Easy Innocence

Chapter 54

MATT DUG a Glock 27 out of the trunk of the Chevy. He rummaged around, pulled out a box of .40 caliber bullets, and handed them over. She loaded the clip, chambered a round, then slid into the driver's seat of Pete's Acura.

"Where did this come from?"

"Lenny makes sure we're well stocked." He got into the passenger seat.

She started the engine and pulled away from the house. "What exactly do you do for Perl?"

"I'm his bodyguard. Among other things."

"Were you the one who shot through my window and started the fire?"

He cleared his throat. "I shot wide."

"It was you on Sheridan Road, too. The rear windshield."

"You have to believe me. I would never have hurt you."

"Why should I trust you? I could have been killed."

"You wouldn't have let me get into the car if you didn't."

He was right. She turned south on Green Bay Road.

"Why Perl?" She asked after a pause. "Other men have done worse."

He hesitated. "I—I think it's because he claims to be such a devout Jew."

"Perl?"

"He has all the trappings. Keeps kosher. Goes to shul. Observes the Sabbath, at least, when it's convenient. But he's a hypocrite. He recites a barucha out of one side of his mouth and bribes a village official out of the other. And when he doesn't get what he wants... well..." His voice trailed off.

"Maybe he thinks his piety gives him special dispensation. You know, larceny, pay-offs, and murder in God's name?"

"You mean like a jihad for Jews?"

"It's been done before."

"Harry Perl isn't spiritual. There's nothing at his core but greed." Matt sighed. "And Ricki wanted me to study Talmud with him."

"You knew him before you left?"

"Ricki wanted to introduce us. She knew I was trying to be more observant, and I guess he was the most observant Jew she knew." He grunted. "She thought we'd have something in common. But we never met."

"Why not?"

"I was privy to some deals she and Perl were working on. I got suspicious so I started to do some digging. I didn't like what I found, but I didn't have the stomach to do anything about it then." He looked over. "Ricki and I were wrong from the start. We should never have been together."

Georgia tried to ignore the lump in her throat. She needed to keep on track. "Did you know about Fred Stewart and the property at the Glen?"

"Not until I got back. But there were other deals. Just as dirty. The Feds know about them."

"When did you realize I was working the case?"

"I knew you were working the Sara Long murder, but I didn't know it connected to Perl."

She tightened her grip on the wheel. "So they wired you?"

"That's how they cracked Greylord, remember?"

She nodded. They'd studied the scandal at the Academy. Twenty years ago an Assistant State's Attorney, upset with the operations in Cook County court, which included regular bribes to judges, suddenly became a defense attorney. He insinuated himself with the people who were lining the judges' pockets. No one knew he was wearing a wire. Over 92 people, including 13 judges, were eventually indicted.