Once A Detective

Toni was finally moved to a room late in the evening and Richie followed. A somewhat comfortable chair was found for him and placed by her bed. She’d only roused briefly when they were wheeling her down the hall to the elevators. The doctor told him it was the medication that was helping her to sleep, so that her body could repair itself.

Miss Peeg had brought him up some coffee and snacks from a machine in the waiting room. He drank the coffee but his stomach couldn’t take food. Sitting with his head leaning on the back of his chair he lifted his right hand, the local anesthetic had worn off and it was throbbing. He’d taken some aspirin refusing anything stronger. Richie wasn’t sure this thing was over yet and he didn’t want to be under the influence of any mind numbing drug.

He knew Biebe was going to have a lot of questions for him; he had a lot of questions himself. Thinking back to the surprise visit Joey Sardana had made to his office that day he tried to remember everything that had been said. Joey said he could get into a lot of trouble if Richie said anything about him being there. Richie now wondered if Joey’s family was really in Sydney on vacation as he’d claimed, it seemed a long way for Joey to travel especially since he had that expensive spread in Aspen and who knew what else he had obtained in the past few years.

“Get into a lot of trouble,” he said quietly aloud, why, how, and with whom? It had to be somebody in his family, his mob family. Richie had sent Joey’s cousin to prison. He’d been caught up in the Lucas case, a cop. A cop in prison would be lucky to survive but this one had connections…Joey’s uncle.

Richie wished for a moment, only a moment he was back in Jersey, he’d be able to find out who sent the hit man and possibly who he was. One dead John Doe with bullet dug out of his neck that didn’t match his gun. At least Miss Peeg was off the hook for manslaughter. He knew they would never be able to trace the gun that killed the J. Doe and with nothing but a gut feeling to go on it would be difficult to extradite anybody.

He was so tired, so tired. His eyes opened with a snap when the door opened, it was only a nurse come to take Toni’s vitals.