RK02 - Guilt By Degrees by Marcia Clark Read Free Book Online Page A

everything.” She took the bag, dipped in a long plastic fingernail, and scooped out a nice little mound.
    Sabrina hit pause, freezing the image of the woman holding a healthy snort of cocaine on her nail.
    “Congressman Rankin, you dog,” Sabrina said to the screen. “Or should I say bitch? ” She gave a low chuckle. “If I didn’t know better, I’d think this was fake.”
    “I couldn’t fake it, man. Who could ever dream up stuff this crazy?”
    There was that. A transvestite and a coker. And married with children. The rank, arrogant stupidity of it all was incredible, almost laughable. “Bless their pointed little heads—and Adam’s apples,” Sabrina remarked with a smirk.
    “It was touch and go for a minute there. I lost him after the lunch break—somehow he melted into the crowd and got away from me. I panicked at first, but then I spotted his boyfriend there”—Chase gestured to the man on the screen—“the one you singled out in Miami. He was leaving the restaurant, so I followed him.”
    “And the rest, as they say, is history.”
    Chase gave a modest shrug.
    Sabrina paused, then frowned. “How’d you get the camera in?”
    “My old standby, the maintenance-man rig. Told the front desk I had to inspect the wiring and suggested they could give him a drink while he waited. They’ll never check the maintenance logs. I mean, who’s gonna complain?” Chase snickered.
    Sabrina gestured to the flat screen. “I assume our lovebirds ‘get down’ after this?”
    Chase’s features twisted sourly. “You don’t want to see it.” He turned to the screen. “But the picture’s good enough, right? And the sound. Couldn’t be better, right?”
    Sabrina nodded. “We got him.”
    “So when do we get paid?”

11
    By the time Bailey and I thanked our store manager for his help and stepped out onto the sidewalk, lacy cirrus clouds had spread across the sky, covering the sun and causing the temperature to drop. I shivered inside my peacoat and looked longingly across the street at the Subway sandwich shop.
    “You hungry?” Bailey asked, seeing the focus of my gaze.
    “Kinda, yeah,” I said, though I knew it wasn’t just because my stomach was empty. I needed some comfort food. This case was making me feel sad and lonely.
    “I’m with you,” she said.
    We headed back across the street and walked in. I’d just begun to read the menu on the wall behind the counter when I saw a familiar face.
    I nudged Bailey. “That’s the eyewit, the guy who pissed backward on the stand today,” I whispered. His long, stringy hair was thankfully imprisoned by a hairnet, but there was no mistaking the face with that scraggly soul patch.
    Bailey smiled. “Some things were meant to be, weren’t they?” she whispered back. “What’s the name again?”
    I told her.
    Bailey moved up to the counter and smoothly whipped out her badge. “Charlie Fern? We need to take a few moments of your time. If you don’t mind.”
    Not that we cared if he did mind. It just sounded more genteel to say it like that.
    “Oh!” he said, his eyes widening at the sight of the shield. “Uh, okay. Uh, sure. I’ve got a break coming up in about five minutes. That okay?”
    “That’ll be just fine,” Bailey replied. “We’ll be right over there.” She pointed to a table against the wall.
    Charlie nodded. We ordered our sandwiches from the young Latina standing next to him—a pastrami six-inch for Bailey, and a vegetarian six-inch, no mayo, for me. I vowed that after a couple of weeks at the gym, I’d be back to answer the siren song of the meatball and cheese.
    I was about two surprisingly tasty bites into my sandwich when I saw Charlie lean in and say something to the woman at the register. She nodded, and he waved to Bailey and me and signaled that he’d be right out. He began to untie his apron as he turned and moved toward the kitchen.
    I set down my sandwich and saw Bailey do the same. There was no need for discussion.