Look but Don't Choke

Chapter 26

     I was instructed to act normal for the rest of the day. It was surprisingly easy. After being briefed on how we were going to pull this off and reluctantly signing paperwork I was officially a police informant.

     Once they released me, with specific instructions not to deviate too far from my normal routine, I swung by Henry's to change clothes. He'd gone to work by the time I pulled up to his house, but he'd left a message written on the dry-erase board on the fridge:

     Talk later.

     After a shower and a change I drove to Taste Teas and went through the motions. I took orders, made coffee, kept Jackson and Pasha from killing each other-- the usual--while I pretended like it was an ordinary day.

     Around eleven Manny called. "How are you doing, Evie?"

     "Okay."

     "You don't need to be brave on my account."

     "Terrified."

     "I wish I could tell you that everything would work out..."

     "I know the risks. And all of you will be there, right?" There was a hint of pleading in my voice.

     He didn't bother to reassure me. "Evie, Detective Graham--"

     "I know."

     "You know?"

     "He's just using me to get to Delgatto."

     "It's more than that. Patrick Graham only cares about one thing: his career. He doesn't care if you get hurt."

     "I know--"

     "No, you don't. If something goes wrong in there, you may not be his first priority."

     The thought was disturbing but unsurprising. Graham knew I was a fast track to his real target, and once I led him down the rabbit hole my usefulness was dubious at best. That's not to say that Detective Graham didn't care, only that I was mildly expendable if push came to shove in his quest to rid the city of drugs.

     And this wasn't really about drugs of course, it was about Kodi Nash. As far as I knew she was still laying in that hospital in a coma after her cocaine overdose, and her mayor father was none too happy. He'd made a promise to the city to find the largest distributor of cocaine and bring them to justice. It had scored him some high approval marks with the people who didn't know any better I guess, but logistically speaking the task was a little more daunting than that.

     Detective Graham didn't care either way, bringing in Delgatto was the surest path to a promotion. My place in all this was to simply lure him out of hiding. That could take weeks, if not months.

     Around four pm I was wiping down the counters during a slow period when one of the cops came in dressed in a cheap suit and with a metal suitcase. I led her to the office and shut the door behind us.

     "Nice place," she said. "Take off your shirt."

     I pulled my blouse over my head and stood before her. The suitcase snapped open when she pushed in the latches. Inside was the microphone, small and unassuming, and attached to a few inches worth of thin black wire.

     "I've alway been conflicted about putting theses things on women," she said as she started unloading the equipment from the suitcase. "On the one hand your breasts can work in our favor, on the other they can make it more difficult to place the wire."