AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“He’s been through a lot.”
“Obviously,” said Randi Levine. But her expression said the possibility of change was unnerving.
CHAPTER
36
Milo began leafing through Doug March’sOxford English Dictionaryof phone communication.
“Six thousand five hundred plus.”
I said, “Just under eighteen calls a day. Doesn’t seem excessive for a tycoon even if you eliminate weekends.”
“You calculated?” He laughed. “Of course you did.” He pushed the stack to the side. “Time to be a bad boss.”
He texted the young D’s to come by if they were in the station. All three were and they arrived together minutes later.
“Here’s the deal, kids.”
He explained. They remained expressionless.
“Yeah, it’s mind-numbing, sorry. But it could turn up something important.”
Alicia glanced at the printout. “Are we splitting it three ways or four?”
“Four,” said Milo. “God forbid I wouldn’t do my share.” He looked at me. “Nah, hiring you would be too expensive.”
Dividing the printout into rough quarters, he distributed the shares.
Moe Reed said, “Probably a lot of repetition, shouldn’t be that big of a deal.”
Sean Binchy said, “I was thinking the same thing. And if any of the numbers are landlines, we might be able to reverse-directory.”
Alicia nodded.
Milo said, “I don’t deserve you.”
—
Our next contact was two days later. Not by phone, he rang my doorbell just after ten a.m. looking haggard and carrying the Meagin March / Gio Aggiunta murder book.
I had a pretty good notion of what haggard meant, said nothing until he’d beelined to the kitchen, rummaged in the fridge, and drew out a bowl of leftover bowtie pasta tossed with peas, onions, and mushrooms.
“You mind? No breakfast, yet.”
“All yours. Want me to make you some eggs?”
“Nah, thanks, this’ll do.”
“I’ll heat it up.”
“Nah, thanks, cold’ll be fine.”
—
Settling at the kitchen table, the murder book at his elbow, he downed several forkfuls, drank the coffee I’d given him, wiped his mouth, rubbed his eyes then the rest of his face, and sat back, flushed and breathing audibly.
I poured my fourth cup of the morning and sat down.
