Alex POV

"Man, Goren wasn't kidding, was he?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, he said he'd do what he could to help me, but you...you're an NYPD captain."

"Yeah…"

"And I'm a button in the Toscano family."

"Uh huh," I agreed with a nod. "One who defused a bomb that probably saved the lives of myself and two detectives."

"But still…it can't look good for you to be here," Enzo said, shaking his head. "I'm not trying to cause trouble for you. I'm just asking for an untainted investigation, you know what I'm saying?"

"What makes you think you're causing trouble for me?" I asked him cautiously. "Have you spoken with someone?"

"No," he said quickly as he brought his eyes up to mine. "No. Goren and Logan came to talk to me yesterday and they told me not to talk to anyone or do anything until they got back with me. I haven't even called a lawyer yet."

"Okay," I replied with a slow nod.

"I'm just saying…I appreciate you coming here, but you shouldn't have done it. A captain, having a private sit-down with the likes of me…that can't look good. I mean, Goren was one thing. He's a cugine, right? You're the capo."

"Right now, it's not looking good for either of us."

"Why?" he asked as he hopped up from his chair. "What happened?"

"The word on the street is that I'm in Toscano's pocket. You're saying you don't know how that happened?"

"You think I was braggin' to somebody? Why would I do that? You walk away from me, and I'm screwed."

And he had a point about that.

Lipscomb had already decided that Enzo was guilty as hell, so there wasn't a lot of investigating going on. And I could tell his captain about it, maybe suggest that a more thorough look-see be taken, but if Lipscomb's heart wasn't in it, he wasn't going to find anything.

So Bobby and Logan checking it out on the side was really Enzo's best chance, and if I called them off…

"Look, I ain't gonna clip Goren if he backs out on his word, you know what I'm saying? And I definitely don't wanna get you in no trouble. I just thought…you know, he said to call, so I called."

"I'm not saying we won't help you. If you're innocent…"

"I'm innocent," he interrupted.

"Okay, then. We'll figure something out."

"So they're putting the squeeze on you?"

"Somebody's talking. I just don't know who."

"Then why the hell d'ya come here? It's gotta be cops who squealed."

"Cops? That makes you sound a little paranoid," I said with a smirk.

"I'm telling you…nobody else knows. I wasn't with no one when I got pinched, and I only called Goren."

"Okay," I said thoughtfully.

And then, since I was here and Bobby was busy, I figured I may as well take the opportunity to ask him a few questions. I knew that Bobby and Mike had gone through the basics with him, but Lipscomb had cut their chat short by insisting he had to finish processing Enzo.

"Your girlfriend's lover was found dead at three-thirty in the morning. She told the detectives that you'd found out about him the night before and that you threatened to kill him."

"Well, yeah," he said with a shrug. "He was banging my girl. What was I s'posed to do? Buy him a beer?"

"What did you do?"

"We was at Ino, right? And she got the nerve to come in there with him, disrespecting me. I told Goren this."

"I know," I replied. "Humor me."

"Okay, so she acted all surprised, like she won't expecting me to be there, but she knew I was gonna be there, she just wanted to rub my nose in it, the little puttana."

"So she comes in and flaunts her new boyfriend," I summarized.

"That's one way of putting it."

"And then what?"

"He got up in my face and told me to leave his girl alone. His girl," he finished angrily, and then he spouted off a stream of Italian, the meaning of which I could only take an educated guess.

"Enzo, what happened next?"

"The guy's a fucking mortadella, right? I told him he comes around me again and it'll take a coupla bottles of Elmer's and some duct tape to put him back together, you know what I'm saying?"

"You threatened to blow him up."

"Bombs," he said with a shrug. "It's what I do."

"Do you own a knife?"

"What are you fucking kidding me? Of course I own a knife. Who don't own a knife?"

"But you don't keep it on you, do you?"

"No, and that's exactly what I told Detective Dumbass in there."

