Chapter 54
Phillip did alibi Schyll, and Ross was aggravated with his detectives. He told them to go back after TJ.
"The poser without a motive?" Alex popped off.
"Eames," Ross admonished.
"We've seen the bitter fate of being a one hit wonder," Bobby said.
In the car, she was very quiet. He knew she was still angry with him, and he felt it, too. She simply didn't understand, and in the end it really didn't matter if she understood or not. Bobby was committed to what was right, and he would get the truth, no matter what. He didn't need Eames' approval. He didn't even need his own. All that mattered was that in the end, he catch the criminals.
TJ was pounding a heavy bag when they arrived at the gym. "Let me lead this," she told Goren as they walked through the door.
Bobby knew by the look in her eyes that she was pulling rank on him. Angrily, he folded his arms across his chest and followed her in, hovering nearby while she started to question Hawkins.
"Do you have any idea what was on Kira's mind the night of the reading?" She called out after the man, who continued to box.
"What, you couldn't beat an answer out of Lionel?" He said.
Bobby perked up, and smiled with satisfaction for a split section. Then he looked down at Eames, and mosied forward. "He's mad at me," he called back to her, his arms still folded. He took a few more steps and stood opposite the boxer, the only thing between them the swaying bag. "Is that because I went after your mentor like that?" Bobby taunted. "Look, Kira was your friend. She was in trouble," he said, pushing the bag aside with his fingers. If this guy had a conscience, he was going to reach it. "She didn't tell you anything?"
"I didn't have time to talk to her before the reading," TJ answered. "And she hooked up with Sage."
"And when she called the restaurant?" Alex inquired.
"I didn't know she called," Hawkins replied. "Hiller was holding court, telling stories about smoking pot in the White House with Alan Ginsberg." He punctuated his sentence with a heavy kick of his right foot that made Bobby sway out of reach. The bag absorbed the kick with a heavy thud.
Bobby raised a hand to his cheek and took a step to the side, trying to get a grip on his own anger. Lowering his hand, he spoke again. "Well, Schyll told us that she was distraught... and... he didn't share that with you at all?" Bobby moved closer to the boxer, and his Brooklyn street dialect sneaked into his words. "Maybe he thought you'd break out into a violent rage... You know, he showed you off as his prize pupil, but maybe he thought deep down you were still an animal."
The look on Hawkins face alone could have knocked Goren out cold. Angrily, the man kicked the heavy bag again.
Bobby caught the bag in his left arm. "L-let me do that. Here, c'mon," he said, bracing himself to hold the bag for the younger man. "Go ahead."
"You don't want to stand there," TJ warned.
"C'mon, c'mon, TJ." Bobby goaded.
Alex gulped in a breath, rolling her eyes in frustration.
"Let's see what you got," Bobby told him. "C'mon. Give it your best shot."
Hawkins kicked the bag.
"That's it? That's what you have?" Goren taunted. "That's about it? That's all he's got.? Okay, maybe this will make it easy for you, look." Bobby removed his badge from his pocket. He held it up for Hawkins to see before he passed it to his disapproving partner.
"Oh! Bobby!" She growled at him. "You-!" She rolled her eyes and turned away in frustration.
"Sorry about the flies all over the place," Goren said. He touched TJ's face lightly with his hand. "Show me something. C'mon." He stared at him, waiting. Hawkins smiled. Bobby raised his head higher, a cocky smile on his own face. "Show me something," he said again.
With a lopsided grin, TJ spoke. "I only start what I can finish." He swaggered away.
"Well, I guess there weren't enough cameras around for him to give us a show," Alex commented, coming back to Bobby's side.
He was smiling with satisfaction. "Well, he gave us a tell," Bobby told her. "Turned his back when he walked away."
She nodded. "Which would have been the first thing he'd learn not to do in the pen."
Bobby affixed his shield to his pocket and gave her a sincere nod. "Yeah," he whispered as he started for the door.
