Chapter 15
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"I found Marcello Silva," Danny announced as he strode into the bullpen.
Martin and Sam were sitting at their desks trying to track down Dee Dee Warner, Kiki's friend from high school. Sam was still on the phone but Martin stood up and walked towards Danny. "Where is he? I need to talk to him."
"That's going to be tough. He's at the morgue. Apparently, he was shot in a drug deal gone bad." Danny pulled out the police report and read from the file. "He was making a deal with two undercover cops. When he found out who they were he panicked, knowing that this was his third strike and he was going away for life. He pulled out a gun so the officers shot him. It happened late yesterday."
"Damn," Martin muttered as he took the report and looked it over. "It seems everywhere we look there's another dead end."
"Did you find out anything about Dee Dee?" Danny asked as he glanced over at Sam.
"Yeah, her last name is Warner and she works at Family Planning. She's been on vacation but no one at her office can remember where she went or where she's staying." Martin looked over at Sam who was still on the phone.
Danny folded his arms and asked, "Any activity on her credit card?"
He shook his head. "She doesn't have one. Wherever she is, she's paying cash or someone else is picking up the tab."
Sam hung up the phone and walked over. "I found Dee Dee. She's camping."
"In this weather?" Martin asked. "It's freezing out."
"Apparently she's a snow camper. She went up with a few friends and they aren't due back for another week." Sam frowned and continued, "The good news is she is with a tour group and I found out where they are going to be tomorrow afternoon. I figure we can drive up and meet up with her for a quick interview."
He nodded his head. "Okay, then the morning it is."
A few hours later, Martin was still at his desk calling up the remaining phone numbers on the list of friends that Eddie gave him. He was in the middle of leaving yet another message when out of the corner of his eye he spotted Sam walking up to his desk.
She stood there as he finished up. When he hung up she looked him over and said, "You should go home and get some rest."
"I'm almost through the phone list. I'll go home when I'm done." Martin gave her a small smile and moved to pick up the phone.
Sam studied him for a moment and quietly asked, "What's the deal with you and Eddie?'
"What do you mean? I told you, I tutored him…."
"Nah, there is something else going on. The way you are working this case is pretty intense even if he is an old friend."
Martin hesitated a moment. He wasn't sure he wanted to tell Sam about the incident but he knew he could trust her so he took a deep breath and said, "I owe him. Eddie saved my life."
She sat on the edge of his desk and asked, "What do you mean?"
Martin leaned back and began, "It was when I was doing the internship."
XXX
A twenty-year old Martin with floppy hair, wearing a corduroy blazer, tie and jeans stood at the front of a classroom with about eight students writing in their workbooks. Even though he was in a room full of convicts he didn't feel unsafe. The men who took an accounting class were usually pretty serious about learning.
Eddie sat in the corner and Martin walked up to him, grabbing a chair so he could sit alongside him. "Hey, Eddie, here's a calculus book. I told my professor about you. He asked if you could do the problems on the following pages to see what level you are at so he could figure out where to place you."
"Marty, man, I don't know. Books and stuff aren't really my deal," he coolly replied although Martin couldn't help but notice that his eyes were completely focused on the book.
"Yes it is. You have one of the sharpest minds I've ever seen. I'd hate to see you waste it." Martin looked at him and put the book down on the desk. "Just try it."
He stood up and headed back to the front of the class and pulled out the workbook the students were working on. "Okay, guys, let's look at what we've done so far."
Suddenly there was some yelling and shouting down the hall and the entire class started to move towards the door when Martin shouted, "Stay in your seats!" He rushed to the door to see what the commotion was all about when the door swung open and hit him in the face, knocking him to the wall. Before he could get his senses together he felt someone pull him in a stronghold and put a knife at his throat. He was slowly dragged into the classroom with one arm wrapped around his chest when the assailant kicked the door shut.
The prisoners in the classroom started shouting, "Tony, let him go man!" "What are you doing!"
"Shut the fuck up!" Tony shouted.
Martin finally found his focus and started trying to think of a way to maneuver out of Tony's grasp. But all the moves he could recall would not work with the knife pressed into his neck without risking getting his throat slashed.
The door burst open again and there were four guards pointing their guns at Tony but to Martin it was like they were aiming for him too.
"Drop the knife Tony! There's no way out. End it now!" The guards shouted.
"No way!" Tony pressed the knife into Martin's throat, nicking the flesh as a small trail of blood trickled down his neck. "Get out!"
"You know we can't do that. Let him go, Tony," one of the guards demanded with his gun trained on Tony.
Then out of the corner of his eye he saw Eddie calmly walk up to where Tony held him against the chalk board.
"Let Martin go Tony or you will have to answer to me." Eddie's voice sounded menacing and his eyes were filled with murderous intent.
"Fuck you," Tony replied.
"I'm only going to tell you one more time: let him go." Eddie's voice was lower and Martin could see him clench his fists.
The guards shouted for Eddie to back off when he felt the knife's blades pressure lessen and apparently Eddie noticed it too because before Martin knew how it happened Eddie rushed them. He shoved him to the floor while managing to grab Tony's arm that held the knife, twisting it behind him and slamming him up against the chalk board.
The guards rushed the two men, pulled Eddie off and handcuffed Tony. Martin stood there breathing heavily and the adrenaline pumping. He put his hand to his neck to stop the bleeding on his neck. One of the guards came to check on Martin who insisted that he was fine as one of the other guards cuffed Eddie and began escorting him out.
"What are you doing? He saved my life," Martin demanded as he rushed to Eddie's defense.
"It's standard operating procedure. We just have to confine him until Tony's processed." The guard smiled reassuringly at Martin and Eddie. "We know he helped but we still have to do our job."
"Don't worry about it Marty," Eddie said knowingly. "Just make sure they get my books back to my cell okay?"
Martin didn't like how this was going but he knew it was out of his hands. "Okay."
He stood there and gave Eddie a thankful look as the man who saved his life was escorted out.
XXX
"And he never asked for anything in return. In fact he never mentioned it again and when I tried to thank him he kept shrugging me off. I know he risked a lot by helping me. If a con goes against another one where guards are involved there is retribution. He never mentioned anything to me but I heard about some incidents from the other prisoners." Martin rubbed his fingers on his desk. "So, I did everything I could to help him hook up with Professor Kent, got him into Harvard."
Sam eyed him carefully and said, "This scholarship Eddie received; the one with the conditions, any personal connection?"
Martin smiled and replied, "It was worth every penny."