I knew he was telling the truth because that night in the warehouse, Enzo needed a knife to cut the wires on the bomb, and so he'd pulled Bobby's out of Hassan's thigh.

"You keep it at home?"

He shrugged and nodded, so I said, "You know it was your knife that was found in the victim, right? That's why Lipscomb thinks it's you. Well, that and the threat."

"I threatened to blow him up, not carve him up," he retorted logically.

And despite our topic, it was really hard not to like the guy.

He might be a criminal of sorts, but he's honest.

"Okay, so who would've had access to your home?"

"How the fuck should I know?"

I stared at him hard and he was instantly contrite.

"Angela," he admitted. "She's got a key to my place."

"Anybody else?"

"Not that I can think of."

"Okay," I said with a nod. "We'll send someone out to talk to Angela and find out if she has an alibi. You told Goren you were home alone that night?"

"Yeah. Great alibi, I know, right? And who's gonna believe a wiseguy like me?"

Good question.

But for whatever reason, I believe him.

If he was guilty, I don't think he'd go through the trouble of calling in this kind of marker.

In fact, if he'd killed the guy, why would he leave his knife at the scene?

It had the basic smack of set-up that Lipscomb should've seen from the get-go.

"Hang tight, Enzo. I'm going to work on getting you out of here."

"I appreciate that. Gino was definitely right about you."

"Oh, don't get me wrong. If I find out you're blowing smoke up my ass, I won't think twice about recommending a life sentence."

"I like you, Captain," he said with a smile, seemingly not worried at all about my threat. "But it sounds like you got bigger problems than me right now. It can't be good for a cop to be accused of hanging with the likes of Toscano. Is it because of the deal you got Gino?"

"That's part of it," I admitted. "And now this thing with you…"

"I'm telling you. It's cops. Lipscomb or that broad that come by while Goren and his partner was in here."

"Broad? You mean Detective Coleman?"

A guess, but probably a good one. She was still scoping out Logan, according to Bobby, so it stood to reason that she might have found a purpose for walking past the holding cells.

"I don't know her name. Hot little number though."

"Okay. Thanks. I'll get back with you later today."

I left Enzo and went out into the squad room, debating my next course of action.

I should probably start with the captain, but I also wanted to feel out Lipscomb.

And Coleman.

And she was easy to spot, since I had Enzo's description, because there was only one woman in the entire squad room who could possibly be labeled as a hot little number.

"Detective Coleman?" I inquired as I approached her desk.

She looked up slowly but when she saw my face, her eyes flashed quickly to my ID, I guess to check the name, and then she quickly jumped to her feet.

"Captain Eames! It's such a pleasure to meet you," she said, throwing me off guard with her eager greeting. "I've heard so much about you, and of course, I've been seeing you on the news, and…I'm sorry. I don't mean to go on and on, it's just…really a pleasure."

"Thank you," I replied uncertainly, not used to having such an enthusiastic fan.

"What can I do for you? Are you here on a case? Because I'm kind of between cases right now, so if there's any way that I can help…"

"You can point out Detective Lipscomb."

"Oh. Oh, you're here about Enzo Lettiere, aren't you?"

"Why do you ask?"

"Detective Logan was here yesterday. Him and his partner. They went back and talked to Enzo for a little while."

"Uh huh," I hummed encouragingly.

"Yeah, something about wanting to help him skate. I don't know exactly. Lipscomb was bitching about it after they left."

Skate.

Interesting that her wording was the same as Theresa's.

"How so?" I asked her.

"Oh, you know. The typical. Major Case thinks they're so special. That kind of crap. But you know," she said in a hushed tone. "I applied to Major Case. I thought I had a real shot at it, but I guess that spot went to Logan."

"Huh. Well, that doesn't mean you can't try again next time."

"As soon as there's an opening," she said confidently. "I don't suppose…I mean, would it be okay if I put your name down? You know, as a reference?"

"I'm sorry, Detective, but I just met you two minutes ago."

