Chapter 36

They could hear the girl's angry protests from the hall outside her room. "You want me to be in pain!" She shouted at her mother. The two detectives walked in, and Goren rested his hands at the foot of her bed. He studied her compassionately.

"You heard what she said, no more pain medication."

"You want me to be punished."

"Stacy, this is… withdrawal that you're experiencing," Bobby said softly. "I don't mean to be so blunt, but we need you to remember what happened when it's fresh in your mind, okay?"

"I don't remember anything." She looked away. "I left."

"You mean you tried to escape?" Alex asked.

"No."

Bobby shook his head. He had been through this so many times before with his brother. "We need to know what happened."

"After I was shot, I could feel him in the room with me, so I had to go. I went away." She still didn't make eye contact. "Like I was watching, but I wasn't." She finally allowed a quick glance at Goren. "But I am in pain now." She leveled a gaze at him. "Real pain."

Alex looked over at Bobby, and he gave her a glance, as well. There was nothing they could do to help her with withdrawal.

Alex let her thoughts go as they walked to the car. "So she just, checked out?"

Bobby shrugged, "Yeah, sometimes it happens. A victim of abuse might you know, mentally remove herself from the situation in order to survive it."

"You think she was abused?"

He shrugged. "Maybe, maybe not. I think even with her reaction to what happened, she can probably tell us more than she did."

"Maybe after she gets through the withdrawal."

"Yeah, maybe." They climbed in the SUV and Alex drove them back to the office.

Ross saw them walking in and joined them. "So Councilman Hayes-Fitzgerald's daughter was shot in what appears to be a drug crime."

"Uh, it's actually his stepdaughter. Her mother was widowed."

"Whatever. My hope is a quick resolution that doesn't antagonize a powerful politician over an errant family member." They stopped walking and Ross took a deep breath. "The Chief of D's is coming by," he admitted quietly.

Bobby made eye contact and then looked down, letting Eames speak next. He and Ross had come a long way since Frank died, but there was no fixing his relationship with Moran. The Chief hated Goren, had it out for him. If he saw a chance to go after Bobby, he would take it.

"Uh, so far it has the look of a drug deal gone bad. They were packed for a flight to Aruba, new clothes, new luggage. Rick Siebert might have stiffed the wrong dealer."

As Eames spoke, the Captain turned his head. The Chief and his men were just walking in as they spoke. "I'll tell them a full canvas is checking into who that might be."

Bobby glanced over at the Chief, then back at Ross. He gave his Captain a short nod, and the Captain walked over to greet his boss. Bobby gave another glance their way, and Alex broke through his anxious thoughts.

"Let's get out of here, we can canvas as well as anyone."

With a silent nod, Goren grabbed his binder and followed her out. Chief Moran gave him an amused stare as he walked by.

"You've got nothing to be nervous about," Alex told him in the car.

"I know."

"He can't come after you if you've done nothing wrong."

"I know that." His knee was bouncing away mightily, betraying his anxiety. "I'm… I'm smart," he said. "I'm a good cop. I do my job."

Alex nodded her approval. "That's right. You do your job, he has to leave you be." She snuck her hand over to squeeze his quickly, then put it back on the steering wheel.

"I'm a good cop," Bobby repeated, and she met his eyes at the stoplight.

She parked and they walked to a diner up the street.

"You start a canvas and suddenly every douchebag's got a story." The man said.

"The story on you from the landlord is that you were banging on Rick Siebert's door, screaming threats." They were flanking him.

"Was that for drugs or money or both?" Eames asked.

"I got nothin' to say!" The man said, loud enough for the whole shop to hear.

"Really, you're not worried about threatening a murder victim?" Goren asked.

The man looked down. He lowered his voice and kept his eyes to the ground. "Guys, I'm on the job," he said. As a cop, he knew homicide trumped narcotics. He wanted to help them, but he had to make sure he maintained his cover.

Goren looked away, with a determined frown. A former Narcotics detective, he'd been in this man's position before.

"Check with OCCD. Gonzo Ruiz."

"All right," Bobby was barely audible. "Just give me a shove, then."

Goren put a hand on the guy's shoulder, and he jumped to his feet, pushing the larger man heavily. "I'm outta here!" He shouted.

"Hey, hey, hey, hey, sit down!" Bobby said, deflecting the shove and manhandling the undercover into a booth seat. Eames followed them, and all the eyes in the room were on them. "All right, let's talk about Rick Siebert," Bobby said.

"I bought Siebert's debt. They put me into play in his neighborhood."

"You wouldn't buy a debt knowing it was bad," said Alex. "That would make you look stupid."

