I look at him for a moment as his words sink in.
“I need to make some phone calls,” I tell him. “I also need to get dressed. I’ll come by later.”
Longbow nods and pats my hand before he goes back to Warren. Warren looks over his shoulder and glares at me but says nothing else. The cops gather up a few items and leave without closing the door behind them.
In a daze, I shut the apartment door and retrieve my phone from the nightstand where it is charging. When I look in my contacts, I find Brian’s number in my favorites and touch the number on the screen.
“Yeah?”
“Brian? It’s Kera. Deklan’s been arrested.”
“Hang tight,” Brian says. “I’ll be there shortly.”
He disconnects the call, and I stare around at the disaster that is our apartment. Everything that was in a drawer is now out. There are papers everywhere. When I go to the bedroom to get dressed, I find all my clothes have been tossed on the bed.
Brian arrives ten minutes later.
“Aw, Mrs. K,” he says as soon as he sees me, “don’t cry. Lucas is going to meet us at the station. Dek won’t be arraigned until tomorrow, but he’ll be back right after. They got nothing to hold him on.”
“You seem to know more about what’s going on than I do.” I fold my arms across my chest.
“Trust me,” he says. “It’s better that way. Did you tell them the details of your date night?”
“Yes. Do you know where Dek’s car is?”
“I’ve got the Viper.” Brian whistles low. “Damn, I love driving that thing.”
He smiles at me, but I don’t return it.
“Really, Mrs. K—everything is fine. He’s got his alibi, and they won’t be able to tie him to any of it.”
“Are you going to tell me what all this is about? Who the hell is Crackers?”
“A dumb-ass pimp on the lower east side. Apparently, someone killed him last night. Wasn’t Dek though, was it? You two were eating cake about that time.”
He winks at me, and suddenly, all of Deklan’s strange behavior from last night begins to make sense—all that time he spent chatting with the bartender and the man sitting near us, making a point of telling people it was my birthday and ordering cake, even spilling popcorn on that guy—it was all to establish an alibi.
And Brian…Brian had Deklan’s gun. Deklan gave it to him a few days ago. He even made sure his prints were on it.
Brian drives me down to the station where Lucas is already pointing his finger at Detective Warren.
“Arraignment is a waste of taxpayer’s money,” he says. “I’ve got statements from six witnesses establishing Mr. Kearney’s whereabouts throughout the evening. There’s a report filed regarding the theft of the weapon in question. You need to release my client immediately.”
“Not until the medical examiner verifies the time of death.” Warren glares at Lucas. “The timestamp on the report is only preliminary. You will have to wait until the autopsy is complete, and that’s going to take all day. Arraignment is at ten tomorrow morning, and your client can just sit his ass in that cell until then.”
Despite Lucas’s arguments, that’s exactly what happens.
Early the next morning, I sit next to Brian in the courtroom, and Deklan is brought out in an orange jumpsuit. The prosecutor speaks to Lucas before they both go into a room behind the bench. A few minutes after that, they return with the judge, who bangs his gavel and releases Deklan due to lack of evidence.
“I told ya not to worry, Mrs. K.” Brian pats my arm, and we return to the waiting area to wait for Deklan. A short time later, Lucas and Deklan, now dressed in his sweatpants and shoes, come out of the hallway and approach.
Brian rushes up and hands Deklan a T-shirt.
“Thanks, bro.” Deklan reaches for me, and I hug him tightly. “No worries, babe. I told you everything was fine. You did great.”
“How do you know that?”
“I have my sources.” He winks and kisses me on the cheek before turning back to Lucas. “Any chance of me getting my Beretta back?”