"I'm sure Logan will vouch for me."

"Then maybe you should put him down. But you might want to ask him first."

"Yeah, I don't mean to sound presumptuous or anything. I just…I want Major Case, and I thought if the captain there requested me…"

"I understand," I replied. "But you know, withholding evidence from another department isn't really the best way to get in the good graces of the brass."

I'd brought it up to poke at her, to see how she reacted to the knowledge that I knew about the business card, but I wasn't anticipating the barely-controlled tantrum that I got.

"Oh, so he told you about that, huh? It was a mistake. An oversight. It could happen to anyone. Man, what a jerk. You know, I think it's probably some kind of personal vendetta against me. Because…did he tell you about us?"

"By he, do you mean Detective Logan? Because he's not the one who mentioned the business card."

"It wasn't…he didn't?"

"No, and I don't really care about what type of personal relationship you may have had with him in the past, but the fact that you didn't tell the investigating detectives that you had met with a victim two days prior to her murder, when she tried to file a missing persons report…well, that's more than an oversight."

She stared at me for a long minute, as though she was having trouble accepting the fact that I was disappointed in her.

But I was more than that.

Now I was more than a little suspicious of her because her attitude toward Logan wasn't what I'd expected.

According to both Bobby and Logan, she'd acted like she couldn't wait to rekindle. And now, she'd tossed him to the wolves without a second thought, only moments after saying he'd vouch for her.

"I'm sorry. My reaction was unprofessional," she said at last. "Please accept my apology."

"It's fine," I deflected. "Um…Detective Lipscomb?"

"He's out somewhere. I don't know," she said.

"Great," I replied. I reached in my pocket and pulled out a business card and handed it to her. "Can you have him give me a call?"

I was doubtful that my card would find its way into Lipscomb's hands, but that was fine. I was going to talk to the captain anyway, and I could only hope that he'd pass on my request.

So I left Coleman and headed for the office of Captain Paulson.

"Captain Eames," he greeted guardedly. "I heard you were in the house. What can I do for you?"

"I just had a little chat with Enzo Lettiere."

"Big surprise," he said as his face darkened. "Toscano's boy, right?"

"I guess you saw the news this morning," I replied. "I was hoping I'd have a little more support from a colleague."

"I just don't need your mess in my precinct."

"My mess?"

"This Enzo character."

"He was picked up by one of your detectives. The investigation was shoddy at best. Am I supposed to just look the other way?"

"I guess not. That's not why they pay you, is it?"

I sighed heavily as I reined in my temper.

Getting mad wasn't going to help at the moment.

"You and I both know that the press likes to blow things out of proportion. Wasn't it just a few months ago that they caught wind of you falsifying your credentials in order to get your position?"

Boy, if I thought his face was red before…

He hopped up from his chair and stabbed his finger in the air, pointing in my direction as he shouted.

"That was a bunch of bureaucratic bullshit, and you know it! I've jumped through every hoop necessary to be a captain, just like you!"

"I know," I said quietly.

"And that reporter just had a hard-on for me because…"

"I know," I said more firmly. "So…"

"So it's the same thing with you," he conceded. "Yeah, okay. Point taken."

"Look, Enzo helped me out during an investigation a couple of weeks ago. I promised to return the favor. I'm not looking to set a guilty man free, but if he's innocent…"

"I hear you."

"And what I really need to know is who in your house might have called in the tip."

"You think it's one of my people?"

"No one else knew," I stated, although that wasn't entirely true. I hadn't been able to rule out Traci yet, but Stanley was a good friend, and I had to trust his judgment.

"What do you want me to do?"

"Pull the LUDs from the squad room."

"That's it?"

"For now. I need to know who's put the target on my back."

"And what do I get out of the bargain?"

"A friend in Major Case," I offered.

He held my gaze for a moment as he mulled over my request and then he gave me a nod.

"Give me a couple of hours."

TBC...