"He's a dumb kid from Jersey hooked on drugs. Always scheming his way on the street, and people fronted him 'cause he said big family money was coming."

"From her family," said Alex.

"Everybody knew who she was. And Siebert said her family owed them. Whatever that means."

"Screw the bastard," Bobby muttered. "They had something on the Councilman. They were gonna extort money from him."

"Or they were playing a deadly game with drug dealers and big lies that got him killed."

"We may as well look into it. We've got Siebert's computer, right?"

"Yeah, they should have had time to break into it by now. I'll pick it up from tech."

"I'll look into the news articles."

They split up for a while, Alex working from two laptops and Bobby reading from the various papers about the Councilman's possible corruption.

Alex waved him over. "Turns out Rick Siebert had a marketable skill," she said. "These files from his laptop have Hayes-Fitzgerald's personal emails."

Bobby bent over and looked at both computer screens. "He hacked in. What did he get?"

"Well, for one thing, correspondence between the councilman and his contractor that fed the tabloids. Could be the family money he was talking about."

"But the killing was… after he sold to the tabloids."

Alex frowned. "Revenge?" she offered as a possibility.

Bobby was thoughtful. "Or maybe he threatened something bigger to come?"

"Maybe we should… ask."

Bobby nodded. He circled around to his own desk and picked up the phone. After a moment, he hung up. "He's still up. He's willing to see us."

"Rick Siebert wasn't welcome in our home," the Councilman explained. "Unfortunately, that meant we didn't see much of Stacy."

"But you paid her rent," commented Eames. She was standing across from the man's desk, while her partner was walking the perimeter of the room, studying the plaques and awards hanging on the wall.

"Well, we knew he was gonna sponge off of her. But it kept her from sleeping in the street."

"Even with Rick Siebert's failings, he was a computer whiz. He hacked into your emails," Bobby announced, never even turning back to look at Hayes-Fitzgerald.

"Siebert sold that stuff to the tabloids?"

"He never made demands on you? For a… bigger payday than what he got at the Ledger?"

"Those stories are fabricated from accounting errors. I would never have given him anything anyway."

Goren put his hands behind his back and finally turned to face their subject. He moseyed forward as he spoke. "He told people he had more money coming. Maybe for material of even greater value."

"He was a delusional crackhead. Why would you listen to him?"

"And Stacy?"

"Let's leave Stacy out of this. I don't think she had anything to do with it."

Goren stared for a moment. "You honestly believe that?"

The man raised a hand. "Can you prove otherwise?" The detectives were silent. "I didn't think so." He cleared his throat. "I have a meeting."

"He's very forgiving toward his stepdaughter who nearly got him knocked out of a mayoral race," Eames said as they walked out.

Bobby carried his coat over his arm, but still refused to put it on. "Let's talk to the contractor who stands to lose millions in city projects."

The wind slapped them hard once they were out of the building. Alex looked at his coat, then at him, but he didn't budge. Once they got in the car, she gave him a glance. "You're looking pale," she said. "You're getting sick."

"No I'm not."

She mashed her lips together. "Stop being so stubborn and put it on."

"I will. When we get there." She was right, he wasn't feeling well. He turned to look out his window and wiped a hand over his face. When they parked, Bobby got out of the car and put the coat on, but he stubbornly refused to button it. Alex tried to keep her thoughts to herself, reminding herself that at least he was wearing it.

They met the contractor and asked him about his whereabouts on the night of the murder.

"I was at a bar, Harley's, havin' a beer, watchin' a game with some of my guys."

"Who will back you up to keep their jobs," said Eames.

"Who will tell the truth," he countered. "Why would I want to kill that punk? I didn't even know him."

"Well, Rick Siebert, he smeared you with some very inside dirt," explained Goren.

"Sticks and stones, Detective."

"On the news, you said you'd find the creep who spread those lies and deal with him," said Eames.

"I was mad. Maybe I meant it a few days ago, but Providence stepped in."

"Providence could have been someone you hired."

"Oh, please! I'm losing trade from tabloid headlines. I'm gonna compound my problems? I'm gonna risk the whole operation by hiring a hit?"

"Okay," said Eames. "Harley's till what time?"

"Last call. I got business," he said, and walked away.

"Seemed sincere."

"I'll check his alibi. You," Eames told him firmly, "should go get some rest."

He didn't want to leave her with the work, but there was no need for both of them to stay on to do it. And she was right. He was dragging. Without a word, he rode with her to the Subway stop, then got out. He leaned down before closing the door again. "Good night, Alex," he said.

"Night, Bobby."