An early start and a little research proved TJ was a fraud, as well. He had never been imprisoned, and his lack of research made his description of the juvenile detention center laughable. His first book had been a best seller, but his newest hadn't even been reviewed yet. The detectives went back to the literary agent, Sage, and found out that Kira had been asked to review TJ's new novel for the Times. They found out that Schyll got Kira assigned to review TJ's book.
As they walked back to the car, discussing the case, Bobby's phone rang. He touched Alex's shoulder to get her attention. "Ballistics got a hit on that .22," he told her, closing up the phone in his hand.
"They already ran that gun, came up empty," she said.
"Yeah, in New York," Bobby said with a smile. "I had a friend run it in Jersey? Turns out it was used in the Newark riots, to shoot a cop."
She made the connection right away. "That boy Schyll taught in prison. He not only got a novel out of him, he got the kid's gun?"
Bobby nodded. "Same as the book, right? Kid gives his teacher the gun for safe keeping."
Alex was appalled. "Kira was swimming with sharks! Schyll's a thief, TJ is a fraud... either one of them could have taken that gun to Brooklyn."
Bobby listened as he hovered near the car door. He chewed on his cheek as she finished her sentence and circled around to climb into the car.
They invaded Schyll's writer's salon. Bobby started off by insulting the man, accusing him of manipulating the lives of the young writers before him. TJ was quick to defend his mentor. He moved close to Bobby and warned him. "Okay, show some respect, Sherlock."
Alex jumped in, sarcastically letting him know they knew he'd lied about being imprisoned. He blew off the comment and walked away, and Bobby changed his focus, taunting Hawkins this time. "How's that second book- oh, wait it hasn't really caught on fire yet, still waiting on the Times review?"
"A good friend like Kira singing your praises," Alex said. "That would have been a slam dunk. Did you know that Mr. Schyll got Kira the job? Conned an editor friend of his over there into glossing over Kira's conflict of interest? She was the perfect choice, wasn't she? Because of her connection to the material."
Bobby had already opened the book and found the page he wanted. He poitned out that Kira saw TJ's book for what it was, pure fiction.
"Her expose would have been front page news," Alex added. "So you had to stop that."
TJ seemed slightly upset. Bobby turned his gaze from the younger man to the older one in the chair beside him. He furrowed his brow. "How'd you know that he was a fake? Did Kira tell you that? Or did you figure that out on your own?"
Schyll tried to dismiss their accusations, so Bobby picked up Kira's manuscript and handed it to TJ. Schyll followed him, trying to take the writing back. Bobby told Hawkins how Schyll stole Kira's work. TJ tossed the papers in the air, and they fluttered all over the room.
Bobby grew serious. He handed what was left of the stack back to Hawkins. "Read it. You know that second call that she made to you? She had been beaten up, you know? She was hurt, she was scared. She reached out to you! And what did you do?"
"I could not understand a word she was saying!" Schyll answered.
"No, you showed TJ her review!" Bobby cried.
"Oh, TJ, they're trying to provoke you."
"Come on, TJ," Bobby said quietly. "He set you up to kill Kira. Not because she was going to expose you, but because she was going to expose him!" Bobby read from Schyll's new book to prove he was telling the truth.
TJ finally opened up. He told them the whole story, and they arrested them both.
He answered the door in his shorts and undershirt. It wasn't that late, but it had been a long day. Bobby swung the door wide and stepped out of her way, grunting some kind of greeting.
"Sorry to bother you," Alex said.
He motioned for her to sit by him on the couch and dropped onto the cushion. "What can I do for you?" he asked.
She took a deep breath. "Bobby, I've been thinking..." She tripped over her words, and couldn't get them out. She folded her arms over her chest and slowly looked at his things, nestled in their places around the room. When she finally met his eyes again, she frowned. He was listening, but there was a darkness there, and she knew he was already on the defensive. "I'm worried about you," she finally breathed.
He bit back the anger and replaced it with a small smile. "Nothing to worry about, right? You and me, we're still here." He cocked his head to one side until she raised hers again. "Right, huh? We're partners. Better than that. We're friends." His smile grew a little, but it seemed forced. "I'm all right, Eames."