Together Again(73)

                But recently the police had turned up a witness. A woman at the ATM outside the credit union   had seen the face of the robber before he’d pulled down his ski mask and had immediately picked him out of a photo lineup. She’d been out of the country for two months and had only just realized what she’d seen.

                The defendant was considerably less cocky this morning.

                The proceedings started on time, the judge being one of Margo’s favorites for exactly that reason. After Margo got the police testimony and the circumstantial evidence on the record, she was ready to call the eyewitness to the stand when the judge recessed for lunch.

                As she was gathering up her papers and getting ready to leave, the defense attorney came over to the prosecutor’s table and asked to talk to Margo in private. He had walked to the brink but had finally decided to deal. We’re done here, she thought, with some satisfaction.

                On the way out of the courtroom, she ran into Dreier. “Paul, what are you doing here? This is out of your bailiwick, isn’t it?”

                “The kid is. His father isn’t. I gather the kid’s attorney is willing to deal. Are you going for a stiff sentence?”

                “I’m about to see what his attorney’s asking for. You got something you want to add to the discussion?”

                “Just that his father is a prominent man in the community and would be willing to take on some responsibility for his son if you’ll go easy on him. And he’d be in your debt if you would do that. He’s the kind of person you would rather have working for you than against you, particularly given what you’re involved in.”

                “Not sure what that means. But thanks for the advice.”

                “It’s more than advice, Margo. It’s a strong suggestion. You might be in over your head, here. Be careful.”

                “Paul, I have to get to my meeting with the defense counsel. I appreciate your interest but I think I can handle this on my own.”

                She watched Dreier go down the hall toward the older man, the father, who was waiting at the end of the hall. He’d apparently been staring at her the whole time she talked with Dreier. Even at a distance, the way he was looking at her made her uncomfortable. She was glad to get away from his stare and into the conference with his son’s attorney.

                By the time she had worked out the deal with the defense attorney and his client had accepted, it was late afternoon. Tony was waiting outside the door of the room where she’d been meeting with the defense attorney.

                She strode past him, ran the steps to her floor and went into her office with him following close behind. Dropping her bag on the desk with a thump, she said, “I suppose you think I should be grateful you let me negotiate with defense counsel without you sitting there.”

                “You got out of the courtroom before I could get to you, or I would have been. At least I knew where you were and who was with you.”

                “Oh, for God’s sake, surely you have something better to do than babysit me.”

                “There’re a hell of a lot of other things I could be doing, some of them even more challenging, all of them more interesting, but keeping you alive and breathing is at the top of the ‘to do’ list I’ve been given. I don’t like this gig any more than you do, sweetheart. But I’m stuck with it. So are you.” He went to the door. “We have a meeting at Central Precinct in an hour. Danny’ll walk you back to the hotel after that.”

                She sighed and ran her fingers through her hair. “Yes, Tony. Anything you say, Tony.”