“Guess he didn’t have the time to slip into jail cells and jab drunks with hypodermics anymore now that he was in the big chair.” Bob shrugged. “I’m glad this is all coming out into the open. I’ve kept this secret for far too long. If you can arrange for some kind of immunity, I’ll testify in court to what I saw with my own eyes.”
“And you’re sure Cisco is Doom?” Fitzgibbon asked.
Bob’s eyes narrowed almost imperceptibly. “Where’d you hear that name?”
“From another witness,” Fitzgibbon said, sounding as if the information was meaningless.
“Yeah, that’s what Cisco called himself, all right, ‘cause if the drunks didn’t play ball with him, they were doomed.” Oliveri shrugged and looked downright bored.
Fitzgibbon stood up and shook Bob’s hand. “I’ll work on an immunity deal and will be back in touch when it’s in place. Thank you for all your help, Bob. It’s men like you who will helprebuild the Salem Police Department when the dust settles. You might even end up in the chief’s chair.”
“Nah, I wouldn’t want that. I just want to right some old wrongs.” Bob ushered the detectives to the door.
Ronan could tell the chief’s chair was exactly where Oliveri wanted to be. He rushed out the door behind his boss. Fitzgibbon looked like a man on a mission. Tennyson hadn’t gotten much information from Bob Oliveri, but it seemed Fitz had seen or heard something that pointed the arrow of suspicion clearly at Cisco Jackson. Ronan couldn’t believe this was happening.
When they were back in the SUV, Fitzgibbon gunned the engine. “We need to talk about this. My house at six. I’ll grab dinner.” With his white knuckled fists on the wheel, Fitz pulled out into traffic.
Ronan felt his heart sink to the pit of his stomach. He could no longer deny the truth.
Cisco Jackson, friend, boss, father, husband, chief of police, was a killer.
14
Tennyson
When Ten and Ronan got home from the interview with Bob Oliveri, Ten called Cope to ask if he could take Everly and Ezra, while the detectives had their meeting. Cope agreed to keep them for the night, which took a load off Ten’s mind.
Jude met the kids at the door when Ten rang the bell. Cope had called out for pizza which was scheduled to be delivered at any second. Without so much as a wave, Everly and Ezra ran to their friends. In a way, Ten was relieved Everly hadn’t said anything to him about this case. She loved Cisco and it would break her heart if he were arrested and convicted of murder.
Over the years, Ten had seen many criminals be convicted of the crimes they’d been charged with, but none of those crimes hitthisclose to home. All he could do was hope the detectives found some shred of evidence that would prove Cisco wasn’t the culprit.
A solemn Fitzgibbon opened the door when Jude rang the bell minutes later. He waved everyone back to the kitchen, whichsmelled like bacon. “I got everything for BLT’s. Help yourself. There were plates on the counter filled with fresh lettuce, bright tomato slices, and thick cut bacon.
Ten wasn’t particularly hungry, but the scent of the fried bacon quickly changed his mind.
“What’s our next move?” Fitz asked when everyone was seated at the table with their sandwiches.
“I was kind of hoping you were going to tell us,” Ronan said.
“If we’re doing something this monumental, we all need to be in on the decision.”
Ronan knew Fitz wanted to make sure they were all comfortable with whatever plan they put into action. “I think we should do something like this. Invite Cisco over for dinner, explain to him what we know and see how he takes it.”
“Not well, I imagine,” Jude muttered. “I like that idea, we don’t want to do this in the office, but how do we keep him from bringing Luca and Frankie. The last thing we want is for them to be there for whatever happens.”
“That’s easy,” Ten said. “Luca takes Frankie to an early evening swim class twice a week. The next class is tomorrow night. Luca raved about how much Frankie learned, which was why Cope and I decided to sign our kids up for lessons there too.”
“I’ll text Cisco and see if we can get him to come to dinner tomorrow at my house.” Ronan grabbed his phone and tapped a message. He’d barely set the phone down when the response came in. “He says he’ll be here.” Ronan swallowed hard.
Ten set a hand on his shoulder. He could feel everyone’s agony. Tomorrow wasn’t going to be easy for any of them.
“I hate to ask, Ronan, but has Everly said anything about this case?” Fitz asked, as he pushed away the plate with his half eaten sandwich.
“Not one peep.” Ronan shook his head.
“I was surprised that she didn’t say anything when we walked her and Ezra to Jude’s house.” Ten didn’t need his gift to know what Fitzgibbon was going to ask next.
“Are you going to talk to her about this?” Fitz sighed. “I know you don’t want her exposed to this kind of thing, but it’s Cisco. Once we let this cat out of the bag, there’s no stuffing it back in.”
