Second Shot, page 24
He gazed up at a clock on the wall outside his cell. Time was eight-twenty.
Probably intermission.
He heard the clack and clank of metal. A gate opening.
Jimmy was in a cell by himself in the Catacombs in Lower Manhattan, not far from One Police Plaza. He’d been booked that night, his mug shot taken. He was wearing an orange jump suit. It wasn’t his best color. At least the handcuffs were off. At least the cops had isolated him. It would take time for them to assess the situation, and Jimmy wasn’t helping the matter by keeping his silence. They had all dragged him into this, used him, much as Brenden and Streb had on the Portnoy case.
Two cases. Both had fucked with him, and both on the longest day he could remember.
Saturday he’d refused to see anyone. He had things to think about. It had gone by slowly. Sunday wasn’t going by that fast either. He had a hearing Monday morning. He knew he would make bail. And then it would be a matter of sorting out the legalities and confusion over what had exactly happened in Wu-Tin’s office. That second shot. It didn’t make any sense.
But that would have to wait.
He heard the clack of heels against the concrete floor. Looked down the corridor and saw a guard, as well as one other person.
“Jonathan,” he said.
“Not your color, Jimmy.”
“I was just thinking that myself,” Jimmy said, a hint of a smile. “You’re not supposed to be here. It’s Opening Night.”
“I’ll see it, soon. With you sitting next to me. For now, we need to fix this.”
“When I’m released, I’ll start to piece together what happened.”
He nodded. “And Frisano?”
“He was doing his job.”
“You two were starting to heal. Now what?”
“Last thing on my mind. Let me just get through this night. Jonathan, go to the party.”
“I will, but my plus one brought me here instead.”
“Your plus one?”
More clack of heels on the cement. This time, a woman, and with her, a dog. Shade’s black coat and lapping tongue was a welcome sight in this dreary setting.
“Mallory?”
She leaned in close to him, as close as he could with the iron bars separating him.
“I hear you need a lawyer.”
Yeah, he did, for what had happened with Wu-Tin and what had happened with Portnoy, Jimmy realizing he might not be taking cases for a while. There was too much of a mess to clean up. But as he stood there behind bars, he saw his friend, his mentor, and then he turned to his sister, and he remembered what the last couple of weeks had been about.
Getting Mallory her health and job back.
Getting Mallory her vengeance.
It’s not only what a private investigator would do, it’s what a brother would do.
“I’ll see you in court Monday morning.”
She turned to escort Jonathan out of the cell area, but Jimmy called out. She stopped.
“What’s up, Jim?”
“Think I can borrow Shade?”
* * * *
So I await tomorrow.
It’s two o’clock in the morning, and I’ve not slept at all.
I wish I was in my apartment, finishing off my case files. There is always a sense of completion when I can dot the I’s and cross the T’s on a case, put the paperwork in my file cabinet. It let me know that I’d done my job, knowing tomorrow I could expect another case, a way to help someone else in need. Yes, Fortune’s Enemy had reached its conclusion, Wu-Tin’s empire left in tatters. He no longer a threat. I was certain I’d be exonerated by the courts. But it was a legal process I had to endure. A few more hours in this jail cell. That would free me of these iron shackles, but there was still so much to figure out.
This had been two weeks of twins and double lives, double cases.
I thought of Brenden and how he’d seduced me.
I thought of Frisano and how I’d allowed him back in my life.
I thought of Chaz Portnoy and Baz Portnoy and the games they’d played all their lives.
I thought of two sisters, Meaghan and Mallory, and then I thought of one mother.
I thought about how life was ever changing. Maybe a new apartment in the future, once that high-rise going up across the street was completed.
I thought too much, which is why I was still awake in the middle of the night.
Sleep was evasive when your mind was too active.
And as much as I thought about all of this, the other double I thought about was the one question I hadn’t been able to figure out. Trust me, I’ve had time to think about it. There was no way I fired that second shot, the one that killed Wu-Tin.
Which meant someone else had been inside that office.
But who?
Case File #721: Second Shot
Status: Unsolved
THE END
ABOUT ADAM CARPENTER
Adam Carpenter is the author of many titles of fiction, mixing genres of mystery, suspense, romance, and erotica, all with an LGBT theme. He is best-known for the Jimmy McSwain Files, including Hidden Identity, Crime Wave, Stage Fright, Guardian Angel, Forever Haunt, Fresh Kill, and Second Shot. Future volumes are currently being written. Other series include the White Pine Firefighters, the European Flings Quartet, the Cane’s Inlet Trilogy, the Wonderland Scandal, and the Eden Saga.
Under the name Joseph Pittman, he is the author of the acclaimed Linden Corners series, including Tilting at Windmills, A Christmas Wish, A Christmas Hope, A Christmas Dream, and Chasing Windmills. He has also written the Todd Gleason Crime Novels: London Frog, California Scheming, Two Todd Tales, Two More Todd Tales, and The Cannes Con.
His nonfiction books include The Shadow Diaries: A Year in the Life of a Rescue Dog and The Broadway Diaries: 30 Years from Aisle to Stage. He lives in on the Jersey Shore with his husband, Steve, and their dog, Shadow, but continues to work on Broadway.
For more information, visit lindencornerspress.com.
ABOUT JMS BOOKS LLC
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Adam Carpenter, Second Shot
