Mirror Image by Dennis Palumbo Read Free Book Online Page A

I’m sorry. We both acted like jerks. And then I—hell, I should’ve known better. Okay?”
    “ Not okay.” He was breathing heavily but evenly. It wasn’t the alcohol talking any longer. “You’re toast , Rinaldi. I’ll have your license. I’ll sue you for assault. Then I’ll figure out some ways to really fuck you up.”
    He pushed himself off from the wall, legs unsteady beneath him. He squinted hard at Garman.
    “You and Elaine go celebrate without me.” His voice was thick with grievance. “I’ll grab a cab home. I couldn’t chew that lobster now anyway. Thanks to Muhammad Ali here, I’ll be drinking through a goddam straw for a week.”
    Garman and I stood in silence, watching Riley head toward the parking lot. Behind, from somewhere downriver, you could hear the sound of a tugboat churning the black waters on its way past the Point.
    “By the way,” I said finally, without turning, “what are you celebrating?”
    Garman gave me a sidelong look, equal parts amusement and exasperation. “Not that it matters much at the moment, but I just closed a deal with UniHealth. They’re acquiring Ten Oaks and plan on making it the flagship for a franchise of private clinics.”
    “Franchise? Sounds like McDonald’s.”
    “Not now, okay, Dan? I’m getting enough grief about it from the staff. Nancy and the others.”
    “My sympathies.” I held out my hand. “Thanks for your concern though. Before.”
    His look at me was frank. “Kevin Merrick was your responsibilty, not ours. Our weekly peer reviews are merely a courtesy, extended to therapists who used to work at the clinic. Ten Oaks is in no way directly connected with, nor liable for, Kevin’s treatment.” He smiled, and only then shook my hand.
    “Thanks for clearing that up. For a moment there, I almost forgot who you were.”
    “That would be a big mistake.” Still smiling, he turned toward the parking lot. “I better join Elaine and get going, or we’ll lose our reservation. Corner table.”
    “Look, about Riley…”
    He shrugged. “Truth is, something about you has always pissed him off. I guess he sees you as some kind of maverick. You know his type. Philly mainline, marinated for eight years at Harvard. Hidebound, judgmental. Knows everything.”
    His pale eyes narrowed. “I’d say you’ve made yourself a real enemy, Dan.”
    With that, Albert Garman tightened the knot of his scarf and walked off into the night.

Chapter Eleven
     
    The gray walls of the Old County Building loomed ahead in the darkness, ablaze with unaccustomed lights at this hour. Above, the full moon floated like a pearl in oil, clouds threading its glow. I pulled into the lot.
    It was nine p.m. Time for my meeting with the cops.
    I found an empty space, parked, and went into the main lobby. Then I took the elevator up to the Police Bureau’s Central Office on the third floor.
    The first person I met there was Angela Villanova. A short, stocky woman in her mid-fifties, she had shrewd but kind eyes, a lacquered cloud of gray hair, and the walk of someone who’d just gotten off a horse.
    Though she’d probably never even seen one. City girl, to the core. Born and raised in East Liberty, she’d plowed up the ranks to make lieutenant, before accepting the new post of Chief Community Liaison Officer five years ago.
    “Danny,” she said, spreading her hands. Her voice was breathy, conspiratorial. Something was definitely up.
    Angie gave me a quick hug. I smelled her perfume. My Sin. She’d been wearing it since she was twenty, when my dad paid her ten bucks an hour to tutor me in math.
    We were related, evidently; her father’s sister had married my third cousin. Or something. That’s the trouble with Italian family trees. There’re so many branches, you can get lost trying to trace your way through the foliage.
    As we headed down to the main office, I asked the obvious question. “Angie, why—?”
    “Why am I here? I guess the suits figure having a