Keeping It in the Family (Linstead)

Chapter 32

The next morning, Erin emerged from the small safe house's master bedroom, laughing. "How are we going to explain the bed being broken?"

"Tell them the truth, someone didn't build it properly," Jay said from the kitchen, where he had the coffee machine going. The safe house wasn't much, but all of the essentials were there. There was also a double bed with a broken frame, thanks to some hot, vigorous sex the night before.

Erin walked into the kitchen, approached him, and kissed him on the lips. "That's not the whole truth."

"No, it's not. The coffee is almost done." Jay kissed her on the forehead. "Mmm, you always smell so good when you've had a shower."

"Not as good as this coffee smells," she said, pushing past him to the machine. The first cup was done, so she handed it to him.

"Black and strong, perfect," he said, taking a sip.

Erin got the machine going again for herself. "Do you think Martinez will be in contact today?"

"I hope so. Cheyenne seems to know what she's talking about, and she seemed confident. But we've got to keep in mind when we speak to her that our aliases were not looking to work for Martinez. We were after some guns on the down low for a bank job. And now we're pissed off because we just lost five grand in her place."

"Yep. That's how Jesse and Sophia will look at it. But of course we want a way in so we can start working on taking her down, so we've got to be careful how we play it."

Jay had a moment of inspiration. "We could have a bit of a disagreement with each other in front of her, make like you're reluctant to work for her, but I talk you into it. That might make the whole thing more convincing for her."

"Hmm. That might actually not be a bad idea," Erin said thoughtfully. "Yes, let's do that, if it feels right at the time."

When they both had their drinks, they went through to the living area and sat down. There was little to do but wait for a phone call that they hoped to receive.

"Feels weird not heading into the office right now," Erin grumbled. "I can't help myself wondering what's going to happen and if everything's going to be okay. I'm glad I had Al to hand it over to."

"He'll keep a steady ship for sure. And there are still two solid partnerships, Kim and Kevin, and Ruze and Purrazzo."

"Burgess is Kim, but Purrazzo is Purrazzo?"

"Well, yeah," Jay chuckled. "I don't think I've ever called her Deonna. It feels weird. She's always going to be Purrazzo to me."

Erin sipped from her coffee cup, almost hiding a smile. "Think there's something going on with her and Atwater?"

"I have no idea, I'm her partner not her dad."

"But you feel protective of her. That's only natural, since she's your partner."

"Purrazzo doesn't need my protection, I'm sure of that."

Erin laughed softly, done trying to needle him. "I think you might be right about that. At least we got Kim back from Homicide before this case came up."

Yes, it had worked out well, Jay thought. Burgess had spent several weeks on loan to Homicide, dealing with John Layfield on their behalf as he refused to talk to anyone else. By all accounts she had done well, bit by bit extracting details of the appalling crimes committed by Layfield and his wife.

Over time, Layfield had been weaned off his Burgess insistence, and was now talking to a female detective from Homicide. It would take some time, but there was little doubt that both Layfields would go to prison for life when their trials came around. It was a successful case, and justice for the many victims and their families.