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Bobby looked up, his expression one of shock. And fury. “She sold us out.”
Corey’s blood ran cold. “Explain.” Surging to his feet, he checked the window for Dianne. She was sitting on the riverbank with Ed, so Corey turned back to Bobby. “What’s happened?”
“Noni Feldman met with the cops this morning because she placed an anonymous call to Bella Butler yesterday, warning her that someone was going to kill her along with her husband and child to keep her from testifying.”
He stared at Bobby. “What?”
Bobby nodded grimly. “When Bella didn’t believe her, Feldman told her that a paramedic was shot and killed when he wouldn’t go along with the plan.”
Corey couldn’t move. Couldn’t think. This was a disaster. “Allyson.”
“Yep,” Bobby said, his jaw taut.
Corey rose, his legs shaky as he paced the small room. “How do you know this?”
“My source inside NOPD just texted me. Said they interviewed Feldman this morning, but he couldn’t get away to buy a new burner phone until now. He destroyed his last one.”
“Doyle’s going to kill us.”
“Not if he can’t find us,” Bobby said. “We need to go. Run. Find somewhere to hide.”
“No. We’re not going to run like scared children. We are going to finish this damn job. We’re going to get our money and we’re going to do it in spite of everything.”
“Corey, no. We can’t.”
Corey stopped in his tracks, pointing his finger at Bobby. “Yes, we can. Yes, we will.”
“It’s not just that Bella knows. She’s moved to a new location and the cops don’t even know where she is. There is no more job.”
Corey’s mind was racing, trying to sift through the shit and find the action steps that would enable them to finish this damn job. “Does Doyle know about this?”
“No, I don’t think so. The cops aren’t saying anything. My guess is they’re hoping we go through with it. It’s a trap now.”
Corey continued pacing. “If Doyle doesn’t know, we’re still good.”
“No, Corey, we are not still good. If the cops know, they’ll be watching Doyle like a hawk now. He won’t be able to do anything, including paying us.”
“He has resources. He’ll find a way. And the same logic still applies. No witness, no trial. They can’t connect him to us or vice versa. So we continue as planned. We kill her and frame Comic Book Guy and his online friends.”
Bobby huffed, exasperated. “Didn’t you hear me say that Bella has gone into hiding?”
Corey glared at him. “Then we find her. We have three and a half days until the trial starts.” A thought occurred to him. “Longer if we can delay the start.”
Bobby’s frown deepened. “And exactly how do you plan to do that?”
“By taking out the prosecutor,” Corey said.
“There’s a second chair,” Bobby said.
Corey shrugged. “We’ll take them both out. You already got all that information on the second chair just in case. We’ll post some more anti-Cardozo shit on the online boards and let the basement dwellers make a plan. Ed can nudge the conversation in the right direction again so they’re still the suspects when the dust clears. With both Cardozo and his second out of the way, they’ll have to assign a new prosecutor and that will take a little time. All we need to do is delay. And find that bitch Bella.” Another thought occurred. His brain was finally kicking back into gear, his shock wearing off. “I bet Cardozo knows where she is. She’s his star witness. I bet he’s hiding her.”
“Then we’d better not kill him,” Bobby said sarcastically.
Corey gave him a sour look. “Smartass. But you’re right. We need to get one of Ed’s guys to watch Cardozo’s house. I want to know when Cardozo leaves and where he goes.”
“He’s got police protection now. On the block, anyway. Happened right after you dropped Rick on his lawn. Not in his house, just around the block, patrolling his neighborhood.”
“According to your mysterious buddy?”
