ro saga. If Lucie needed further proof of the unfolding nightmare, it was found in Ro's ensemble of baggy prison scrubs. Her long hair was pulled into a loose ponytail. In her lifetime, Lucie had maybe seen Ro without makeup ten times. Not that Ro needed makeup or was afraid to be seen without it. She simply liked "putting herself together" before leaving the house.

  Now, seeing her skin scrubbed clean and way too pale, accentuating the dark circles under her eyes, the reality of their situation became a full-throttle nightmare.

  Luce glanced up at the camera. "I don't think they can hear us. Tim said it's just video. Are you okay? I mean, aside from being in here?"

  "I'm fine. Willie got me moved out of the high security wing. Now I'm in with the gals in minimum security. At least I won't get jumped in the shower. With any luck. And, hey, my cellmate moved out this morning."

  A private cell. Excellent.